The Bible tells us in numerous places to forgive others. That being one of the Lord’s commands, we may wonder why God didn’t just forgive Adam and Eve when they sinned.
The answer may be found in how the Bible reveals God’s redemptive plan, and how forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ is integral to it.
The Old Testament verses about forgiveness are almost all related to petitions for God to forgive them or others for their sins. Sin was so rampant that God instituted the Law to reveal sins (Romans 3:20-24; 7:7-13; Galatians 3:19-20) and the sacrificial system to serve as a covering for sins (as instituted in Leviticus).
In the New Testament, Jesus commands us to forgive others (Matthew 6:14-15), as does Paul in Colossians 3:13. What happened to make forgiveness for sins possible? Romans 6:23 gives us the answer, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Let’s look at how sin began and how the Lord God brought sin and death to account by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the propitiation (appeasement) for our sins (1 John 2:2).
What Happened When Adam and Eve Sinned?
God created the first couple as perfect and unspoiled in their fellowship with Him (Genesis 2:25). But Satan appeared as a serpent (Revelation 12:9; 20:2) and deceived Eve (Genesis 3:1-7). An abrupt change occurs in this passage regarding how Eve addressed Yahweh. When the serpent spoke to Eve, his deception began by calling the Creator “God” and not LORD God. “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1). Up to this point, the Bible names Him as “LORD God.” Eve fell sway to Satan’s influence and answered the devil using the same term, “but God said…” (Genesis 3:3).
We know the rest of the story and how Eve influenced her husband, “who was with her” (Genesis 3:6). They both ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and subsequently, they knew their nakedness, were ashamed, and tried to hide from God (Genesis 3:6-8).
Nothing and no one can hide from the LORD God. He confronted them about their sin, cursed Satan, cursed the ground from which Adam came and over which he had dominion, and banished the pair from the Garden of Eden. They lost perfect fellowship with the LORD God, and they lost their lives to deception and sin. Their sin affected all of humanity and creation since their fall.
Why Didn’t God Immediately Forgive Adam and Eve?
God’s perfect justice demands payment for sin. Adam and Eve were no longer in a perfect, sinless state once they disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17; 3:6). They became sinners and passed the sinful state onto the rest of the human race. Their sin also affected the created order, and beauty became “thorns and thistles” (Genesis 3:18).
The answer to why God didn’t immediately forgive Adam and Eve is found in God’s holiness and justice.
To forgive means to no longer hold one’s sins against them or condemn them. When someone is forgiven, their fellowship with the one against whom they sinned is restored.
Adam and Eve were perfect before they disobeyed the Lord God. For God to forgive Adam and Eve without a perfect, sinless sacrifice was not possible. God immediately shows us His plan of redemption, though, when He confronted Adam (Genesis 3:15). Remember, Adam’s act of rebellion as the federal head (representative) of humanity did not surprise the LORD God. God knew it before He created humans, and He formed His plan of redemption before time began.
Our holy God provided the first sacrifice when He killed animals to clothe Adam and Eve. They died spiritually when they sinned, but God provided for them. God could not immediately forgive them because:
- He cannot look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). Forgiveness is restoration of a relationship as it was, and God could no longer look upon Adam without seeing his sin.
- There can be no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). In Adam’s case, the blood had to be shed from a perfect Man, and Adam was no longer perfect. Only a sinless Man (Jesus) can redeem sin and gain God’s forgiveness for all of humanity (2 Corinthians 5:21).
- God provided the means for their forgiveness when he ordained that Adam’s offspring would be the Seed leading to Christ. Adam name his wife Eve, “because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:15-20). They were sinners, yes, but their offspring would be an integral part of God’s plan of redemption. God would bless Adam and Eve with Seth, whose lineage led to Jesus (Luke 3:38).
- 4. God gets the rightful glory for man’s salvation and the forgiveness of sin. He decreed the time for His Son to become flesh and dwell among us (John 1:14; Galatians 4:4; Ephesians 1:7-10). We are part of God’s bigger plan to bring glory to the Son because the foundation of God’s redemptive plan is all about Christ’s glory. We worship Him for Who He is, what He has done, is doing, and will do, and we make much of Jesus, of whom Scripture is all about.
A Look at What the Bible Says about Sin and Its Consequences
Adam introduced sin to us when he willfully chose to disobey God. Later, the Bible’s first explicit mention of sin occurs when God tells Cain, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Cain murdered his brother after that revelation and order by the Lord God to rule over it (sin).
The concept of sin is thereafter named or alluded to in every book of the Bible. Sin is any thought or action which is in rebellion to God’s commands. Following are a few short lists (not exhaustive) of what the Bible says sin is and what sin’s consequences are.
The Bible says sin is:
- Universal: Romans 3:23
- Imbedded in our very nature: 1 John 1:8
- Discernable and avoidable: James 4:17, 1 John 2:1
- Forgivable: 1 John 1:9; 2:1
- Evil intentions and actions: Galatians 5:19-21; Proverbs 14:21; Ephesians 4:26
- Allowing the devil to control your thoughts and actions: Ephesians 4:27
- Idolatry: Placing anything above God’s rightful place as supreme in our lives
The Bible says the consequences of sin are:
- Death: Romans 5:12; 6:23; James 1:15
- Exclusion from the kingdom of God: Galatians 5:21
- Separation from God: Isaiah 59:2
- Judgment: Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15
A Look at How God is Both Just and Merciful
When Adam and Eve sinned against God by their disobedience, God displayed His perfect and holy justice by the consequences of their transgression. He outlined how sin would affect their lives and those of all mankind (Genesis 3:16-19).
We might question God’s mercy when He banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, but consider what might have happened had they stayed put. The tree of life still flourished amid the Garden. The first couple had already taken from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and we all have reaped the penalty for their transgression. If Adam and Eve had taken from the Tree of Life, they would have lived forever in their sinful state (Genesis 3:22). And so too would we—with no hope of redemption because once God makes a decree, He doesn’t go back on His Word.
God made sure they could not eat from the Tree of Life, “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”
God also displayed His mercy when He revealed His redemptive plan for all of humanity. The next section of this article delves deeper into that wonderful truth.
Did God’s Plan for Redemption Start With Adam and Eve?
God’s spells out His plan for redemption in Genesis 3:15, which reads, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise [crush] your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.” This verse outlines what we know as the protoevangelium (the first gospel).
Look at how Genesis 3:14-19 progresses.
In verse 14, God curses Satan, who came to Eve as a serpent.
The verses following the protoevangelium proclaim the penalties Adam and Eve’s sin incurred.
Verse 16 tells us Eve, as a wife and mother, was condemned to suffer distress and physical pain. Husband and wife were to have been gracious (complimentary) in their union. Instead, she would seek to rule over her husband but would now be relegated to a state of humble subjection to her husband.
Verses 17-19 describe Adam’s now pitiful situation. God had given Adam dominion over creation (Genesis 1:26). And God changed his livelihood of tilling the ground from joyful and easy-going (Genesis 2:15) to one of pain and continual hard work. God’s curse on someone or something is irrevocable due to God’s immutability (God does not change).
Why Christians Today Can Find Hope in the Last Adam: Jesus
As said above, once God commands something or someone, He doesn’t go back on His Word. His Word is the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16), and His Word is Christ (John 1:1-14). God enacted His plan of redemption that He planned before time began. Jesus, as the Last Adam, reversed the curse that has befallen all men since the fall (Romans 5:8; Galatians 3:13). Jesus is the perfect, spotless Lamb who “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He, as the Last Adam, completely reverses the fall and makes it possible for humanity’s relationship with the Father to be reconciled (Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:22).
One must acknowledge their sinful state (Luke 18:13) and surrender to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance to be forgiven of every sin. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8). We who are the forgiven ones are Christians—Christ followers.
Revelation 21:5 says, “And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” That means a new creation and a new people to worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23). The Apostle Paul reminds us of a glorious truth in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the Last Adam, is alone worthy (Revelation 5:13) to reverse the curse brought by the fall.
Part of the “old” that will pass away is the devil and his demonic realm (1 John 3:8; Revelation 20:10). No longer will he be an influence in any way or to anyone.
We can thank and praise Jesus Christ, the Last and sinless Adam, for our salvation in Him. May He get all the glory.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Engin Akyurt
