The Christian account of creation tells that in the beginning, God saw that everything that He had made and said that it was indeed very good (Gen. 1:31, New King James Version). After God created Adam and Eve, he gave them free will, but also an explicit command that tells them to eat of all of the trees of the garden except for one (Gen. 2:16-17, NKJV). The scriptures provide assurance that the original intentions that God had for creation were good. However, sin enters when Eve and Adam are deceived into consuming the fruit of the tree that was forbidden, disobeying God by breaking the first and only commandment he had given to them (Greene, 2020). When this occurred, their eyes were opened and they were now separated from God, and filled with a sinful nature. The downfall of mankind takes places only three chapters into the first book of the Bible, and the rest of God’s Word is the framework concerning how God will save mankind from their sins through salvation in Jesus Christ. The reality of sin calls for a savior, someone who can redeem the sinful nature of mankind into righteousness. The only one that is worthy and who is capable of providing salvation is the same one that created everything from the start. The Creator is also the Redeemer, because there is not one but the Word that is suitable to permanently eliminate sin and mend the layers of existential damage caused by it. Identifying the origins of sin and the consequences it has on the human condition, the theological notions of sin as a privation of good, God as the exclusive Creator and Redeemer, and God’s response in how he deals with sin will outline a foundational understanding of how the Creator and Redeemer of mankind are the same.

Genesis chapter 3 contains the events that unfold with Adam and Eve’s disobedience. The cunning serpent appears in the garden and speaks to Eve, questioning God’s command that forbids them from eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:1, NKJV). The serpent twists the interpretation of the command given to them by God and says that God knows their eyes will be opened, and then they will be like God, so Eve and then Adam are tempted and ultimately fail in this moment (Gen. 3:4-6, NKJV). It was in this act where they both sought to be like God, that caused a transformation in Adam and Eve and in the forthcoming generations. God confirms this transformation with the consequences described later in Genesis chapter 3. God speaks to Eve and states he will greatly multiply her sorrows and cause pain in her conception, and for Adam, declares the ground is cursed because of him, and that he will return to it one day as dust (Gen. 3:16-19, NKJV). There are verses in the New Testament that align with Old Testament teachings on sin. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12, NKJV). Another example regarding the consistent teaching that sin originating from Adam and Eve is found in 2 Corinthians, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3, NKJV).

Sin started in the Garden, and has since spread throughout the generations of mankind through the sinful nature of mankind that all have inherited from Adam and Eve. The spiritual death that accompanied the disobedience was also accompanied by an eventual physical death. This is a clear example of how sin alone caused the actual separation in the relationship between God and mankind. “If contemporary American culture hears what must be said about sin and God’s wrath over sin, then the message contemporary American culture will hear is death” (Oberdeck, 2005). People typically do not want to accept that they are a sinner, and are capable of reasoning and justifying their own actions or behaviors into making them seem or feel morally right in their own eyes. The modern world supports and encourages self-centered and self-absorbed behavior. It could be argued that things that are morally good are perceived as bad because society has managed to twist what is morally wrong into appearing good (Isa. 5:20, NKJV). The Bible is clear in identifying what a sin is. Simply put, a sin is a lawless and rebellious act towards God (1 John 3:4, NKJV). Understanding this fundamental truth is vital when it comes to understanding the Biblical perspective towards sin. The present culture generally rejects the Biblical viewpoint of sin equating to death.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, there are numerous examples regarding the consequences of sin. “The sin in the Garden of Eden is “original” not because it was chronologically anterior to any other sins but because it is the root, the source, that which gives rise to and basically structures all the sins to follow” (Schneiders, 2011).  Entering into this topic with an understanding that it is sin that has separated mankind from God allows one to better comprehend how bad creation needs a savior for redemption. “ He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name” (Psalm 111:9, NKJV). The Old Testament contains the fundamental Biblical covenants that were formed between God and his people. All of these covenants, including the Noahic, Abrahamic, Sinaitic, Davidic, and the New Covenant, contain events that consistently demonstrate God’s glory and his redemptive attributes. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31:33-34, NKJV).

The New Covenant was revealed in the Old Testament to the prophet Jeremiah, and fulfilled in the New Testament through Jesus Christ, as foretold by John the Baptist. “…John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, NKJV). It is in this verse that Jesus is identified as God and as the one who saves mankind and removes sin from the world. Forgiveness is one way God handles our sin. ““I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible” (Isaiah 13:11, NKJV). The wrath of God is promised, and this verse shows that punishment is another way sin will be dealt with. “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law” (Rom. 2:12, NKJV). Paul explains that all will be judged for their sin according to God’s law. Altogether, these verses indicate that God is capable on one hand of forgiving and reconciling the wages of sin, but on the other hand the wrath of God will carry out the judgement and punishment of sin.

The overwhelming presence of sin in the world is undoubtably because of Adam and Eve and their disobedience in the Garden of Eden. The first 3 chapters of Genesis encapsulate the account of creation, the account of deception, and the separation from God that was caused by sin. The framework for the story of redemption is laid out all throughout the Bible, with the covenants being direct accounts of promises made by the Creator to his creation. The debt of sin could only be satisfied through the sacrifice that was made by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, being the perfect lamb that was slain. He is the Word, through which all things were formed, and through which all can be saved. The one who created all things, is the only one who redeems, and is the exclusive Savior of the world. Comprehending the origins of sin and its consequences, acknowledging that sin perverts that which is good, recognizing God as the exclusive Creator and Redeemer, and studying how God deals with sin are key components in understanding God as the Creator, Redeemer, and Savior of all.

References

Greene, J. (2020). Sin. Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Oberdeck, J. W. (2005). Speaking to contemporary American culture on sin and the wrath of God. Concordia Journal, 31(4), 398–410.

Schneiders, S. M. (2011). The lamb of God and the forgiveness of sin(s) in the Fourth Gospel. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 73(1), 1–29.