Part 4: The Doctrine of the Fall of Man – The Sin Committed in the Garden
In our continuing exploration of Genesis as the bedrock of biblical doctrines, we now confront one of the most sobering yet essential truths: the fall of humanity. Our understanding of sin, evil, and our present human condition finds its origin in the events of the Garden of Eden.
Our primary texts for this discussion are Genesis 2:16-17 and Genesis 3:6-7.
Genesis 2:16–17 (NASB 2020): “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.””
Genesis 3:6–7 (NASB 2020): “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.”
Key Issues:
As we examine these passages, we seek to answer crucial questions:
- What does Genesis reveal about the nature of sin and evil?
- What was the first sin committed by mankind?
- What is “original sin” and how does it relate to these events?
The Doctrine of the Fall of Man teaches that humanity’s current sinful condition is the direct result of the first sin committed in the Garden of Eden by the first humans. Genesis will vividly demonstrate that the pervasive sinful nature we observe in the world today can be traced back to this singular, foundational event.
The Origin of Evil
Before discussing man’s sin, it’s vital to acknowledge that evil was already present in the Garden of Eden, predating humanity’s transgression.
Genesis 2:9 (NASB 2020): “Out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
The presence of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” signifies that the potential for evil was already established in God’s creation, even in the pristine environment of Eden. While Genesis itself does not detail the origin of evil, other biblical books shed light on this:
Ezekiel 28:12–16 (prophecy against the king of Tyre, but revealing the spirit behind him – Satan)
This passage describes a being, identified as a “cherub who covers,” created in perfection and wisdom. He was “in Eden, the garden of God” and “on the holy mountain of God.” He was “blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.” His sin arose from the “abundance of your trade” (or inner being, “internally filled with violence”), leading to pride and his casting out.
Isaiah 14:12–15 (prophecy against the king of Babylon, revealing the spirit behind him – Satan)
This passage depicts “Helel” (the Shining One, or Lucifer), “son of the dawn,” who was cut down due to his prideful declarations: “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God… I will make myself like the Most High.”
These scriptures reveal that long before humanity’s creation, Satan, originally a perfect angelic being, had already rebelled against God due to pride and a desire to usurp divine authority. He was the first to commit sin and was cast out of heaven. “Evil” itself, then, is the corruption that results from disobeying God the Creator, and it was Satan who introduced this corruption into the created order.
Ezekiel 28:15 (NLT): “You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you.”
The Nature of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
Genesis 2:16–17 (NASB 2020): “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.””
This tree was not a “natural tree” in the sense of all the others that were good for food. While God permitted eating from any other tree, this one was uniquely set apart. It was “in the midst of the garden,” just like the tree of life, signifying its prominent and accessible presence. God, in His omniscience, knew that man would encounter its presence.
The tree was specifically identified by God, and He clearly communicated the prohibition and its dire consequence: “on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.” Contrary to the serpent’s later deception, God was not hiding anything good from man. Instead, He was warning them that partaking of this tree would cause them to become aware of evil alongside good, leading to their contamination and eventual death.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolizes a kind of life or existence where humanity would come to know the presence and effects of evil, suffer its consequences alongside the good, and ultimately succumb to death as its penalty. It represents a life lived outside the will of God, a life of sin and corruption.
The First Sin Committed
While commonly understood as simply “eating a fruit,” the first sin committed in the garden was far more profound and insidious. It was an act of disobedience and spiritual adultery that involved a malevolent deception from the serpent and a fatal embrace of that deception by the woman, resulting in a corruption that led to the curses passed on to all generations.
Why was it more than just eating a fruit?
- The “tree” symbolizes “life” or “existence.” The Bible frequently uses “tree” to represent a way of life or wisdom. For example, Proverbs 3:18 states, “She [wisdom] is a tree of life to those who take hold of her.” A person living by God’s law is described as “like a tree planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:2-3). Therefore, partaking of this specific tree symbolized embracing a life independent of God, a life knowing both good and evil through experience rather than through divine revelation and obedience.
- The immediate results of the sinful act point to a deeper defilement:
- Opened their eyes to their nakedness. Prior to the act, they were “naked but they were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). Shame, guilt, and a desire to hide (Genesis 3:7-10) were immediate consequences, pointing to a profound spiritual and relational breach, not merely a dietary lapse. The focus on covering their “private parts” suggests a deep awareness of a corrupted intimacy.
The Consequences of the First Sin
The immediate and profound consequences of the first sin were the curses God pronounced upon those involved, and upon creation itself.
- God cursed the serpent’s body (Genesis 3:14-15).The serpent was cursed to crawl on its belly and eat dust. This indicates that the serpent, though called a “beast of the field” (Genesis 3:1), was not originally a snake-like creature as we know it today. Its physical form was altered as a curse. The curse also mentions an enmity between the serpent’s “offspring” and the “seed of the woman,” prophesying a spiritual conflict and a future Deliverer (the “Descendant,” referring to Christ). This reference to “seeds” strongly suggests that a corrupting “seed” or influence was indeed involved in the initial act.
- God cursed the woman’s body (Genesis 3:16).”I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall deliver children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” The multiplication of pain in conception and childbirth indicates that the woman’s reproductive functions and potentially her womb were central to the curse. Furthermore, the declaration that “your desire will be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” speaks to a distorted relationship and a struggle for dominance, implying a rebellion against God’s intended order in the intimacy of their relationship.
- God’s curse for the man (Genesis 3:17-19).”Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; With hard labor you shall eat from it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; Yet you shall eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.””Crucially, God did not curse the man’s body directly in the same way He cursed the serpent’s and the woman’s. This distinction suggests that Adam’s primary sin was not a direct physical act of sexual transgression with the serpent, but rather his disobedience in listening to his wife and partaking in the tainted “fruit” she offered – an embrace of the corrupted “knowledge of good and evil.” While the physical act between husband and wife was not sinful in itself, it was now tainted by the evil that had entered through the woman’s initial transgression. The curse on the ground implies that all earthly existence would henceforth be a struggle, and that death, the ultimate penalty for sin, would inevitably follow. “Because of you,” Adam, all creation would suffer the corrupting effects of sin.
Conclusion
Why did a loving God allow this evil to enter His beautiful creation? While we may not have all the answers, the Apostle Paul provides profound insight when confronted with questions about God’s sovereignty amidst evil:
Romans 9:22–24 (NASB 2020): “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, namely us, whom He also called, not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles,”
God, in His infinite wisdom, could have destroyed Satan and his host immediately. But He chose to delay judgment so that He could make known the riches of His glory to those who would become objects of His mercy – His chosen people!
Hence, even in the midst of the chaos and curses in the Garden, God planted a divine seed of promise (Genesis 3:15) – the “seed of the woman,” a prophetic utterance concerning Christ, who would ultimately crush sin and evil, offering hope and redemption in a fallen world. This promise, born out of the very first act of sin, points directly to the coming Deliverer and the doctrine of redemption, which we will explore further in this series.
