The Essence and Power of Sin (Part 1)

We have to always start at the beginning.  All answers to all questions concerning humans start with the first man and woman.  This is the essential question to the foremost problem of the human condition:

What is the essence and power of sin?

All of our problems began and begin with sin.
All human sin began with the first man and first woman.
So we always have to start at the beginning.
God is the beginning.
This is what He said man and woman were to be:

• "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.  Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth."
• "In the image of God He created him;  male and female He created them."

So man and woman were to be the creatures on earth who look like God and act like God, ruling earth as God ruled heaven.  Dominion.  Being like God, the first dominion they were to take was dominion over themselves.  Self-control.  Self-government.  Choice.  Freewill.  They were as free in making decisions as God Himself is free.  Free to choose and refuse.  Free to choose the tree of life, which God didn't forbid, and free to refuse the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God did forbid.  Both knew this.  Both knew their freedom to choose and refuse, to obey or disobey.  Both knew what God said, what God commanded.

Now we will see the essence of sin:  disbelief.

We know that God considers faith, or belief, or believing Him, or trusting Him, righteousness.  We know, according to scripture, that "faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God."  We know that Adam and Eve had both heard the word of God:

"From the trees in garden you may FREELY eat, but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for the day you eat of it you will surely die." 

These were the words of the LORD to them. 

Eve listened to the serpent.
Adam listened to Eve.

Eve's "faith" came from hearing AND BELIEVING the serpent's lie.
Adams' "faith" came from listening to his wife, though he was not deceived like Eve.

Neither listened to God.  They listened to a creature rather than the Creator.
This is the essence of sin, revealing the power of sin.

(Click here for part 2)