The Fall and Death

This is part four of what I understand as the Story of the Bible. I make no claim to infallibility with this. It is simply the result of a lifetime of reflection on the Scripture and trying to put it all together in a way that makes sense to me. You may agree. But I suspect that it is more likely that you will disagree, at least in part. But I do hope that you will at least think about it.

In the previous posts, I have looked at creation as a whole and then specifically at humanity. It was all good, although not necessarily perfect. But to all but the most optimistic observer, it should be obvious that the condition of the world today, and the humanity that fills it, is less than good. And, in fact, it is oftentimes very un-good.

The Fall of Humanity

The third chapter of Genesis describes the serpent’s temptation of Eve and the resultant disobedience of first Eve and then Adam. The end result was expulsion from the garden, and access to the Tree of Life was lost. The following eight chapters continue humanity’s movement away from God.

Whether you understand these stories as literal history or not, they demonstrate our natural tendency to do what we want rather than what God wants from us. From the very beginning, when given a choice, we have chosen our path rather than God’s plan for us.

Augustine’s doctrine of Original Sin holds that we have inherited our sin nature from Adam and Eve. But it seems to have been a part of them as well. Our sin nature is as simple as self. Like Adam and Eve and like every other human who has ever lived apart from Jesus, I naturally choose self over God.

Death

A question that is often raised from the account of Genesis 2-3 concerns death. If Adam and Eve had not eaten from the forbidden tree, would they still be alive? Along with every other person and animal who has ever lived?

Many argue that they would have lived forever. This belief comes from the warning God gave to Adam that on the day he ate from the tree, he would die (Gen. 2:17). And then Paul’s statement that death came into the world through sin (Rom. 5:12).

But did this refer to physical death? Or to something else? The word that Genesis 2:17 uses for “day” is “yôm,” the same word used in the six days of creation. It is clear that Adam and Eve did not physically die the day they ate the fruit, so it must mean something other than physical death.

I believe instead that it represents being cut off from the life of God, represented by the Tree of Life. They became “darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God” (Eph. 4:18) and “dead in trespasses and sin” (Eph. 2:1).

Was the Fall a Part of God’s Plan

We believe that God is omniscient, knowing all things. And most theologians believe that he is also omniscient regarding time. That God, from the moment of creation, knew all that would happen throughout the history of his creation. Nothing was hidden from him.

Given this, it would appear to be a certainty that God knew when he created us that we would be a rebellious people. But did he just plan on overcoming our rebellion? Or did he, for some reason, deem it necessary? More on this will be upcoming.

Coming Up

The following posts will examine what God did with his rebellious humanity, working to bring his eternal plan to completion.

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