Cosmic Treason and Application

A firm grasp on the essence of sin will take your application skills to the next level.

Essence of Sin

The essence of sin lies in the fact that humans tried (and therefore still try) to replace God. We see this when the serpent first tempts the woman in Genesis 3:5.

God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

The temptation was to be like God. And how would they become like God? They would “know good and evil.”

That phrase, “know good and evil,” cannot mean a simple grasp of the concepts of good and evil. Adam and his wife already understood both concepts, when God told them what to do and not do (Gen 1:28-29, 2:16-17). Clearly, it was good to obey God and evil to disobey him. The first humans were not cognitively deficient.

In the Hebrew Bible, to “know good and evil” is a mark not of intellectual capacity but of maturity. With respect to the promise of Immanuel, God says the following to Isaiah:

He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.

Isaiah 7:15-16

The point for Isaiah (and King Ahaz) was that a child would soon be born. And by the time that child was mature enough to make wise moral decisions, the attacks on Jerusalem will have come to an end.

So what does this have to do with the temptation to sin in Genesis 3? The temptation was attractive because it came with a promise of maturity, but in the wrong way. That made it a promise of escape from submission to God’s authority. An offer to the woman and the man to become their own authorities and make their own decisions about what is (or should be) good and evil.

This is where sin got its beginning in human history, and it is where sin drops anchor in the human heart.

Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James 1:14-15

God confirms that the “knowledge of good and evil” has to do with maturity (wrongly acquired in this case), when he says that “the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:22). The humans have seized a god-like position of deciding between good and evil instead of trusting God and waiting for him to mature them and raise them up in his way. And God—in his mercy—refuses to allow them to live forever in this state (Gen 3:22-23). He sends them away from the tree of life so that they can die, as he promised they would. But that gives him the opportunity to raise them from the dead and make their condition far more glorious than it even was to begin with.

The essence of sin, therefore, is the desire to get what you want. To make your own decisions. To throw off the yoke of righteousness God requires and fashion your own. I believe this is why Jonathan Edwards allegedly (I haven’t been able to trace the source) said that “The smallest sin is an act of cosmic treason against a holy God.” And this is why God’s wrathful judgment against human sin looks like God giving people the very death they want (“God gave them up” – Rom 2:24, 26, 28). Does someone most want a world without God in it? In the end, they will get their wish (2 Thess 1:9).

Help with Application

So how does this doctrine help us to improve at applying the Bible?

In nearly any text, you can ask “cosmic treason” questions with respect to the author’s main point:

• What has God commanded in this text, and how to do you respond to his commands?
• What is your posture toward the Lord Jesus as the supreme authority over heaven and earth?
• With respect to this text’s main point, in what ways are you tempted to overthrow God’s authority and take control of your own life?
• How does the world or the culture tempt you toward such cosmic treason? (In America, the terribly misguided counsel to “follow your heart” or “be true to yourself” or “you do you” ought to come to mind.)
• Who gets to define what is right or wrong in this area?
• By what standard will we distinguish between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, helpful and unhelpful?
• In what ways have you tried to take God’s place in this area, and how can you grow in submitting to his righteous will?

I am intentionally sidestepping matters of creation, gifts, strengths, grace, and redemption when I ask these questions. That’s not because such matters are unimportant, but only because the focus of this post is on the implications of sin’s treasonous nature.

Sometimes, robust reflection on our outright rebellion against God’s authority will give us ample material to speak into the issues of our age: postmodernism, relativism, materialism, greed, situational ethics, individualism, stewardship—to name just a few.

Deepen your grasp of the essence of sin, and you’ll take your application skills to the next level.