Genesis 3:12-13. 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Even though God told them not to, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. This is what is often called the Fall of Man. From this point forward people will not just be the image of God, we will be the fallen image of God. We will be sinners. Adam and Eve taking and eating the forbidden fruit will cause sin to enter into the world and into our hearts. From now on every person born will be born a sinner. Here’s how the Apostle Paul says it in Romans 5:
Romans 5:12. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
Do you remember the story of David and Goliath? David and Goliath fought each other as representatives of their nations. David represented Israel. If he wins the battle, then Israel would win the war. Goliath represented the Philistines. If he wins the battle, then the Philistines will win the war. And you know what happened right? David won and all of Israel won. Why? Because David represented Israel.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam represented all of humanity. If he sins, then we all have sinned. That’s what Paul says in Romans 5:12: All sinned. When Adam sinned we all became sinners. Ever since Adam, every single person has been born as a sinner. We are all born with the disease of selfishness. You don’t have to teach a little child how to sin, you have to teach them how NOT to sin.
As a pastor, sometimes I hear people say that they were born a Christian. But no one is born a Christian. Everyone is born a sinner who needs to be saved from their sin. The Bible calls it being “born again.” Just like every person is born physically from Adam and Eve, every person needs to be born again spiritually from Jesus. How? By trusting that Jesus is our new representative, our new Adam, our better David. By trusting Jesus to save us from our sinfulness and give us a new heart that doesn’t have to sin.
This is why there must never be any bragging about being a Christian. There is no boasting in being a Christian, there is only boasting in Christ. The fact that you have been saved should never produce pride, only humility. You did not work your way out of this sin, you were rescued out of it. You aren’t David fighting Goliath, that’s Jesus. You are the scared Israelite who refuses to go fight knowing you can never win that battle.
And this is also why our sin must produce sadness. Just like we can’t do anything to save ourselves from our sin, we also can’t do anything to make up for our sin against God. We should be sad that our sin makes God sad, and that it hurts his creation, especially when it hurts other people.
Sometimes we feel bad about our sin for selfish reasons. We got caught. We are embarrassed. We were punished and lost a privilege. Then, just like Adam and Eve did, we try to hide from God and blame others for our mistakes. The Apostle Paul calls this “worldly sorrow.”
But Paul says that there is also a “Godly sorrow” for sin. Feeling sad about our sin because it violated God’s perfection. Jesus in our hearts allows us to have this “Godly sorrow” when we sin. He still loves us and forgives us no matter what, and that means we don’t ever have to hide from him or blame others. We can trust him to use even our sin to make us better until one day we are just like him.
Questions: Does your sin make you sad? Have you ever been caught sinning? Did you have “Godly sorrow” because you hurt God’s heart, or “worldly sorrow” because you got in trouble and are embarrassed?
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