02. The Results Of Adam's Original Sin...
CHAPTER II THE RESULT OF ADAM’S ORIGINAL SIN UPON ADAM AND EVE 1. They Became Involved in the Sentence of Death. For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Three aspects of death are revealed in the Scriptures--physical, spiritual, and eternal or the second.
Spiritual death is separation from God. This aspect of death Adam experienced when he ate of the forbidden fruit. Through his sin man lost the favor of God, and became incapable of loving and serving his Creator.
Physical death is the dissolution of the union which obtains between the body and the spirit. Adam did not experience physical death immediately, for he lived on to be nine hundred and thirty years. Though he did not die immediately, his body became mortal. The seeds of mortality were sown in his constitution; a change took place in his body. It was now subject to internal disorders, and external injuries; it was exposed to the wasting influence of the elements. It was doomed to decline in vigor and activity, to feel the infirmities of old age, and at last to sink into the grave--"And he died" (Genesis 5:5). The second death is the lake of fire, "prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41, Cf. Revelation 20:10; Revelation 20:14-15). When our Lord says, "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (John 11:26) and "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die" (John 6:50), He evidently refers to eternal death, the opposite of eternal life. The believer is not saved from temporal death, for if the Lord tarries death will overtake us, but thank God the sting of death is forever gone for the believer, because Christ on the Cross bore the sting of death (1 Corinthians 15:55-56). The second death is not the annihilation of man, but declares him to be in a state of consciousness, because it is a positive punishment. It is what one writer terms "a living death." These "shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).
2. Their Eyes Were Opened, and they knew they were naked. The fact that their bodies were without a covering they surely knew before; so then, the opening of their eyes and their knowing that they were naked must refer to something more than what is usually considered to be the meaning of the statement.
Instead of acquiring supernatural wisdom, as they had fondly hoped the forbidden fruit would bestow upon them, they discovered that they had reduced themselves to an unprotected and wretched condition. Their original state of sinlessness and innocence was lost, and they were now exposed to the wrath of their Creator. This may be inferred from Adam’s reply to the Lord’s question, "Where art thou?" Adam did not say "I was ashamed," but "I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."
They were now conscious of guilt, and wished to avoid a meeting with their judge, for such was now God’s relationship to them. Man stood before God as a criminal before a judge. Such is the relationship that obtains between the Lord and every unsaved person.
3. They Became Sinners. Through this one act of sin they acquired a sin nature, a disposition to sin, thus becoming sinners. They became sinners because they sinned; the rest of the human family have sinned because they were sinners.
4. They Acquired Guilt in that they transgressed the commandment of God. "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed (as guilt) when there is no law" (Romans 5:13); "For where no law is, there is no transgression" (Romans 4:15).
5. They were Summoned into the Presence of God and sentence was pronounced upon them, by which they were subjected to all the miseries of life, and finally to death. "Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19).
6. They Were Expelled from Paradise, which was an abode of the righteous, and not the guilty. "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 forever; 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 cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:22-24).
7. The Authority God Had Given to Man over the Rest of Creation (Genesis 1:28) Was Lost Through the Fall, and Satan became "the prince of this world" (John 14:30), as is revealed in the offer of the kingdoms of this world to our Lord in the wilderness temptation (Matthew 4:8-10).