Understanding Sin

TO MISS THE MARK

By Samuel L Songate

The word SIN in Greek is Hamartia which literally means ‘to miss the mark’ as in an archer missing his target. Therefore Sin in simple words means failing to meet God’s standard. Sin is the essence of the Devil or Satan whose original name was Lucifer which means ‘son of the dawn’ or ‘bringer of light’.

Now Lucifer was a very self-centered person. He wanted to raise himself above his creator - God. Interestingly enough, the letter ‘I’ which denotes ‘self’ is at the center of LUC-I-FER and his fundamental nature S-I-N and PR-I-DE.

The first man and woman Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God. The Bible says God saw all that he had made and it was very good. This means that there was something in man that met God’s standard, that which pleased God.

However when the first man and woman yielded to Satan’s deception they contracted the deadly disease – SIN. As a result, Sin infected man could no longer please God thereby missing the mark all the time. The Bible describes this catastrophe like this, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). What a tragedy!

Now the bad news is that the three letter word ‘all’ in the above verse includes each and every individual including you and me. And sinful deeds like murder, hate, jealousy, drunkenness, theft, corruption, rape, lust, fornication and all sorts of immoralities are only the symptoms of the deadly disease – Sin. It’s just that these symptoms are obvious in some while they are hardly visible in others.

And the worst thing is that the wages or result of Sin is DEATH. The very fact that not a single person out of more than 7 billion people on this earth is found to be immortal proves that there is none who did not sin. And what matters more is the spiritual death rather than the physical death caused by Sin as the spirit is eternal while the physical is temporal.

However, God whose essence is Love decided to pay the penalty of man’s sin by sending his one and only son Jesus Christ to bore our sins and die at the Cross. John the Baptist had rightly said when he saw Jesus, “Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The Cross was meant for you and me but Christ took our place and died on our behalf. Now that someone had died for your sins, you don’t have to die anymore.

Now how do you respond when somebody offer you a gift? You either accept or reject the gift. The fact is that Christ had purchased eternal life for you with his own blood (remember blood is life) and offer you his resurrected life that is capable of pleasing God, that never miss the mark.

It’s up to you to accept or reject that offer. Your decision is going to decide your destiny in eternity. Accepting means to die to Sin and all the sinful pleasures and start living for God who have planned you long before you exist and formed you in your mother’s womb. Remember this new life that Jesus offered you will never miss the mark!