Title: THE PERVASIVENESS OF SIN

Focus: The pervasiveness of sin determines in part our approach to God and all other areas of relationship in life.

Function: To articulate the scope and seriousness of sin and how our understanding of sin influences our approach to God and all of life.

Text: Genesis 3:1-7

For most people here, English is your mother tongue. You were born in America, and you learned to communicate in English. I speak English with an accent, because I was born and raised in another country.

There is no such thing called “pure English,” however. In fact, we all speak with an accent—it depends mostly on where you were born and raised and where you have been living. People from the southern part of America, for example, have a distinct accent that distinguishes them from people in the eastern or northern parts of the U.S. Though English is our native language or mother tongue, accents are very common in our country.

The same is true for the Christian Church. All true Christians who worship the Triune God speak the language of faith. That faith is summarized in, for example, the Apostles’ Creed. In 12 statements of faith, the Apostles’ Creed summarizes the main teachings of the Christian faith.

It tells the story of the Triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And the historic Church in the East (The Eastern Orthodox Church segment), and in the West (The Roman Catholic Church segment, as well as the Protestant Church segment) all speak that language of faith. They all embrace the story of God as conveyed in those 12 articles of the Christian faith. But the Christian Church speaks the story of faith using many accents.

Christians who are part of the Protestant Church, for example, speak with such accents as “Pentecostal,” “Baptist,” “Methodist,” “Presbyterian,” “Lutheran,” “Independent,” “Non-Denominational,” and yes, “Reformed.” Calvary Church is rooted in the Reformed Christian tradition, and thus has its own unique accent. We enthusiastically embrace the Christian faith as spoken in the Apostles’ Creed, and we accentuate a number of particular biblical teachings. Those teachings make up our spiritual DNA; they define us as a community, and they shape us in many subtle and important ways. If you wish to understand Calvary’s identity as a Reformed community of faith, you need to take note of some of her accents.

Today I will start a series of 5 sermons highlighting Biblical teachings which define us as a community of faith. Those teachings can be captured with the acronym FAITH. F stands for Fallen Humankind; A stands for Adopted by God; I points to Intentional Atonement; T underscores Transformation by the Holy Spirit; and H stands for Held by God.

While focusing on Genesis 3:1-7, I want to accentuate today the pervasiveness of sin. In doing so, I also want to articulate and explain the scope and seriousness of sin, and how our understanding of sin influences our approach to God and to all of life.

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In light of Scripture, the Reformed Christian community wants to take seriously the nature and extend of sin in our world. In fact, we want to stress that every human being is affected by sin. All people are in need of salvation because all people—by virtue of being the offspring of Adam and Eve—are sinful by nature. And not only people, but all of creation is affected by the entrance of sin and death into our world. All people and all of creation stand in need of renewal, restoration, or re-creation.

Thank God for Jesus Christ! He is our Hope, the Key, the Savior and Lord of all.

But today, we must focus on fallen humankind—on Adam and the human race.

Genesis 3:1-7 introduces us to the sin of Adam in his and her encounter with the serpent in the Garden of Eden. I say “his” and “her” because the story is about the man and the woman (Adam and Eve) touching and eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As Christians, we come to that story and interpret it through the eyes of the New Testament and through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 5:12, for example, we learn that “…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned….”

That N.T. reference to “one man” points to Adam as the head of the human race, who together with his wife, Eve, fell into sin when trapped by the devil. The Apostle Paul makes reference to the “one man” as the first Adam functioning as the head of the fallen human race. And Paul speaks of Jesus Christ as the “second Adam,” who stands at the head of the new, restored humanity. Genesis 3:1-7, however, makes it clear that Adam’s headship and fall into sin refer to the man and woman in the Garden of Eden.

Thank God for Jesus Christ, for he is able to undo what Adam and Eve, collectively could not do! Once they fell into sin, they became subject to the powers of sin and death.

We note the serpent’s devious trap. Moved by Satan—a fallen angel, ruler of a spiritual realm in opposition to God (Rev.12:9; 20:2; II Peter 2:4; John 1:3)—the serpent influences the woman to have evil thoughts about God. The devil pretends NOT to know exactly what God had told Adam and his wife: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? The question is a trap. It sounds so innocent—as if Satan only needs to be corrected or be better informed as to what God has said. But in the mean time, Satan injects a poisonous thought into the woman and man’s heart—the thought that suggests that God is doing the man and woman an injustice by keeping them from eating of the forbidden fruit.

The woman is quick to set the serpent straight: “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.” But the damage is done. For the text says that “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, 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.” Life has never been the same since, for sin and death, like a poison or cancer has spread throughout the human race and affected all of creation.

Before sin entered the world, the man and woman were in a state of grace; they saw the glory of God and enjoyed fellowship with him. That state of grace is underscored by the final verse in Gen. 2: ”The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” But after their disobedience and rebellion against God’s command, they discovered the truth of God’s warning that they would have knowledge of good and evil. For the texts says in Gen. 3:7. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked.”

They felt a sense of shame and a need to clothe themselves. Their sense of holiness is now corrupted with a sense of sin and shame. They have a need to hide from each other and from God. That’s why I say that the pervasiveness of sin determines, in part, our approach to God and to all other areas of life.

Now some may object and say, “What does Adam’s sin have to do with me today? I was not there; so why should I share in their sin?” My answer is simple: the Bible teaches that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This is so because it is by nature that we are dead in sins and trespasses. As Paul says in Eph. 2: “Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” Or as he says in Rom. 5:12 “…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”

Since our nature is corrupted by Adam’s sin, so we are prone to commit sins ourselves; Adam’s sin is so pervasive that sin “clings to us,” as it were. Our fallen human nature is so corrupt that we are “inclined toward all evil.” The fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise, have so “poisoned our nature that we are born sinners—corrupt from conception on.”

And just as sin alienated Adam and Eve from God, so are we separated from the presence of God. Thank God for Jesus Christ! For Jesus has bridged that gap between God and us.

The pervasiveness of sin, however, determines, in part, our approach to God and to all other areas of life. And that’s why the Reformed Christian community accentuates the seriousness of sin and the corrupt, fallen human nature of all people.

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So if our identity as a community of faith is shaped by this accent on the Bible’s teaching on sin, then how does that teaching reflect itself? Or to put it another way: If this teaching—that all people have fallen into sin, and are dead in sins and trespasses, and cannot save themselves, and suffer the consequences of sin all throughout life—if such a teaching is a formative, distinctive part of Calvary’s spiritual DNA, then how does that DNA component show itself in our relationships, in our worship, and in our evangelistic outreach, for example?

(1) In our relationships we recognize and acknowledge the pervasiveness and power of sin and death in all of life and in ourselves. When Adolf Eichman stood trial at Neuremberg for killing thousands of innocent Jews in WW. II, one Jewish observer at the trial was shocked. He had thought of Adolf Eichman as a monster, a beast. But when he saw him at the trial, the Jewish observer was struck by Eichman’s humanity; he saw himself in Eichman. And he realized that just as Eichman followed his unchecked, uncontrolled human nature, so he himself was capable of doing what Eichman had done.

Sin is pervasive and has corrupted our nature. I may like to think of myself as a “Mother Theresa,” but I must always face the fact that (apart from Christ and the restraining grace of God) I am capable of doing atrocious things. This is why we do well to practice accountability and hold each other accountable in many different ways. Such realism of the power and pervasiveness of sin is part of the spiritual DNA of Reformed Christians.

(2) In our relationships, we practice humility, realizing that no one is perfect; that all stand in need of healing, forgiveness, and wholeness. Thus we reach out to each other and encourage each other to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. For only Jesus is able to save us and restore us; only Christ is able to “make us alive,” so that we may enter the presence of God again.

A sober assessment of our human nature, and a realization that only God in Christ can make us alive and save us from sin and death—will stir within us humility and gratitude for the saving work of Christ. No one is perfect; everyone needs Christ.

(3) In our worship, our accent on the pervasiveness of sin comes out in very distinct ways. For example, when we come together for worship, we acknowledge that we are entering the presence of our holy God; and we remember our place in his presence: it is a place of humility. Therefore, we confess our sins, individually and communally. We look up to Christ for forgiveness and healing and thus we hear and embrace God’s Word of pardon.

We acknowledge that we must do God’s bidding in the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we read portions of God’s Word that remind us of Christian service, conduct, obedience, and love. Worship, then, at Calvary, has a distinct flavor. We acknowledge our place and dependence upon God’s salvation and grace.

Christians from all over the world will recognize in our worship services that we speak the language of faith; they also will sense our accent: we are forgiven sinners, always in need of renewal and restoration in this broken, sinful world.

(4) In our daily living and work, Reformed Christians—(when mindful of their place before God), will avail themselves of prayer. For we know that apart from the Spirit of Christ, there is no power or strength within us. Reformed Christians will embrace the parental task of teaching the children to know the Lord; we will teach them to obey God’s Word; and we will model to the children how to say, “I’m sorry” whenever we do something wrong or sin, and how to live with humility, and how to conduct ourselves with contrite hearts.

At all times, Reformed Christians will acknowledge that no one can become a follower of Christ UNLESS the Spirit of God makes that person become alive; We emphasize God’s grace; we call people to confess their sins and humble themselves before God. But we will not pretend that people have it in their own power to come to Jesus by faith. Rebirth or regeneration is God’s work.

Reformed Christians will testify to the work of God in Christ; we will preach, teach, and model. We will implore and invite people to come to Christ. And we will trust God to do his work of saving the lost. We do not cajole people into God’s kingdom; we trust God to draw his people to himself.

It’s true: the pervasiveness of sin determines in part our approach to God and all other relationships in life. At Calvary and in the homes and lives of Reformed Christians that awareness of sin and its power shows up in the way we relate to each other, in the way we worship the living God, and in the way we have our being each and every day.

Thank God for Jesus Christ. For he is our sin bearer, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.