Gen. 3:1-6; Rom. 8:18-23, The Marring of our Likeness to God

II.                  Sin marred the image of God in all men, Gen. 3:6.

“Marred” is the best word I can think of to describe what happened.  Sin did not destroy this likeness to God in Man; we are still made in God’s image.  But it did do severe and significant damage. 

Sin, at its core, is lack of conformity to God.  When we sin we are not like God.  Adam sinned and became deeply sinful.  He was radically changed.  This radical change was passed on to his descendants.  How this happens is mysterious.  Some say it is done by God in judgment.  Adam was a representative for us, and when he failed then God afflicted Adam with a sinful nature and it became the norm for all humans thereafter.  Others suggest that in some way Adam was afflicted with the sinful nature and that nature is passed on at birth to every succeeding generation.

However it happened, it did happen.  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned (Rom. 5:12).  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners … (Rom. 5:19a).  We are still “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14), but David knew, “in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5). 

The effect of sin in the lives of human beings is clearly evident.  Adam was supposed to rule over creation; instead, we now see ourselves as in bondage to creation (today’s Romans 8 passage speaks of this).  No longer in the Garden of Eden, Adam struggled with providing for himself from the earth (Gen. 3:17-19). 

Furthermore, Adam’s relationship with God changed for the worse.  He was now afraid of God and ashamed to be in His presence (Gen. 3:10).  Here is how the Bible describes humans in sin: But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14).  The “natural man” is any and every person born into this world since Adam.  He thinks God’s truth is foolishness.  How different that is from Adam’s relationship with God before sin.  And something has happened to the “spiritual” part of our existence.  We are unable to discern what God says.  We must have help of some sort. 

We no longer have a desire to do right.  Our natural desire is to do wrong.  There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God … there is none who does good, no, not one.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:10-12,23).  Even the writer of Ecclesiastes could look around him and see the same thing: For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin (Eccles. 7:20).  Mankind is defective, powerless to properly rule God’s creation, unable to know God and God’s truth; unable to have a relationship with Him.  The situation seems hopeless.