Foundations of Faith
MAN (V)
The Circumstances. Adam and Eve were in the garden. They had plenty of delicious food to eat, the wonders and beauties of God’s creation to enjoy, human companionship with one another, and companionship with God Himself (Gen. 3:8). They were free to enjoy all that was in the garden, with but one restriction:God had told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They did not possess sinful natures as we do, so did not have natural, inward tendencies to go their own way or disobey God. While for us, temptation often comes from our own fleshly lusts (Jas. 1:14), for them, the temptation to sin could only come from some outside source.
The Temptation. Sin had already entered God’s creation. The highest ranking angel, Satan, had rebelled against his Creator by wanting equality with God (Isa. 14:13,14). As a result, he had been cast down from his high position. Satan, in the disguise of a serpent, lied to Eve, raised questions in her mind about God, and tempted her along the lines of his own rebellion:”Has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? … You shall not surely die; for God knows that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:1, 4,5). We see these same elements of Satan’s temptation in false religions today:(1) questioning the Word of God or replacing it with other writings; (2) denying man’s ruin and eternal judgment; and (3) promising man a status of equality with God.
The Fall. Eve believed Satan and distrusted God. So “she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat” (Gen. 3:6). While Eve was the one who sinned first, in the New Testament we mainly read of Adam being the one responsible for sin coming into the world (Rom. 5:14-19; 1 Cor. 15:22). Eve sinned, being deceived (1 Tim. 2:14), but Adam sinned with his eyes wide open; his was the more serious crime. One might wonder, since Adam had heard the commandment directly from the LORD and was not deceived, why he ate the forbidden fruit. Perhaps it was because he loved his wife so much he did not want to be separated from her. She became an idol to him-more important to him than God who gave her to him.
What was so special about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that made it so serious a sin to eat of it? There probably was nothing special in the tree itself. It may have been an ordinary date or fig or pomegranate tree. (There is no evidence in the Bible that it was an apple tree.) God Himself set it apart by commandment to serve as a test for the first man and woman. They were created with the capability of sinning or not sinning; the choice was theirs. By eating the fruit of that tree, they gained knowledge through their own bitter experience of what evil is, and how it differs from good.
The Consequences-All Made Sinners. Because of Adam’s sin, the entire human race became sinners:”By one man sin entered into the world…. By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Rom. 5:12-19). As mentioned earlier, Adam and Eve before the Fall did not have sinful natures:they were capable of not sinning. But once they sinned, they received a sin nature and thus became incapable of not sinning. (The double negative here is very important.) Furthermore, every person born into the world by the union of man and woman since then has inherited this sin nature. (We shall say more about this in the next issue.)
The Consequences-Death. Because of Adam’s sin, death came upon mankind:”In the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). This death has three aspects- spiritual death, physical death, and “second death” which is eternal judgment in the lake of fire for those who do not receive God’s free gift of salvation (Rom. 6:23; 2 Thess. 1:9). (See Assignment 3)
The Consequences-Separation. Adam’s sin has caused several kinds of separation:
1. Man is separated from God, not enjoying communion with Him, because of sin. “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8). This is the same as spiritual death mentioned in the previous paragraph. If this separation is not overcome by one receiving the salvation God Himself has provided (Eph. 2:1-10), it will end in the “second death” which is eternal separation from God.
2. Man is separated from the rest of creation. Instead of harmony there is conflict. The ground brings forth thorns, thistles, and weeds, requiring hard labor (Gen. 3:18,19). Raccoons and woodchucks eat the crops, foxes eat the chickens, and, in some areas of the world, tigers eat the farmers. Man, in turn, pollutes the environment.
3. Man is separated from other humans. Marital conflict began at the Fall when Adam blamed Eve for his troubles (Gen. 3:12). And the very first man to be born into this world became a murderer (Gen. 4:1,8).
4. Man is separated from himself. He is self-conscious and embarrassed about his nakedness (Gen. 3:10). He is not satisfied with the way God has made him (Matt. 6:27,28; compare Psa. 139:14-16) or prospered him (Psa. 73:3). He is self-deceived (Gal. 6:3; Jas. 1:22, 26), unable to face his own guilt before God and man. He is filled with fears and anxieties because he cannot control everything that happens around him (Phil. 4:6).
The Consequences-Evil and Suffering. God gave pain and suffering to the human race as a constant reminder of the seriousness of sin (Gen. 3:16-19) and the need for repentance toward God (Acts 20:21). Some pain and suffering may come directly from God as part of His schooling of His children (Job 33:14-18); the trials that God allowed Satan to inflict upon Job are an example of this (Job 1 and 2). Some is a natural consequence of one’s own sinful behavior (Prov. 26:27; 28:10; Eccl. 10:8; Gal. 6:7). And some results from other people’s sins, such as war, murder, stealing, rape, or drunk driving (2 Ki. 6:24-29).
Running the Race
Assignment 3: Write out a verse in Ephesians 2 that refers to spiritual death, a verse in 1 Corinthians 15 that shows that physical death originated with Adam, and three verses in Revelation 20 and 21 that speak of the “second death.”