What is the nature of the original sin?
Discussion question for September 18, 2009.
What was the offense against God in the Garden of Eden? We have a brief description of the temptation and the following action. Why were Adam and Eve banished from the garden? What are the ramifications of the sin? How can we avoid such choices in our life, today?
Here is my summary of our discussion.
The original sin was demonstrated through an act of disobedience. The act itself wasn’t the biggest problem – it was the outcome of the problem. The temptation was to become distinct from God, and that was fueled by pride.
God had described the forbidden fruit as the “knowledge of good and evil”. Adam and Eve chose knowledge over relationship based on their assumption that this would put them in a category of godness greater than they already had. Even though they were created in God’s image and likeness, there was a potential (temptation) that they could be distinct. That distinctness is a breach of relationship, and everything relationship stands for.
It was not knowledge, nor the pursuit of it, that was the sin. James says that if anyone lack knowledge (wisdom) he should ask God for it, and God will give it. The book of Proverbs is full of admonition to pursue wisdom and gain knowledge. It was this specific knowledge (good and evil) that was the sin. The pride is that I don’t need God to distinguish between good and evil if I can do it myself with sufficient knowledge.
Adam and Eve knew “good” because they had relationship with God, and it was very good. Once they knew evil also it changed how they understood good. The comparison of good to evil became their paradigm, and still today we know what it is like to have a good day because we have experienced bad days. Before the sin, Adam and Eve knew what it was like to have a good day because it WAS good. After the sin they knew it by comparison, instead.
Nakedness was not the sin. Adam and Eve are described before the sin as being naked and unashamed. After the sin their nakedness became a source of shame that drove them to cover up from each other and hide from God. This is also based on the paradigm of comparison and distinctness which breaks relationship. Distinction destroys oneness, and this is evident in our relationship with God as well as our one-flesh relationship with our spouse.
We can avoid sinful choices by focusing our attention on our relationship with God. This includes praying without ceasing, always worshiping, and meditating on His Word. We can be especially sensitive to times in our life when we are tempted to compare as a way of knowing good and evil. It leads to separation instead of relationship, judgment instead of healing, lust and envy for what is perceived lacking, and pride for what is perceived as greater.
Since we are born in sin, we are wired to know good by comparison to evil. As we overcome sin through relationship with Christ, we need to rewire our thinking to know good by His Truth.