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Sin Separates Us From God

Sin Separates Us From God

Genesis 1-3

by Ozzy Gomez

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). By the sixth day God had created everything else that we have come to know in this world. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). God intended for his creation to be good and perfect, but because of Adam’s sin we no longer live in a perfect world. Sin has corrupted all of creation. To make matters worse, all of humanity has been separated from God. No longer does humanity have a perfect, loving relationship with our Creator, but now we are at enmity with the Holy God. Since God is the creator and giver of life, to be separated from Him means to be experiencing death (Romans 6:23). Part of God’s Holiness is His perfect justice. This justice demands that sin be reckoned with. Therefore, an unbridgeable gap lies between God and His creation with no hope through man's own efforts (Ephesians 2:12).        

Before Adam sinned, man was at peace and fellowship with God and the rest of creation. In Genesis 1:26 we see God had created male and female uniquely and purposefully. This describes man's unique relationship with God. It also explains how we resemble Him in our ability to think, to communicate, to understand right and wrong, to be creative and to experience relationships – both with God and with one another. God established man as His representative on earth, giving him dominion and authority to rule over the rest of creation. Adam was able to go and speak to God directly (Genesis 2:16-17). God cared for Adam by providing food for him, giving him duties to perform, fitting him with a perfect union in marriage, and sustaining him with all he would ever need to live.

Adam and Eve experienced life in perfect peace with the Lord. A unique relationship that is foreign to man in today’s world. It might be impossible to imagine but Adam and Eve originally lived in perfect peace with each other and the rest of creation. God originally designed for Adam and Eve to have specific roles that complemented one another. That means they had the perfect marriage – meaning that there was no strife or even misunderstanding in their marriage. They lived out the roles that God had designed for them without fault. God's design for creation included peace and fellowship with all animals. We see in Genesis 1: 26-29, God calls all creatures to submit to man's authority. We also see that both man and animals were designed to live off of plants. Which means that man did not have to hunt animals and likewise animals didn’t prey on each other. God had provided all that creation needed to live in peace among one another. Despite all that God had provided, Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command to not eat of the tree of knowledge marking the beginning of Sin and all the consequences that come with it.

Adam and Eve had enjoyed perfect fellowship with the Lord until Adam's sin divided all mankind from God, turning our relationship with our Creator into one of hostility. Immediately after eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Genesis 3:8 tells us that Adam and Eve tried to hide themselves from God's presence. Why would they do this? It is because they knew that they had sinned against God and could not stand in the presence of a perfectly holy and righteous God. Although no one can actually hide from God, our sin produces shame, guilt, and fear causing us to run away from God rather than running towards him. Sin has consequences and Adam and Eve weren’t ready for it. No longer would they have the perfect marriage but their desires will be contrary to one another (Genesis 3:15-16). Thus, one of the most tragic results of Adam and Eve’s sin is an ongoing conflict between husbands and wives. Next, we see the effect that sin has on the land and man's authority over creation. Adam will no longer enjoy the Garden’s abundance of food, but rather he will have to work the ground even though it will not be as productive as it originally was created to be. Ultimately, sin brings forth death and to be separated from God is to be experiencing eternal death (Genesis 3:19). Thus, we are brought back to the unbridgeable gap between God and His creation with no hope through our own effort (Eph 2:12).

It's easy to look at Adam and Eve and point out where they went wrong. You're probably thinking of how they ruined everything for the rest of us. You might think to yourself, “I would have never sinned if that was me.” But the truth is, that is us! Romans 3:23 tells us that “for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God'.” All people inherit from Adam a sinful nature resulting in a complete separation from God. No matter if the gap between you and God is small or great you will never be able to bridge the gap. God’s Holiness can be described as blameless, faultless, unblemished and morally perfect. The only way to bridge the gap between us is to be Holy as God is Holy (Eph 2:12). To make matters worse the Bible tells us that as sinners, we are enemies of God and under His divine wrath (John 3:17-21). But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us chose to save us (Eph 2:4-5). Ephesians 2:13-14 tells us that now in Jesus Christ, “you who once was far off will be brought nearby his blood. For He is our peace and has made us both one, breaking down the wall of hostility.”

Jesus lived the life we couldn't live, died the death that we deserve, and won the battle that we could never win. There is reconciliation when you repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Only by being born again in Jesus Christ is our separation from God eliminated (John 3:3).
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