Berlin Immanuel Church gathered on Sunday, November 26, continuing series on the history of salvation with a sermon on the original sin. The opening passage was in Romans 3:23-24 where Paul concludes that all have sinned and are in need of redeemer. Similarly David in Old Testament book of Psalms 51 speaks of a sinful nature of all humans and our complete dependence on God’s mercy for righteousness. Jesus says in Mark 2 that it’s the sick who need a doctor – only when we realize the seriousness of our condition, we can see the value of the works of Christ in our lives.

The Bible teaches us clearly that the sin didn’t come from God – in Genesis 1 God saw all he made and it was very good. John says in 1 John 2:16 that the sinful nature of man is not the Father’s making, but ours. In Genesis 3, the sinful nature is not an addition, but a loss. Apostle Paul speaks clearly of sin in Romans 1 that we suppress the truth by wickedness; when we don’t give God his due glory and thanks, our thinking becomes futile and our hearts darken; when we don’t retain the knowledge of God, our minds become depraved. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve exchange the truth of God for a lie that self-determination is better for us that reliance on God. But when we eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and claim the ability to discern good and evil for us, when we become like God, tragedy, misery and suffering follows. That ability and right belongs to the one who created us, he saw all he made and it was good – he is the creator and source of all that is good.

When we severe our dependence on God, the wise and caring Father, our creator and provider, the source of life, truth and all that is good and foolishly declare our independence, all aspects of our life and existence start falling apart. The consequence of sin is our broken relationship with God – Adam hides from God in Genesis 3:8; our broken self-understanding – Adam suddenly feels ashamed and feels the need to cover himself in Genesis 3:7; and finally our broken relationships with one another – Adam opts for self-justification and finger-pointing in Genesis 3:12. And so while we hate to hear and think about our own sin (Rom 2:15), it is necessary that we know and understand our sinful nature in order to receive the good news that God send his son Jesus Christ out of his great love so that all who believe in him and obey him can have true righteousness, purpose and hope in this life and the one to follow to eternity.