When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, there were numerous consequences of judgment. They immediately realized they were naked; they were ashamed and tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves (Gen 3:7). This pictured their attempt to cover their sin, just as when we try to cover our sin and please God with self-righteous works, which God views as filthy rags (Isa 64:6). Ever since the “Fall,” nakedness has been associated with shame (Ex 32:25). God would later sacrifice a lamb to cover (Hebrew: atone for) Adam and Eve’s nakedness and sin with the skin of that animal (Gen 3:20-24). The fact that an innocent animal’s blood would have to be shed prefigures the Old Testament sacrifices and the ultimate one-time sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Secondly their sin separated them from God (Isa 59:1, 2). Adam and Eve hid in the Garden but of course God knew where they were and what they had done. We can never hide our sin from God because he knows everything about us (Psalm 139, Num 32:23). As a loving Creator and friend, God sought them out and confronted them but they made excuses and blamed others (Gen 3:9-13).
Rejecting God’s commandments always has dire consequences (Prov 1:24-29). The most significant aspect of their disobedience was that they brought sin into the world and all humans from then on would be born with a sin nature (Rom 5:12, Psalm 51:5, 1 Cor 15:22). The payment for their sin was death (Rom 6:23a). When Adam and Eve sinned they immediately died spiritually (Eph 2:1) and began to died physically as God had warned (Gen 2:17).
God then pronounced His specific judgments on the parties involved. The serpent, whom Satan chose as his vessel, was cursed to slither in the dust (Gen 3:14). Satan was to be a permanent enemy of man. In the end he would be defeated or crushed by the “seed of the woman” while inflicting a non-fatal wound on the “seed.” Generally speaking the “seed” is the human race, all the descendants of Eve, and Satan is the enemy of mankind. But specifically the seed of course refers to the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 3:16) and the fact that His heel would be bruised is a reference to the crucifixion. We refer to this as theprotoevangel, the “first Gospel.” (Gen 3:15) because it is the first reference to Christ the promised Messiah (anointed Savior and Redeemer).
The second individual to be judged was the woman. God said He would greatly multiply her sorrow in childbirth. He also said she would struggle with the fact that her husband would rule over her even though she would desire to rule over him. (Gen 3:16, 4:7). God has given husbands and wives roles (1 Cor 11:3, Eph 5:22-25), but spiritually they are equal before God (Gal 3:28).
The third individual God pronounces a judgment on is Adam himself. As the leader of the home and the provider, he would have difficulty. The ground would be cursed with thorns and he would have to work by the sweat of his face to eat bread (Gen 3:17-19). No longer would he have an easy task of dressing and keeping the Garden (Gen 2:15). The curse on the ground went beyond weeds and thorns, however. Because of sin, God brought an element of decay into the picture. The entire universe would begin to “wind down.” It would wax old as a garment (Heb 1:10-12). Scientifically we call this the Law of Increasing Entropy or the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. All Creation “groans” under this judgment (Rom 8:20-22).
To deny a real Adam and the above historical facts as described in Genesis is to undermine the entire Gospel and the truth of the “Last Adam,” Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:45). The reality is that all these curses will be reversed one day when Christ returns to earth. The atoning and redemptive work of Messiah/Christ referred to in the Old Testament in Isaiah 50-53 and Hebrews 8-10 in the New Testament will be consummated when He returns at the end of the Great Tribulation period to set up His millennial kingdom.
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