Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’…

‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

GENESIS 3:1, 4–6

—

Process. Process. Process.

This word – process – is something I’ve found myself noticing over the past year. Whether it’s BRIT Award-winning artists reflecting that it’s all about the process, or Olympic athletes affirming that they trust the process, it’s gotten me thinking. How can we as followers of Jesus Christ see our lives through the lens of process?

I wonder whether factoring in a life-long perspective to our faith might make better sense of fundamental doctrines that help us journey through the highs and lows en route to the goal of becoming like Jesus Christ. If we patiently work with God through this process of being conformed to the image of his son (Romans 8:29), I suspect we’ll better channel God’s love to everyone we encounter in everyday life.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll unpack our faith as a process by looking at the thorny topic of sin. Now, before you stop reading, I know that we Christians are often accused of being sour-faced and obsessed with everyone else’s sin but our own. Yet, from my experience, the doctrine of sin leads to hopeful talk about grace and salvation. So, hang in there!

In Genesis 1 and 2, everything starts great for humans. We are made in God’s image (1:27). God breathes life into us (2:7). We are charged with reflecting God’s creative nature to the world around us (1:28, 2:15) But then the process malfunctions in Genesis 3 when two humans disobey God’s instructions.

A crafty serpent enters the garden and cleverly twists God’s words. In doing so, the serpent seduces the woman to eat the fruit. The man, who most likely heard the conversation, eats the fruit too, even though they’d both been forbidden to do so (Genesis 2:17). This begins a pattern which repeats itself throughout Scripture where humans miss the good goal that God has set for us.

The understanding of human nature in Genesis 1–3 draws us towards the biblical narrative of creation, fall, and then redemption. This allows each of us to recognise where the goal has been missed in our lives and in the world around us, to get back on track. Wherever we find ourselves, we have the opportunity to reflect God’s creative and redemptive nature through our words and deeds.

Thankfully, what has gone wrong has been put right, is being put right, and will be put right.

Luke Johnson
Luke is a part-time teacher, part-time church worker, and recent graduate of an MA in Christian spirituality.

What does ‘sin’ look like where you live, work, or play, where we’ve clearly missed the goal? And what truth might God want to reveal, to set things right and reflect his creative nature to the world around us?

*See The Bible Project, What is Sin?