CHAPTER 2
Sin According to Scripture: A First Look
Sin in the Beginnings
The creation account itself hints at the possibility (though not the necessity) of sin (Genesis 2:16–17). And we get no farther than the opening verses of the next chapter before we see the temptation of the first humans (Genesis 3:1–7). Created by the hand of God, and enlivened by nothing less than God’s own breath (or Spirit) (Genesis 2:7), the first humans are placed within a setting of shalom.
Adam and Eve enjoy a harmonious relationship with the rest of creation, they delight in each other, and they share fellowship and trusting communion with their Creator. Things are as they should be; they are as God intended them to be.
But Eve first listens to the questioning suggestions of the tempter, and Adam then listens to Eve. They reach for, and take, what God has commanded them to leave alone. The consequences are immediate and nothing short of devastating. Shame immediately settles upon Adam and Eve, and they are fearful (Genesis 3:7–10).
Adam and Eve immediately find themselves estranged and alienated from the rest of creation. Instead of a creation of shalom, they now find themselves facing hardship and suffering in their daily lives and in their future (vv. 16–19). They are alienated from each other (Genesis 3:12). Most importantly, they are estranged from their Maker.
The biblical story of “the fall” (as it has come to be called in subsequent theology) is as simple and straightforward as it is short. Yet this account is crucial for understanding the biblical drama. It portrays the situation before the fall, it assumes human responsibility for the actions that could have been avoided, and it shows us that the consequences of sin reach into every area and relationship of life.
Everything—the integrity of the first human persons, their mutual relations, their relationship to their environment, and ultimately their relation to their Creator—is fundamentally wrecked by what they have done.
As Sklar observes, “Genesis 3 has outlined an understanding of sin that will be filled in as the biblical story progresses. In its basic contours, sin is disobedience to God, destructive in its results (in our relationship with the Lord, one another, and the world), associated with an evil power who desires humanity’s harm, and calls forth both God’s justice in punishing it and his mercy in forgiving it—with the promise that he will see to its ultimate defeat.”
Above all, the “opening acts” of Scripture show us that sin is fundamentally against God, and that these devastating consequences are the direct result of the rupture of relationship between human creatures and the Lord who made them.
As the story unfolds in Genesis, we see illustrated both the universal spread and the vicious character of sin. No sooner do we get outside of Eden (in the canonical narrative) before the oldest son of Adam and Eve murders his younger brother (Genesis 4:1–10).
As Daniel Doriani observes, “In Cain’s sin we have an early hint of the virulence and intractability of sin. . . . While sin was external to Adam and Eve, it appears to spring up spontaneously from within Cain; it is a wild force in him, which he ought to master lest it devour him” (Genesis 4:7).
Sin progresses throughout the nascent human race; not only is there vice and violence, now there is also pride for those evil actions (Genesis 4:23–24). As the human race extends, so also does the reach and depth of perversion and depravity. By the time we come to Genesis 6, the Lord sees that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).
Although Noah is “righteous” and “blameless” (Genesis 6:9), we find that “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11). God sends a flood to cleanse the earth (Genesis 7:1–8:14), and he again gives warnings about sin and its consequences as he makes a covenant with Noah and his family after the flood (Genesis 9:1–17).
But it does not take long (in the canonical narrative) before we see the heights of human arrogance as the humans attempt to build a tower to heaven for their own honor and glory (Genesis 11:1–4). Here we see the reach and spread of sin; it encompasses “the whole earth” (Genesis 11:1).
We also see the depth and ridiculousness of sin—these sinful people actually think that they can gain glory for themselves by building such a tower, and they are too blinded to see their own foolishness.
Genesis 12 marks an important and pivotal shift in the biblical narrative. Where ruin has come to all the world through the sin of one man (cf. Romans 5:12–21), so also the divine plan of redemption begins a great reversal with one man as God makes a covenant with Abram, calls him to be the father of “a great nation,” and tells him that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1–3).
Redemption begins to roll forward, as God chooses a man, through whom he will make a nation, and from which nation will come the promised Savior of all the world.
Abram believes God, takes him at his word, and follows him. As he believes God’s promise, God “credits” that belief to him “as righteousness” (cf. Genesis 15:6 NIV). And so the progress of redemption begins to roll forward, as God chooses a man, through whom he will make a nation, and from which nation will come the promised Savior of all the world.
Yet as the story unfolds in Genesis, we find ample evidence that sin impacts Abram and his family as well. Abram lies—twice—about his own wife (apparently he is more willing to risk losing her to the Egyptians and Abimelech than he is to stand true with her) (Genesis 12:10–20; 20:1–17). His son Isaac is a gift of grace, but he apparently learns the family values well, for he too lies about his wife (Genesis 26:1–10).
Abram is soon estranged from Lot, who moves close to Sodom (Genesis 13:10–13). Warfare ensues, and Abram is caught in a web of violence as he is forced to rescue his nephew (Genesis 14:1–16). Abram and Sarai fail to trust God, and they pull their servant Hagar into sexual servitude to Abram. When Hagar has a child, she finds herself mistreated by Sarai (Genesis 16:1–15).
The sin of nearby Sodom and Gomorrah (which includes both sexual sin and other forms of injustice and oppression against the poor) is so extensive and grave that not even ten righteous people can be found there (Genesis 18:16–33). The men of Sodom try to rape their visitors, and judgment follows (Genesis 19:1–28). Lot escapes, but only to commit incest with his own daughters (Genesis 19:30–38).
When Isaac reaches old age, his younger son Jacob swindles his older son Esau, and estrangement follows swiftly as Esau seeks revenge upon Jacob (Genesis 27:1–28:22). Jacob himself is taken advantage of by a dishonest family member (Genesis 29:1–30).
The conflict continues between the members of the extended family, until Jacob finally runs away from his father-in-law—with the situation being further complicated by the presence of idolatry (Genesis 31). Jacob is so convinced of his own abilities and control that he even resists God’s blessing to the point that he “wrestles” with God (Genesis 32:22–32).
The story of Jacob’s family continues with the rape of his daughter, deceitfulness and intrigue, and nothing short of mass murder (Genesis 34).