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Fall, The
Adam and Eve were created by God in a state of sinless perfection so they could glorify God, reflecting His righteousness on the earth, and enjoy fellowship and union with Him. Their calling was to exercise dominion, or control, over God's creation through their own labors and those of their offspring in faithful response to the word of God. As a specific test of this loyalty, God commanded them not to eat of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" <Gen. 2:17>. Adam and Eve were to demonstrate their willingness to live "by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord" <Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4>. God warned them clearly that their disobedience would result in death.
The fall from their original state of innocence occurred when Satan approached Eve through the serpent, who tempted her to eat of the forbidden fruit. Satan called into question the truthfulness of what God had spoken about the tree and its significance. He urged Eve to discover, through trial and error, whether it was in her best interest to do what God had forbidden. Eve's sin did not consist of being tempted, but in believing and acting on Satan's lie. Her rejection of God's command occurred when she ate of the forbidden fruit and persuaded her husband to do the same thing. The term Fall should not be interpreted to suggest that their sin was accidental. The temptation was purposeful, and their submission to it involved their willing consent.
The immediate consequence of the Fall was death, symbolized by their loss of fellowship with God. For the first time, Adam and Eve experienced fear in the presence of the Lord God; and they hid when He approached <Gen. 3:8-10>. Because of their unbelief and rebellion, they were driven from the garden that God had provided as their home. From that time on, man would experience pain and encounter resistance as he worked at the task of earning his daily bread. Physical death, with the decay of the body, is not a natural process. It entered the human experience as God's curse upon sin.
Adam and Eve did not sin simply as private persons, but as the representatives of all members of the human race. Their sin is the sin of all; and all persons receive from them a corrupt nature. It is this nature that stands behind all personal violations of the Lord's commandments. For this reason, the fall of Adam is the fall of the human race. The apostle Paul thought of Christ as the second Adam who would rebuild the old, sinful Adam through His plan of redemption and salvation. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive" <1 Cor. 15:22>.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
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