I realize that this is an Eastern Orthodox thread, so forgive me for providing an unorthodox response. I share this as additional food for thought. In my opinion, when Adam and Eve fell in the garden, they were changed from perfection to imperfection. I have been told that the word, "sin" is an archery expression and means "to have missed the mark", or to have erred. I see this fundamental error has infected the entire universe and is called entropy by physicists. Consequently all born from Adam and Eve, and all their descendants, passed on this imperfection to every generation.
The Gospel is the beginning of a new humanity, and a new creation. Evidently this imperfection called sin is passed on to the next generation by the sperm not the egg. Thus the virgin birth of Jesus enabled him to be born perfect, sinless. Since, as an adult, he accepted the sins of the world upon himself, he who knew no sin became sin so we might become the righteousness of God in him. But since those sins were not his, he was justified and raised from the dead. He became the first fruits from the dead. The hope of all who trust in Christ is that we, too, will be raised from the dead in perfection, sinless, as he is. But it is more than that. Since our lives are joined to his by the Holy Spirit, that Spirit within us will be our guarantee to never sin again. That means in the new heaven and new earth, perfection will remain forever. No more pain, no more tears, no more sin. This is the hope of all who have been born again.
