The Bible makes many claims regarding the origins of things. There is no book more practical for life than the Bible. Questions regarding the origin of humanity, the purpose of humanity, the destiny of humanity, and the hope of humanity, all find their answers as revealed in the Bible. Maybe those questions are not the questions puzzling you today. Perhaps you are wondering how you can forgive an offense against you from years ago, or how you can be forgiven the offense you caused another. Perhaps you are anxious or angry about the commands of God in the Bible. Maybe you wonder why Christians have such different views on human sexuality, social norms, individual accountability, and justice than the rest of the culture. Whatever your questions or curiosities, we hope you come to know and grow in the truth and trust of God as revealed in the Bible. In our biggest and most daily practical questions, God’s Word reveals the answers!

Gleanings from Anthropology and Christology

Anthropology is the doctrine that develops and studies what the scriptures teach about humanity. In a previous article, we looked at God’s creation of humanity and his commands to humanity. Having created man (Adam) and woman (Eve) in His image, God gave commands to be fruitful and multiply, subdue, have dominion over His creation, and tend the garden sanctuary (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15). There was one other commandment that God gave to His image bearers to obey. In providing for them, God said that they could eat of any of the trees in the garden, except the tree of (discerning) [1] the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from that tree with punishment and curse for disobedience. The subsequent punishment and curse would be death (Genesis 2:9,16-17). The penalty pronounced is stated thus, “...on the day that you eat thereof dying you will die” (Author’s translation). In 2:18 God says it is not good for Adam to be alone and presents Eve to him. As covenant allies they were to go forth and live in obedience to God’s commands, reflecting their creator’s image by bearing progeny and teaching them to reflect His image through obeying His commands.

Sin Enters the World 

The total disaster happened in Genesis 3. A serpent/deceiver slithered into the garden sanctuary and instead of Adam guarding the garden or his covenant ally, Eve, he remained silent as the serpent began a conversation with her. As the conversation progressed it became apparent that Adam not only did not guard the sanctuary of Eden but had failed in teaching and instructing his covenant ally God’s commands. This is evident from Eve’s answers to the serpent’s/deceiver’s inquiries. He deceivingly asked “Indeed did God say, you shall not eat of any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). It is helpful here to notice that the deceiver has completely distorted the command of humanity’s Creator. In Genesis 2:16-17, God’s provision for them was both positive and negative. positively, God said, “You may freely eat of All of the trees which are in the garden,” So the serpent/deceiver had called into question the positive and sufficient provision of God. The negative aspect of God’s command was they may not eat of the tree of the knowledge discerning good and evil.

In her reply, Eve both adds something and removes something from God’s command. She added “nor touch it”, and subtracted from the command by leaving out the “dying you shall die'' and shortened it to “you will die”. The curse and punishment for disobeying or breaking the command is, “dying you shall die.” The double dying curse applies both to physical death and also spiritual death. As a result, humanity would suffer banishment from the Creator’s abundant provision and life-sustaining presence. When we add and subtract from God’s commands, this is a recipe for disaster and will often lead to failure to obey His will [2]. Paul exhorts his young pastoral student Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15, to study and handle accurately the word of God, to be acceptable to Him!

 As a result of Adam’s failure to teach his covenant ally (Eve) God’s command and to guard the garden sanctuary Eve is deceived by the evil serpent. She reached out, took hold of the forbidden fruit, and gave some to Adam, who was standing next to her, and they both ate. This disobedience is the reason for our now naturally born rebellious and destructive state. Through the cosmic treason of Adam and Eve, humanity exchanged paradise for chaos. 

Consequence for Disobedience of God

In Genesis 3:7-24, the consequences for disobeying God’s command and breaking the covenant with Him are given [3]. Notice first in 3:7, that Adam and Eve’s eyes are opened. They saw their nakedness and tried to cover themselves. This is how we all behave. We try to cover up our sin and nakedness, instead of repenting. When we try to correct our rebellion ourselves we are still considered naked. See 3:10 where Adam in response to God says he hid himself from his Creator because he was naked (even though he had covered himself). 

The loving and merciful Creator questions His rebellious creature further by asking him, “Who told you you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat?” (Genesis 3:11). Adam’s response begins the blame game! In 3:12 Adam replied, “The woman You gave me…” Adam blamed God and Eve for his sin and rebellion! It is as though Adam said “Why didn’t you give a better covenant ally, God? It is Your fault this happened.” In 3:13 God turns His attention towards Eve and asks, “What is this you have done?” to which Eve responds, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.” Eve blames the serpent. In 3:14-15 God cursed the serpent to crawl on its belly and eat the dust forever. Then in 3:15 God decrees and promises to crush the serpent’s head through the seed of the woman. This promise is Christological in nature and will be discussed again in a moment.

Having dealt with the serpent, God turned again to His disobedient fallen image bearers in 3:16-24. In 3:16 He pronounced the curse for disobedience first to the woman and greatly multiplied her pain in childbearing and said her desire now would be for her husband and he would rule over her. 

In 3:17-19 God’s curse on the man includes the ground, man’s labor to produce food to live will be by the sweat of his brow, and he would intensely battle thorns and thistles [4]. No longer would Adam have God’s abundant provision at his fingertips, he must now work very hard and have the anxiety and worry of whether there will be a crop to sustain life. Adam’s work could be completely wiped out by natural disaster or some unforeseen calamity, as he was formed from the dust to the dust he will return upon his physical death! In 3:20-24, God clothed them with animal skins and exiled/banned them from His garden sanctuary and thus from His presence. He appoints two cherubim to guard against any return to the garden or the tree of life [5]. 

This was a condensed teaching of biblical anthropology. The reason human beings are so broken is ultimately rooted in the events detailed in Genesis 3. The chapter leaves off with God’s crowning achievement in His creation, His image bearers (humanity) cursed! However, this is not the end of the story, Praise be to God! Even in the most tragic moment of rebellion, we see God’s grace on display. Sin is the root cause of our need for forgiveness. Christ is the provision of God to resolve the problem of sin. Biblical anthropology leads us to Christology (the study of Christ), to which we will turn in our next piece.

Click here to read part 2!

Footnotes:

[1] See 2 Samuel 14:17; 1 Kings 3:9,28 where the same Hebrew wording of the tree is translated to “discern good and evil” For more discussion on knowledge/discerning good and evil see Beale: “Union with the Resurrected Christ” pg.195-196.

[2] Christ says, “he who hears these words of Mine and does them will be wise,,,” Matthew 7:24. The apostle John in Revelation 22:18-19 warns of adding or subtracting from the word of this prophecy, those who do will receive all the curses described in the letter.

[3] See Hosea 6:6-7; and Job 31:33 for covenant language referring to Adam’s covenantal unfaithfulness and trying to clothe himself and hide from God as a result of covenant breaking.

[4] Interestingly and strikingly Ecclesiastes calls the curse on the ground and man’s labor “hevel”, which means “vapor” or “smoke”. All that man works for and produces can now all be gone as quickly as it takes a puff of smoke to dissipate.

[5] It is striking that the structure of the tabernacle is set up similar to the garden sanctuary of Eden and guarding the presence of YHWH the curtain where two cherubim are embroidered into it and two cherubim above the mercy seat. See G.K. Beale's New Testament Biblical Theology for more on temple/tabernacle structure and the significance of the guarding cherubim

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