This responds to the article on Original Sin by Richard DellaValle. Original sin is not a difficult concept to grasp even though skeptics, such as Mr. DellaValle, seem to have a hard time understanding it. When skeptics are unable to understand one Biblical doctrine, it generally follows that they misunderstand a host of other Biblical doctrines.
There are three primary effects of Adam's first sin denoted by the Biblical writers. They concern our relationship to God, our physical death, and our nature or character. The effects of Adam's sin on the human race are what we call Original Sin.
Because of that first sin, Adam experienced spiritual death. By this, we mean that his relationship to God was severed. In Romans 7:11, Paul wrote that sin deceived him and killed him even though he was alive when he wrote those words. When we read the context in which that verse is found, we find that Paul was not taking about physical death but about his relationship to God. This is what happened to Adam. Adam's sin separated him from God and destroyed the relationship that he had with God. As a consequence, everyone since Adam has been separated from God and that includes us today.
Hebrews 4 describes the promise to the believer of entering God's rest. If the believer looks forward to entering God's rest, then it must be true that the believer (and consequently all people) is separated from God and now resides outside His rest. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were continuously in the presence of God until they sinned. They were in God's rest. When Adam sinned he moved out of God's presence and out of God's rest. We see this vividly portrayed by his expulsion from the Garden. As a consequence, all of Adam's children were born outside God's rest or outside the Garden. They are separated from God. This does not mean that a person must remain separated from God. Any person may petition God to enter His rest (i.e., to enter heaven). Each person has the opportunity at any time in his life to seek out God and reestablish that original relationship first enjoyed by Adam.
The second effect of original sin is that Adam became subject to physical death. Genesis 2:17 tells us that Adam would surely die in the day that he sinned. The emphasis given to the penalty --You shall surely die-- indicates that physical death would be certain but not necessarily immediate. Adam lived after he had sinned and did not die until he was over 900 years old. Once he ate the fruit, Adam knew that he would no longer live forever. He was now certain that the day would come when he would physically die. Like Adam, everyone alive today knows with certainty that they will die one day.
Physical death is a critical event because it defines when a person faces the judgment of God. Each person is accountable to God for every sin he commits in his life. The tragedy for Adam was that he knew that one day he would die and that he would be judged for his sin. The punishment would be total and complete separation from God, a condition that we call Hell. Even though Original Sin resulted in the certainty of death and judgment, God still gives each of us ample opportunity to escape the judgment that is certain to follow. God has communicated with us even as He communicated with Noah, David, Elijah, and many others. Even David, who sinned so grievously, sought God and was not turned away. Consequently, each of us has the opportunity to approach God and seek to escape the judgment that we know is as certain as death.
Adam's nature also changed as a result of his sin. That makes establishing a renewed relationship with God in order to enter His rest difficult. Before he had sinned, Adam naturally sought out God. After he sinned, Adam tried to hide from God. His nature had changed. So it is with all of us today. Our natural tendency is to hide from God, to deny that we have sinned, even to deny that God exists. As a consequence, not one of us ever really desires to enter into fellowship with God. Farrell Till provides us with a good example of this. He has an in-depth knowledge of the Scriptures but that knowledge is not sufficient to cause him to seek God. Christ summarized all the laws of God in two laws; Love God and Love your neighbor. We all break the first law, just like Farrell Till, or Richard DellaValle, or like myself. David, in Psalm 58:3, said that we do this from our mother's womb.
Original Sin has made our situation precarious but not hopeless. It is not God who has rejected those whom he has created. It is we who, by nature, are rejecting our creator. God will not turn away anyone who seeks Him. The opportunity to seek God and His rest exists until we physically die.
DellaValle also describes his confusion over two verses in Genesis. God told Adam that he would "surely die" when he ate of the forbidden tree (Gen. 2:17); however, in Gen. 1:29, the man was free to eat of every plant and tree. If we look at the intervening verses and take note of context, we will be able to help Mr. DellaValle understand what is going on.
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat…And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil…And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it…And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 1:29-2:17)
When we read the account in context, we will find that God created the world including trees, and God gave Adam permission to eat the fruit of any of them. Later, God planted a special and unique garden, the Garden in Eden. In this Garden, God caused two special trees to grow, trees found only in the Garden and not out in the world. God then put Adam in the Garden and told him to take care of it. Adam was still free to eat the fruit of any tree that grew outside the Garden. Only in the Garden was there a tree whose fruit he was forbidden to eat.
Roger Hutchinson
11904
Lafayette Drive
Silver Spring, MD 20902
RHutchin@aol.com
