Evangelistic Bible Study
Study 2. The Subject of Sin
Last week we considered the theme of the
uniqueness of God. Today we are going to examine the
subject that is in diametrical opposition, - the
subject of sin. Society
considers itself as having proceeded beyond the need for God, - He is no longer
of any use! But the following story puts man’s inadequacy into context.
A group of scientists were
sitting and discussing which one of them was going to go to God and tell Him
they didn't need Him anymore. Finally, one of them volunteered and went to tell
God He was no longer needed. The scientist says to God, “God, we’ve been
thinking and I’ve come to tell You that we really don't need You anymore. I
mean, we’ve been coming up with great theories and ideas, we’ve cloned sheep,
and we’re on the verge of cloning humans. So as You can see, we really don’t
need You.” God nods understandingly and says, “I see. But before you go, let’s
have a contest.” The scientist says, “Sure, … what kind of contest?” “A
man-making contest.” “Sure! No problem,” the scientist says. He bends down,
picks up a handful of dirt and says, “Okay, I’m ready!” And God says: “No, no.
You get your own dirt!”
However, it is not only in recent times that sin has come to the fore. Almost at
the beginning of creation a conversation was struck up between two of God’s
creatures. One cast into the mind of the other doubts regarding the goodness
and honesty of God (Gen. 3:1). The serpent in the Garden succeeded in
deluding Eve by causing her to doubt God’s Word, “hath God said?” Here lies the
initial move away from our Creator. Doubting God’s word is so serious,
because it makes Him out to be untrustworthy, incapable, promising great things
He cannot deliver, and it ultimately relegates Him to the level of man and his
philosophies. It sows the seed that germinated into pride, - (v.5) “your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods”. This germination into pride manifests
itself numerous times throughout the Old Testament. For example, when Moses
received the tablets of stone from God on Mount Sinai the children of Israel
manufactured and idolised the golden calf (Exodus 32). Throughout their
history they chose to recognise and worship the manufactured gods of the
surrounding nations, thus relegating their own God to a position He would not
except (Ex. 20:3-5). They believed they had to keep up with the times, and God’s
word became irrelevant and a stumbling-block to their development. Genesis 3 has
happened over and over again! The food that the serpent set before Eve attracted
her, and she looked at it so much and considered it so appealing that the
serpent’s words seemed to make sense! … and she reinterpreted God’s word (“…
lest ye die”, 3:3; God actually said, “thou shalt surely die”
2:17). This heralded the death of man’s relationship with God, and Adam (who was
made in the image of God, Gen. 1:27; 5:1) passed on through the generations
humanity that was born “in his [i.e Adam’s] own likeness, after his
image” (Gen. 5:3). As a consequence, man was born in opposition to the holiness
of God, seeped and steeped in the results of Adam’s sin, and facing death which
was the ultimate punishment God prescribed.
Where does all this lead us? … Inside every person there is an emptiness. This
emptiness is not content to be left void. Many consider it to be a religious
emptiness so they fabricate their own form of religion that suits their
circumstances and leanings. This happened in the Old Testament, … and it still
happens. In the most primitive tribes of the world there are various concoctions
of a deity or a realm of deities. In past generations in our own society, - and
indeed, in the history of our nation, - God was given more precedence. His Word
was loved and preached faithfully. His Church was respected and listened to. Not
all people were saved and born again Christians, but God was respected to a
certain degree, … because many believed in the need for a God-figure. As we said
in our first study, humanity has an innate, inbred, natural tendency to believe
in some kind of a higher power. That tendency was thwarted totally by the
deception of the serpent in the Garden. Sin is the consequence and the condition
of every person that has been born.
Therefore it is necessary to emphasise what sin actually is. If we fail to have
a defective view regarding sin, then we shall have a defective view of salvation
from sin. We haven’t only sinned partially, - we have sinned
completely! If you have a wrong view of a disease, it always brings the
wrong views of a remedy. Sin has ruined everything, - total depravity. It
has ruined our relationship with God. Because of it pollution of all kinds
entered into the world, … along with illness, and death. Man was created to keep
company with God, but sin ruined the relationship and man was cast from God’s
presence (Gen. 3:23,24). His whole personality has been affected, - his will,
his intellect, his affections, and much more. Throughout, the Bible teaches us
that man by nature is spiritually dead,
“as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12, also Rom. 3:23). It
tells us that men are bound, “In
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his
will” (II Tim. 2:25,26). It shows us that mankind is
blind and
deaf, “And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know
the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these
things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and
hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be
converted, and their sins should be forgiven them (Mark 4:10,11). It shows us
that of ourselves we are uninstructable,
“the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they
are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned” (I Cor. 2:14). The Bible tells us that we are
naturally sinful by birth, “Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps.
51:5). It ought to be of no surprise then that we are also sinners by practice,
“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”
(Gen. 6:5).
This, according to the Word of God, is man’s natural state, - the state into
which he/she is born. Then we must ask: can the
dead raise themselves? Can the
bound free themselves? Can the
blind restore their sight? Can the
deaf restore their hearing? Can the
uninstructable teach themselves?
Can the naturally sinful change
their poisoned and polluted state? No, absolutely not! The picture is one of
total and hopeless inability, … a desperate picture, … until the Lord Jesus
Christ enters into it. In John chapter 11, Lazarus is lying dead in a tomb, -
there was nothing he nor anyone else could do. Then Jesus came, “He cried with a
loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and
foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith
unto them, Loose him, and let him go” (Jn. 11:43,33).
Through Jesus Christ and Him alone is to be found the way back to God.
He is the only Solution to the problem of sin. Next week we shall
consider the love of God in redeeming the sinner unto Himself, as
demonstrated in the Lord Jesus Christ.
