The Nature of Sin, Part 1: Sin’s Origin
We don’t hear much about sin these days—churches don’t teach about it very much, and individual humans certainly don’t like to talk about it because it points a spotlight on their own frailty and fragility. Consequently people don’t know much about sin and what they do know tends to be confined to ideas about violating the Ten Commandments. It is easy to understand things like murder or adultery as sin for example as they are violations of the 6th and 7th Commandments, but is it sinful to use the word ‘Jeez’? I was punished for using that word when young because my mother thought it was a shortened form of ‘Jesus’ and therefor was a violation of the 3rd Commandment against misusing the name of the Lord.
People also misunderstand how sin originated. If asked they will often point to the story of the Fall, but that event misses the actual origin of sin by an indeterminant, possibly exceptionally long, period of time. So this post begins a 13-week series on the nature of sin to try to figure out how it started, the effects and consequences it has had, and how it can be defeated.
To begin with, let’s decide what sin is. In the Tanakh, the Hebrew name for the Old Testament, the words translated as sin don’t actually mean ‘sin’. More precisely they refer to the idea of ‘missing the mark’. The ‘mark’ is the holiness and righteousness of the character of God. The Hebrew idea is that in contrast to what is healthy and proper, sin is broken, misleading, or crooked. Thus murder is a sin not simply because God says not to kill in the 6th Commandment, but because murder is inconsistent with God’s gracious and loving nature. But don’t get the idea that missing the mark is because of unintentional error. No, sin is missing the mark because a person is aiming at the wrong goal. Instead of striving to draw near to God (James 4:8), sin is the elevation of self above God. Mostly, sin is volitional, that is, a person chooses to sin. So sin can be as subtle as failing to worship God or cursing when someone cuts a person off in traffic. Consider that walking with God during the cool of the day indicates the intended relationship between God and human was one of relaxed fellowship. But this was broken by sin. So sin is also the denial of intimate fellowship with God; it is the denial of the original rightness of that relationship.
But if God is perfect and holy, how did sin come to be? Let’s look at some verses:
Ezekiel 28:11-19 11The word of the LORD came to me: 12“Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “ ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. 14You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 16Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. 18By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. 19All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’ ”
Some Bible verses, of which this is one, appear to have more than one application. Many scholars believe these verses to apply to the actual King of Tyre, and also to Lucifer. Primarily this is so because this person is described in ways that appear supernatural. This ‘king’ is described as a cherub which is one of God’s angelic beings. He is described as blameless and sinless and as residing in the holy mount of God. He was said to have been in Eden, that he was full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, and having the seal of perfection.
That this describes Lucifer seems to be confirmed as it describes his fall into pride. This was pride that Lucifer generated his own self since no sin had ever existed in Heaven prior. Lucifer was the leader of the angels and guardian of the throne of God. He was in a position of power and authority, but he became so impressed with himself and with his beauty and intelligence that he coveted the honor and glory which belongs to God alone. God rightfully ‘fired him’ and cast him out of heaven down to earth at which point his name changed from Lucifer (“morning star” to Satan (“accuser”). He was fired and cast out but not denied access as Satan is continually even now accusing God’s children before the throne (Zechariah 3:1-2, Job 1:6-12). In that fall from Heaven he took a full one-third of the angels with him (Revelation 12:4). The thing to remember is that God created the angelic hosts to have choice as he did us. So through his beauty and intelligence Lucifer was able to entice 1/3 of the host to leave the reverence and adoration of God. All of this happened before the creation of the universe which we know because it says in Job 38:7 that the ‘angels shouted for joy’ as God was in the act of creation.
Similarly Isaiah describes Lucifer’s fall:
Isaiah 14:12-16 12How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” 15But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. 16Those who see you stare at you; they ponder your fate:
Five times (5 ‘I wills’) in these verses Lucifer elevates himself above God. Never does he say, “I will…if God permits”. All of the ‘I wills’ are about exalting himself. The first appearance of sin was not in the Garden. It seems that the first appearance of sin was in the heart of Lucifer much before Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden.