edəˈmäləjē/True Identity vs. Sin Identity

August 13, 2017

Tom Shannon, Pastor

Restored Life Church

www.restored-life-church.com

Origins

• et·y·mol·o·gy ˌedəˈmäləjē/• noun

• the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.• the origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning.

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Words

• Someone who is a “square” is regarded as dull, rigid, and out of touch with current trends. In the 50’s and early 60’s it meant someone who was cool and with it.

• http://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-once-meant-something-very-different/ Anne Curzan

Words

• Nice: This word used to mean “silly, foolish, simple.” Far from the compliment it is today!

• Silly: Meanwhile, silly went in the opposite direction: in its earliest uses, it referred to things worthy or blessed; from there it came to refer to the weak and vulnerable, and more recently to those who are foolish.

• Awful: Awful things used to be “worthy of awe” for a variety of reasons, which is how we get expressions like “the awful majesty of God.”

• Fizzle: The verb fizzle once referred to the act of producing quiet flatulence (think “SBD”); American college slang flipped the word’s meaning to refer to failing at things.

• Naughty: Long ago, if you were naughty, you had naught or nothing. Then it came to mean evil or immoral, and now you are just badly behaved.

Words

• Spinster: As it sounds, spinsters used to be women who spun. It referred to a legal occupation before it came to mean “unmarried woman” — and often not in the most positive ways, as opposed to a bachelor …

• Bachelor: A bachelor was a young knight before the word came to refer to someone who had achieved the lowest rank at a university — and it lives on in that meaning in today’s B.A. and B.S degrees. It’s been used for unmarried men since Chaucer’s day.

• Flirt: Some 500 years ago, flirting was flicking something away or flicking open a fan or otherwise making a brisk or jerky motion. Now it involves playing with people’s emotions (sometimes it may feel like your heart is getting jerked around in the process).

• Guy: This word is an eponym. It comes from the name of Guy Fawkes, who was part of a failed attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605. Folks used to burn his effigy, a “Guy Fawkes” or a “guy,” and from there it came to refer to a frightful figure. In the U.S., it has come to refer to men in general.

• Hussy: Believe it or not, hussy comes from the word housewife (with several sound changes, clearly) and used to refer to the mistress of a household, not the disreputable woman it refers to today.

Biblical Considerations

• Scripture was first written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

• The first English Bible was not translated until the 1380’s by John Wycliffe.

• So looking at Bible translations one must consider both the original languages and the change of words in the original languages as well as English over time.

• This does not undermine the reality of scriptural inspiration in any way.

Sin, According to Webster's

• sin \ˈsin\ noun

• [Middle English sinne, from Old English synn; akin to Old High German sunta sin and probably to Latin sont-, sons guilty, estimated is—more at IS] before 12th century

• 1 a: an offense against religious or moral law

b: an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible 〈it’s a sin to waste food〉

c: an often serious shortcoming: FAULT

• 2 a: transgression of the law of God

• b: a vitiated state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God synonym see OFFENSE

• sin verb intransitive• sinned; sin•ning before 12th century

• 1:to commit a sin

• 2:to commit an offense or fault

Hebrew Words Translated as Sin

Sin: Hebrew

• ḥṭʾא to miss

• TWOT: The basic meaning of the root is • to miss a mark or a way. • A similar idea of not finding a goal appears in Prov 8:36; the concept of failure

is implied.• In so acting, man is missing the goal or standard God has for him.

• NAS Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Dictionaries• The etymology of the term (“to miss a mark”) and the contexts indicate that

the criterion for “error” is not particular commandments but injury to a communal relationship: a person sins against a person or against God.

• Note a person can also sin against themselves.

Greek Words Translated as Sin

Sin: Greek

• Sin: 264. ἁμαρτάνω hamartánō;

• The various words for sin are derived from the word 264. ἁμαρτάνω hamartánō; meaning to sin, to miss a mark on the way, not to hit the mark.

• Part, 3313 μέρος [meros /mer·os/]

• Scholars believe ἁμαρτάνω hamartánō to be derived from the Greek, 3313 μέρος [meros /mer·os/],

• Meros refers to• a part of the whole, and in such a sense a loss of form and identity;• a division; • the lot or part assigned to one

Sin in the Garden (Genesis 1-3)

• Man was created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27).

• Man was free to eat of every tree in the garden, except the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Genesis 2:16-17).

• Eating of The Tree of Knowledge resulted in Death (Genesis 2:17).

• The serpent deceived Eve, telling her she would not die but be more like God if she ate, causing doubt in her true God given identity and God’s true identity. (Genesis 3:1-7).

• Their sin began in their mind and conceived with a decision, before they acted on it.

• They first ate in their mind before they physically ate.

Visible vs. Invisible Sin

• Matthew 5:28 (NKJV), But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

• James 1:14-15 (NKJV), But each one is tempted when he is • drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

• 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;

• and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Implications

• Misunderstanding the word sin, we have been trained to view it behaviorally rather than see its source.

• 1 Samuel 6:7b (NKJV), “…For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

• Sin has its origin in the soul, not the body.

• Sin begins “invisible” in the mind and then manifests in the body.

• Original sin was the first identity theft, impacting both man and God, resulting in a loss of ones true identity.

• Our true identity was fractured and lost, in our minds we became only part of what God created us to be.

• Becoming less,we lost sense of our true identity and form.

• Not correctly understanding the concept of sin has profound theological and life implications.

Not I but Sin

• Romans 7:17 (NKJV), “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”

• Sin=false identity, hence, when I do wrong, it is not of my true identity but rather the fruit of my false identity, the old man.

Sin Lies at the Door…

• Genesis 4:7 (NKJV), So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

• Romans 5:13-14 (NKJV), 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

• What died in Adam and Eve when they sinned?• A physical death?• A death in their heart?

• When one’s personality is radically altered is essence, who they were is no more, that person has died.

New Creations

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV), 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.