What did sin do to me?

By my own will, I chose separation from God that I might have my own autonomous existence far away from the deep ocean of God’s love. This is Adam’s first sin, and indeed our every sin. I separated my soul from its source of happiness, satisfaction, and life, only to fall under the yoke of sin, only to come under the sway of sin’s oppression. By my own will I chose sin, and it gave me all that it has, against my will — what does sin have except deprivation, oppression, death, etc.?

Deprivation . It took away satisfaction and deprived me of Paradise, it expelled me from peace, joy, and true knowledge.

Injustice . The law of sin is nothing more than confusion and oppression.

Death . Sin is the soul being deprived of God, the giver of life; this is what became of the human soul, by its own free will. The image deviated from its origin; its beauty was destroyed, its nature corrupted, its authority ended, and its ability to commune with God the source of its life was lost.

Humans became perturbed and terrified. In vain they tried to submit themselves to their God in their own way. Adam tried correct his error by himself, but in so doing, he only affirmed his desire to be independent of God and for his own autonomy. Thus, he compounded the consequence of his error with more consequences. He fashioned for himself a garment made of fig leaves, but the leaves shriveled and served only to emphasize his nakedness. It became necessary for God to intervene to erase the consequences that had come upon the humans by their own will. Should God forgive, even at the expense of justice? How then would infinite justice be upheld? But how could God’s love abandon humanity to eternal destruction? Thus, a process of reconciliation between God and humanity was necessary in

which God would pay the price of sin without surrendering His justice, and justice would be fulfilled by the depths of His love.

St. Macarius the Great says, “The things of grace are attended by joy, peace, love, and truth … But the forms of sin are disordered, and have nothing of love or joy towards God.”⁶⁶⁴ He also says, “For the soul in itself is neither of the nature of the Godhead, nor of the nature of the darkness of wickedness, but is a creature intellectual, beauteous, great, and wonderful, a fair likeness and image of God. It was through the transgression that the wickedness of the passions of darkness entered into it.”⁶⁶⁵

Also, St. Augustine says, “As for the human being, whose nature inclines both to the nature of angels and to that of animals, God created him so. If he submits to his Creator as his true master and reverently keeps His commandments, he attains fellowship with the angels and partakes of blessed everlasting immortality, impervious to death. But if he defies the Lord his God by exercising his free will in arrogance and disobedience, he will submit to death, live as a slave to desire, and be condemned to eternal death.” He also says:

“Oh, my misery! … Darkness has prevailed over me; and although You are the Light, I veil my face from You!

“Oh, my misery! … I am afflicted by many wounds; and although You are the Comforter, the giver of peace, I flee away from You!

“Oh, my misery! … I am overwhelmed by a host of follies; and although You are the Truth, I do not seek Your counsel!

“Oh, my misery! … My ways of going astray multiply; and although You are the Way, I turn away from You!

“Oh, my misery! … With many blows, death defeats me; and although You are the Life, I stay far from You!

“Oh, my misery! … I fall into evil and banality many times; and although You are the Word through which all things were made, I separated myself from You, the One without whom I would not exist! O my King the Word; O my God the Word; O Light, the Creator; the Way, the Truth, and the Life … O You who dispel darkness, evil, straying, and death …

“O Light: without You, all would find themselves in dark night. O Way: without You, there would be nothing but going astray. O Truth: without You, there would nothing but falsehood. O Life: without You, all would be encompassed by death.”

664 St. Macarius the Great, Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian , trans., A. J. Mason (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921) Homily 7.3: p. 62.

665 St. Macarius the Great, Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian , trans., A. J. Mason (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921) Homily 1.7: p. 7.

Now that sin devastated all of human nature, what was God to do? It is unthinkable that He should stand by passively watching His beloved. He had already planned our salvation and a means for us to attain forgiveness of sin, return to divine righteousness, and flee to rest in His divine embrace. What, then, is this thing, sin? How does the Holy Trinity impact upon it? How did He equip humanity to understand it and deal with it? How was this achieved? And how can we ourselves receive this grace? All this leads us to talk about our need for salvation, and for the divine Savior.