Archery is a skill that requires a keen eye and an immense amount of concentration. Although in our age it has transformed primordially into a sport, in the past it was a skill that hunters heavily depended on to bring food home to their families. It is easy to think of archery as simply pulling on the bow, pointing the arrow in the direction we want it to go, and to release the bow expecting for it to hit the intended target. However, to view archery from this perspective is misconceiving since it forgets the most important detail; the intended target. In fact, what distinguishes an expert marksman from a novice is not the high accuracy of his marksmanship, but his piercing focus. Any expert archer will quickly correct the aforementioned concept by revealing that the focus is on the wrong thing. This is true because the focus is on the bow and arrow, not on the mark. Thus, this quickly illuminates the lack of confidence plaguing the person’s concentration in whose hands lay the bow and arrow. Once doubt appears in the novice’s mind, his focus shifts and ultimately misses his mark. Undeniably, for a hunter seeking to provide food for his family to survive, to miss his prey due to a lack of concentration would be disastrous. It is incredible, that the same is true for a Christian aiming for the eternal prize. The inspired John scribes, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1st John 2:1, emphasis added). The apostle John wisely unveils one of the most significant reasons why the omnibenevolent God left behind His inspired word to humankind. He reiterates with his quill that verily, God “is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2nd Peter 3:9, emphasis added). Even though the beloved apostle notes that we have in Christ Jesus an “Advocate with the Father,” he clarifies that the purpose of his epistle is that “you may not sin.” The apostle Paul echoes this warning as he explained to the Romans, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it” (Romans 6:1-2, emphasis added)? This misguided concept corrected by the inspired apostle magnificently defines what sin naturally is. It unmasks sin as a deviation from God’s commandments by shifting the focus from the real motive of the commandment. The church in Rome had been led astray to believe that the more sins a person had, the greater God’s grace would be. Thus, this led them to err in thinking that if they wanted to manifest the Lord’s grace over and over again, this could only be achieved by sinning and repenting repeatedly. Hence Paul’s rhetorical question, “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” The Romans had, unfortunately, missed the mark of what grace is and how it worked. A regrettable mistake that is still true today. It is valuable to learn also the meaning of the original Greek word used by both apostles when teaching about sin. According to the lexicon, the words used by the apostles are hamartanō (by John) and hamartia (by Paul), and both words are interpreted as “to be without a share in; to miss the mark” (Thayer G264 & G266, emphasis added). Therefore if we were to replace the word “sin” with the lexicon’s latter interpretation, John’s pericope would say “ My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not miss the mark.” Once again, Paul reveals to us through his instructions to the Romans that sin is a deviation of God’s truth. In other words, to sin is to miss the target or goal the Omnibenevolent has set for His creation. Of course, this begs the question, what is the goal that God has set for mankind? To discover the answer God provides in His inspired Word, it is wise to direct our minds back to the beginning. Moses, whom Biblical scholars agree penned the book of Genesis, manifests “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26, 27 emphasis added). Because God is Spirit (John 4:24) and not physical, logic dictates that the “image and likeness” Moses speaks of is not corporeal, but spiritual. Since this is so, that also establishes God’s intended target as spiritual in nature and not materialistic. Therefore, how was man created in the “image and likeness” of God? Paul beautifully promulgates, “if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24, emphasis added). Let us recall that when God created Adam, man was pure; sinless. Due to this unperturbed holiness, death was unbeknownst to him. However, Scripture confirms “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” and emphasizes “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 5:12, 6:23 emphasis added). The inspired Preacher concurs as he teaches, “Truly, this only I have found: that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29, emphasis added). It is irrefutable that when God created man, He literally gifted man with life as He “formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7, emphasis added). Thus, it has always been God’s purpose for mankind to live eternally with Him, in holiness. Moses exhorted the Israelites, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20a, emphasis added). Thus, it is clear that the heavenly target that has been Divinely set is for man to live. Yet, the currents of sin veers mankind away from this celestial goal by shifting the focus from the spiritual to the physical; from the eternal to the transitional. The mighty Paul implores “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Galatians 6:7-8, emphasis added). Thus, the question that must be answered introspectively by each person should be, is my aim true and on target? May we always choose life, everlasting.
