The Power of the Cross

Chapter Three Sin and the Cross

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” In chapter one, we looked at Adam and Eve in the garden, their sin and ultimate condemnation. We also saw that God had a plan to deal with man’s sin even before the foundations of the world. In chapter two we saw that the law was given as a temporary measure because of sin but it was not design to bring salvation to man. Man still had a sin problem and was still at variance with God. In this chapter we will look at God’s solution for sin. Through Adam, sin and death came into the world. Sin entered first and then death followed. But much more than that sin and death was passed on to all men. Wherever you find death you will find sin. Our world did not begin with death. It began with life and thanks be to God it will end with life. Let us take a brief look at sin and what it means. The New Testament used five different words for sin. The most common word is hamartia. This was originally a shooting word and means a missing of the target. To fail to hit the target was hamartia. Therefore, sin is the failure to be what you might have been and could have been according to God’s purpose for you. Sin is the failure to do what you should have done and could have done according to God’s standard. For example, are we as good husbands or wives as we could be? Are we as good sons or daughters as we could be? Are we as good employees or employers as we could be? Is there anyone who will dare look God in the eye and to claim that he is all he might have been, and has done all he could have done? When we realize that sin means the failure to hit the target, the failure to be all that we might have been and could have been, then it is clear that everyone one of us is a sinner. God’s plan for us are way bigger and better than we imagine and can accomplish by ourselves. The second word for sin is parabasis. Parabasis literally means a stepping across. Sin is the stepping across the line which is drawn between right and wrong, truth and lies, light and darkness, good and evil. Who draws the line? God does! He determines what is good and what is evil and whenever we cross the line we sin. For example, do we always stay on the right side of the line which divides honesty and dishonesty? Is there never any such thing as a petty dishonesty in our lives? Do we always stay on the right side of the line which divides truth and falsehood? Do we never, by word or by silence, twist or evade or distort the truth? Do we always stay on the right side of the line which divides kindness and courtesy from selfishness and harshness? Is there never an unkind action or a discourteous word in our lives? When we think of it in this way, there is no one who can claim to always have remained on the right side of the dividing line. All have sinned. The third word for sin is paraptōma. Paraptoma means a slipping across. It is the kind of slip which a man might make on a slippery or an icy road. It is not as deliberate as parabasis. Last night, we had a snow storm and today the temperature dropped to six degrees. Though the road ways have been plowed and most sidewalks cleared there is the possibility of “black ice” on the road. This can be very dangerous and is the cause of many fatalities over the years. If a driver tries to brake on “black ice” the brakes do not hold and the car just slips on the ice. On the sidewalks, many people slip and fall during the winter after a snowfall due to patches of ice on the sidewalk. A week ago, a friend of mine slipped and fell outside their church building due to the icy condition of the sidewalk. Thank God she did not break any bones. She said she was well dressed and even wearing the prescribed boots for the weather, yet she still slipped. Though she was being careful she still slipped. She said she did not even know when she hit the ground. Before she realized what was happening she was on the ground. The moment she took her eyes off the ground, her foot stepped on ice and it was over. This is the sense of paraptoma. Again and again we speak of words slipping out. Before you knew it the word was out and you were left wishing you never said it. Again and again we are swept away by some impulse or passion, which has momentarily gained control of us, and which has made us lose our self-control. The best of us can slip into sin when for the second we are off our guard. Who can be on their guard all the time? All have sinned. The fourth word for sin is anomia. Anomia means lawlessness. Anomia is the sin of the man who knows right, and yet does wrong; the sin of the man who knows the law, and breaks the law. This is the sin of Adam and Eve and every other human being. The first of all the human instincts is the instinct to do what we like. There are times in every life when we just do what we want. We defy the law. We look at the red light and decide to keep going even though we know it is wrong. We know an accident can happen as a result. We know a life can be lost but we do it anyway. We take the forbidden thing. This is what it means to sin. The fifth word for sin is the word opheilēma. Opheilema means a debt. It means a failure to pay that which is due, a failure in duty. There is no one who will ever dare to claim that he has perfectly fulfilled his duty to man and to God. Such perfection does not exist among men. All have sinned because no one has ever fulfilled all his duties to God and other men except Christ. Christ the Only Solution for Sin Hebrews 10:1-14 “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming — not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, 'Here I am — it is written about me in the scroll — I have come to do your will, O God.'" 8 First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Emphasis Added)