As a young believer I had some serious questions about the whole concept of “original sin”. It is a hard thing to accept that humanity is inherently evil and in desperate need of saving. Our society tells us to believe just the opposite. We are encouraged to seek the good in all people, to be positive and accepting of all…even in the face of almost universal moral degradation. How can this be? How did we get to this place?
Over the last three months I have been reading the stories of Israel’s relationship with Yahweh as they approached the “promised land. In the book of Numbers we find a God who appeared to all of them in the cloud, fed them and protected them. Yet over and over again, they rebelled. They knew what would happen when they sinned, yet they blasphemed and brazenly disobeyed God’s commands.
They had even been given an avenue to forgiveness and redemption. Moses told them that God was….”slow to anger, rich in unfailing love & forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion”, but that he also left, “every kind of un-repented sin unpunished.” It wasn’t as if they didn’t know…just as we know. There is forgiveness, but there are also consequences. Perhaps, we like they, don’t actually believe in either, and therein is the distinguishing mark of original sin.
We have also been given an avenue for forgiveness and redemption… the cross of Christ! Only there can the embedded darkness in the heart of man be shattered so that we can find a way into the light!
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