The Fall of Man--Genesis Chapter 3

A few things came to mind, as I was listening to this chapter.

1. What is the original sin committed by Adam and Eve?

What I mean here, is that there are a number of things that go wrong, and the sin for which they are being punished is never directly referenced. They disobey God and they eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, but in addition they try to hide their sin, and then neither of them take responsibility for their actions they instead, blame someone else for their behavior.

I wonder what would have happened in the story, if when God had come walking in the garden, Adam had come right out and owned his actions and had taken responsibility. Would the punishment have been so severe? Was it the eating of the fruit that was being punished, or was it the immaturity with which Adam and His wife reacted to this situation that was being punished?

2. Death does come with the eating of the fruit.

It is not immediate, but Adam and his wife are no longer given access to the tree of life.

3. With the eating of the fruit comes the pain of child birth and child rearing.

If we want to anthropomorphize God, in this moment God learned a valuable lesson. Trying to keep your creation from the truth of life, is impossible. Children will learn about good and evil no matter how hard you work to protect them from it. So God passed along that painful experience to his creations. Giving us the power of creation, he gave us also the pain that comes with it. Creation is not a simple and easy process, it is hard work. With the eating of the fruit and the becoming like God, we also received the ability to create and the growing pains and lessons that come with creation.

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