letters to surfers
Question: Was death the result of the original sin in Genesis 3 ? If Adam
hadn't sinned would humans have lived for ever?
Robert Brow July 1999
(Web by site - www.brow.on.ca)
I don't think the fall in Genesis 3 (often called original sin) is
anything to do with physical death. The Lord had said "In the day that
you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 17). When Adam and
Eve ate of the fruit of the tree they did not die physically, but that
very day they experienced spiritual death. This is marked by hiding from
the Lord, making excuses, blaming others, murderous thoughts, etc. . And
that condition continues to this day. It is what we are saved from by believing
the good news. "You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which
you once lived . . . but God out of his great love with which he loved
us even when were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ" (Ephesians 2:1-5).
That suggests that the physical death of humans (and animals) is not
a mistake. It is merely the means chosen by God to terminate our temporary
existence in this life. In the case of humans there is an awesome freedom
for some to choose eternal spiritual death (darkness, separation from the
love of God, as in John 3:19). But God's loving purpose for humanity
includes our physical death as a means of "bringing many children to glory"
(Hebrews 2:10).
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