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Part 4 of the Series:
In the previous article we considered the creation of humans, and the wonderful scene in Eden - man and woman in fellowship with God. The events of Genesis chapter 3 brought about a catastrophic change to God’s creation. In this article, we are going to look at the implications of Adam’s disobedience to God.
When Adam disobeyed God, ‘sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned’, Rom. 5. 12. With sin came physical death, which has passed to all human beings.
As Christians, most of us would love to live better, but we struggle with our moral frailty and inability to do the right thing. Romans chapter 2 teaches that people have an awareness of right and wrong, but they are often powerless to do what is right even though they have a deep-seated desire to do so, Rom. 7. 15.
Lack of power and a distinct tendency to do the wrong thing is normal in every human being. It is a direct consequence of the fall, Gen. 3.
Before Adam sinned, mankind had a privileged position in God’s creation. He was made ‘a little lower than the angels’, Heb. 2. 7; he was crowned ‘with glory and honour’, v. 7; he was set ‘over the works of … [God’s] hands’, v. 7. These statements teach that, as a physical being, Adam had a kingly glory over all of God’s creation. With God’s delegated power and authority, all things were in subjection to him, v. 8.
This privilege was lost when sin came in, ‘But now we see not yet all things put under him’, v. 8. Sin has not only affected mankind, but ‘the whole creation groaneth’, Rom. 8. 22; this includes the animal kingdom. There is aggression and violence between animals and a deep distrust between the animal (apart from domestic animals) and the human.
The writer to the Hebrews moves from considering the failure of the first man to the glory of the second Man, the Lord Jesus. One that was also ‘made a little lower than the angels’, Heb. 2. 9, He became man, that He ‘should taste death for every thing’, v. 9 JND.
In a future day, the Bible predicts the Lord Jesus returning to rule His world. His kingdom will affect politics, finances, and morality. All creation will then also be in harmony, subject to a perfect, glorious Man, ‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them’, Isa. 11. 6.
After the disobedience in Eden, Adam blamed Eve and seemed indirectly to blame God for his sin, ‘The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat’, Gen. 3. 12. Yet it was Adam that disobeyed the command of God; he was accountable. Eve acted independently of Adam and Adam denied the responsibility God gave him to lead - this was against God’s purpose in the order of creation. Paul explains that ‘Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression’, 1 Tim. 2. 13, 14.
From the point sin entered the world, it was indicated that there would be conflict between animals and humans, and a curse to the ground bringing sorrow, Gen. 3. 17. But also, there would be a continual ambition on both the part of males and females to dominate each other, Gen. 3. 16 - opposed to the complementary order in God’s creation.
This will all be reversed in the future when the Lord Jesus comes because, as 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and Ephesians chapter 1 teach, the Lord Jesus will bring everything under His authority and His control. He will then hand that regulated and ordered kingdom back into the hands of His Father, and God will ultimately rule as ‘all in all’, 1 Cor. 15. 28.
