Genesis 3: The Fall of Man

Genesis 3

(follow the link to read the passage)


I think that it's important to recognize the connection between sin entering the world, and God's love for us above all other creation. Are we supposed to blame God for a sinful world because he put the tree there in first place? Surely, it would have been much easier for Adam and Eve to obey him if there was no sinful option available. The tree was needed because God wants us to glorify and worship him but He knows how meaningless it would be coming from someone with no free will. God had to give Adam and Eve the option of not loving him, or their love for him would have meant nothing. It blows my mind that God wants our love so much that he trusted us with the necessary free will, knowing full well that we would let him down and corrupt the otherwise perfect world that he had created. This is at once an amazing honor, and a huge responsibility. The entire rest of the Bible is the story of God providing us a means of living up to that responsibility, and receiving the honor that comes once we focus our free will towards the glorification of God.

Ultimately, the sins of humanity would have to be paid for, and here in Genesis 3, God gives us the proto-evangelium (the first gospel). In verse 15 God foretells that although the serpent will bruise the man's heel (a reference to Christ being crucified on the cross), the man would bruise the serpent's head. The fulfilment of this prophesy is well described in 1 Corinthians 15. In order to undo all the effects of sin, it had to be paid for by a man, the offspring of Eve, but payment would also have to be divine in order to overcome death. The answer from the beginning was Christ.

In verses 17-19 we see that although he was not the first one to sin, Adam is the one who committed the act responsible for the corruption of the physical earth. God's once good creation moved away from perfection the same way that Man moved away from his perfect purpose. The restoration of this natural balance is what we have to look forward to in the kingdom Christ will hand over to God the Father (1 Corinthians 15 again).

I'll put Chapter 4 up in a few days. Thanks for reading everone. God bless.

Love, Zach