The Torah says that man was created by God in His image, and that he was different from all God’s other creations. But what does that mean? It does not mean that man looks like God, since God does not have a size or a shape. Instead, the Bible tells us that man was created a spiritual, rational, and moral being. God created man to be immortal. In this way, he was a true reflection of God’s holy character. At this point in history man was perfect and lived in perfect harmony with God, since God intended man to live forever. Then something happened.
God had put Adam and Hauwa in the garden and he had given them great freedom. But God had also warned them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, or they would die spiritually as punishment. This was the test for them of their willingness to obey God simply because he said it. However, Satan tempted Hauwa to disobey God. Hauwa listened to Satan and ate the fruit, giving some to her husband also. In this moment, sin entered the world, separating them from God.
Next, they hid from God. Instead of loving God, they were terrified of him. Adam and Hauwa were left with a dead soul and a dying, physical body. We can think of it like this: When pollution occurs at the source of a river, the entire river is polluted. Similarly, every human since then has inherited Adam’s corrupt nature and sinful character, at birth.
The Bible has this to say about sin in Romans chapter five, verse 12: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”.
And you, dear reader, know the truth of this in your own heart. You know that you are not 100% honest and 100% pure, 100% of the time. This fact alone points to the reality that we were all born sinners. Sin is serious, because by sinning we break God’s holy law. When we sin, we deliberately choose to sin. On judgement day each person will answer to God for even their impure thoughts, such as hating someone, which God equates with murder.
Sin is that serious with God. God will not forgive you if you just say sorry each time you sin. Because God the judge is perfectly just, he must punish sin. And if you die without your sin being paid for, you will go to hell forever. Your religion cannot save you, since even your best efforts are flawed and unacceptable to God who is perfectly holy. Nor can religion take away your sin, since your good deeds cannot remove your bad deeds.
Religion cannot change your sinful nature, since bad behaviour is only a symptom of the problem. The problem is the human heart – the prophet Jeremiah put it like this: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Going to the Mosque and doing good deeds might make you feel better, but they cannot make you good on the inside. And this is God’s standard.
However, there is good news. God has made a way through Jesus. You might ask, "How did God make a way through Jesus?" Well, we answer that question in number two of our 52 Questions series, “What is the Gospel?”