Episode 226 – Seriousness of Sin – Part 5 – The First Sin
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script:
The LORD said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate the fruit I told you not to eat.
Genesis, Chapter 3, verse 17, Contemporary English Version
VK: Hello! Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. Thank you for joining us today on Anchored by Truth as we continue to pursue a very important discussion series we call “The Seriousness of Sin.” We’re doing this series because sin is a “real and present” danger to our lives and eternal salvation. Many people today try to resist that thought or even deny it all together but that doesn’t affect the reality that we are all sinners in need of a Savior. If we confess our sin the Apostle John tells that “he is faithful and just to forgive our sin.” But if we deny our sin it still remains with us and it puts us in eternal danger. In the studio today to help us grapple with what are, admittedly, hard truths we have RD Fierro who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, for the first few episodes of this series we have been considering the danger that sin poses to the eternal destiny of men. But you said that today you want to switch perspectives. What do you have in mind?
RD: Well, in our first few episodes in this “Seriousness of Sin” series we’ve looked at sin from man’s standpoint. We have been looking at the stakes of sin for people – about the consequences on this earth when we commit sin and the eternal consequences we would face if we do not accept Christ as our Savior. One of the truly amazing things about accepting Christ is that doing so inaugurates a cosmic transaction that is almost beyond belief. The sinner gets Christ’s righteousness in exchange for Christ getting (having borne) the consequences of our sin.
VK: As you say in your book The Prodigal’s Advocate the Christian faith is not fair. But the person it’s not fair to is Jesus. Jesus lived a sinless life but died for the sins of others. We live sinful lives but when we accept Christ’s sacrifice for us we will enjoy rewards that we did not earn for all eternity. God would have been perfectly just to condemn everyone who has rebelled against Him to eternal punishment but He didn’t. God made a way for us to be redeemed but it cost God an immeasurable amount – an amount no human being will ever fully understand.
RD: Right. So, we’ve been looking at the seriousness of sin from the standpoint of how sin affects us as individuals – our lives, our futures, our salvation. And it is serious. But today I want to take a look at the broader consequences of sin – because remember that the entire Bible is a single story about the saga of creation, fall, and redemption. The creation and fall take up the first 3 chapters of the first book of the Bible. The other 47 chapters of Genesis and the other 65 books of the Bible are the story of redemption.
VK: And without the first sin in the garden the story of redemption never would have been necessary.
RD: Correct. RC Sproul used to say that “sin is cosmic treason.” That means then that there are two sides to the sin transaction. There is man’s side.
VK: And there is God’s side. You know we tend to forget that. I mean we know that our sin can injure other people like when a drunk driver runs into another car that just happens to be in the drunk’s path. The other driver is a victim of the sin. But if we commit “cosmic treason” we have also offended God. That reminds me of Psalm 51, verses 3 and 4 where King David wrote: “I know about my sins, and I cannot forget the burden of my guilt. You are really the one I have sinned against; I have disobeyed you and have done wrong. So it is right and fair for you to correct and punish me.” That’s from the Contemporary English Version. David wrote Psalm 51 after he had an adulterous night with Bathsheba. David then tricked his army commander, Joab, into getting Bathsheba’s husband Uriah killed during a battle. So, David had clearly injured Bathsheba and Uriah. Yet he wrote to God that God was the one he had really sinned against.
RD: Yep. All sins, whether they have a specific human victim or not, are offenses against an Almighty God. Now God is certainly in a different category than a human victim.
VK: Because God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everlasting and all.
RD: Right. God is not like a human being who can suffer when we sin against them. God is more like a king whose subject has offended them or a parent whose child has injured them. God is not damaged per se but God is definitely offended. And God who, in addition to being omnipotent and omniscient, is also perfectly just holy cannot let intentional offenses go un-redressed. So, when we start taking a look at God’s side of the transaction we can see even more clearly how serious sin really is.
VK: Now, we live a world where sin abounds even in our lives. We are so used to sin we sometimes don’t even notice anymore. It’s like walking in your house and noticing a musty smell. Stay there long enough and eventually your nose gets used to it.
RD: Yes. We have been desensitized to sin because as sinners it feels familiar. And living in a world of sin we don’t know any difference. As somebody once said, “if a man falls in the water he knows he’s wet because that’s not his natural state. Same thing with a dog or cat. A dog or cat that gets wet will shake off the water as soon as it gets a chance. But a fish doesn’t know it’s wet because it’s wet all the time. Being wet is a fish’s natural state. So, a fish doesn’t notice the wetness.”
VK: And, living as we do thousands of years after the fall, sin is now our natural state. In effect, we have become immersed in sin. Not only do we sin but we are surrounded by sin. And especially in the western cultures sin is actively pushed in just about every medium possible. Advertisers routinely use blatantly sinful images and appeals in their commercials. So-called entertainment producers feature and glamorize sin in movies, tv shows, music, and books. The old advertising slogan was that “sex sells” so sex has become a staple of the images that surround us constantly. Schools, government meetings, and even churches have become hotbeds, no pun intended, of the proliferation of sin. We are so immersed in sin that now we really only notice the “big” sins – robberies, murder, adultery, child pornography etc. Far too many of us have given up the effort to shake off our sins.
RD: Yes. But it was not always that way. In Genesis, chapter 1, verse 31, God surveyed everything He had created and pronounced that it was “very good.” God couldn’t have and wouldn’t have called creation very good if sin existed in that world at that time.
VK: But then we come to Genesis, chapter 3, and that’s where we here the description of the first sin – Adam and Eve eating from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And in our opening scripture we heard about God confronting Adam and Eve after they committed the first sin. You know it is interesting. God didn’t confront Adam and Eve immediately after they committed that sin. He didn’t immediately send a booming voice from heaven shouting “what did you just do” the way my mother would have. According to verses 7 and 8 of Genesis, chapter 3, “At once [Adam and Eve] saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Late in the afternoon, when the breeze began to blow, the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. So they hid behind some trees.” So, God waited some time before confronting them. Why did He do that?
RD: Well, probably for a lot of reasons but I think one was that God let them marinate in their misery before He confronted them. During that interval they obviously had a growing awareness that they had really messed up. I might go so far as to say God was giving them a chance to think about the “seriousness” of their sin.
VK: Oh. I see what you did there. And now I see why you named this series “The Seriousness of Sin.”
RD: God was like a smart earthly parent. He let Adam and Eve begin to develop a real appreciation for what they had done - because the consequences of that first sin of Adam and Eve were truly beyond their comprehension or the comprehension of any subsequent person. And that’s what I want to contemplate for the rest of this episode and probably the next episode of Anchored by Truth as well. And in our discussion we are really only going to be skimming the surface of the consequences of that first sin – because they were really serious. Let’s start by noting that as a result of that first sin death entered the created order.
VK: The book of Romans, chapter 5, verse 17 tells us that “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many.” That’s the New Living Translation. Just as we live in a world where sin is so commonplace that we often don’t see it around us, we live in a world where death is so commonplace that we rarely think about the fact that death is an intruder in our creation.
RD: Right. There was no death in the created order that God pronounced “very good.” Death entered creation as a consequence of that first sin. And not just death for men and women, but death for the animals as well.
VK: In Genesis, chapter 3, verse 21 we hear, “And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.” The first death recorded in scripture was the death of an innocent animal. This was a foretaste of the sacrificial system to come.
RD: So, one immediate consequence of that first sin was death and death has present within the created order ever since. Now death is not a permanent part of creation but it is a present part of the creation.
VK: The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 26 that “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” One day death will just be a distant memory for the redeemed. But it will be an ever present reality for the unredeemed.
RD: The kind of death with which we are so familiar was one consequence of that first sin. No sin. No death. Death came quickly for the animals that God used to make the first clothing for Adam and Eve. And while physical death did not occur for some time for Adam and Eve, at that moment they died spiritually and their eventual physical death became a certainty. Adam lived for a total of 930 years which is a really long time to us, but his death had been assured from the moment he and Eve committed the first sin.
VK: So, what did Adam and Eve’s spiritual death look like?
RD: It’s probably impossible for us to know how they perceived the change within themselves but there are a few things we can say for certain because we are all born “spiritually dead.”
VK: That’s Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. Paul writes to the Ephesians “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”
RD: Right. Some people question whether Paul is trying to be dramatic when he tells the Ephesians that they were “dead in [their] transgressions and sins” but as one theologian used to say “dead does not mean a little alive.” Well, clearly the recipients of Paul’s letter weren’t physically dead – otherwise they wouldn’t have been reading any letters. But they were spiritually dead before the Holy Spirit began His regenerating work. So, let’s think about this for a second. Death is a form of alienation or separation. In fact, it’s the most dramatic form of separation. Now, as we have said before on Anchored by Truth we can distinguish between two things without separating them.
VK: We can distinguish between the soul and spirit and the body and we haven’t done any harm. But if we separate the soul and spirit from the body we have killed them. Now, that’s pretty serious.
RD: Yes. So, when Adam and Eve committed that first sin a separation, an alienation, occurred. They didn’t die physically so their souls and spirits weren’t separated from their bodies but they did break their previously unbroken communion with God.
VK: We know that because when God first called out to them after they sinned they tried to hide themselves.
RD: Exactly. From the context of the story we know that God had previously walked through the garden with some kind of a physical manifestation and that Adam and Eve were accustomed to His presence. But now they hid themselves.
VK: And people have been trying to hide their sin ever since.
RD: But of course it is futile to try to hide from an omnipresent being. Adam and Eve’s consciousness of their guilt had produced a change in them. They had lost the ability to have a continuous, intimate connection with Almighty God. So, one thing we can say for sure about the spiritual death they experienced was that it produced a change in their emotional state – in their feelings – in how they felt about God and in how they felt about themselves.
VK: Genesis, chapter 3, verses 7 through 10 say this. “At once [Adam and Eve] saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Late in the afternoon, when the breeze began to blow, the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. So they hid behind some trees. The LORD God called out to the man and asked, “Where are you?” The man answered, “I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!”
RD: Yes. After their sin Adam and Eve began to experience shame and fear. Before the sin they had lived in perfect contentment, harmony, and peace. But they lost all that. They felt guilt, dismay, remorse, and regret for the first time. So, their spiritual death produced an emotional change within them. And, as we well know, in the human body changed emotions result in physiological changes.
VK: When we get scared our hearts pump faster. Our bodies produce various chemicals like cortisol as part of what is labeled “the fight or flight” response. We can start to tremble or shake when we get strong emotions and it’s not uncommon for people to get dizzy, confused, or even faint in times of extreme stress. The point is while Adam and Eve’s souls and spirits had not yet separated from their bodies (they were still physically alive) they immediately began to experience some of the unpleasant physical sensations that would remain them for the rest of their physical lives – and that they might very well experience as they were approaching physical death.
RD: Yes. We need to guard against the temptation to believe that even though Adam and Eve did not die physically immediately that somehow they didn’t know a massive change had taken place. They, more than any other people in humanity’s history, would have known the difference between perfect peace and joy and the shame, terror, guilt, and pain that sin produces. Adam and Eve clearly noticed the change. The text tells us so. But in addition to the emotional change that came because of their spiritual death, they also experienced what is often termed “the noetic effect of sin.”
VK: According to an article on the website for the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, carm.org, “The noetic effect of sin is the effect upon the mind. The Greek word for “mind” is “nous.” Therefore, ‘noetic’ deals with the mind, or the rational aspect of the person. This effect means that our reasoning abilities are no longer pure and proper all the time. But, it does not mean we will always reason improperly. We can think rationally, use mathematics, make proper judgments, etc. But, as is obvious, there are many false religions in the world that are believed and defended intellectually. So, the noetic effect of sin upon the mind … manifests itself in the belief of false gods, false Christ, false gospels, etc. When sin entered the world … our minds were corrupted. … the result [is] spiritual blindness and, ultimately, irrationality.”
RD: So, that first sin didn’t just affect Adam and Eve’s emotions, it also affected their minds – and those effects were passed down to all of their descendants – which, of course, include us. Many theologians speculate that Adam and Eve had a form of perfect knowledge before the fall. They were not omniscient. They were not all knowing. Only God is omniscient. But their knowledge of everything in their world was clear and untainted. They knew every tree, every animal, and how to properly care for them. And their thought processes weren’t affected by fatigue, irritation, frustration, or so many other things that affect us. They could reason clearly and arrive at the correct conclusion all the time. They would have scored 100 on every test they were given. But they lost all that with the fall.
VK: I see what you’re saying. Even today as we try to contemplate what the effects of that first sin were we can only have an imperfect understanding because we still suffer from that loss of perfect reasoning. We do the best that we can, but there is no way for our minds to be free of the effects of the fall.
RD: Exactly. We all still suffer the noetic effect of sin just as we all still experience the negative emotions that we see exhibited in Adam and Eve after they sinned. That is one of the ways we can be so sure that the Bible is conveying literal history when it describes the fall. The Bible provides a clear, coherent explanation for why we are the way we are – why we experience guilt, anger, confusion, and fear. If we were all just random aggregations of molecules those emotions would have no more meaning to us that a flower experiences when a rock falls on it.
VK: So, what you are saying is that even though Adam and Eve didn’t die physically the spiritual death they experienced had real and immediate consequences for their lives. They experienced real loss and a real change.
RD: Right. And the entrance of death into creation, and Adam and Eve’s immediate spiritual death was only the beginning of the consequences of that first sin. And we will continue this discussion more in our next episode of Anchored by Truth. But there is at least one other topic I want to introduce before we close for today.
VK: Which is?
RD: Some people will ask “why is this discussion of the seriousness of sin so important?”
VK: I’m sure some people would wonder that.
RD: And a partial answer is that if we don’t understand the seriousness of sin we cannot properly appreciate grace. Just as we are immersed in sin and so hardly notice it, the church today is so familiar with grace and mercy that we can easily take it for granted.
VK: In Shakespeare’s famous words “familiarity breeds contempt.”
RD: Right. Those in the church are so used to the availability of grace we can forget why it is amazing. When we forget what Adam and Eve lost, what they gave away, we have a diminished appreciation for what Jesus did when he came to repair the consequences of sin for us. No one alive today has yet reaped the full benefits of Jesus’ transaction on our behalf. The damage to our emotions and the noetic effects of sin impact our ability to full comprehend all that Jesus did. But we should at least try. We don’t want to be like the ungrateful guests at the feast who eat heartily but have no regard for the effort that went into preparing the feast. And there are other reasons we should carefully contemplate the seriousness of sin. Sin is the biggest impediment to spiritual maturity and therefore spiritual power. We hear a lot by some ministers about how to exercise spiritual power. But one sure way to destroy any spiritual power we might hope to possess is to not understand the seriousness of sin, the enormity of the destruction that Adam and Eve produced when they ate the forbidden fruit, and therefore the magnitude of the grace that God extended when He sent Jesus to remedy the effects of the fall.
VK: So, the big idea that we wanted to introduce today is that to properly understand the seriousness of sin we must look at where sin started and look at it from God’s perspective – as best we can – as well as our own. The first sin in the garden had a multitude of consequences. None of them good. The first consequence was the admission of death into a creation that had been very good. That was only the first effect and we’ll get into more in our next episode of Anchored by Truth. This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer for children who will shortly be beginning a new school year. And let’s remember that today many schools may be passing along the sinful messages of the broader culture and parents may need to prayerfully consider whether a change is necessary. As one guest on Anchored by Truth has said, “the mission is not to get our kids into college, it’s to get them into heaven.”
---- PRAYER FOR CHILDREN STARTING SCHOOL (RANNI)
VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.”
If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!”
(Opening Bible Quote from the Contemporary English Version)
Genesis, Chapter 3, verse 17, Contemporary English Version
What is the noetic effect of sin? What is the effect of sin on the mind? (carm.org)
The Noetic Effects of Sin | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org
