The Beginning of Sin and Death

Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. In addition to everything else, this means that they entered the world they, like God, were upright (cf., Ecc. 7:29) God placed them placed in “a garden toward the east, in Eden.” (Gen. 2:8) Their task was simple: “... cultivate it [the garden] and keep it.” (vs. 15) They had but one prohibition: “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). Being in the image of God, man possessed the liberty to obey or to disobey.

As far as the Biblical account is concerned, the very first time that Satan tempted the man, man sinned. The manner in which he did this “in the beginning” is the same way that he tempts man today: he appeals to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the vainglory or pride of life (cf., 1 John 2:16).

(Genesis 3:1-4) Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'“ The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!"

Satan did not approach the woman as an enemy; he disguised himself as a friend – “as an angel of light.” (2 Cor. 11:14). In his concern for the Corinthians over their willingness to tolerate those who did not preach the same Jesus and the same gospel that he had preached when he was first among them, Paul wrote that he was afraid that what had happen to Eve would happen to them.

(2 Corinthians 11:3) But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."

Through his craftiness, “the serpent deceived Eve” (cf., 1 Tim. 2:14) leading her away from God and in this same way he was well able to lead the Corinthians away from Christ. How did the devil deceive Eve? “He did so by using incentive, enticement, inducement, motive (Gen. 3:1-6).” (Larry Ray. Hafley, Watchman, “How Do God and Satan Influence Us?” Online:

(Genesis 3:1-6) Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 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 from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

(As an aside, this is the origin of the doctrine that a child of God can sin and not die. Adam was indeed a child of God - Luke 3:38)

Satan began the process of drawing man from God by asking Eve a question: (Gen 3:1) “Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?” At the very least this question was meant to plant a seed in her heart that God was too restrictive. In her response the woman said that God placed only one restriction upon them – “... from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.” Some have accused Eve of adding to the law of God. If so, she committed a heinous sin even before she ate of the fruit. The Bible, however, does not affirm this. Biblically speaking, the sin of Eve and Adam is associated only with the eating of the tree, not with adding to the word of God and it is there that we should leave this matter (cf., Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible, Gen. 3:2-3; John Gill, The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible, Gen 3:3. Online: ).

The woman speaks of God’s liberality: “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat.” There was but one restriction: “... from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.” The devil does not challenge that God had given such a restriction, but he takes issue with Him with regards to the consequence of that eating. He charges Jehovah with lying: (vs. 4) “The serpent said to the woman, 'You surely will not die!'” Only one word was added that changed the whole counsel of God with regard to this tree. The word “not” Furthermore, Satan lead the woman to believe that the Lord was keeping them in ignorance because He did not want anyone else to be as wise as He: (vss. 4b-5) “'You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'”
Having planted in the heart of Eve distrust of the Lord. Satan utilized her lust to finish the job. The fruit had three attractive qualities: it was pleasing (attractive) to her eyes, it was good for food and it would make her wise like God. Everything about the fruit of this tree presented a strong appeal. At that “moment it was the most desirable thing in the world. The only thing to hinder her from eating that fruit was her respect for the word of God and her fear of the consequences of eating it; but the serpent had ... destroyed these restraints ... she was now ready to follow the devil instead of God. (Whiteside, Genesis - Deuteronomy, 21)

The scripture says: (Genesis 3:6) 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 from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Eve was beguiled; Adam was not: (1 Timothy 2:14) “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” Adam did not believe the devil's lie. Nevertheless, he sinned through the strong persuasion of his wife. This is evident from what the Lord told him in Gen. 3:17: “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'....” John reminds us: “sin is lawlessness” – “the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4) It doesn't matter if this lawless behavior is done with a high hand – with one's eyes open, like Adam – or if it is transgression is the result of being deceived – like Eve. Previously, God told them that in the day that they ate of the tree they would die (Gen. 2:17); and die they did. On that very day they found themselves separated from God; for that's what spiritual death is – separation from God. (Isaiah 59:1-2) "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear." And this separation manifested itself ...

1. In shame

(Genesis 3:7) 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 loin coverings.

Aware of their nakedness and stripped of their innocence the man and the woman sought to cover their shame – to hide it – by aprons of their own devising made from fig leaves. This proved too inadequate. As Homer Hailey rightly says: “All false religions are efforts by man to provide his own covering for sin.”

2. In fear

(Genesis 3:8-10) They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

Prior to this the man and his wife were in communion with God, but sin changed this. Now they were afraid of Him – afraid for Him to see them. So Adam and Eve attempted to hide themselves from their God. But no man can hide from Jehovah!

(Psalm 139:12) Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.
(Jeremiah 23:24) “Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
(Hebrews 4:13) And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

There is one other point that needs to be made about fear. Through long indulgence the sinner may become so hardened by sin that he ceases to fear the Lord. Paul spoke of such people when he wrote: (Romans 3:18) “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

3.· In an unwillingness to take responsibility.

(Genesis 3:11-13) And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Did you notice that both Adam and Eve confessed their sins, but with an excuse attached to it? Adam said: Yes, I ate, but it was “the woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”
Eve said: Yes, I ate, but “the serpent deceived me.” Instead of confessing their sin and pleading for mercy, both sought to justify themselves by shifting the blame to another. “In blaming another each laid the blame ultimately on God. If God had not given him woman, he would not have sinned; therefore, Adam reasoned that God was to blame. If God had not put the tree there or had not made the serpent whom the Devil used, the woman would not have sinned; therefore, Eve concluded that, again God was to blame. From that eventual moment this has been the cry of sinners in rebellion against God. If God had not made me thus and so, I would not have sinned; therefore, I am not to blame. God's answer throughout the Bible is that man is responsible for his own sins. God points to the right way, but man prefers his own way. Only a moral coward would seek to blame another for that which he alone is responsible.” (Hailey, 23) And sin has made moral cowards out of each of us!

It is evil when we justify ourselves even as we confess our sins, to admit to sin but in the same breath indicate that someone else caused it. When we sin we must take the responsibility without excuses. Excuses only hinder repentance. Therefore, confess your sins so that you can obtain forgiveness.

(1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Man - Created in the Image of God

Unlike the plant and animal life, only man was created in the image of God The scripture says: (Genesis 1:27) “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” In Psalm 8 David speaks of man’s elevation over the rest of creation.

(vss 3-9) When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

“What is man? God was so mindful of him as to exalt him to a position next to himself, giving him dominion over all things of earth. No man therefore should abuse himself, as if he were a being of no importance, nor should he trespass on the person or rights of his fellow man. Human life is sacred.” (R.L. Whiteside, Bible Studies, Genesis-Deuteronomy, 15)

Man was and continues to enter the world in the image of God (cf. James 3:9). But what does this mean? Since we have a physical body does God also have one – a body made of flesh and bones? Admittedly, the words image and likeness are often used with reference to external similarities. However, it is evident from what the Jesus has said about God and about spirit, that He is neither flesh nor bones. For “God is spirit” (John 4:24) and “a spirit does not have flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). Therefore, when the Bible says: “God created man in his own image” it cannot mean that man is made in the physical image of God for God has no such image. And so we are still made to wonder: What is the image of God?

“Possessing the capacity to subdue, use and exercise dominion over creation about him is one mark of man's God-likeness. In this he bears the image of His maker. No other creature has the power to make all nature's elements subservient to his use; no other creature has such God-like capacities.” (Homer Hailey, From Creation to the Day of Eternity, 21-22) But the image of God includes more than this. “God has intelligence ... and emotion; he knows ... loves, hates. Man also has intelligence ... and emotions; he has the power to know ... to love, to hate. And as God has, so man has, the power of speech.” (Robert L. Whiteside, Bible Studies, vol. 1, 15) In addition to these things, like his Maker man possesses the freedom to make moral choices – the freedom of his own will to choose good or evil.

In creation God made many robots; man, however, is not one of them! Some of God's robots are animate – fish, fowl, beasts of the field; while others are inanimate – planets, trees, grass. “An animal is no less a robot than a star, being programmed by instinct to act only according to its species, even as a star wanders according to the laws of the universe. A spawning salmon returns unerringly to the place of its birth, not because it chooses to do so, but because it cannot choose to do otherwise, driven by instinct. A blade of grass or a flower springs forth, withers and dies, having no choice ... to bloom or not to bloom. Such creatures never weigh alternatives and choose a direction based on free, moral choice. 'Free' in this context is 'absence of external compulsion,' action that spontaneously erupts from its subject. 'Moral' denotes the 'ability to know right from wrong.' Man is a free, moral creature and unique in that he is the only such creature on earth!” (Tom Roberts, Watchman, “Free Will,” Nov. 2001. Online: http://www.watchmanmag.com/0111/011101.htm)

Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. In addition to what has already been said, this means that like God they too were pure and upright in character. (cf., Ecc. 7:29) God placed them placed in “a garden toward the east, in Eden.” (Gen. 2:8) Their task was simple: “... cultivate it [the garden] and keep it.” (vs. 15) They had but one prohibition: “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). Whether they would live or die was now in their hands.

The Beginning of Marriage

Genesis one and two also speak about the beginning of marriage. On the 6th day, after the creation of man, God said: (vs. 18) "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." Adam did not find this help from what had already been created – a dog or a cat or a bird or even some kind of an ape or monkey. As precious as certain animals may be to us, none of them can be called a helper suitable for man. Once Adam had an opportunity to learn this, God created the woman.

(Genesis 2:21-25) So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

The woman and the woman alone can be called “a helper suitable” for man. Only she can be his helper in every aspect of his life. She would reign at his side, not serve at his feet. As a unit they were told to subdue the earth "and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Furthermore, as husband and wife they were authorized to bring forth children. (Genesis 1:28) God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth….” Though a man and a woman don’t have to be married to have children, they have no right from God to have children together unless they are married. Outside of the marriage all sex is sin! When two unmarried individuals have sex it is fornication. When a person who is married has sex with someone other than his/her marriage partner, it is adultery. But whether it be adultery or fornication this is what God says about it: (Hebrews 13:4) "Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge."

Another thing we learn about marriage is that it is between a man and a woman not a man and a man or a woman and a woman. Even if MN or MA or WI or VT or any other State decides to legalize marriages between homosexuals, even if the supreme court of our land decides that such marriages are constitutional, they will never be right before God. For homosexuality is a perversion of nature and homosexuals like fornicators and adulterers cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.

(1 Corinthians 6:9-10) "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God."

Two other things need to be mentioned, First of all, God never intended for men or for women to have a multitude of wives or husbands at the same time. Marriage is between ONE man and ONE woman. Every other sort of marriage is a perversion. As it says in the NT: (1 Corinthians 7:2) “… each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.”

Secondly, God never intended that marriage end by divorce. Divorce, not homosexual marriage, is the greatest threat to the marriage institution. We live in a age when people believe that it is their right to divorce for any cause at all, but this is not what Jesus says. When he was asked: "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" he said:

(Matthew 19:4-6) “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

And so is ALL divorce sin? Yes unless the divorce is the result of fornication. For Jesus also said: (Matthew 19:9) "... whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Many are willing and ready to take a stand against homosexuality and against homosexual marriage, but are we as prepared to take as strong of a stand against divorce? Are we as prepared to teach our family and friends "whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery"? I fear that we are not! But as for me, I will serve the Lord and you are invited to join me in this service.

"In the beginning...."

The word genesis means “origin” or “coming into being.” Thus one would expect the book of Genesis to be about origins and it is. In the first three chapters, for example, there is the record of the beginning of the heavens and the earth, vegetable and animal life, the human race, marriage, sin and the first promise of the One who would rescue men from the consequences of their sin. Genesis was written by Moses and is the only authoritative history of that period.

Genesis addresses the beginning of all material things that make up what we call the heavens and the earth: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The heavens and the earth have not always existed – they are not eternal; they had a beginning and the beginning was God - “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In one brief sentence, with no effort toward embellishment, the greatest material accomplishment known to men is told. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I agree with R.L Whiteside who wrote: This “statement itself bears the stamp of inspiration, for uninspired men use many words in telling of the beginning of anything they consider important.” (Bible Studies, Genesis-Deuteronomy, 11)

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This takes us to the “time” before the six days of creation; how far back we cannot know and it would be vain to speculate. But we do know this, before the six days of creation began, the earth was not like it is now. For the text says: (vs. 2) “The earth was formless and void,” that is, it was in a state of chaos – utter confusion – and desolation. Furthermore “darkness was over the surface of the deep.” Here, then, is what we have on the day when God created the heavens and the earth: The earth was a chaotic mass undistinguished from the firmament (cf., vss. 6-8) and unformed; it was covered by “the deep” - an abyss of waters – which was wrapped in darkness. But it was not destined to remain in this chaotic state. According to Genesis one, within a time frame six consecutive days, the chaos was turned into order and plant and animal life as we now know it came into existence.

Many find the story of Genesis one to an unbelievable story. “How can it be true that in six twenty-four hour days chaos could be turned into order and all plant and human life as we now know it created? Hasn’t science proven Genesis one to false – to be just a myth, not to be taken seriously?” The short answer is “NO!” Nothing that science has learned proves the hypothesis of macroevolution; nothing that it has discovered proves that the story of Genesis one is anything less than a true account of the creation of all physical things.

But returning to record, we learn that all material things came into being through the fiat of God. Fiat is a Latin word that means: let it be done or let it be; and so we read throughout Genesis one where God says: “let there be light … let there be an expanse … let the waters … be gathered into one place … let us make man in Our image, according to our likeness” and so on. What God willed to happen happened and this is expressed by words like “and it was so.” He said: “‘let there be light,’ and there was light … ‘let there be an expanse’ … and it was so … ‘let the waters … be gathered together into one place’ … and it was so.”

Though we marvel at the complexity of the universe and the power that must have been necessary to bring it all about, it was nothing to God; He willed it “and it was so.” The ease with which God accomplished the creation is specifically addressed in the 33rd Psalm 33: (vs. 6) “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.” No wonder the Psalmist admonishes the whole earth to “fear the Lord … to stand in awe of Him” (vs. 8). “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” (vs. 9) There is no other who is like the Lord, the God who created all things. Only He can say: (Isa 45:12) “It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands and I ordained all their host.” For Him to have turned chaos into order and to create all forms of physical life in six consecutive twenty-four hour days was nothing to Him.

When people say that they find the story of Genesis one to an incredible story – that God did all of this in six consecutive days, I am tempted to tell them that I do too. I find it incredible that the all-powerful God took the better part of a week to accomplish what He could have done in a blink of an eye? “Why did it take Him so long?” is my question. God does not tell us and I, as a Christian, refuse to speculate. Instead, I believe because the Bible tells me so. “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” (Heb 11:3)

Genesis one also tells of God’s satisfaction with the work of His hands: “And God saw that it was good.” The first time such a statement is made is with respect to the light: (vs. 4) “God saw that the light was good.” Finally, after all His will has been accomplished with regard to the creation, we are told: (vs. 31) “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” God was satisfied with the work of His hands for it was precisely what He wanted it to be. (Edward Young, In the Beginning, 16) “It was very good.”

The Lord willing, in my next blog I will write about the beginning of marriage.