How did corruption and chaos infiltrate our universe?
The answer is sin. To sin is to act contrary to God’s
commands in our thoughts, will, or actions. The term that is translated sin in the Bible is an archery term
that carries the idea of missing the mark, or missing the target. Disobedience lies at the center as the
cause of our need for the forgiveness and restoration the gospel brings. As far as morality and holiness
go, total moral perfection was the intended target (“Bulls-eye”) we were created for. Both the Bible and
human experience demonstrate that all people fall tragically short of hitting the mark of moral
perfection and holiness. None of us comes close to perfectly honoring God in everything we do. In the
Bible, God through the Apostle Paul said of the human race that “for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23 NASB 1995). Even if we were to not be sure about the Bible, our daily
experience of normal life proves the Bible’s description of us to be true.
From the very moment our first human parents, Adam and Eve, sinned, they began to experience radical
spiritual corruption. In fact, God told them that in violating his command, they would experience death,
“…for in the day you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17 NASB 1995). In that tragic moment
they opened a proverbial doorway through which sin, and the death and decay it brings, were allowed to
enter into our universe. As spiritual descendants of Adam and Eve, all people became sinners by nature
and through choice.