In the book of Genesis, we see that when God made the first humans, named Adam and Eve, he gave them only one command. Ultimately, God wanted them to live a blessed life. They were free to enjoy friendship with God and everything God had made to the full.

     There was only one condition. For the blessing of the garden to continue, Adam and Eve only had to obey God’s one instruction: they weren’t allowed to eat fruit from a certain tree in the garden God had made. This tree was called the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”.

     Even though this passage raises big questions, we need to remember that the author is prioritizing the teaching of spiritual truths. In Genesis chapter 3, we discover that the first humans, Adam and his wife Eve, disobeyed this golden rule. They ate from the tree God commanded them not to eat from. This was the first sin, or what many call original sin. By sinning, they died just as God said they would. In the verses prior, God said, “on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

      There are two points we should note here. Firstly, we can see a biblical definition of sin. The Bible doesn’t exactly define sin as ‘moral wrong’. Eating apples isn’t morally wrong; the problem is Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Sin is defined as disobedience and rebellion towards a perfectly loving God. Adam and Eve’s disobedience towards God led to their healthy relationship with him being ruined.

     Secondly, we must question what kind of death Adam and Eve died. They didn’t completely die physically, even though their bodies were no longer fit for eternity. But the Bible suggests they died spiritually, and this is what God primarily meant by “death” here.

     As we try to understand sin more deeply in the following chapters, we should take these two ideas with us. Sin is defined as disobedience and rebellion towards God and results in spiritual death. This spiritual death has physical consequences, of being able to physically die in a world where sickness and death exist, and eternal physical consequences of eternal death.

     We’ll see that this consequence of spiritual death because of sin is caused by a broken relationship between us and God. Sin ruined the perfect relationship the first humans had with God, their Creator. Humanity inherited this ruined relationship with God because of the sin of our descendants, Adam and Eve. After their disobedience, Adam and Eve were cursed and cast out of the garden that God had made, into the harsh wilderness where we now live. This means we’re spiritually dead, just like Adam and Eve are described, because we’re their descendants. We also now live in the harsh wilderness they were cast out into with bodies no longer fit for eternity.

     It’s also important to read Genesis chapter 3 to understand Satan’s role in this first rebellion of humans against God. Satan was an angel (a heavenly being God had created) who rebelled against God and so was also expelled from heaven. The snake in Genesis 3 is commonly thought to represent Satan. He is described as “crafty”, or in other words, manipulative. Satan, as the snake in Genesis 3, caused Adam and Eve to question God’s instructions and tempted them to seek God’s power for themselves. Satan also lied to Adam and Eve by telling them they wouldn’t “die” by eating the fruit. By following Satan’s wishes instead of God’s, humans are counted as partners with Satan and cursed with him in the second half of Genesis chapter 3.

     This rebellion by humans appears to be intentional. In a world previously without sin, humans were aware that, by eating the sacred fruit, they were partnering with Satan to obtain a certain knowledge which God had forbidden. The narrative tells us that Adam and Eve were aware this was something God had specifically commanded against. By doing so, humans formed an intentional and rebellious mutiny against God’s authority. The involvement of Satan’s lie, that Adam and Eve wouldn’t die if they ate the fruit, doesn’t somehow reduce the disobedience of their rebellion. After all, Satan’s lie only helped Adam and Eve think they could disobey God and benefit from it.

     We can see that this event of original sin had giant consequences—it changed everything. This event of original sin is also sometimes called “the fall”, because it caused mankind to “fall”, or become inferior, from the superior and blessed state they were once in with God in the garden. The next few chapters will explain these effects of sin in more detail.

Chapter Summary:

• God’s intention in creating humans was to bless them in relationship with himself.

• When Adam and Eve sinned, it changed everything. Their nature was corrupted, and they were cast into our broken world. 

• Sin is defined as disobedience and rebellion against a perfectly loving God.

• Spiritual death is characterized by a broken relationship between mankind and God. We inherited this ruined relationship with God from the first humans—our ancestors Adam and Eve.