- CHAPTER 5 -
The Fall of the Humanity

Upon completing His work, God saw all that He had created and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31) This means that creation was perfect. God did not make a mistake that would lead to the fall of humanity. He had not erred in such a way that would later lead to the evil we now know. In the beginning, everything was good. It was exactly as God wanted it, in other words, it was what God created to be—perfect and complete.

As far as God was concerned, He was finished with His work. Having finished, He then rested. His rest indicates that God was pleased with the final result. In this period of rest, God took delight in His work. He enjoyed the fruit of His labor. It is important to note that God’s rest does not mean God stopped being actively involved in His creation. He would continue to sustain His creation through His loving provision with joy. Rather, His rest signifies the end of His creative work. There was nothing more to add or subtract from creation. It was perfect and complete. God was pleased and could enjoy the work of His hands. This included Adam and Eve. God’s work was finished and they were perfect and complete.

Though Adam and Eve were lacking nothing, this did not mean they had fulfilled their purpose. God was finished, but they had a part to play. God had created them in His image, in other words, He created them for love. They could not meet the fullness of this unless they were free to offer themselves to God in love. And so, in the Garden of Eden, God placed two trees. One would lead to a separation from God, the other a union with God. This was a work they had to do, a choice they had to make and keep. This is illustrated in marriage as a couple seeks to be united in love for life. At the altar of God, a man and woman chooses to commit theirs lives to one another. This union will be unlike any other they have. It will come with the utmost importance and sacredness. They will be united as one. If either should violate this agreement by unfaithfulness, it could lead to a permanent separation. The separation is deeply painful and someone is always left desolate.

In the garden, Adam and Eve were given this choice. Would they eat from the tree of life taking eternal life, the knowledge of God (John 17:3), into them? Or would they seek their own taking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? God commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge for Adam’s own good. In love, God wanted Adam to know what would happen. At the same time, in love God did not tell Adam about the tree of life. If Adam were truly to make such a commitment of life, he would need to do so by a step of His own. God did not tell Adam because if He had, Adam might eat of the tree for the wrong reasons. Adam would have been motivated, not by love, but by obligation or selfish desire. This is illustrated when a husband buys his wife flowers. If she tells him to buy the flowers, then he forced to buy the flowers or she will be upset. Or, the husband could use her desire to leverage what he wants. He could say, “I will buy you flowers if you clean the house.” But if the husband, without being told, buys his wife flowers unexpectedly; he shows his love freely. Likewise, God did not tell Adam about the tree of life. Rather, Adam was told, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.” (Genesis 2:16)

Chapter two of Genesis closes with verse 25 saying, “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” They felt no shame because they had done no wrong and were pleasing in the eyes of their creator. They were clothed with the righteousness and glory of God. Just as the sun shines on the moon giving it light, God was shining down on Adam and Eve giving them light. This, however, did not last as Eve broke God’s command.

Tempted by the Devil

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.’“ (Genesis 3:1-3)

It is important to note that the command came to Adam before Eve had been created. (Genesis 2:16-25) This means that Eve did not hear the command directly from God. The command came through Adam to his wife. God worked through Adam to communicate the message to his wife.

The Bible, as the written Word of God, represents a similar situation for us today. God spoke His Word through chosen people who then wrote the bible. Many struggle with this fact often questioning whether or not the Bible really came from God. Eve probably struggled with the same question. Notice how the Devil strategically chose Eve because of this. His first move was to set doubt in her mind. “Did God really say,” he said. Most likely, she thought in that moment, ‘Did God really say it? I didn’t hear God say this directly. Adam told me.’ At this point, the Devil planted doubt in Eve’s mind. However, if you notice, he did not cause her to doubt God, but her husband. The strategy was to set Eve against Adam. In response to the serpent, she replied, “but God did say.” And if you notice, comparing the original command in Genesis 2:16 with what Eve repeated, she added, “and you must not touch it.”

With doubt in her mind, it slowly crept into her heart. The Devil goes on to say, “You will not surely die for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” At this point, Eve already questioned her husband. The Devil then added what seemed like plausible reasoning: “Surely you will not die.” In her heart, she probably reasoned that God loved her and wouldn’t do such a thing. We often do this today. At times, we are lead to believe that God loves us and so He will not punish us for our actions. By doing this, we distort the image of God to fit our own earthly reasoning. We trust, not in God, but in our own understanding of who we think God is. This distortion in our view of God leads us into sin as it did with Eve. The Devil, having caused Eve to doubt God’s command and distort her view of God, then added an attractive offer: “You will be like God.” The allure was independence from God and His ways. Like a teenager wanting to flee the restraint of his parent’s domain, she could also be free to do as she wanted without living under the rule and authority of God. She would not have to answer to Him, live under Him, or respond to Him. She could take her inheritance and do whatever she wanted. She could be like God, having only to answer to herself. She could be her own God. Once this evil desire arose in her heart, she was enticed by the tree.

Eve was tempted by her own evil desire prompted by the Devil. The Bible says, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:13-15) Once the Devil had set doubt in her mind coupled with lies concerning God and His commands, Eve’s heart was taken by evil. Verse 6 continues: “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.”

If you notice, Adam was with her the entire time. He saw what was happening and said nothing. Whether or not Adam had heard the serpent speak is unclear. However, it is clear that Adam had to choose between his wife and God’s command. Eve gave the fruit to Adam. He chose to eat of it. Rather than trust in God and what he had clearly heard from God, Adam put his wife first and ate the fruit. This incident echoes through humanity even to this day as men are drawn away from God due to the allure of women.

Fall from Glory

Upon eating the fruit, “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” (Genesis 3:7) They were no longer clothed in God’s righteousness and glory. Their eyes had been opened to a new reality of life without God. They were now exposed to evil and knew both good and evil. They now knew fear, guilt, and shame. Because of this, they sought to hide their shame.

Verse 8-10 says, “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’“

In the moment they had eaten of the tree, something far worse than mere disobedience had happened. Their eyes had opened to a new state of being. Before, they were held under the love and care of their creator. After, they were separated from God. Before, they lived to please God. After, they lived to please themselves. Before, they were perfect and complete. After, they were disfigured and lacking. Before, they trusted in God. After, they feared God.

God did not respond with anger or vengeance. Rather, His first response was an invitation. He said, “Where are you?” It is important to note that God knows all things. God was not trying to find out their location so as to smite them. He knew they had eaten from the tree. Rather, this small request left them open to respond in sorrow and penitence. Even more importantly, God’s response acknowledges the change in them. God no longer recognized Adam and Eve as the pleasing creatures He had created. They had not acted in faith of God, trusting in what He said, but broke His command given to protect them. Due to this, they had become an entirely different creature. They had conceived evil and gave birth to sin. Their being was defiled and corrupted. They were plagued with a newfound disease that would impact every child born of their seed.

In this rebellious act, the disease of sin was born. The first apparent symptom of this disease is shame and guilt. They hid because they were afraid. God was no longer a loving creator in their eyes; rather, He had become a frightening dictator. The next apparent symptom was separation from God. This had adverse affects on their being. They were initially created for communion with God. Without God, they would feel a deep emptiness inside that nothing else could satisfy. In addition, this separation would render them powerless to sin and cause them to become slaves to sin.

Jesus understood this. The acts of sin are obvious. However, the inward state of sin upon the human soul is not easily seen. Jesus said, “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’“ (Mark 7:21-23) The problem of sin is a corruption of the heart from deep within a person. It is not that we do bad things; it is the core of our being is rotten. Because of this, we are slaves to a sinful nature that has overtaken our members.

Human behavior, though it may be bad, is not our deepest problem. Psalms 94:11 says, “The Lord knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.” Whether we commit the acts or not, they spawn from our heart and bubble in our thoughts. Many evils are conceived within that never see fruition. What should frighten us is not the evils humanity is capable of doing, but the evils we are capable of thinking. While watching television, we witness a preview of these thoughts. Why is it movies, video games, and even fiction carry such dark, unimaginable evils? Why do these things entertain us? The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

It is not enough to say Adam and Eve made a mistake or even committed an act of disobedience when they ate off the tree. The full truth is they sinned and fell from the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Humanity has fallen into a pit we cannot climb out from. We cannot self-medicate or redeem ourselves from this condition. This is our demise.

The Bible teaches that this disease spread from Adam and Eve to the entire human race. Psalms 14:2-3 says, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Proverbs 20:9 “Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin’?” 1 John 1:10 says “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” Isaiah 64:6 says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” We are unclean sinners in the sight of God.

It is important to note that being sinful doesn’t mean we are absolutely evil. We are not as evil as we possibly can be. We do not pursue or engage in the full extent of evil unless we have been given over to it entirely. As sinners, we don’t engage in every act of evil possible. Rather, being sinful means we have contracted a disease that has distorted God’s original design. We are like a plate that has fallen and broke into several pieces. We still resemble a plate, but are no longer useful for God’s intended purpose. We cannot do what we were created to do. This means people in general will still have the appearance of being good, but inwardly they are broken. We are sinners or broken people who lack what we need most to make us complete. We need God to make us complete. We lack God. As such, our behavior exhibits selfishness rather than absolute evil. We do not run around killing everyone that we meet. We don’t steal everything we want. Rather, we deny others what they need to exist. We put ourselves first before everything else. We will give to others only when our needs have been met first. We share, not in love, but in selfishness. We realize that when we give to others, they give back to us. And so, we give to pay it forward. We give to receive. However, this is not God’s intended design for humanity.

Humans still have some resemblance to the God’s original design. We were created in the image of God; however, this image has been distorted and corrupted. This is why sin is like a disease. We are abnormal. We have contracted a spiritual cancer that makes it impossible for us to function properly. Rather than live for God, we live for ourselves. Outwardly, we may live what seems like a relatively good life. Inwardly, despite what we do, we are corrupt and displeasing to God. Because of this, we cannot please God. (Romans 8:7) We have no hope of being able to save ourselves.

Scripture highlights this truth. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23) “‘Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.” (Jeremiah 2:22) “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2) We have fallen. We cannot make amends with God to restore this lost relationship. We cannot reach to heaven and find God. We have been separated from Him.

When people ask “Why is there so much evil in the world?”, here is the answer: God has been separated from us. The world has been taken by evil. Humanity has been left alone to do as we please. By disobeying God, we have turned our backs on Him. We suffer because God is absent. We feel empty inside because God is missing.

At this, we might ask, “Why doesn’t God intervene? Why does God allow so much suffering and evil?” What would you do if people broke into your home and trashed it? Would you welcome them with open arms? The day God comes down from Heaven to set all things right, He will destroy the whole world including every sinner. This happened once before when God sent a flood to destroy the whole earth. (Genesis 6-9) During that time, every inclination of the thoughts of men’s hearts was only evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5) It was not the actions of the people that bothered God. It was the endless evil thoughts. Their hearts were evil. At this, God sent a great flood to destroy every living creature on earth. He saved only Noah and His family in an ark.

For now, God has given us a set amount of time to fend for ourselves. Jesus illustrates using a parable in Luke 15:11-32. He tells of a son who asks for his inheritance and then sets off for a far country where he squandered his wealth living a wild life. This parable illustrates the story of humanity. We have taken the wealth of life God has given us and squandered it on ourselves doing as we please. God is off in the distance, watching and waiting for our return. We have been left alone by God because this was our request. This is what our parents chose for us a long time ago. We have been stranded in a distant land far from God. We are lost and trying to find our way in darkness.

The Consequences of Sin

The actions of our first parents in the garden caused repercussions that affect us even to this day. Some of these have already been discussed. An unhealthy fear of God has entered distorting how we view God. Rather than see Him as loving, we see Him as overbearing. Humanity often sees God as an oppressive overlord who needs to be appeased through outrageous sacrifices. Throughout the world, people scar their bodies to appease the gods of their culture hoping to bring about prosperity or peace. This is seen in various religions around the world. People walk across hot coals, pierce their face, hit their heads, and sacrifice their children all in the hope of bringing peace with God.

Another consequence already mentioned is separation from God. We are no longer covered in His love, righteousness, and glory. We walk in shame trying to hide from the truth about ourselves. In this, we live in denial of the reality of our person. We think our good deeds make us a good person. In truth, we are desperate and depraved. We think our mighty acts make us powerful. In truth, we have wrecked the earth and ruined ourselves. We think the works of our hands, our achievements and accomplishments, make us glorious. In truth, we fade away. We think we know what love is because we have family and/or friends. In truth, we starve for love. We think we are rich in spirit. In truth, we are actually poor. We are incomplete and live with a deep emptiness and loneliness. We need God.

However, we have sinned against God. Because of this, we are guilt stricken. Adam and Eve knew the pleasure of God upon them. Now, we knew His displeasure. And though we suffer from their disobedience, we also suffer from of our own sins. We are just as guilty having sinned against God ourselves. As a result, guilt reigns in our soul. Psalms 38:4 says, “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” We feel the weight of this guilt pressing down upon us. We may become adapt at running from it or even ignoring it, but it arises within us with lingering tears and sadness.

The guilt within us is due to a debt we owe. We have committed wrong. Justice says “an eye for an eye.” (Deuteronomy 19:21) Whatever wrong is committed, it needs to be righted by equal payment. If someone steals our car or donkey, it is only right that person pays in equal portion to the crime. God is just and fair, and this is also reflected in our distorted image. For this reason, we seek justice when wrong has been committed. When someone hurts us, we want restitution. When Adam and Eve had sinned, they brought a terrible debt upon all humanity. We have sinned against God. We should be punished in equal portion to the crime. Jeremiah 17:10 says, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” We will be punished as we deserve.

God had warned Adam of what would happen if he had eaten from the tree of knowledge. God held to His word. “To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.’“ (Genesis 3:16) If you notice, the verse says concerning her husband “he WILL rule over you.” God was stating this as a matter of fact, not as a directive. It was not that Adam should rule, but that he would rule. This has rippled through all societies in all time. This, however, was not God’s original design. It is a consequence of their sin.

To Adam God said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

Having been separated from God, two things arose. Firstly, the ground was cursed because of him. Previously, God was Adam’s caregiver providing him with sustenance and food. Without God, Adam would have to work for his food in painful toil. Previously, Adam could eat off any tree in the garden without having to plant or harvest. He managed the garden, but did not labor over it. Adam enjoyed working in the garden with ease. Whether he was active or not, food was available. Now, Adam would have to toil in the production of food. He would have to earn a living. If Adam did not work, he would not eat. By the sweat of his brow he would support himself through hard work.

Secondly, Adam would return to the ground in death. God is the author and giver of life. Without God to sustain his spirit, Adam would age and die. It is important to note that Adam is not dust alone. This means that we are not matter and energy alone. The human soul is both physical and spiritual in one. Genesis 2:7 says “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” We became a living soul or person when God combined the dust of earth with spirit. If Adam were dust alone, then we could still live without God. Like a machine, we could switch on and off with the addition or subtraction of energy. However, life bears spirit. Because of this, we die having been separated from God who is the source of all life. We need God to live as He is the wellspring of our life.

The final consequence, however, was not merely physical death. Chapter three of Genesis ends this way: “And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” The final consequence was banishment. There was no way to return to the garden and eat from the tree of life. We do not just die; we are spiritually dead. There is no way back to God. We could probe the far reaches of the universe and never find God. We have been cut off. We have been completely separated from Him without any way to know Him. They door to Heaven and God had been closed.

This means that if humanity could only meet God again if He came to us. No matter what we do, we cannot get through to God. We need Him to come to us. We need God to reveal Himself to us. But, as shown, we have a huge dilemma. We are sinners. If God were to reveal Himself, He would have to deal with us rightly. God is just, and we deserve to die.

Through Adam and Eve’s disobedience, we inherited a terrible disease called sin. This, however, only marked the beginning. We had become sinners infected with sin due to the fall. This means throughout human history we would continue to sin and evil would abound in various ways. We would thus become the enemy of God living as though we were gods unto ourselves. This truth marks all of human history—the shedding of blood.