The Effects Of Sin

Our God is a forgiving God, and as I John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”   Forgiveness allows us to be justified, or properly aligned with God.  Unfortunately many have defined justified as meaning “just as if I’d never sinned.”  If a person accidentally injures, causing him to lose an eye or a finger, his friend, the friend may forgive him and their friendship continue, but the eye or the finger do not grow back.  Similarly, when we sin, God forgives us and continues o have a close relationship to us, but the physical and emotional consequences of the sin remain, often affecting people in unexpected ways. 

Genesis 3:14-15 describes the effects of Adam’s sin on the serpent.  “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” 

God has given us the power to control our minds, and Satan can only take control if we allow him to do so.  If a person allows Satan to have too much control, he may not be able to regain control of his thinking by himself, becoming increasingly demon possessed or insane.  The serpent had allowed Satan to use his body to tempt Adam and Eve.  As a result of his actions, he lost the ability to move about in an upright position, and became what we know as the snake today.  The trust between Eve and the snake would be destroyed, becoming hatred instead, forever seen as representing and serving Satan.  The enmity against Satan would eventually lead to Christ’s crucifixion, and ultimately to Satans destruction, in Revelation 20:10.  “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

While the woman had been deceived, she had violated God’s command and there were consequences for her as well.  Genesis 3:16 tells us, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”  Physically, giving birth became a much more painful and frightening thing with both the mother and child’s lives at risk, and that concern would continue through the child’s life.  The woman’s greatest level of satisfaction and happiness would come from surrendering to her husband and allowing him to lead, contrary to what modern culture would have her believe. 

Adam had deliberately violated God’s command, and the effects of his actions would affect not only him but the world around him, as Genesis 3:17-19 tells us.  “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” 

Because Adam had put his wife’s opinion ahead of God’s command, eating the fruit when she offered it, mankind would live their entire lives with the constant awareness of death being close by.  The ground was cursed for his sake, so that it would no longer be as productive as it was originally, and some of the plants would no longer be edible.  Most of their food would come from annual plants rather than the trees, and would require work to cultivate.  Ultimately, they would all die and their bodies decay and become part of the soil from which they had originally been made. 

Adam recognized his wife’s importance, in Genesis 3:20.  “And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.”  Eve means the life giver.  Without the woman, there would be no human race.  Men who denigrate women and consider them inferior ignore the fact that they owe their mother their very life.  Similarly, women who consider men inferior forget they would not exist without their father.  I Corinthians !!:11-12 reminds us, “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.  For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.”  Neither can exist without the other, and both are dependent on God.    

Justice requires that suitable reparation be made, and Hebrews 9:22 tells us, “…without shedding of blood is no remission.”  In Genesis 3:22, an animal was sacrificed as a result of man’s sin.  “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”  Until they broke God’s command their nakedness had not been a problem, and no covering was needed. 

Before they broke God’s command Adam and Eve had full access to the Tree of life.  Had they chosen to eat it instead, they would have given us eternal life.  God is good, and he was not willing to spend all eternity with people who deliberately did what was evil, any more good people like to spend time with criminals and drug addicts.    It is his world, and he eliminated any other means of obtaining eternal life, according to Genesis 3:22-24.  “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” 

There is now only one way to obtain eternal life.  John 3:36 tells us, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”  Any other way has been eliminated as a result of man’s sin.