Are We Really That Bad? | Week 1 | Is It Finished?
SIN
3 In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent?[b] 7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[c] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
Genesis 4:3-9 HCSB
“So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me. For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.”
Romans 7:21-23 HCSB
Are We Really That Bad?
“As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature. It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot detect it, you are deceived.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
1. What Is Sin?
Iniquity
Hebrew: Avon
Greek: Anomia
Means: Crooked or Bent
21 A sound is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy,
for they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the Lord their God.
Jeremiah 3:21 HCSB
12 For our transgressions have multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us.
For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: 14 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far off. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.
Isaiah 59:12, 14 HCSB
Transgression
Hebrew: Pesha
Greek: Paraptoma
Means: Rebellion, to Violate Trust
25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Romans 4:25 HCSB
19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
2 Corinthians 5:19 HCSB
Sin
Hebrew: Khata
Greek: Hamartia
Means: Miss the target, Moral Failure
16 There were 700 choice men who were left-handed among all these people; all could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Judges 20:16 HCSB
7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:7 HCSB
27 So God created man in His own image;
He created him in the image of God;
He created them male and female.
Genesis 1:27 HCSB
Then comes the question: If God created everything, didn’t God create sin?
2. God Did Not Create Sin
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God saw that the light was good…God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit…And God saw that it was good. God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water…And God saw that it was good. God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.
Genesis 1:1, 4, 10, 12, 17-18, 21, 31 HCSB
Sin (Khata): To miss the mark
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:15-17 HCSB
15 But if it doesn’t please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh.”
Joshua 24:15 HCSB
Sin did not enter the world through a piece of fruit, sin entered when man had the option to do things HIS WAY.
Pride
“Therefore, just as sin (Khata) entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned. In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law. 17 Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:12-13, 17 HCSB
Sin is an intruder, it was not part of God’s creation.
“So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me. For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin (Khata) in the parts of my body.”
Romans 7:21-23 HCSB
Many years ago there was a famous correspondence in The Times newspaper under the subject “What is wrong with the world today?” The best letter of all was also the shortest, and read: “Dear Sir, I am.
Yours faithfully, G. K. Chesterton.”
“The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable — who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9 HCSB
3. Answer to Sin
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23 HCSB
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 HCSB
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 ESV
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by His stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:16-17 ESV
“For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in His steps. He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth; when He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He was suffering, He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; you have been healed by His wounds.”
1 Peter 2:21-24 HCSB
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 HCSB
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin,
Romans 6:6 HCSB
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 HCSB
“Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.”
Revelation 21:5 HCSB