God’s View of Sin in the Old Testament

God’s View of Sin in the Old Testament

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The Bible as the manuscript that defines the origin of life and everything around human kind has remained influential for ages. The value of the stories told that depict the relationship between mankind and God is not only hinged on the relevance but also the inclusive truth. One of the defining moments in the Genesis is the deep ties God was intending to establish with man. However, man sinned that sparked the antagonism and rebellion that led to God chasing mankind from the Garden of Aden. The Bible and the stories told in the book of Genesis records that God was at the beginning very interested in establishing a close relationship with man. Moreover, the beginning as recorded in the book of Genesis unfolds quite an interesting era of God versus mankind. There is an incredible connection between what mankind sought to know and that God was wiling to reveal. The other lesson is that only God is Holy and this shows that he is beyond our reach in all manner. Mankind’s strive to stay holy was always faced with obstacles and the sinful nature of man prevents him from relating with God closely.

Sin is said to be the cause of the division and gap between man and God that to this day is deeply criticized in the Bible. One of the key aspects of the early Bible stories is that they held a strong connection between God’s Holiness and mercy. The book of Genesis narrates that mankind did not only hold a special place in God’s creation but was the ruler of the entire earth (Wright, 2020). However, God lost trust on mankind when he sinned by eating the forbidden fruit that made God angry towards mankind. The first story that depicts the origin of sin and its nature in God’s eyes is the Cain versus Abel. Cain as very rude and rebellious person in the Bible committed a very grave sin of murdering Abel. God was trying to show that He was the supreme being who ruled and oversaw all mankind’s actions on the land. The story of Cain killing Abel is an example of how sin brought mankind and God into separation (Martens, 2015). One thing the Bible stories teach the Christians is that sin was the obstacle that existed between mankind and God thus prevented the human race from accessing God’s favors.

Even today, sin is a major issue that all teachings try to condemn. The early life of mankind and his relationship with God appeared so solid until sin came in between. One of the key lessons from the early Bible stories is that God was kind and merciful ad was ready to forgive mankind (Martens, 2015). There is also the lesson about patience that was s very vital character of God. One of the key lessons about the Bible is that sin was the only thing that defied how God related with mankind. Other Bible stories like that of Moses shows that God was still merciful with his people. He chose Moses to lead the Israelites and rescued them from the hands of Pharaoh (Stibbs, 2017). Some of the defining elements of mankind’s relationship with God is thus related to the nature of purity that God expected. One thing that remain clear is that sin in its core value was the only separation that arose between man and God. The Bible stories depict that mankind was highly valued by God even in his sinful nature and thus God was always ready to forgive. In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin (Wright, 2020). While sins are generally actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, shameful, harmful, or alienating might be termed “sinful”.

The other major story in the early life of mankind is Abraham who was always faithful and obedient to God. Abraham underwent some trials where he was regarded as baren as he could not get child until the age of 99 years. God was using the life of Abraham to show that he is beyond nature as he gave Abraham a son at a very unrealistic age (Stibbs, 2017). The life of Abraham was built around faith and obedience to God but this did not mean that he was living a happy life always. God tried Abraham’s faith by telling him to sacrifice his son that caused an outrage between Abraham and his wife Sarah (Martens, 2015). The events in these stories shows that as much as God rewarded good deeds, he could also try and inflict pain on those who remained faithful. This brings the idea of the nature and reason from staying pure. The human condition as depicted by many Bible stories shows that man is bound to sin once in while.

The other lesson is that only God is Holy and this shows that he is beyond our reach in all manner. Mankind’s strive to stay holy was always faced with obstacles and the sinful nature of man prevents him from relating with God closely (Stibbs, 2017). The nature of sin in the Bible is better described within the context of the actions that angered God and the source of barrier between the Supreme Being and mankind. Moreover, the nature of man is always depicted as the one bound to a view of selfishness that is one of the causes of sin. Sin is a major issue that all teachings try to condemn (Martens, 2015). The early life of mankind and his relationship with God appeared so solid until sin came in between. One of the key lessons from the early Bible stories is that God was kind and merciful ad was ready to forgive mankind. There is also the lesson about patience that was s very vital character of God. The Genesis stories shows that man was willing to obey but often overcome by personal desires and greed. For example, Cain’s cause of killing his brother is said to have resulted from anger and jealousy. For example, God showed patience with Pharaoh when he held the Israelites captive and acted only when the time was right (Wright, 2020).

Moreover, the variant elements of a diverse and inclusive values that depict how God related with man are built around the element of honesty. The story of Cain’s murdering his brother shows that God was willing to listen to Cain’s side of the story. The only contradiction that arises from these perceptions about the Bible is that sin was still relative and determined how God associated with the human beings. In Christian views sin is an evil human act, which violates the rational nature of man as well as God’s nature and his eternal law. It is true that sin was a major issue that God hated but he was always to forgive that shows his unique nature.

References

Martens, E. A. (2015). God’s design: A focus on Old Testament Theology. Wipf and Stock Publishers.

Stibbs, A. (2017). God’s church: a study in the biblical doctrine of the people of God.

Wright, C. J. (2020). The mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s grand narrative. Inter-Varsity Press.