By Kenneth B.E. Roxburgh, Ph.D.
Chair and Armstrong Professor of Religion, Samford University
Why Are We in This Mess?
Genesis 3:1–7, 14–19
Although a variety of 21st century writers from different theological stables are quite willing to talk about salvation, little attention is given to the notion of sin. The end result is that our understanding of grace and salvation is distorted because we have lost an understanding of the depth and depravity of human sinfulness.
We sin when we fail to keep God’s commands. (1–7)
The Genesis account of the sin of Adam and Eve reminds us that sin involves turning our backs on the generosity of God’s love shown to His creation and determining that we can live on our own resources rather than trusting in God’s providence.
Sin is characterized by human pride, choosing to live our own way and focusing on our own needs rather than the needs of others. Sin not only brought about a breakdown between God and humankind, but Adam and Eve began to blame each other and their relationship suffered.
In 1972 when I was 19 years of age, I wrote to F.F. Bruce, professor of biblical studies at Manchester University in England, and asked him about the origin of sin and whether we sin because we are sinners or whether we are sinners because we sin. His response was simple: “Isn’t it a great sin to be a sinner at all?” This is the heart of the matter — each and every one of us choose on a regular basis to turn away from the generosity of God and His holy love to live according to our own aims and ambitions.
The serpent will ultimately be defeated. (14–15)
Despite the realistic depiction of sin which we find in Genesis 3, a note of hope is sounded. Many Christian interpreters have seen in this promise the first of many predictions of the coming of Christ. We know that our Lord encountered many experiences of temptation which He vigorously and decisively rejected, living rather a life of obedience to the will of His Father. As Paul reflects on the death of Jesus, he tells the Church in Colossae that Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it (that is, the cross).
We experience the consequences of our sin. (16–19)
The Genesis story of sin’s entry into God’s created order indicates that disorder affects human relationships. Notions of patriarchy, of men and women striving with one another, ought not to be seen as God’s original intention but as disorder and chaos, a consequence of sin, rather than the original intention of the Creator. Even work, originally given as a gift of God the Creator for human beings to find fulfillment, is now filled with frustration and weariness. Life itself is seen as temporary as death enters into the cycle of life, presenting human beings with concepts of fear, uncertainty and even dread.
The Christian understanding of human nature is starkly realistic. While affirming the good possibilities of human existence as created by God, the Bible takes with utter seriousness the profound disruption, disorder, alienation, brutality and oppression that characterizes the actual human condition. The image of God in which humans were created is obscured and distorted by sin.
Thankfully Paul in Romans 5 demonstrates that although the universality of sin is clearly evident for all to see, the grace of God has abounded to many. Human failure is never the final work on humanity — God’s grace has triumphed over sin and offers hope for society.
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