By David ReayWednesday 18 Jan 2017LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Genesis 3:1-5
1 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”
2-3 The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.’”
4-5 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.” (THE MESSAGE)
The essence of what we call ‘sin’ is not the performance of some especially wicked act. Rather it is the desire and intent to live independently of God. It is to escape from our being the creation of God to being godlike figures ourselves.
In this narrative, the first humans were tempted to become godlike. The temptation offered by the serpent was not that they discern good and evil but that they become the ones who decide what is good and what is evil. Recognising right and wrong is a proper dimension of humanity. Being the ones who define good and evil is the prerogative of God alone.
Sin is about us trying to have moral autonomy, granting ourselves the freedom to set life values independently of God. We figure we know best. Sinful acts spring from this underlying mindset. No one can push us around, we will decide what is best.
And it is true that we are given minds to wrestle with moral choices. But we are to wrestle within a framework of morality revealed in the Scriptures and supremely in Jesus. We live and love and decide under the rule of God, not as those who seek to be God.
Blessings
David Reay