Original Sin

OT Lesson: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 (NLT)

Then another message came to me from the Lord: “Why do you quote this proverb concerning the land of Israel: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste’? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you will not quote this proverb any more in Israel. For all people are mine to judge—both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins is the one who will die.”

“Yet you say, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you? When righteous people turn from their righteous behaviour and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds. And if wicked people turn from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives. They will live because they thought it over and decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die. And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.”

“Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!

NT Lesson: Matthew 21:23-32 (NRSV)

When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And He said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Sermon

Introduction

Good morning. I hope you all had a good week last week. The Gourmet Seekers met last Friday at So Italian in Brownsburg with the most attendance so far. The next meeting will be on Friday, October 27th at the Bookers Bar & Grill in Kirkin, which is a bout 25 minutes driving from the church to Northeast. If you choose to walk, that will be five hours. I hope to see more people next month. And I apologise that the organ is not working again today. Last Monday, Neal and I checked the electrical fuses for the organ and the electric power, which were all OK. So obviously it is organ problems, not the electrical power supply. So Bud called the organ service, and a guy came Tuesday. He checked for a few hours and told me that he found the problem. Then he asked me if there is a tractor supply in town, so I showed him the one on Lebanon street with the Google Maps. And then he told me that he needed to go to the tractor supply to buy organ parts. OK… I don’t really understand, but he is an organ expert, not me. So I believe him. Then he came back and told me that he could not find the organ parts at the tractor supply, which was not surprising to me. So he told us that he would go to a bigger tractor supply. Anyway, once the organ is repaired, do not be surprised if the organ moves because this organ will have the heart of the tractors whose nature is moving around.

Anyway, as you may have noticed, I changed the sermon title last night. I wanted to focus mostly on the NT lesson, but the thing is, nobody knows what the sermon is going to be about until I actually finish the sermon script. And also, this original sin is a very sensitive topic, and I am letting you know that today’s sermon is purely my theology, my thinking, and may not reflect the official PCUSA theology. Now, let’s begin.

1504 Bloody Joseon

1504 was one of the bloodiest year in Korean history during Joseon dynasty. It was when the young king found out what happened to his mother. In Joseon dynasty, a king and many nobles were ruling the country. During the previous king’s reign, the queen consort was from a family of the party not holding power. So the nobles holding the power conspired against the queen and eventually they were successful in executing the queen consort, which was kept secret from the prince who was appointed to be the next king. After a few years on the throne, the king found out all the detail information which was supposed to be hidden and buried forever. The mad king of course executed all those who were involved in his mother’s misfortune. He didn’t stop there. The king also executed all their families, relatives up to second cousin, and even their not-so-close friends. They were not gently executed like we do these days. Many of them were torn into pieces alive. Some of them must have cried out, ‘I did not do it. Why must I die?’

Imagine this: One day the sheriff knocks on your door and says, “This and this persons committed a very bad crime. So I am arresting you because you were at the same class when you were in second grade like forty years ago.” How would you feel? Or how about this that the sheriff says, “Recently it was discovered that your great grandfather was involved in treasonous act one hundred and sixty-five years ago. So the federal judge ruled that you will be locked in the prison for life.” So how would you feel if this non-sense happens to you? It is not only non-sense but also unjust. And thankfully our God is the God of justice and does not allow these kind of unjust to happen in His righteous ruling. And that is what today’s OT lesson is all about. If a father eats sour grapes, the father will taste the sourness, not the son. If a son eats sour grapes, then the son will taste the sourness, not the father. And God says, “For all people are mine to judge—both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins is the one who will die.”1 That is, I will not go to hell because of what my father or mother did in the past. If I go to hell, I go because of my own sin, not because of my parents’ or ancestors’ sin.

Debt Inheritance and Original Sin

In other words, there is no inheritance of sin. Because if there is the inheritance of sins, then I should go to hell because of my father’s or mother’s sin. In ancient Hebrew and Greek, sin and debt were one word. In the Lord’s Prayer, we say ‘forgive us our debts,’ but as you know there are other versions which says ‘forgive us our sins.’ Do you know what the Indiana law says about the debt inheritance? So do we inherit our parents’ debt in Indiana? Because I am not a law expert, so I googled, and I quote: “The short answer is usually no. You generally don’t inherit debts belonging to someone else the way you might inherit property or other assets from them. So even if a debt collector attempts to request payment from you, there’d be no legal obligation to pay.”2

Just like we do not inherit debt in Indiana, we also do not inherit sin in God’s kingdom. It is not my word but God’s word from today’s OT lesson. Then I got confused. If there is no sin inheritance, what about the original sin? God clearly says that when a father eats sour grapes, the son will not taste the sourness, and the person who sins is the one who will die. But if I go to hell because of the original sin, that does not make sense. Just as a sheriff cannot come to arrest me because of what my great grandfather did hundreds of years ago, God should not send me to hell because of what Adam did many thousands of years ago. If I go to hell because of the so-called original sin, then what is written in Ezekiel is a lie. Almost ten thousand infants die at or right after the birth in the world everyday. If all those infants who did not even have their first breath go to hell, I think that is unfair. What have they done to deserve the eternal damnation? God says that the person who sins is the one who will die, and those babies did not do anything yet. But at the same time apostle Paul clearly states in his first letter to the church in Corinth that death came into the world through one man, and everyone dies because we all belong to Adam.3 This really sounds like original sin. In Deuteronomy, God says through the lips of Moses and I quote, “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”4 In Ezekiel God says that the children shall not die for their parents’ sin, and in Deuteronomy the same God says that the children will be punished for their parents’ sin. Then how can we reconcile those two conflicting Bible verses?

Sinful Environment

In this country and anywhere in the world, there are some rich and good neighbourhoods and also poor ghetto neighbourhoods. Sometimes they are right next to each other making the contrast dramatic and clear, other times they are far away from each other. The wealthy neighbourhoods mostly come with better safety, and much better school systems providing quality educations. Children living and growing in those wealthy neighbourhoods have much better chance to succeed. On the other hand, in the poor ghetto neighbourhoods, gangsters everywhere, drugs are overflowing on the streets, gunshots every corner, hunger and want encourage crime, theft, burglary and so on. The school systems are broken, teachers don’t care, dropout rates are sky rocketing, violence and bullying are in every class. Kids living and growing in those neighbourhoods have way less chance to succeed. It is not impossible but not probable and extremely unlikely. So imagine a family whose father was a brain surgeon, making millions of dollars each year, living in a very wealthy neighbourhood. But then he was found doing something illegal. He was arrested, and by the court order, he spent entire his wealth to pay the fine. His doctor’s licence was revoked. Having no money, he lost his house and the whole family moved to a ghetto neighbourhood. In this case, his children used to have better chance to succeed but not any more. They used to eat well and enjoyed the safety, but now they live in fear of the gang violence on the streets. Technically speaking, those children are not arrested by a sheriff or charged by a prosecutor, but I think they are also punished for their father’s sin. Or at least I can say that they are suffering because of their father, even though they did nothing in participation of their father’s illegal things.

I think it is what happened to us because of our first father, Adam’s sin. The humanity used to live in the ideal world, called the garden of Eden. But because of Adam’s sin, we moved to a different neighbourhood, which is sinful and we all are exposed to the sinful environment. In this environment and neighbourhood, it is almost impossible for us not to sin. But even in this world, if you maintain your integrity, righteousness, piety, and goodness to the level of divine perfection, you may not die. And that is what the Bible teaches us with examples. There was a guy whose name was Enoch in Genesis 5, and because he walked faithfully with God, he did not die but ascended into heaven.5 2 Kings 2 shows us the last day of Elijah the prophet who was raised up to the heaven on a chariot of fire.6 Except those two humans, everybody died. Noah was so righteous, and yet he died. But the Bible does not say that he died because of Adam’s sin. So Noah died of his own. I don’t think we can live more righteous than Noah. So even without original sin, we cannot save ourselves. Moses was the greatest servant of God, and yet he died. But the Bible does not say that he died because of Adam’s sin. So Moses died of his own. I don’t think we can serve God better than Moses. So even without original sin, we cannot save ourselves. David was most upright in God’s eyes, and yet he died. But the Bible does not say that he died because of Adam’s sin. So David died of his own. I don’t think we can live more upright and whole-heartedly than David. So even without original sin, we cannot save ourselves. Even Abraham died. But the Bible does not say that he died because of Adam’s sin. So Abraham died of his own. I don’t think we can have stronger faith than Abraham. So even without original sin, we cannot save ourselves. So even though it is not impossible, but practically it is impossible for humans not to sin and to save themselves in this sinful environment. So we die because of our own sin according to what God says in Ezekiel. But while living in this sinful and not-so-perfect world, we suffer a lot. It is because Adam moved into this sinful world just like the illegal brain surgeon did and made his children suffer. And thus in a sense we are being punished for the sin of Adam, our first father. In this way, we can satisfy both Scriptures from Ezekiel and Deuteronomy.

Death and Resurrection

Because of the sin of Adam, the humanity was moved into a new sinful environment where there is death. Our first Adam gave us the suffering during the lifetime, and the death at the end. He is our despair. But the second Adam, who is Jesus Christ our Saviour brought us healing instead of suffering, resurrection instead of death, and hope instead of despair because the first Adam is a living being but the second Adam is the life giving Spirit.7 In Ezekiel, God made it clear that God will judge us according only to what we have done, not according to our genealogy or other things. No one can say ‘My father was a pastor. So I good and I will go to heaven,’ or ‘My father was a criminal. God will probably send me to hell.’ At the end of today’s OT lesson, God says to us, “I don’t want you to die!” So friends, let us repent and find the true hope in Jesus Christ our Saviour, and follow the footsteps of our servant Lord who came to us not to be served but to serve. In Jesus Christ, we are new creation because according to Peter, Jesus our Saviour bore our sins.8 Therefore there shall be no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus.9 Amen.