sin is not a subject that is prominent in modern theology, for it is contrary to a great deal of the proud modern beliefs, and consequently, no mere time-serving preacher will dare to present it to the congregation he serves lest he offend some one’s tender sensibilities. Yet this has long been one of the most fundamental and important doctrines of the Scriptures, for it lies at the very basis of so many others. For if there was no original sin, then there is no inherited sinful nature in man, no need for a redemption from sin, no need for a crucified Christ, no work therefore for the churches to do, and so a great deal of Christian belief and practice is made senseless in one stroke. But the Scriptures leave no room for any one to deny this great and weighty doctrine, for one of the earliest revelations is concerning original sin, and all the rest of the Scriptures assume the truth of this, and are actually built upon it. Len G. Broughton says:

We cannot dwell too much upon the fact that the race of Adam since the fall of man has been under the curse and penalty of sin. There is where every man is today who is not a Christian. It does not take any Bible to prove that man is a depraved being. The history of the race proves it. Our own experience proves it. There is not a man in the world who does not know that the inclinations of the natural man are toward evil. It is a struggle to go the other way. The natural tendency is toward that which is evil. That is true of the race everywhere. —Salvation And The Old Theology, p. 50. Hodder And Stoughton Publishers, London, no date.

The book of Genesis is, as its name implies, a book of "beginnings," and it sets forth in the third chapter, the beginning of sin in the human race; here we find then "original sin," and the great chaos which was wrought by the first sin of man. Of course, many now deny the historic value of the book of Genesis, and claim that it is nothing more than a collection of myths, which are intended to teach, in a parabolic form, some truth, but which cannot be taken literally. It will be observed, and significantly so, we trust, that those who deny the literal truth of Genesis, are almost without exception also those who deny the doctrine of original sin. This is natural, for the two either stand or fall together, and the denial of the truth of the first book of the Bible is simply man’s endeavor to get rid of the problem of original sin, for if there is no original sin, then man is not a fallen and depraved creature, he is not lost and headed for hell, and consequently does not need a Saviour. This is the very claim that evolutionists make, for they say that man has developed over millions of years from a creature of the slime, that he still retains much of the nature of the beast, and therefore is not accountable for acting like an animal. But when people are taught that they are animals as an excuse for their sinfulness, they will continue to act like animals; the truth is that evolutionists are willing to literally make monkeys of themselves in order to get rid of the problem of their sinfulness before God, and their responsibility to Him. Romans 1 shows that man’s bestial actions are a direct result of his rejection of the truth of God.

But the denial of the historic truth of the book of Genesis in no way affects the truth; all it does is blind man to that truth, and so leaves him in a worse condition, for in denying the Divine diagnosis of his condition, he cuts himself off from the Divine remedy for it. But so far from the book 0f Genesis being of minor value, as is held by many, it is a book of beginnings, and is fundamental to our understanding all of the rest of the Scriptures. Yea, more, Genesis is necessary, not only for man’s proper understanding of the rest of the Bible, but even for the right understanding of himself. The third chapter of Genesis gives the why and the wherefore of much of the doings of man in the rest of the Bible, and in history. Man has no way of understanding why he has the sinful propensities that he so evidently has except by this revelation of the fall of man, and his consequential depraved nature. Non-Christian psychiatrists have long attempted to explain man’s actions apart from his fallen and totally depraved nature, and they have always signally failed, and in many instances they have only condoned and confirmed him in his sinfulness by their "help." A great deal of the present lawlessness and ungodliness may be traced directly to the corrupt teachings of psychiatrists, and it is not our intention by this to throw a blanket condemnation aver all psychiatrists, for there are those who are Christians, and who teach a Biblically based psychiatry. But what most people do not realize is that psychiatry (from Greek psyche—soul, and iatreia—healing) is the treatment of the soul, and the very first step in this is to get the soul rescued from its fallen and dead condition. Without this, psychiatry is working at the wrong end, and can never accomplish any lasting good.

The New Testament in several places connects man’s fall in Eden with the beginning of sin in the human race; this event marks the time when man, who was originally created in innocence and holiness, became by his own voluntary act, a fallen and totally depraved creature. Some people, while believing that man fell into sin in Eden, repudiate a belief in the total depravity of man; in many cases, this is because they do not understand what is meant by total depravity. This does not mean that man is as bad as he can be, for no one is ever so bad that he cannot become worse. W. D. Nowlin says of this:

Perhaps the rejection of the doctrine of total depravity, by many people, is only another evidence of their total depravity. Some claim that "all are depraved but that none are totally depraved." Those who make that claim do not reason to the logical conclusion of that position. Depraved means "vitiated, corrupted." What part of man is not "vitiated," or "corrupted"? That which is not depraved, or vitiated, is holy, pure. That which is pure or holy cannot go to hell, and that which is vitiated or corrupt cannot go to heaven, so what disposition could be made of a man who is partly depraved and partly holy? He could go to neither hell nor heaven. The rejection of the doctrine of total depravity is usually due to a misconception of the doctrine. Total depravity does not mean that one is as mean as Satan, nor that he is as corrupt as he might be. It means that when man fell the whole man fell; that no part of the man escaped the fall it means that a man is depraved in total—the whole man. It is a question of extent rather than one of degree. —Fundamentals of the Faith, pp. 41-42. Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Nashville, 1922.

By considering the teachings of Genesis 3, we see several things set forth which show that man did fall in Eden, that he thereby became a totally depraved creature, and is therefore possessed of a sinful nature because of his original sin, and that this condition was passed on to all of Adam’s descendents, who were in him seminally at the time of his sin, and partook of it with him. We observe from Genesis 3 the following things:

It is evident that there must have been some sort of law imposed on Adam from the very beginning, for it would not have been possible for him to have sinned otherwise. The Scriptures declare the necessity of law to constitute an act or an attitude sin: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). And again, "Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression" (Rom. 4:15). And yet again, "For until the law (the giving of the written law on Sinai—DWH) sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression..." (Rom. 5:13-14).

But not only the Scriptures, but even reason itself shows the necessity of laws for the creation, as Dr. Samuel Baird observes when he says:

It is evident that the exercise of a universal, absolute and unchangeable sovereignty, by some being, is necessary to the harmony and happiness, —nay, to the very existence, of the universe which God has made. The Creator must be that sovereign. No other being has one requisite for the office. The very act of creation, implying, as it does, some suitable end to be attained, brings the Creator under obligation to his own wisdom to give his creatures such laws as will guide them to the accomplishment of that end; whether they be enstamped upon the very essence of the creature, as in the case of the material elements; attached to the organic structure, as in the vegetable creation and animal tribes; or inscribed on the heart and made known to the understanding, as in man and the angelic hosts. —The Elohim Revealed, p. 187. Lindsay and Blakiston, Philadelphia, 1860.

In the very beginning of man’s history, God gave certain restrictions and laws which were designed for three principle reasons, and again we avail ourselves of the words of Dr. Baird.

Such was that most perfect law, under which man was created; —its precepts based in reasons most worthy of God, and originating in the very attributes of his own nature; —in its influence felicitous to man and the creatures, and essential to account for, or perpetuate, the existence of creation itself. Through its instrumentality, three purposes are accomplished. It serves for the revelation of the moral perfections of God; it constitutes an assertion of his sovereignty; and is a touchstone for the creatures. —The Elohim Revealed, p. 214. Lindsay and Blakiston, Philadelphia, 1860.

We find the restrictions declared in Genesis 2:16-17, and these constituted law to Adam, and they were an effectual test of his obedience: "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The very certainty of the penalty for the violation of this law left no room for Adam to plead ignorance of it, and neither can men today plead ignorance of their responsibilities before God, for while ignorance may mitigate the degree of guilt, it does not affect the fact of that guilt.

We must realize that God is sovereign, and it is His right to impose any restrictions upon His creation that He may please, and indeed, He does do as He pleases in all things: "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased" (Ps. 115:3); "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places" (Ps. 135:6). At the same time, we ought to realize that any restrictions which God places upon man are for man’s own best interests, for "The Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Ps. 84:11). But God often permits what He does not positively decree, and chooses rather to over rule evil that glory to Himself, and good to man, may come of it. Such is the case now before us.

Some have criticized God for making the results of eating of this fruit so fearful; some say that Adam’s sin of eating of this forbidden fruit was too insignificant an act for God to have brought death upon him and upon all of his posterity for its sin, yet it was not an insignificant act; it was a case of outright, willful rebellion against the clearly revealed will of God. It cannot even be charged that Adam was deceived in the eating of this fruit, for it is expressly said: "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression" (1 Tim. 2:14). Eve was beguiled by the serpent (2 Cor. 11:3), but not so Adam; he sinned in full knowledge of his actions and their consequences, for he knew that Eve had sinned, and he chose to sin and to remain with his wife, than to maintain his innocence, and be separated from her. There is no possible way to either excuse or extenuate Adam’s sin. Besides this being a case of outright rebellion against the authority of God Himself, which is the most important thing, a seemingly insignificant matter is a better test of obedience than a great matter. J. M. Pendleton says:

Some have thought it unworthy of God to make results so grave and so fearful contingent on eating the fruit of a certain tree. How could it be unworthy of him? He designed to test the obedience of the two rational beings he had placed in the garden. Obedience can be tested as well by a little thing as by a great thing, and possibly better. In doing a great thing, a man may be influenced more by the magnitude of the thing than by the authority enjoining its performance; whereas, in doing a little thing, so called, he is much more likely to act out of reverence for the authority of God. This is the very essence of true obedience. There is no genuine obedience without it. —Christian Doctrines, p. 164. American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1878.

This criticism is based on the old mistaken idea that man is at liberty to decide which commands of God are important and which are not, and to obey only those which he deems important enough to be worthy of his obedience, but it is never a question of how important a command is; the only question is whether or not God has commanded it. If He has commanded it, then the issue is settled; man is to obey it without delay or debate. To do otherwise is not to obey God at all, but to obey only one’s own reason and will.

The restrictions which God had placed upon man’s activities in Eden were solely a test; nothing was withheld from man that he really needed, for God’s provisions were not only adequate, but gave full opportunity to him to richly enjoy all things, with one exception only, and that one thing could add nothing that was really good to man. On the other hand, the most dire and certain circumstances were threatened against the violation of these restrictions, so that man had all to lose and nothing to gain by the violation of these restrictions; why then did man transgress this clear commandment of the Lord and eat of this forbidden fruit? He did so, partly because he was moved to do so by an external temptation; hence, we note—

Satan, using the serpent as the instrument, was the agent in this temptation: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Gen. 3:1). That Satan was the moving force in this temptation is made unquestionable by a reference to Revelation 12:9 where he is spoken of as "The great dragon...the serpent of old who is called the Devil and Satan" (New American Standard Bible). This subtlety of the serpent is spoken of in other places as well: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety..." (2 Cor. 11:3). "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Eph. 6:11). Both "subtle" and "wiles" suggest a wisdom that is turned to an evil use, and this exactly describes the devil, for in his creation he was one of the wisest of creatures, yet he perverted his wisdom to evil ends through his pride and ambition: "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness" (Ezek. 28:17).

But observe how Satan went about to deceive man, and cause his fall from his state of innocence. First, there was an insinuation of a doubt about what God meant: "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Gen. 3:1 ff). This is a very common form of temptation, for if the devil can get man to question the meaning or application of one of God’s commands, he has made much progress toward getting man to disobey it. Again, Eve only had this command second hand, for God had not spoken it to her, but to Adam (Gen. 2:16-17), and so she was in no position to debate the matter with the serpent; what she should have done was to refer the matter to her husband, who was her head and the one to make any decisions that needed to be made.

In the second place, the serpent directed attention to the one limitation, instead of to the broad, almost limitless permissiveness. One thing only had God denied to man in the Garden; all else was freely given to him, and there was no lack of anything that man could need or desire; yet, all this was forgotten, and the serpent directed attention to the one thing that would be sin if man partook of it. Rebellion could not be incited if man’s attention was only directed to what was lawful for man; man must be made to desire the forbidden and unlawful before he could be brought to rebel against God’s will.

Thirdly, the serpent added to the Word, and so he reversed its meaning; "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4). He only added one word, and this one word was one of the smallest words in the Hebrew language, being composed of only two letters in the original text, but it completely reversed the meaning of the command. Modern translators of the Bible need to consider how the devil is still using this same manner of corrupting the Word by leading careless men to gradually corrupt the Bible more and more by their paraphrases and loose translations.

Next, in the fourth place, the serpent impugned God’s motives for denying the fruit of this one tree to man: "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5). The very name "devil" means "slanderer," and this is what the devil does; he slanders God to man, as he did here, then he slanders saved men to God, as he did in Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5. To Eve, Satan slandered God, and claimed that God’s only motive in denying to them the fruit of this tree was to prevent them from becoming like Him: "God doth know...ye shall be as gods" (Hebrew word Elohim = the Triune God). He made God’s motives for denying this one thing to them to be wholly selfish, for if he can make God appear selfish, he can give some apparent justification to man to act selfishly.

Fifthly, the serpent appealed to the three main avenues of temptation in inciting to rebellion. John declares that "All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 John 2:16). Almost all temptation comes through one of these three avenues, and so it was with Eve. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food" (Gen. 3:6), —here was the lust of the flesh —"and that it was pleasant to the eyes" —the lust of the eyes —"and a tree to be desired to make one wise," —the pride of life —"she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." It was through these same three avenues that Achan was brought to sin (Joshua 7); these three things entered into David’s sin with Bath-sheba (2 Sam. 11); and these three are all prominent in the temptation of Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4). It seems very probable that any temptation could be categorized under one of these three forms of temptation.

Sixth, this temptation which the serpent presented to Eve was of much the same nature as that through which Lucifer himself had fallen; he incited rebellion through an unholy ambition to be like God Himself (Gen. 3:5), and this was the very way that he had expressed his own unholy ambition: "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (Isa. 14:13-14).

In inciting the original pair to rebellion, the serpent used some truth, for pure falsehood presents little temptation, for it is seen in all of its garish ugliness, but let there be enough truth admitted that man can justify himself from it, and he will fall an easy prey to the temptation. If Adam, in his state of innocence, went into this sin fully knowing it to be sin, as we shall shortly see that he did, then it is little wonder that man in his present fallen state so easily yields to the enticements of the evil one when they are so beautifully presented to him.

But it is one thing to be tempted, and quite another to yield to sin, and these two things must not be confused, for it is written: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him" (Jam. 1:12). A temptation is simply a test, and if it is not yielded to, it becomes a blessing to the one being tempted; it is only when one yields to that temptation that it becomes sin, as it is also written: "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (Jam. 1:14-15). Thus, it must be recognized that all of the forces of the devil in the world cannot storm the bastion of a man’s soul and take it except the man first open the door from the inside. This brings us to consider therefore—

Someone has well said that "Sin is man’s declaration of independence from God," and indeed this is what it all amounts to in the final analysis. It is simply a matter of man’s self-will and self-seeking instead of submission to God’s will and God’s way. As we have already said, all of the devil’s imps could not have forced man to sin; the devil indeed incited him to sin, but it was still man’s own voluntary transgression, for which he must solely give an answer at the judgment bar of God.

But of the two persons, most people want to make Eve the guiltier of the two, and this is especially true of those whose mothers, by their ungodliness or hypocrisy, have given them reason to disrespect women, or even have actually made them woman-haters. But the Scriptures speak otherwise in this matter, and show that the greater guilt was Adam’s, and this for several reasons.

First, Eve was deceived in this matter, which, while not excusing her, did at least extenuate her guilt. Eve had not been given this commandment, but had received it by word of mouth from Adam; as a consequence, she did not understand all that was involved in the restrictions put about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In answer to the serpent’s question as to whether they could eat of all of the trees in the garden, she said that this one was denied to them, but note the reason that she gave for this: "God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die" (Gen. 3:3). Here, she added to God’s commandment "neither shall ye touch it," which was not a part of the original commandment. At the same time, she reduced the certainty of death in the original command, to only a possibility of death: "lest ye die." Obviously then she had rationalized the whole matter, and had concluded that God had restricted this one tree because of its possible poisonous effects upon them, and the possibility of death to them from the eating of its fruit. Note the contrast between God’s command....."thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17), and Eve’s interpretation of it: "lest ye die" (Gen. 3:3). If this be so, then one easily understands how she fell so easy a prey to the serpent’s guile, especially if she saw him eat of the fruit of the tree with no ill effects, as seems implied that he did in Genesis 3:6: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food..."

In our own day we see this same form of temptation becoming very prevalent in that many young women justify premarital sex relations on the ground that the original commandment to refrain was simply a precaution against women conceiving children out of wedlock, but that with the invention of so many contraceptive devices, this danger is reduced to a very minimum, and consequently the command is no more in force. But as the restrictions which God had imposed around this tree in Eden were tests of man’s obedience which no amount of rationalizing could remove, so neither can any of the Moral Law be rationalized away by wicked men.

In the second place, Adam was the more guilty of the two because he sinned willfully, in full knowledge of all that was involved in his act; "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression" (1 Tim. 2:14). There is no denying that Eve was in the transgression, but she was deceived into being in it, which could not be said of Adam, for he went into this sin with his eyes wide open, as B. H. Carroll says:

He was not deceived. He knew God had said what the devil suggested to Eve that he had not said. He believed that if he ate of that fruit it meant death. He never doubted God’s word. But he deliberately ate of that fruit because the woman asked him. Unquestionably Adam’s sin was greater than the sin of Eve, and the death that has reigned over this world has not come because Eve sinned; don’t you think that. It came because Adam sinned. The human race did not fall in Eve. They are recovered in Eve through the Saviour who is her seed, but not the man’s. We fell in Adam. He had no excuse in the world. He preferred the woman to God; that was his excuse. —An Interpretation of the English Bible, Vol. I, pp. 105-106. Broadman Press, Nashville, 1947.

As soon as Eve had eaten of this fruit, she came under the curse of spiritual death, and Adam could not bear to be parted from her, so he chose to likewise eat of the forbidden fruit and die with her; he preferred his wife to his God. How many people likewise let members of their family stand between them and faithfulness to God.

But thirdly, Adam was the more guilty of the two, because he could have interposed his authority over his wife at any point in this whole transaction, and have prevented her from eating of the forbidden fruit, and becoming a fallen creature. Adam did not just happen by after all temptation had taken place, nor did Eve and the serpent seek him out after it was over; Adam stood silently by through the whole and watched his wife be tempted, deceived and die spiritually, for when Eve had eaten of this forbidden fruit, she "also gave unto her husband with her; and he did eat" (Gen. 3:6 ff). It is pretty hard to justify Adam in any way when we consider all of these factors, for he was cowardly and unprincipled, to say the least, in allowing his wife to get into the fix she was in without a word of warning or admonishment. And yet worse, he attempted to "pass the buck" and blame Eve, and, by implication, God who had given Eve to him: "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat" (Gen. 3:12). Since this first sin in the human race, it seems an innate weakness of man to always try to blame someone or something other than himself for his sins, but this never works, for the old saying is, "Every tub must sit upon its own bottom."

Fourthly, Adam’s guilt was the greater because he stood in a different relationship to his posterity than Eve did, for while Eve was the "mother of all living" (Gen. 3:20), yet Adam was the natural head of all the human race, and besides being the progenitor of all men, he also represented each and every one of his descendents in the transgression. For it is evident that the sin of Adam was imputed to all of his posterity, for it is written, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12); and again, "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:19). "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:21-22). W. G. T. Shedd has observed concerning the text in Romans 5:12:

This sin is imputed to the unity that committed it, inheres in the unity, and is propagated out of the unity. Consequently, all the particulars regarding sin that apply to the unity or common nature apply equally and strictly to each individualized portion of it. —Dogmatic Theology, Vol. II, p. 43. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, no date.

There was a unity of the whole race, and this unity was then centered in Adam, as the natural head of the race. Every person who has ever lived on the earth, Christ alone excepted, was in Adam seminally when he sinned, and as a result of this we all sinned in and with Adam, and as a result of the depraved nature which we inherit by nature from Adam, we all ratify Adam’s sin in one way or another as soon as we come to the age of accountability. J. M. Pendleton observes:

Adam’s apostate children have often blamed their apostate ancestor for his disobedience, but they practically, endorse it as soon as they are able to discern between good and evil. They invariably choose the evil and reject the good. Their depraved nature shows its depravity in their preference of the ways of sin. They love darkness rather than light. —Christian Doctrines, p. 171. American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1878.

There is also truth in the statement of A. J. Mason that "That which was by birth our misfortune has become by choice our fault" (The Faith of the Gospel, p. 117. Rivingtons, London, 1889). Thus, in Adam’s revolt, there were many and far-reaching effects, which have not ceased to this very day, but unlike the ripples caused by the tossing of a stone into a pond, the ripples of sin grow greater with every passing generation, so that now they have become tidal waves. But this is to encroach upon our next thought, which is—

As we have already observed, Adam sinned, not as an individual, but as the natural head of the human race, for all of mankind was in him seminally at the time of his revolt against God, and consequently, in God’s sight, they all partook of his transgression. That God looks upon men as being one with their fathers before their birth is evident from Hebrews 7:9-10: "And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedek met him." The principle is the same in both cases, except that in Adam’s cases all of his descendents are seen to be in him at the time of his sin, and to be guilty with him. It must also be remembered that Adam was the first created man, that he had just shortly come fresh, new, and perfect from the hand of the Creator, and that he had no natural frailties, no bent to sin, nor any thing else which would work against his holy character; but if, in spite of all this, he still sinned and rebelled against God, then it is certain that all of his descendents, now possessed of a fallen and depraved nature, if they were put in the same circumstances and situation, would even more quickly and certainly sin.

The first and greatest result of man’s sin was the death which had been threatened from the first for the eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree. Yet this was not primarily physical death, although it is evident that physical death is a result of this sin. Dr. S. J. Baird has well said of this:

That bodily dissolution was not the immediate idea expressed by the word, death, in the penalty of the law, is still further evident from several considerations. If that was the meaning, it behooved that our sinning parents had actually returned to dust on the day of the transgression. The law was, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." ...Christ was made under the law, "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Heb. 2:14, 15). He "hath abolished death" (2 Tim. 1:10); and assures the bereaved Martha, "He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." (John 11:25-26). Yet of all who then heard and believed, and of all the after generations who have trusted in these exceeding great and precious promises, not one has avoided return to the dust...As if to mark with emphasis the fact that the word death, properly expresses wrath, the Scriptures repudiate its use, in the case of the people of God. See Matthew 9:24; John 11:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 5:9-10. —The Elohim Revealed, pp. 274-276. Lindsay and Blakiston, Philadelphia, 1860.

By eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree, Adam immediately became a sinful and fallen creature, who was under the wrath of God, and this seems to be what is primarily signified by the word "death" in Genesis 3. It is true that Adam and Eve immediately upon eating of the forbidden fruit became mortal, i.e., dying creatures, and it is also certain that they were also accounted spiritually dead until they were born again by faith in the promised redeemer, but the death threatened was the wrath of God which must necessarily be upon every child of Adam until he is redeemed from the fall.

Numerous other calamities resulted from man’s sin, and these are enumerated in Genesis 3; first, God multiplied the sorrow and conception of the woman so that she would henceforth be able to conceive more often (Gen. 3:16), and this part of the curse evidently involved, for the woman, pain, as is intimated in the word "sorrow." But this would also be a curse upon the man as well, for most men suffer mentally when they see the wife of their bosom suffering physically.

Second, the woman was made subordinate to the man in a way and degree different than that which was inherent in the creation (1 Tim. 2:12-13; 1 Cor. 11:8-9). Just exactly what is meant by "thy desire shall be to thy husband" (Gen. 3:16), is not known, but it is clear that as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve, their own original relationship was so disrupted as not to be as blessed as it was before the fall.

Third, the earth itself was cursed so that it would henceforth only grudgingly yield of its produce, and this only in response to man’s laborious tillage. "...cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life" (Gen. 3:17). Down to this present moment, this same condition has continued true, and will do so until the earth itself is redeemed along with man’s body. "For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:20-23, R.V.).

Fourth, the fall of man resulted in sorrow—sorrow for the woman in her sphere of life (Gen. 3:16), and sorrow for man in his sphere of life (Gen. 3:17). Until they sinned, neither Adam nor Eve had ever had their vision blurred by tears, nor had their hearts ache in sadness and regret, but after their sin, this would become one great life-long experience with only occasional brief respites from it. Sickness, sin, death, disappointment, privation and many other things make this present life one of much sorrow of heart.

Fifth, as a result of the curse upon the ground, there would be the constant danger of frustration of man’s attempt to extort from the unwilling earth a living. "Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee" (Gen 3:18a). Doubtless this curse was not restricted just to the occupation of farming, but has application to all occupations, but in no occupation is the curse more evident than in farming, for all good crops must be carefully tended in order to get them to produce, while weeds of all sorts must be constantly battled and still they thrive and reproduce prodigiously and choke out the good plants.

Sixth, man’s labors would be a wearisome, unpleasant chore all of his earthly existence (Gen. 3:19): "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." God never meant for man to he idle, and for this reason even before the fall, man had the task of tilling the garden (Gen. 2:15), and even after the earth has been redeemed and purged of all the ravages of sin, man will still be busy serving God (Rev. 22:3), but this is all a far cry from the wearisome labor which is fallen mankind’s lot because of the curse.

Seventh, physical death resulted from the curse, for it is written, "...Till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen 3:19). Death is the natural result of sin, and it follows it by course, even as James writes: "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (Jam. 1:15). Physical death is not the worst part of the curse, but it is a most manifest and constant reminder to man of his fallen condition.

In a word, chaos resulted from the sin and fall of Adam, for not only did he plunge his own posterity into ruin, but he also brought devastation upon the whole creation, yet, there is blessed hope, for we note finally—

By His sin man merited eternal death, yet God in His grace and mercy provided for redemption; yea, He provided for it before the foundation of the world. Man’s fall did not take God by surprise, for the provision for man’s redemption was made before there ever was a man, and so before the need arose. Thus it is written that Christ is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8). Not only so, but also it is written that "...he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love" (Eph. 1:4).

God’s provision of redemption antedates man’s existence, and so his need, but it was proclaimed immediately upon its being needed, for the first promise of the coming Redeemer is recorded in Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

But not only was a provision for redemption proclaimed, but also a place of worship where God would meet with man and accept his offerings was also provided: "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life" (Gen. 3:24). The Cherubims are symbolic of God’s presence, and of the place where He would meet with man, as it is written: "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony..." (Ex. 25:22).

Let us understand that immediately after the fall of man grace intervened. First, with a promise of a Redeemer who would destroy the works of the devil. Second, with clothing symbolizing the righteousness of Christ. Third, with a mercy seat indicating the method by which God could be savingly approached. From this time on until the flood that mercy seat is at the east of the garden and whoever would partake of the tree of life and live forever must come to God where he dwells between the Cherubim, where the Shekinah is the symbol of his presence, and that we can only come to him in the blood of an atonement. —B. H. Carroll, An Interpretation of the English Bible, Vol. I, p. 112. Broadman Press, Nashville, 1947.

That a redemption was actually supplied for Adam and Eve is all but certain from the symbolic representation in God’s supplying them with clothing to cover their nakedness by slaying animals and taking their skins: "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them" (Gen. 3:21). Nakedness is used very commonly in the Scriptures as a symbol of sinfulness or a lack of righteousness, while the provision of clothing symbolizes the imputing of the righteousness of another to a sinner. The fact that these were animal skins, suggests that in order for man’s unrighteousness to be covered, another had to die in his place, and so it sets forth the doctrine of substitution. The fact that God Himself provided this clothing for Adam and Eve, shows that God was pleased to provide the Substitute through whose death man might be forgiven.

This verse gives us a typical picture of a sinner’s salvation. It was the first Gospel sermon, preached by God Himself, not in words but in symbol and action. It was a setting forth of the way by which a sinful creature could return unto and approach his holy Creator. It was the initial declaration of the fundamental fact that "without shedding of blood is no remission." It was a blessed illustration of substitution—the innocent dying in the stead of the guilty. —A. W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis, p. 44. Moody Press, Chicago, 1922.

Man, by his sin, became a fallen and totally depraved creature, and so passed under the curse which was pronounced for the transgression of God’s original commandment. He merited only hell, and could never by his own works be otherwise, so that if he was ever to be redeemed, it had to be by grace—i.e., wholly apart from any consideration of merit upon his part, and this is what the Scriptures universally represent salvation to be—by grace. But redemption itself is not by grace, for it was accomplished by Christ, by His paying of the full price for man’s rescue from the curse of the law. Indeed, "redeem" means "to buy out of the slave market," or "to release by paying a price." Redemption is the great accomplishment of Christ for man’s rescue from the fall, while salvation is the great result of this which is given to fallen man gratuitously. Thus, man has no need to try to make a redemption for himself for the following reasons: (1) It is impossible for him in his fallen and depraved condition to do anything that would be acceptable to God. (2) Christ has already accomplished all that is necessary for man’s redemption. (3) The attempt to accomplish a redemption for himself is to deny either the efficacy or the availability of Christ’s redemption, and so to present an affront to the Father also. It resolves itself very simply: man must either gratefully accept the redemption that has been made, or go unredeemed into a Christless eternity. There is no alternative.

Redemption is a part of that very great and broad subject, the atonement, which we hope to give attention to in a subsequent study, and so for the present we content ourselves to only give a suggestive outline of redemption for the reader’s further study. The Scriptures set forth the following things about redemption: I. Redemption Purposed. II. Redemption Prefigured (in the Old Testament sacrifices). III. Redemption Purchased. IV. Redemption Preached. V. Redemption Perfected (completed at the Rapture). VI. Redemption Praised (the song of the saints in eternity).

The original sin of man was a sin of all mankind, and it plunged the whole human race into a state of chaos from which it could only be recovered by Divine wisdom and working, yet the blessed truth is that man gains more by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, than he lost by his fall in Adam, yet this he gains, not by his own works or efforts, but solely by unmerited and unmeritable favor of God. All praise, then, is due to God and to Him alone.