DWoG 10 What is sin and where does it come from?

The topic of SIN is an important one to talk about. As Christians, it’s crucial not to get bogged down by a list of ‘do’s and don’ts.’ In God’s eyes, sin isn’t a checklist of personal opinions and preferences that are open for debate so for that reason we have to talk about what sin is and where it comes from?



To understand sin, we must first remember the purpose of humanity. God created humans as His partners, acting as priests within his creation. Our task, is to orient everything in creation towards God. Everything was made to reflect some aspect of God’s glory, but humans were chosen to lead this effort. God invited us to participate in His divine life and become one with Him.



In our initial session, we talked about the concept that God embodies Love. According to 1 John 4:8, it states, "God is Love," indicating that love defines His essence. Additionally, God is pure goodness, without any flaws or shortcomings. Love, therefore, can be understood as 'actively desiring the well-being of others.' God always work to better His creation. He calls us to participate in His love, encouraging us to extend it to others and to integrate everything into His divine existence according to 2 Peter 1:4.



Sin isn’t a thing it’s the absence of something, similar to darkness being the absence of light. Light exists independently, while darkness exists only where light is absent. Likewise, God’s love in other words the action of willing the good of others, is a virtue that exists on its own. Sin appears when this action is absent. When love fades, sin emerges.



Love diminishes when humans fail in their task to participate in God’s divine life. Failing to orient creation towards God means not actively willing the good of God, leading to distorted or misplaced love. In Genesis 3, Eve being selfish and focusing only on herself, distorted her love for God and creation. Her love became selfish, failing to honour God and creation, thus failing as God’s messenger. Adam failed in the same way. Where a virtue builds goodness and focusses away from oneself, a vice flows from distorted love which only focuses on the self. Misplaced love is a love where honour and adoration, which is due to the Triune God, is given to other things instead of God.



When we don't focus on God in our lives, we build up a debt to Him because we don't give Him the respect and worship and praise He deserves. Sin is this debt—it happens when we miss our purpose as humans. It means not giving God what He should get and not fulfilling our role as His representatives. This failure brings the consequences we see in Adam and Eve's story: the world gets out of sync with God, and death becomes a part of life.



Imagine a bow and arrow: if you miss the target, you fail to achieve your goal and accumulate a debt. Similarly, sin is failing in our duty to God, which leads to consequences like death. As God's representatives, we're not just supposed to honour Him—we're also tasked with bringing His life into creation. Falling short of this responsibility means we sin against both God and creation.



God created everything with the purpose of honouring Him and uniting with Him. All creation was meant to be in a right relationship with God and each other. This relationship sustains and allows life to flourish, drawing everything closer to God. Human relationships, including marriage, were created to honour God. Misusing any part of creation dishonours God, creating debt and sin.



In the beginning, everything was good because it was in harmony with God. But humans made mistakes and misused creation, which caused death and evil to enter the world. Trust between humans and God was replaced by mistrust, and this affected all of creation. This shift led to negative feelings like hatred and jealousy, as seen when Cain killed Abel. When genuine love is absent, goodness can turn into evil, and this brings about destruction and death.



Because humans have made many mistakes, we owe God a lot. But God’s love never gives up. He came to Earth as Jesus Christ to pay our debt. On the cross, Jesus took all our wrongs on Himself, bringing us back to God. His sacrifice lets us have a close relationship with God again and help take care of the world. Our job is to make sure everything we do honours and respects God, like it was meant to.



Seeing sin as more than just a list of rules helps us think deeply about ourselves. Instead of just focusing on what we should or shouldn’t do, we should ask: “Are my thoughts, words, and actions bringing myself and the world closer to God?”



For instance:



Is my sexual relationship aligned with God’s purpose?

Am I orienting creation towards God by not littering?

Am I willing the good of my neighbour by not stealing?

If the answer is ‘no,’ it’s sin. On the other hand, actions like feeding the hungry, protecting property, picking up litter, and honouring relationships align with God and are virtuous.



In essence, sin is the absence of virtue, failing to fulfill our role as priests of God. It’s not about following a checklist but living in a way that consistently wills the good of others, aligning all actions with God’s love and purpose.