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Viewed as chatha', "coming short of our true end," the glory of God (Rom 3:23), literally, missing the mark as in shooting an arrow at a target; Greek hamartanoo (NT:264). (from Fausset's Bible Dictionary, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1998 by Biblesoft)

Click here: CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Original Sin http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11312a.htm

The best way to begin this is with point/counterpoint.
A) God is omnipotent.
B) God is omniscient.
C) God is love.

Therefore:
A) When Satan “snuck” into the Garden, God allowed it.
B) When Adam sinned, God knew it would happen that way.
C) Since God already had a plan for dealing with this, He had to have a preconceived reason for “The Fall.”

To sin is to “miss the mark.”

Jesus lived to show the mark we should aim for.

Jesus died to show how much God cares about us.

Jesus rose to show we are forgiven.

There is no way in which we can earn salvation.

So…………..
……………..there must be much more to all this than earning salvation points.

In his letter to the Church in Rome, Paul speaks of sin (an errant way of life) coming into the world through one, Adam. Paul, then, speaks of salvation coming through one man, Jesus. He expresses how the Way of Adam (self determination of how to live) results in death; but how the Way of Jesus leads us to eternal life.

Paul, also, pointed out that God forms us, as a potter does clay, to fulfill His purpose on earth. He MADE Pharaoh obstinate so Moses could demonstrate God’s supremacy. He blinded the Jews till the fullness of the Gentiles could come to understanding. He points out that it is not up to us to complain at how unfair this seems that one should be abased that another is glorified. Calvinists like to make use of this to argue the doctrine of predestination – that God has predetermined who He will accept and who He will reject. This doctrine has been carried to the extreme of teaching individuals have been predestined to be saved or condemned; and that God shows his favor on his chosen by blessing them. Those of us who rise up and assert “this doesn’t make sense,” God responds with, “It’s my ball and I either make the rules or I take the ball home with me.” Hmmm.

Well, I suggest an alternate take on this. What God is doing is neither fair nor unfair but the only way to achieve His purpose. What is askew is our PERCEPTIONS of what God is doing. We tend to think human history is the result of Adam surprising God and blowing the lid off Paradise. But, that would make God to be something less than omniscient. It seems more likely that Adam was set up to take the fall much like Pharaohs “sting operation” designed to further the development of righteous character.

Today, we have a retrospective of history from which to refine our aim. We are coming to understand the principles behind God’s law -- A law called but a shadow of reality.

In fact, in Gal 4:24, Paul compares the Law to the paidagogos –

NT:3807 paidagogos (pahee-dag-o-gos'); from NT:3816 and a reduplicated form of NT:71; a boy-leader, i.e. a servant whose office it was to take the children to school.

(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.) a slave whose duty it was to safely deliver the royal children to their teacher. Many have mistaken the paidagogos as the teacher, but he was only the guardian until the heirs came of age. Then, the paidagogos was no longer needed. The heirs had grown out of a need of that kind of guardianship. They were now aware of the spiritual reality previously only hinted at by a physical law.

How was humanity to learn such a nebulous concept? Hard guidelines are easier to teach and enforce. But, to be like Jesus is to exercise discernment beyond a list of do’s and don’ts. We must, actually, do what Adam thought the forbidden fruit represented – to KNOW good and evil – and make a choice. But, how does one learn the difference? We are, now, developing that kind of discernment every waking moment of our lives.

The difference between us and God is that God chooses to know only Good. That’s why our sins are washed away as if they never existed. That’s why, even thought we still fall short of perfection, God no longer sees evil in us – only good. We are the ones who still focus on evil. We are still following in the mistake of Adam – the knowledge of Good AND Evil.

Sin came into the world by Adam because he made the original choice to know both. Once we truly know and believe in Jesus, we learn to reject evil and choose only good! That is why a true believer does not finger point, does not click the tongue over the weakness of others. When someone thinks themselves beyond the mercy of God, we should be the non-judgmental helping hand to the truth that Jesus already paid the price to forgive them -- that no one is EVER beyond His mercy.

Jesus has paid for us all – not just a chosen few. To believe otherwise is to diminish the value of His sacrifice – to say He was not able to bring all to justification. To believe God chose not to bring all to justification flies in the face of His Word and the representation of His Love. To think we have anything what-so-ever to do with salvation is to deceive ourselves as much as thinking we are without sin. Jesus Christ did it ALL for us. Even to providing the faith necessary to perceive the nature of His sin offering. In the letter to the Hebrews (the church at Jerusalem), Paul refers to Jesus as the High Priest who’s one time offering of perfection has eternally negated all other priestly offerings. It is the true gift which keeps on giving.

Once we understand this, we are freed from all our personal baggage of guilt. We will still sin, but we are no longer guilty. And, since to God a near miss is as good as a mile, the sacrifice is retroactive to all humanity from the most innocent to the most evil. Of course, for us to gain the personal benefits of such freedom, we have to accept it. Jesus said, “Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.” Herod, who didn’t know the Truth asked, “What is Truth?” Humanity still asks that question today.

Jesus said, “I am the Truth, the Way, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.” Christianity has taught many things regarding this which generally boil down to “believing the facts of His life, crucifixion, and resurrection.” But, Paul stated Satan and the demons also believe this, so there must be more to it. Christianity often goes on to state there are rules to belief. In this, the Truth comes closer to hand, but is still out of reach.

Remember the paidagogos – the slave in who’s custody the noble children where kept to and from their lessons? The real teacher he delivered them to was Jesus. Once they came of age, they had no further use for such rules. Jesus IS the Truth, the Way, the Life. Our lives are to mirror His in a growth experience. We see how He lived. The only finger pointing He ever did was aimed at the religious establishment. He forgave sinners without precondition. He forgave sins even though He had not, yet, been offered up on the cross. Consider that. Sins could be forgiven even prior to the Passover crucifixion and resurrection:

Luke 7:46-49 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven-for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
49The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins? NIV

That indicates Jesus might have suffered the crucifixion only to ILLUSTRATE, to our limited vision, God’s love for us. What an awesome sacrifice! Could that be why the humanity within Jesus prayed, that night in Gethsemane, for some other way to do it? Jesus indicated before hand that He was aware of His destiny; yet, on that night, He begged for an alternate possibility. Immediately, He responded with, “But, not my will but Thine be done,” yielding Himself to the process. A process which teaches us to willingly sacrifice ourselves for others -- that, to come to the Father through Jesus, is to understand and inculcate the metaphor of Jesus.

That is, after all, what “bearing His cross” represents – crucifying our natural instinct for self-preservation for the sake of those who have yet to believe. Jesus died, not for the righteous, but for the unrighteous:

Matt 9:12-13 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but the unrighteous. NIV

Rather than country clubs for the righteous, church congregations should be emergency wards for the critically ill. The more critical we are toward others, the more obvious are the symptoms of our illness. The more compassionate we are toward others, the more we are “coming to God through Jesus. This is why so many can profess Jesus in vain; while so many others can represent Jesus without speaking His name:

Matt 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' NIV

For the opposite view, study the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:25-37.
Matt 23:11-12 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be forgiven. NIV

Matt 7:1-5 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's NIV

So, this is how Jesus removes the sin which came through Adam – by refusing to see it. When we “believe in Jesus,” we follow His example and forgive the sins of others. We, perceiving what Jesus did to show His love toward us, are convicted in our hearts (basic life force) to change our behavior to mirror His. We no longer steal, not because of the possible penalty of the Law, but because we understand the pain such brings to the victim. Like Jesus, we no longer desire to hurt others. We no longer commit adultery because we realize the ultimate pain brought on by such selfish behavior. We no longer commit murder, because that would be contradictory to the whole concept of self-sacrifice. We no longer condemn, because that is contradictory to the whole concept of Jesus. We, in essence, cease to be a threat to the wellbeing of society; but, become instead, The Way to escape from the slavery of fear.

Christianity should not be a political power, but a social alternative; not a controlling force, but a positive example; not a tool of prejudice, but the cure for hate.

Of course, this isn’t desirable to “big religion,” because it diminishes their power base. To simply serve and leave the decision to the individual is to surrender the hope of Judas who thought to be the treasurer of the “New Kingdom of God on Earth.” That is, after all, why he betrayed Jesus in the garden. Not to see Him crucified, but to force His hand. He was guilty of the original sin of Adam – seeking to decide between good and evil rather than patiently following the Example.

THIS HAS BEEN THE ERROR OF CHRISTIANITY EVER SINCE:

We have sought to glorify God in our own way. We have taken of the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil rather than letting Jesus teach us the Way of the Good.

Mark 10:17-23 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good-except God alone. 19You know the commandments: `Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" 20"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." 21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, truly it is difficult for the rich to enter into the Kingdom of God.NIV

That is why such a SATANIC CONCEPT AS PREDESTINATION TO CONDEMNATION or SALVATION could be taught – why prosperity cannot be considered a sign of God’s approval. GOD DID PREDESTINE US, but He predestined us all to our particular road TO SALVATION. Man’s way was to Good and Evil; but God’s to only Good.

This, then, was the meaning of Paul’s message to the Church at Rome – to yield to The Way of Jesus in faith of the ultimate purpose.

THIS IS THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL

The Mark which is to be the FOCUS of our AIM.

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