5 effects of sin

He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Genesis 3:11

So right here is where the world began to fall apart. When we see discouraging events, natural disasters, wars, and human tragedies of the worst kind, they all had their start here where Adam and Eve chose to disbelieve God’s goodness and trust in a Satanic lie. Their choice degenerated this world to a place where five effects of sin constantly live within us and among us.

1. FEAR. God originally created us to live intimately with our Creator, without a care, walking with Him. But after sin entered the world, humanity lives in fear of a holy God whom our sin offends. The mental trauma of every sin is some kind of fear: fear of being found out, fear of punishment, fear of never measuring up, fear of loss, or fear of never being forgiven. And this fear often drives us right into a vicious cycle of deeper sin, deeper fear, and a dark circle of loss.

2. VULNERABILITY. Created naked and unashamed was God’s original design for humanity. Yet one of the very first negative effects of sin was an awareness and fear of differences. It started first between Adam and Eve, and also impacted their thoughts of God. Adam and Eve could not deal with intimacy with one another and especially with their Creator. Sin left them feeling exposed.

3. SHAME. When God sought them, Adam and Eve ran to hide from Him. They made miserable fig leaf loincloths. They could not mentally resolve the moral dilemma of their sin or cover the enormity of their wrong. Sin beat them up with shame.

4. BLAMING GOD. Adam tried to blame God for his sinful choice. “The woman YOU gave me” (Genesis 3:12) was to blame for his sin. God didn’t tempt either of them, but not taking personal responsibility for sin is one thing that always makes sin worse. And man has instinctively tried, from the very beginning, to evade this by dodging the “problem of evil” and blaming God.

5. BLAMING OTHERS. Eve tried to make it the serpent’s fault. Yet the text tells us how she carefully evaluated the forbidden fruit, weighed her options, and chose to believe a glittering lie to be like God. Adam didn’t even seem to process it more than a second! Both tried to blame someone else.

Honestly, all five of these effects saunter into my soul more frequently than they should. Oh to be quick to repent, turn to my Savior, be forgiven, and live no longer bound by the effects of my sin! Thank God there is full atonement, a new holiness in Christ, and a future clearly free from all this graciously offered in Jesus Christ!