Not all sins are sin…
This week I will be teaching Romans 5:12–21. To understand Sin within the church, discussing what sin is and isn’t is important. Sin is a spiritual state of separation from God. It’s a state that we flow through. Sometimes we are close to God, and sometimes there is a chasm between us and God. Anything that causes this chasm is a sin. Sin is unique to the individual. Each of us is impacted differently by sin and its individuality. Sin, though, is not:
o Based on the opinions of the media.
o What the politicians or activists tell you it is.
o Sin is not between you and other humans. It’s between your spirit and God.
When sin shows up in the plural, discount it because what is coming is human judgement. We are hard enough on ourselves! The Bible says that sin came into the world through Adam and Eve.
Storytime:
God planted a garden and placed within it two unique trees — the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. Adam and Eve were told not to eat of them, or they would die. Humans being human, ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Let’s stop here. Before eating the fruit, they didn’t know sin, good, evil, or anything else existed as a concept. The very fact that you know that good and evil exist places a gap between you and God.
So, they ate the fruit, opened their eyes, and they realized they were naked. This was the first sin that separated them from God. God made our bodies and called them God when we exhibit shame of the body. (Sidebar: Some people are gender dysmorphic, sometimes, in nature, people end up with the brain of one sex and the body of another sex. This is a disability that can and should be treated if the person wishes it to be. God called doctors and therapists to help heal those who wish to be healed, although it is not always necessary.) It was realizing that they were naked before God and being ashamed of it that said to God that God had made a mistake. They communicated directly to God that their nakedness before God wasn’t good. That was the original sin.
We recommit this sin daily when we talk down on ourselves, when we see the world as a horrible place. When our media diet consists of negative news and when we see other people as less than us. All of this is looking God in the face and saying that God’s creation wasn’t good enough! This creates a gap between us and God!
As a result, everything in a world that was created good now was seen through the filter of good and evil. One man brought sin into the world. But one man took it out again, and his name was Jesus.
Jesus was the name of man who was God enmeshed in the flesh. He taught us to see ourselves the way God sees us as good reflections of God and to live like it by loving our neighbors. God sacrificed God’s very self, a perfect sacrifice to atone for our sin. To ensure that when God sees us, God sees the perfect creation God made us to be.
So, what about you? How do you see yourself? When will you stop harming yourself, talking down to yourself, and harming others with thought and deed and accept that you are OK? You are GOOD in God’s mind. You are the head and not the tail. You are more than enough. Stop beating yourself up! I write “I can” repeatedly on paper when I feel down. Sometimes it takes a few sheets, but it always perks me up. If you struggle with self-image, write “I am good enough right now”. Re-internalize the good in you and see if God doesn’t change your life!