The New Testament is originally written in Greek. Here the word used for sin is ¢amartia (hamartia). It comes from the verb ¢amartano (hamartano). In a Langenscheidt dictionary, you find under ¢amartano: “to sin, to miss, fail to hit, fail to reach, loose, forget, to lose one’s way, to make a mistake, to offence, to be lacking in something”.

The true meaning of sin is to miss the target!

The bible says for example in Isaiah 59,2:

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

The meaning of life is to live in a relationship of love with God. Yet, man again and again looks for autonomy. He thinks, he can live a life without God. The story of the fruit in paradise says nothing else, but that: Adam and Eve thought: “If we eat this fruit, we can do good deeds and live a good life even without God. It is not necessary any more to walk every evening with God in the garden!” 
Here lies the true sin, the missing of the target! Visible and hidden sin against other people have their roots in the wrecked relationship with God.

What is the consequence of sin?
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6,23)

Luzius Schneider 19. June 1999