Dear World, 

It’s been a while. This post is something I’ve been wanting to talk about for a long time. I have been struggling in my sin as well, so I hope this post helps realign anyone who reads/hears it to remember how much Sin can destroy, not just the present life, but also the life to come. 

So, what is sin? Sin at its simplest definition can be broken into two parts: a noun and a verb. 

The noun sin is anything that goes against the commands of God. 

The verb sin is doing the act that goes against the commands of God.  

So, what’s so bad about sin? Well let’s look at the first example of sin. 

Genesis 2:15-17 

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’ 

We have a clear command of God. Do NOT eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God doesn’t stop there; he also adds an explanation. If you eat from it, you shall die. He didn’t have to add an explanation, but of course He still did and that still didn’t stop Adam and Eve.  

What was the conclusion of this sin? Please read Genesis 3:16-19. Adam and Eve were punished by God. The woman now had pain in childbearing and her husband shall rule over her. The man must work the ground to eat, all the fruits on the trees of the Garden of Eden are no longer accessible, and he now had to work to survive. They were both sent out the Garden of Eden and no longer had access to the tree of Life. Yet, God was still with them. 

Now this was the first sin, but the first time the name “Sin” was mentioned was not in regards to Adam and Eve, but to their children, Cain and Abel. We all know the story, but feel free to read Genesis 4.  

Genesis 4:6-7 

The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.’ 

Here the Lord comforts Cain. He accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but did not accept Cain’s sacrifice. He saw that Cain was very angry and reaches out to him. He notes that “sin was lurking at the door.” This feeling has a desire over us, yet God encourages us to “master it.” Unfortunately, Cain did as his parents even worse than his parents did. He disobeyed the Lord and killed his brother. Previously, God cursed the ground Adam was made from, and again, God curses the ground making it unable to be yielded to the strength of Cain. 

Genesis 4:9-12 

Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. 

Now these are two clear examples of Sin in the lives of the first human beings on Earth, according to the Christian and Hebrew Bible.  But what about today? I do not know about you, but as for me there are more than 2 examples of Sin in my life, in fact there are many. There is a great scripture we can use to “check on ourselves.” I call it the Acts of the Flesh vs. The Fruits of the Spirit.” But I will leave that for Part 2 of this study.  

Please let me know if you have any questions! Feel free to comment <3. 

With Love, 

Ayodeji Alaketu