NATURE OF MAN’S SIN
This is the old problem that has confronted Theologians in every generation since Calvary.
What was the nature of man’s original transgression? It could not have been a broken law for there had been no law given as we understood the term from its connection with the Law of Moses. Then what kind of a sin was it that could compel the Incarnation and the sufferings of Calvary? What was the sin that may be called man’s masterstroke of misery? Having found that man was invested with such far-reaching authority, that he had an intellect of such calibre as to be the companion of Deity, and that he had in his hands the joy or the sorrow of God, we can understand now the nature of man’s sin he committed.
HIGH TREASON
The sin of Adam was the crime of High Treason.
God had conferred upon him the legal authority to rule the Universe. This Universe-wide Dominion was the most sacred heritage that God could give to Man. Adam turned this Legal Dominion into the hands of God’s enemy, the Devil. This sin is unpardonable! High Treason has been so considered in all ages of the Human. Adam’s transgression was committed in the white light of absolute knowledge. He was not deceived by the Devil. He understood the steps that led to this awful crime. His wife, Eve, was deceived, but Adam became the Benedict Arnold of Eternity. “For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression.” I Timothy 2:13-14. He knew God; he knew Satan; he knew the result of the un¬thinkable crime he committed.
THE EFFECT OF THE TREASON
First, it was the thwarting of God’s plan.
Second, it was the separation of God and Man.
Third, it gave Satan universal Dominion over God’s creation.
Fourth, it incurred a complete bondage of the Human to the Devil.
Fifth, it brought a blighting Curse upon the Animal and the Vegetable Kingdom.
There had been no death since the face of the earth had been renewed and prepared for man’s advent, but now a blighting curse sweeps over God’s fair Creation. Every flower and fruit has a curse upon it. Worms, briars and thorns abound.
In Genesis 3:17 the story is told of the earth’s being cursed as a result of man’s sin. So bitterly was it cursed that its fruit was unfit to lay upon God’s altar as we see in Cain’s offering.
This hideous, withering curse changed the face of all the earth. Death and blight are now visible everywhere. The effect on the animal kingdom is more sinking. Creation was planned under the dominion of love; the whole animal creation lived in the atmosphere of love and peace. Fear and hatred were unknown. Suddenly the whole animal creation received a new nature. There was breathed into them as by a breath of wind a spirit of hatred, of cunning, of fear, and revenge.
The lamb and lion had gamboled and played together upon the green; suddenly the lion is changed; he becomes ferocious; his voice that had known no sounds but love was changed until the very woods and plains resounded with his awful war-call, Fear grips the heart of the timid.
Man’s awful crime is being felt by the whole animal creation. The earth is suddenly turned into a great battlefield, and down through the ages the silent woods, streams, and deserts have become a huge cemetery. Fear and death stalk in the shadows of every night.
