Salvation from Sin

A short series of 3 sermons on this very central aspect of Christian faith.

1.The problem, the need - our sin

2.God’s solution - Jesus

3.Our response and the result

1. The problem

In a word, sin. This is sometimes seen as a funny religious word. Yet the newspapers are full of sin - murder, war, greed, etc - they just don’t call it “sin” and so miss a vital point, that these things are essentially rebellion against God.

This is stressed in the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3. This is not to be taken literally as a story of two naked people in a garden with a talking snake, but as a simple (but extraordinarily penetrating) description of what we do. Adam and Eve are you and me.

The story starts with God’s good creation, including the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve are in charge, but God has given them a couple of restrictions for their own good. In particular, they are not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, they (and so we too!) should trust and obey God, rather than having to reach out to experience everything for ourselves.

But then comes the temptation, and Eve reckons it would be great to be “wise”, and so the pair eat the forbidden fruit. (Please note that in the story they are equally to blame, even if in slightly different ways - there is no room here for saying it was mainly her fault, or mainly his fault!) Here then is a picture of us breaking away from God’s pattern.

Now comes the sense of guilt. In the story, Adam and Eve hide from God behind the trees. For us, the relationship with God is broken. And with guilt comes shame, and also the “Not me, guv” reaction - he blames her and she blames the snake. Anything rather than stick their hands up and admit their guilt.

Finally in the story, God pronounces judgement. This should not be seen as some sort of vindictive response, but a setting out of the fact that sin causes disruption and breakdown.

So, overall, what does the Garden of Eden story tell us?

1.The root cause of the problem is rebellion against God.

2.The chief result is that our relationship with God is broken.

3.This results in the general mess we often see in ourselves and in the world around us.

4.The problem is so deep that superficial solutions aren’t going to work.

The second of these points not only raises the issue of our relationship with God now, but also what happens in eternity. I believe we do have to face up to the fact of God’s judgement. He wants everyone to be forgiven and saved, but many spurn his love, and in the end God will not force himself on people. So hell is a reality. But most Christians today would see hell in terms, not of eternal flames, but of being cut off from God, the source of life, and therefore hell means extinction, the end of existence.