What went wrong?

The straightforward answer to the question is this: by one man, sin entered into the world and death by sin.

The first man and woman (Adam and Eve) were given great freedom, but also one serious warning: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, though shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. This was an ideal test of man’s willingness to obey what God said simply because God said it. But the devil tempted Eve to disbelieve and disobey God’s words, and she did. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

At that moment ‘sin entered the world’. By his deliberate disobedience man cut himself off from god. Instead of loving God, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. Instead of being assured, confident and happy, their sin had made them ashamed, guilty and afraid.

But God had said that man would die if he disobeyed, and he did. Death means separation, and in one terrible moment man became separated from God; he died spiritually. He also began to die physically, and now had a dead should and a dying body. But that was not all: the children of Adam and Eve inherited their corrupt nature and sinful character. From then on, like pollution at the source of a river, the poison of sin has flowed to all Adam’s descendants, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

Notice that important word ‘all’, which obviously includes the writer and the reader of this page. We may never meet on this earth, but we have this in common – we are sinners and we are dying. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. and if we claim not to be dying we are being ridiculous. Fooling around with the facts does nothing to change them.

Many of today’s newspaper, television and radio headlines remind us of the fact that the world is in a mess. It is easy to condemn violence, injustice, disorder and wrongdoing in society, but before criticizing others ask yourself whether you are perfect and living a life pleasing to a holy God. Are you absolute honest, pure, loving and selfless? God knows the answers to these questions – and so do you! For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. You are a sinner by birth, by nature, by practice and by choice, and you urgently need to face the facts – and the consequences.