The Great Transgression: Part 1
The Bible refers to “sin” and “transgression” – what is the difference?
The ancient Hebrew word used for “sin” means: to miss, to err from the mark.
I used to be a wedding photographer. I cannot tell you how many weddings I’ve attended where nothing went as planned! From the “wrong” flowers to the “wrong” cake to the “wrong” music for the first dance. What the bride envisioned and what she received were two different things – her vendors missed the mark!
It is the same way with God and how He designed us. God designed a “perfect” creation and built within it “perfect” laws. These laws were designed so everything created – from nature to animals to human beings – would function properly. When these laws are broken, the creation breaks down. Look around us!
We are scurrying to try and fix a problem human beings have created – which started when we began chipping away at our natural resources and sucking the life away from the earth.
The animals continue to operate correctly in spite of the manmade conditions imposed upon them and the stripping away of their natural habitats. Animals still rely upon their “instincts” to guide them, unlike human beings, who have moved miles away from their instinct.
Enter sin. When a person understands what God intended for His creation and how He intended us to live, only then can we understand how we have missed the mark! To “sin” means we are not thinking or living the way God intended. God’s way is the “correct” way; our way is the “incorrect” way. This is why the Bible states:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
The “glory of God” is a reference to Jesus, the Messiah, who did not sin. He did not “miss the mark” when it came to living life the way God intended. Jesus never “presumed” that He had the right to alter God’s laws or “cross the line” where the laws of God are concerned.
Enter transgression. The ancient Hebrew word used for “transgression” means: defection, rebellion; to fall away, break away from. (NOTE: The word “trespass” and “transgression” share the same root word.)
Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
To be continued…
~Jo
Bible Passages: Romans 3:23, Psalm 19:12-13
Tags: truth, life, bible, messiah, sin, God, jesus, laws of God, christ, faith, Word of God, creation, instinct, transgression, trespass, Creator
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