Man's First Sin: Whose Fault Was It?

When Adam accepted the fruit from Woman in the garden of Eden, he knew that he was doing wrong. In addition to not following God's command below, he sinned by allowing Woman to lead him to this sin. Genesis: 2:15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” The outcome is not to be blamed on God's choice, but on our own (Adam and Eve's) requisite natural consequence to sin. Just like people hurting their body by ingesting excessive sugar cannot then blame God for their diabetes, so we cannot blame God for any given consequence to our own sin(s). Perfect beings decay by way of imperfection. It's natural, and forewarned. Nature obeys God. It is His creation; can anything occur without Him? So man's free will in making the choices that would corrupt our immortality for millennia have their consequences. Think of it as a necessary outcome of an action rather than as a punishment. In fact, there is no evidence anywhere that God takes pleasure in punishing or limiting man. He wants man to be free, healthy and holy. He does everything to teach us to discern good from bad choices, save for taking the choice from us. An example of this is his forewarning to Adam of the consequence of eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil: that it would result in death. We know this to mean mortality, but also perhaps a spiritual deadening, based on the new awareness of good and evil. Consider as a form of spiritual death Adam and Woman's newfound shame in the nudity that was not apparent to them in their innocence before their sin. God could have easily wiped man out of existence upon the disobedience of Adam and Eve, but instead He showed mercy in their seemingly harsh consequences, which should bring to light the gravity of their actions, and He showed much mercy when he spared Cain, too. So, there is no "punishment", but a consequence. Imagine a teenager is caught drinking behind the wheel. His father takes the temptation and the possible choice of repetition away by removing the vehicle from the son's presence. Meanwhile, this spares the vehicle from further damage, just as the Tree of Life was guarded by angels subsequent to Adam and Eve's abuse of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil . So, from now on the teenager has to walk to work and school for his own safety and well-being, as a result of his own succumbed to temptations of alcohol, pride, impatience, and so on. So, by removing the vehicle, the probability of him repeating this or another sin is also lessened. Similarly, God removed Adam and Eve from the garden and they suffered the natural consequences He had warned them of prior to their disobedience. Imagine God had overlooked Adam and Eve's sin. Without consequence, another one would surely follow! And perhaps one more grave, at that. How flawed would their offspring be then? Humanity already has so much to deal with because of the fall. Hopefully you begin to see mercy in the consequences by now. As noted, Adam's choice to obey Woman over God brought him difficult circumstances. However, at the time of Genesis, God created Woman to be Adam's equal, and for them to care for the rest of His creation together. Genesis 2:18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” & Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. The distinction as man as the head is not made until our beautiful marriage vows. Colossians 3:18, and Ephesians 5:22-23 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. A consequence given to Woman at the time of the fall is that she should be under man Genesis 3:16: To the woman he said... Your desire shall be for your husband,And he shall rule over you.” This directly precedes Adam renaming her from Woman to Eve, as he did the rest of creation before her, which he was to care for. Compare Genesis 2:19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. with Genesis 3:20And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

So, whose fault is it that humanity was left with the consequences of mortality and a more difficult life? Is it Adam's, for denying God's command by accepting the fruit from Woman? Was it Woman's, for denying Adam's command by accepting the fruit from the serpent? Or, was it the serpent's, for feeding both Adam and Woman a lie? Or, was it all three? What do you think? Be the first to share your thoughts on our discussion board.

*The image herein is not my own.