Do you remember what is said about Adam and the woman (she was not named Eve until after being put out of the garden) regarding the first sin? Genesis 3:1-6 records:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
The lie from the serpent is summed in this “you will be like God”.
In the times of sacrificing in the Temple for the sins of the people, the chief priest would lay the animal onto the altar, put his hands on the animal and then say the sins of the people over the animal before he slaughtered the animal and let its blood run over the altar as the payment for the sins of the people. Specifically, lambs were raised and used in the Temple in Jerusalem for the yearly ritual of the sacrifice.
Fast forward to Jesus and the time of His death. When He was before the chief priests, what did they accuse Him of just before they put their hands on Him and handed Him over to the Romans to be killed? Matthew 26: 59-67 records:
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.
Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered.
Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
Jesus was accused of blasphemy. He was claiming to be God which would be a reproach on God’s character, if it wasn’t true. Then they put their hands on Him rather harshly and turned Him over to be killed.
It is not insignificant, that the sin that was put upon Jesus by the chief priests is the very sin the serpent put into the woman’s and Adam’s mind. “You will be like God” they were told. So, they ate and sinned. Jesus claimed to be God, so He was slaughtered as the Lamb on the altar. The original sin was then able to be forgiven and man restored so he could walk with God once again.
Today, I find that this original sin is the most prevalent cause of sin in society. So many people just want to do what they want to do. They justify what they want to do using their own sense and in so doing they become their own god. Their words are more valuable and have more meaning than God's. Rare is the person who is willing to lay down their life and follow God's Words simply because God said it.
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