The Origin of Sin

William K. Harrison
THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SIN

Before the creation of the universe only God existed, the eternal Triune God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The whole creation and all that has transpired or will do so was foreordained by God. This is true even of sin and its terrible consequences (Isa. 40:12-15; 46:9-11; Rev. 4:11; 2 Tim. 1:9; Acts 4:26-28; Jude 4; Matt. 25:41). God is infinitely holy and hates sin (Isa. 6:1-5; Prov. 6:16; 8:13). He can neither be tempted to sin nor tempt anyone else to sin (James 1:13). Sin must therefore have begun through some cause other than God. Although the entrance of sin into the "good" creation (Gen. 1:31) was necessarily pursuant to God's intent it must have been so as an expression of His permissive and passive will rather than by His active causation. An illustration of the difference between the active and passive wills of God is seen in the experience of Sodom. For a long time God put up with the vile immorality of its inhabitants, but finally His patience ended and He destroyed the city and its people (Gen. 18:2019:29). Therefore it must be concluded that sin was actively caused by something in the personal nature of the creatures who sinned. In the wisdom and power of God, sins furthered God's purposes (Ps. 76:10).
T H E DIRECT CAUSE OF SIN

Adam was created in the image and likeness of God and was to seek God (Gen. 1:26, 27; Acts 17:26, 27). Among other characteristics he was an intelligent moral being, conscious of God his Creator and Sovereign. He was fully aware of his own inferior and subject status. He was God's servant, charged with specified duties
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(Gen. 1:25-30; 2:15-17). Being in the image of God he necessarily was morally free. Thus, he knew what he was to do, for whom he was to do it, and was absolutely free to choose to obey or not to obey. In such a situation there was no possible way to avoid making this choice. His natural reason and his knowledge of God were such that to disobey God would be a deliberate act to satisfy himself rather than his Creator. There could be no excuse or mitigating circumstances. Although created in the image and likeness of God, Adam was not God but a finite being, infinitely apart from and inferior to God. He was a distinct person with his own mind, emotions, desires, and will. Unless restrained and controlled by God his actions would result from thoughts and choices made by himself alone. Since he was like God he was free and there was no control, no coercion. Unlike God, whose acts proceed from Himself alone, Adam's choices would necessarily be influenced by his thoughts of God, by his personal needs and desires, and by his relationship to his environment and its creatures. Certainly, Adam's natural consciousness of God should outweigh all other considerations. However, God is invisible, His glory and majesty not perceived, whereas the influences of the self and the environment are immediate and demanding. They would thrust themselves upon Adam, while his awe and love of God had to be sustained by constant attention on his part. It seems evident that were Adam's thoughts to wander from his God (Ps. 10:4) the importance in his mind of other things would increase in corresponding degree, until finally he would do what the self desired (James 1:14). The foregoing conclusion seems to be supported by Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 1:3 which state that Christ holds all things in the universe together. This truth is obvious in the physical realm. Were gravitation, electromagnetism, and the nuclear binding forces to cease there would be no physical universe. To deny that the same principle applies in spiritual matters is unwarranted since the word all is employed in both references. A person on earth released from the force of gravity would be catapulted into space. Unless the Holy Spirit had revealed God's glory to Adam to the extent that the man remained humble before his Creator, that man would seek to escape from God, asserting his own will. The fall of the great angel who became Satan, God's adversary, illustrates the foregoing conclusion. Since Adam's status and powers were lower than those of the angels (Ps. 8:4, 5), those creatures must also have been made in the image and likeness of God and charged with some specific duties. When created Satan was sinless (Gen.

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1:31). If not the greatest of the angels he must have been one of the greatest (Jude 9; Eph. 6:10-12). Only the Lord can defeat him. Ezekiel 28:11-17 appears surely to describe him because that passage, although addressed to the king of Tyre, could in no way describe any human king or other man. As prince of this world Satan is the king over the rulers of the world system, and the passage evidently speaks to Satan through his human servant (John 12:31; Luke 4:4-6; 1 John 5:19; 2 Cor. 4:4). The great angel was originally the sum of wisdom and perfect in his ways until he sinned. This sin resulted from the fact that his mind was set on his own beauty rather than on the glory of the Creator. The ensuing pride led him to determine to follow his own will rather than to submit to God (Isa. 14:12-15). It seems clear that sin began because, having been created in the image and likeness of God, and intended to seek Him (Acts 17:26, 27), those originally good creatures were left absolutely free to make their choice in accord with their own natural reason and knowledge and that without any effort by God to influence them by any special revelation of His glory and majesty. To allow such a free choice was a necessary consequence of their likeness to God. Sin was therefore the inevitable result of their creation. The foregoing appears to provide a reasonable explanation of Isaiah 45:7 where God says that He created evil. Ordinarily this word evil is assumed to mean the evil consciousness of sin. On occasion however it refers to that which is sinful (Gen. 6:5; 8:21; John 3:19; Phil. 3:2). By itself the word is simply an abstraction. It has no application (as sin) until there is some moral creature who does put it into practice, that is, who sins. In creating the world, angels, and men, God created the principle as an integral element of their nature. Satan and his angels, and Adam and Eve practiced it. A great multitude of angels remained faithful to their Creator. They are the holy angels. Evidently God's Spirit did exert influence on them as suited His own purpose.
SIN WAS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE GOD'S PURPOSE

God is omnipotent and needs nothing. It must be presumed that all that He does is consistent with His Being and character. The consequences of sin are so terrible that in permitting it the righteous and just God must see it as essential to the achievement of a purpose whose benefits are of supreme importance to Himself. Since He needs nothing Himself the benefits must be for others, that is, created beings who are able to enjoy them to the fullest extent.

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The central fact of God's actions was the cross of Christ who was foreordained to that end before the creation of the universe (Acts 2:23; 1 Pet. 1:18-20). The cross of the Son of God was the means by which the Holy God could forgive sinners without compromising His holiness and justice (1 John 2:1, 2; Rom. 3:21-26; 1 Pet. 3:18). To this end was the creation (Col. 1:16) and all that followed and will follow it. The question is, what advantage could be sought by God that would compensate for all of the sorrow and misery caused by sin? Ephesians 2:7 tells us that our salvation will forever be a demonstration of God's grace. It is certain that the Lord needs no proof of His grace. It must therefore be means for His creatures. Therefore, the entire redemptive program beginning with the original creation must have had the objective of showing the grace of God to all of His creatures. His desire to show His grace is not a matter of vanity, but purposed to provide beings in His universe who would be the objects of His love and beneficiaries of all that He has to give. Our salvation is everlasting life which means that we are to know God and His Son Jesus Christ (John 17:3), and that in the same way that they know us (1 Cor. 13:12). Only creatures made in the image and likeness of God could ever know God, being of the same kind. The holiness of God can only be known by the consequences of sin and the cost of redemption by the cross. The love of God can be known only by the fact that He was willing to pay that cost, not grudgingly but joyfully (John 3:16; Gal. 2:20; Heb. 12:2). The total dependence of even the greatest creatures on God could have been known only by the proof that such beings, created good and sinless, would fall into sin apart from the continuing self-revelation of God to them.
CONCLUSION

In conclusion it appears that sin entered the creation because: ( 1 ) God desired that there might be creatures who could know Him and receive all of His blessings. For this purpose they had to be made in His image and likeness, including complete freedom to follow their own will in their attitude toward Him. (2) This freedom to choose exercised without any influence by God was the direct cause of sin. (3) Sin and all of its consequences were necessary to show His love and holiness, and the inability of man and angel apart from God, not only to the redeemed, but so every intelligent living creature would understand.

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