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Objective

In this lesson, we’ll see that man’s rebellion against God has brought death and separation into the world, but Christ has come to restore what was lost.

Key Verse

Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Introduction

God made everything good. He created the world for His glory. He created us to live in fellowship with Him. So why does the world look like it does today? Why is there suffering and death? Why is there conflict and sorrow?

The answer is clear. Man chose to reject every good thing that God prepared for us. When man rebelled against God’s authority, sin entered into the world and brought death and separation from God. Jesus came to earth to restore everything that we lost through sin. He suffered the punishment of our sin on the cross. We are forgiven for our sins, but we continue to face temptation each and every day. Someday Christ will come again. He will make a new heaven and a new earth. Sin and death will be put away forever.

In this lesson, we’ll answer four questions about sin:

• What is sin?
• How did sin enter the world?
• Why are we all sinners?
• What did sin bring into the world?

What Is Sin?

The Bible uses many different words to describe what sin is. But two key ideas lie behind all of these words:

• Sin is like crossing a boundary
• Sin is like missing a mark

God has set up boundaries for our lives. When we cross these boundaries, then we are sinning.

1 John 3:4: Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

In the Garden of Eden, God established a clear boundary for Adam and Eve. He told them they could eat from every tree in the garden except one.

Genesis 2:16-17: And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Sin is also like missing a mark. Paul says that we have “fallen short” of God’s glory. This literally means that we are like an arrow that doesn’t hit the target.

Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

At the root of all sin is rebellion against God’s authority. When we sin, we are trying to set ourselves up as the authority. We are trying to take God’s place.

Romans 1:21-23: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

How Did Sin Enter the World?

Sin works in the human heart today the same way it first entered the world. Temptation leads to sin, and sin produces death.

James 1:14-15: But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

This is the same way sin first entered the world with Adam and Eve. Let’s examine the story carefully to understand how temptation works.

Genesis 3:1-7: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

(Notebook Moment: Notice how Satan first questioned God’s word (“Did God really say…?”), then denied God’s word (“You will not certainly die”), and finally contradicted God’s character by suggesting God was withholding something good from them. How do you see these same tactics used in temptations you face today?)

Sin is deceitful. It promises what it can never give us. In 1 John we read that sin draws us into its trap by three methods:

1 John 2:16: For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

Satan used each of these temptations in the Garden of Eden. Let’s look again at Genesis 3:6:

• “the woman saw that the tree was good for food” = the lust of the flesh
• “that it was pleasant to the eyes” = the lust of the eyes
• “and a tree desirable to make one wise” = the pride of life

Satan followed this same strategy when he tempted Jesus. First, he appealed to the lust of the flesh when he told Jesus to turn stones into bread after Jesus had fasted for forty days. Second, he appealed to the lust of the eyes when he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and promised to give them to Him. Third, he appealed to the pride of life when he challenged Jesus to throw Himself down from the temple to prove He was the Son of God.

But where Adam and Eve failed, Jesus succeeded perfectly. He resisted every temptation and remained completely sinless.

Hebrews 4:15: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Why Are We All Sinners?

The Bible teaches that we are sinners both by nature and by choice. We sin because we are sinners. But we are also sinners because we sin.

Romans 3:10-12: As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

We have inherited a sin nature from Adam and Eve. Because of this nature within us, each person chooses to disobey God and rebel against His authority.

Romans 5:12: Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.

Psalm 51:5: Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

James 1:14: But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

Sin is both a nature within us and a choice we make. These two aspects of sin are illustrated in Isaiah 53:6:

• We are sinners by nature (“all we like sheep have gone astray”)
• We are sinners by choice (“we have turned, every one, to his own way”)

Jesus died both for our sin nature and for the sins we commit against God. As the only perfect Man, Jesus was the only one qualified to be the perfect sacrifice before God. He had no sins of His own, so He didn’t die for Himself. He took our sins and died in our place, as Isaiah goes on to say:

Isaiah 53:6: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Through faith, we have received the life of Christ and His very nature. This is why Paul describes Christ as the “last Adam.” He has become the head of a new family.

1 Corinthians 15:45: So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.

Hebrews 2:10: In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.

Do we stop sinning when we become Christians and receive a new nature? We still have old habits of sin that we struggle with each day. But the Holy Spirit lives within us and gives us the power to make godly choices. The Holy Spirit helps us to become more like Christ each day. But we have to yield to Him. (We’ll study this important aspect of the Christian life in the lesson on sanctification.)

Romans 7:22-25: For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Galatians 5:16: So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

What Did Sin Bring into the World?

Everything changed because of sin. What did sin bring into the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God? Separation, death, and suffering.

Genesis 3:8-10: Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

The fellowship that Adam and Eve once enjoyed with God was now broken. Sin became a barrier that prevents us from reaching God.

Isaiah 59:2: But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

Death entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned. This means both physical and spiritual death. Their bodies didn’t die immediately. But they became spiritually dead as soon as they disobeyed God. Eventually their bodies died, too.

Ephesians 2:1: As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.

Ezekiel 18:20: The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Because of sin, man is now alienated from God, from one another, and from nature. Conflict, struggle, and violence came into society and even the family.

Genesis 4:8: Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Genesis 6:5: The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

All of these changes came about because of a change in the human heart.

Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Jesus taught that sin is more than just the wrong things we do. Sin is a problem with our heart.

Matthew 5:21-22: You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

(Notebook Moment: Think about Jesus’ teaching that anger in our hearts is just as serious as murder in God’s sight. How does this help you understand that God looks at the condition of our hearts, not just our outward actions?)

Matthew 15:18-20: But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.

Conclusion

Why is the doctrine of sin so important to understand? There are three main reasons: Because of this doctrine, we understand why there’s evil and suffering in the world. We understand our need for a Savior. And we understand the work of sanctification that God is doing in our lives right now.

But this is not where the story ends! The gospel tells us that Christ has triumphed over sin and death. Everything that sin brought into the world will one day be completely defeated. In the new heaven and new earth that God will create, there will be no more separation from God, no more death, and no more suffering.

Revelation 21:3-4: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

(Notebook Moment: How does knowing that God will one day completely restore everything that sin has broken give you hope as you face the struggles and sorrows of this present world?)

1 Corinthians 15:55-57: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is why the gospel is such good news! Christ has won the victory over everything that sin brought into the world. We can live today with confidence and hope, knowing that our Redeemer has already secured our eternal future with Him.

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