Did God create sin?
Thank you for your good question. The answer is ‘no’ because God is a “holy God” (Joshua 24:19). He created mankind with the ability to choose to obey or disobey His commands. However, God did not create sin. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s command. As we read in Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Notice that this verse does not say that by one God sin entered into the world. Sin came into the world because of a man.
Adam and Eve were not the first created beings to sin. Satan was disguised as a serpent in the Garden of Eden and tempted Eve to sin. Satan sinned in Genesis 3:4, when he lied to Eve. He told Eve that “Ye shall not surely die” if she ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, Satan knew that God had already told Adam in Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
We know that since Satan was on Earth in Genesis 3, that it must have been sometime earlier that he was cast out of heaven after his first sin against God. We read about his sin in Isaiah 14:12-15. Keep in mind as you read these verses that one of Satan’s names is Lucifer. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” A frequent phrase in these verses is “I will.” God created angels with free will as He did mankind. Satan chose to do His own will and rebel against God. He was the first created being to sin.
Every human being is a sinner by nature because of Adam and Eve’s sin. We read in Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Every human being is also a sinner by practice. This means that we choose to sin. As we read in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” However, there is a remedy for our sinfulness. We read in 1 John 1:7 that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” The Lord Jesus Christ bore the punishment that we deserved when He died on the cross. He offers the free gift of salvation from hell to everyone. We must only accept the gift through “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). If you have not yet trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, please do so today! (217.6) (DJ)