When I was young and growing up, I had minimal contact with church going or religious activities. Thank God! I was saved from being deeply tangled in the dark concepts and dead teachings common to these gatherings. This isn’t a slam to the people who went to those meetings, or who do now. It’s just the nature of the beast. There was a consistent shadow, however, that I do remember from my contact with church: the word “sin”, and the results of preaching about it. A residue--of sorts, remained that I carried around with me, feeling uneasy and unsure about it. I actually grew up resenting it and even questioning God about this whole “sin” thing. So, I want to bring the camera view in for a closer look, to see whether we have cause to feel uncomfortable or if the truth can free us from hanging our heads in shame.
I’m a sinner, you’re a sinner. No way out of it. We’re filthy and God has to save us. We are the nail, the truth is the condemnation hammer. I heard it once in Sunday school as the teacher put a red felt square on the board, representing sin. We needed cleansed from it, so a white square was added to show the blood of Christ washing the sin out of our life to make us clean. And, there is a scripture stated kind of like that. Isaiah 1:18 states that though our sins be as scarlet, they will be made white as snow.
The sin issue is addressed very thoroughly in the Old Testament via the tabernacle. God gave Moses his commandments and there were also specific laws about conduct and "sinning". This had never been addressed before. These people just rescued out of Egypt had never met their God and they did not have a concept of sin. God was showing them in these early days of revealing himself that there was an appointed way to approach him. These laws and commandments, the tabernacle, sin sacrifices, were all steps back into him. They were outward manifestations--types and shadows, of a higher reality we could attain to.
Even the shedding of the blood of animals (because God did not want human sacrifices) was an allegory for us of a happening that God already had planned in a final sacrifice. There would be a man without spot or wrinkle, willing to give himself--the Lamb of God. In the meantime, God found no pleasure in receiving the blood of animals (Isaiah 1:11), but human nature had the inherent weakness of needing blood to be shed--or a life to be taken, to satisfy the inner need for justice (to appease God because of their shortcomings). Human sacrifices were already happening in pagan religions, so God took control of the urges in his people and substituted animals. But just for a time, because an animal's life could never replace the life of a man; these were substitutionary blood offerings. The life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:11), and a man's blood (his soul, his life) would be offered to cover other mens' souls. (see Isaiah 53)
So we get to the New Testament where Christ was crucified, His blood offered for us to cover the sins of the world (John 1:29). Sin is dealt with. But we still get hit over the head with it in religion. “When you sin , God is quick to forgive you.” “Confess your sins one to another.” What’s going on? If sin was dealt with, why are we still talking about it? If Jesus was the final sin sacrifice, and I am relying on him to be just that, why am I still guilty? If mankind is always guilty of something, what is it? Why are we such an inferior creation, always needing forgiveness? Could there be a darkened understanding in man’s mind about this? Knowing mankind, yes, and knowing religion, yes. What is sin then, really?
The word “sin” in its original language (Heb or Greek) means “to miss”, or "to miss the mark”. I’ve heard it taught as aiming for a target, and missing it. Think of an archery range with the round targets having their center bullseye. If you can’t hit the bullseye, you’ve missed the mark. You may hit the target, but anything less than the exact center is missing the mark. That is our condition. We cannot be perfect. Sooner or later, in all of us, the propensity to err shows up, no matter how hard we may try, in some area of our life we cannot be perfect. I can say that I have never met a perfect person, and I, myself, have had way too may flaws. But to whom or what is the comparison to of our imperfect state? God's nature. That’s a tough judgment if we had no say in our make-up. Were we constructed with the pre-disposed ability to self-destruct? If so, then it is not our fault that we miss the mark (sin). Is it?
What about the garden of Eden, the temptation, the “poor” choice of the wrong tree. Did Adam (or Eve) bungle God’s plan? Who was in control? Who made that garden? Who made all the players in that scene? Who wrote the story lines? Whose creation is this? Who is responsible for the outcome of the stage that was set?
Romans 8:20 states that God made his own plan for creation to fall, that the creation was not willing to be subjected to it, but the creator decided to do it in hope for the outcome that he foresaw. The “fall” in the garden of Eden was intentional. God fully knew what he had created and the weaknesses inherent in his creation--if they were given a choice. He was in total control. And he made a plan for the recovery and restoration of the whole thing! Even unto the giving of his son, already planned (before the foundation of the world) to reconcile everything separated (lost).
When mankind fell out of the perfect realm of being--Eden (dwelling with God), the Adamic race began its journey into darkness, pulling away from light and perfection. And remember, God not only let them, but he planned it. They went armed only with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (law), but not the tree of life. Therefore, they died. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil operates in our darkened human understanding, which does not feel like Eden. We function here in that condition, setting up standards and justice, using our own (less than perfect) intelligence, forming our own philosophies, and religions (trying to get back to God, in form). This is the best we can do. These are our “wages” from sin (being imperfect); we inherited death. (Roman 6:23)
Sin is, therefore, the result of what happened to us, where we ended up (dropped to a lower understanding) and what we are capable of as the result. Separation from God (in that we could not sense him anymore) means he is invisible and hidden (from us). Since He is light and life, without him is death and darkness, and we cannot hit the mark on the bullseye. The best of our motivations fall short. And it’s not our fault. So, how do we get out of it? And why are there still scriptural references in the New Testament about this sin problem?
Our escape from the sin realm is through the final sin sacrifice, Jesus Christ. His divine blood--or life (God in the flesh) offered up a once-and-for-all conquering of everyone’s sin nature. The Creator in a human body connected the spirit realm sensitivity back into the human realm, thus abolishing the power and reign of sin consciousness. In a nutshell, he successfully conquered this realm in himself by living, resisting tempation, and yielding to the call of a sacrifice (without spot or wrinkle); he delivered his life force back to the Holy realm, pulling the plug on death. The veil between God and man was removed (represented by the temple veil being ripped down the middle), and man again had access to God. But no one knew it yet.
Even though all mankind is now reconciled to God’s presence in the spirit realm, the gift has to be received so we can walk it out just like Jesus did. God is there for us now (within us), through the Comforter, or Holy Spirit. This is how Jesus sacrificed himself, becoming a spiritual offering in His new form. The Holy Spirit is a duplicate of the Christ life exhibited in Jesus of Nazareth, and will lead us and guide us into all truth as we walk out our earthly existence. We can experience heaven (God’s realm) now, and we don’t have to die for it to happen.
When we do receive this awesome gift, our old belief systems, memories, etc. (our soul) will resist the new center of command--God, in our spirit. Where before, our soul and/or body ran our life, now the Holy Spirit provides a power not previously accessed. His presence causes the soul to lose her power over our lives. Her intentions are not always good, so she will be wooed or dragged back into God. (John 12:32, will draw =to drag, elkusÅ/Greek) God’s will wins out always. See Ephes1:11.
So then, concerning the New Testament admonitions to resist "sin", there is a power struggle that happens, no matter how subtle it may be. The greatest force is the spirit of religion (Satan), wanting us to get back into condemnation. But there IS NONE in Christ. While we will continue to make mistakes, there is an inner motivation to conquer our flesh. When we do err, we just acknowledge it (without condemnation), turn from it (repent) and keep on moving forward. We just couldn’t have had this ability at all, without the death and resurrection of Jesus. This was God’s way of taking responsibility for us, not holding sin against us (2 Corin 5:19).
Those not yet awakened to this good news are still dead “in sin” and not in touch with their reconciled status. Each man will experience restoration in his own order, and will be a recipient of this new birth in spirit. We are not guilty of anything. We are not dirty, and never were. The sin consciousness was the product of the lower realm we came to dwell in, and the out workings from that perspective were the “sins”. All was in the hand of God and all had a purpose. The plan was always to re-instate us to our former estate, but the return trip adds experience, maturity and appreciation to who we were to begin with. Sin isn’t a word to cause us shame any more, for we are blameless in the Master’s plan.
