Through one man sin entered into the world (Genesis chapter 3)

“Now the serpent was the most cautious of all the wild animals of the field that Jehovah God had made. So it said to the woman: “Did God really say that you must not eat from every tree of the garden?” 2 At this the woman said to the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. 3 But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’” 4 At this the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die. 5 For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.”

6 Consequently, the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was something desirable to the eyes, yes, the tree was pleasing to look at. So she began taking of its fruit and eating it. Afterward, she also gave some to her husband when he was with her, and he began eating it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made loin coverings for themselves.

8 Later they heard the voice of Jehovah God as he was walking in the garden about the breezy part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the face of Jehovah God among the trees of the garden. 9 And Jehovah God kept calling to the man and saying to him: “Where are you?” 10 Finally he said: “I heard your voice in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.” 11 At that he said: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate.” 13 Jehovah God then said to the woman: “What is this you have done?” The woman replied: “The serpent deceived me, so I ate.”

14 Then Jehovah God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are the cursed one out of all the domestic animals and out of all the wild animals of the field. On your belly you will go, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head, and you will strike him in the heel.”

16 To the woman he said: “I will greatly increase the pain of your pregnancy; in pain you will give birth to children, and your longing will be for your husband, and he will dominate you.”

17 And to Adam he said: “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree concerning which I gave you this command, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground on your account. In pain you will eat its produce all the days of your life. 18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you, and you must eat the vegetation of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.”

20 After this Adam named his wife Eve, because she was to become the mother of everyone living. 21 And Jehovah God made long garments from skins for Adam and for his wife, to clothe them. 22 Jehovah God then said: “Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad. Now in order that he may not put his hand out and take fruit also from the tree of life and eat and live forever, — ” 23 With that Jehovah God expelled him from the garden of Eʹden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 So he drove the man out, and he posted at the east of the garden of Eʹden the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning continuously to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis chapter 3).

This chapter can be summed up very well by what the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Rome: “That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

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According to the Bible, what is sin?

Sin is a generic biblical expression of that which no longer fulfills impersonally (without feeling) the criteria of God’s Holiness and therefore is a process which leads to the programmed demise of creation afflicted with sin (which is no longer holy from God’s point of view). In the context of Genesis chapter 3, the sin that leads to death was disobedience to God (Genesis 2:15–17; 3:19). This spiritual death process was genetically (impersonally) transmitted to all the offspring of Adam (Romans 5:12). The attentive reader can get a much more concrete idea of ​​the alternation between what is considered “holy” and, by contrast, sin, from God’s point of view, by reading the book of Leviticus. It is very important to understand for the rest of the explanations, that this quality is absolutely not linked to the feelings of God, but rather to what constitutes the essence of his actions and his creation. The disappearance of sin is done by atonement, in order to satisfy the criteria of divine holiness. The Holiness of Jehovah God is directly connected to a constant need of sacrifice for atonement which erases sin, or of what is not in conformity with the divine and everlasting standards of what is holy: “You must be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44,45).

It is very important to understand that the Holiness of God is what defines the very essence of all his actions, and that it is devoid of all feeling, it is completely impersonal (on the level of feelings). Which means that all of his creation must be holy and pure. However, if by accident, a part of creation should no longer satisfy these impersonal criteria (without feeling) of holiness, it will inevitably disappear (Genesis 3:19). The accidental appearance of sin in humanity has led to the full destruction of all of humanity (at end), precisely by virtue of this impersonal law (without feeling) of the Holiness of God: “That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned” (Romans 5:12). “For the wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). The first part of this verse, shows that the necessity of holiness (impersonal law devoid of feeling), makes that sin leads to death, to make it disappear. Whereas, the fact that God is love, He makes arrangements to give us everlasting life through the ransom (Matthew 20:28).

God has made it possible to reverse a hopeless situation for all of humanity, with a view to its redemption. The expression of God’s Love is seen in the specific provisions He has made for the Redemption of humanity lost in a process of irreversible death, caused by sin (John 3:16). The humanity that will obtain everlasting life in the future will belong to God, under this redemption price by the resurrection.

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The temptation of the devil

(Genesis 3:1–6)

“Now the serpent was the most cautious of all the wild animals of the field that Jehovah God had made. So it said to the woman: “Did God really say that you must not eat from every tree of the garden?” At this the woman said to the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’” At this the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die. For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.” Consequently, the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was something desirable to the eyes, yes, the tree was pleasing to look at. So she began taking of its fruit and eating it. Afterward, she also gave some to her husband when he was with her, and he began eating it” (Genesis 3:1–6).

The sovereignty of God has been openly attacked by the devil. Satan implied that God was withholding information for the purpose of harming his creatures: “For God knows” (implying that Adam and Eve did not know and that it was harming them). Nevertheless, God always remained in control of the situation.

Why did Satan speak to Eve rather than Adam? To use the inspired expression of the apostle Paul, to “deceive” her: “Also, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was thoroughly deceived and became a transgressor” (1 Timothy 2:14 ). In what way was Eve deceived? Because of her young age, because she had very few years of experience, while Adam was at least over forty. In fact, Eve was little surprised, at her young age, that a snake spoke to her. She normally continued this unusual conversation. Therefore, Satan took advantage of Eve’s inexperience to cause her to sin. However, Adam knew what he was doing, he made the decision to sin in a deliberate way. This first accusation of the devil was linked to God’s evident right to rule over his creatures, both invisible and visible (Revelation 4:11).

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Was the devil created this way?

(Genesis 3:1)

Jesus Christ described the devil very concisely: “That one was a murderer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of the lie” (John 8:44). Satan the devil is not the abstraction of evil, but a real spiritual person (Matthew 4:1–11). Likewise, the demons are also angels who have become rebels who have followed the example of the devil (Genesis 6:1–3, to compare with the letter of Jude verse 6: “And the angels who did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place, he has reserved with eternal bonds in dense darkness for the judgment of the great day”).

When it is written, “he did not stand fast in the truth”, it shows that God created this angel without sin and without any trace of wickedness in his heart. This angel, at the beginning of his life had a “beautiful name” (Ecclesiastes 7:1a). However, “he did not stand fast” in his integrity, he cultivated pride in his heart, and over time he became “devil”, which means slanderer, and Satan, opponent; his old beautiful name, his good reputation, has been replaced by one of the everlasting disgraces. In the prophecy of Ezekiel (chapter 28), against the proud king of Tyre, it is clearly alluded to the pride of the angel who became “devil” and “Satan”: “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “You were the model of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eʹden, the garden of God. You were adorned with every precious stone — Ruby, topaz, and jasper; chrysʹo·lite, onyx, and jade; sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; And their settings and mountings were made of gold. They were prepared on the day you were created. I assigned you as the anointed covering cherub. You were on the holy mountain of God, and you walked about among fiery stones. You were faultless in your ways from the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:12–15). Through his act of unrighteousness in Eden, he became a “liar” who caused the death of all of Adam’s offspring (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12). Currently, it is Satan the devil who rules the world: “Now there is a judging of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 5:19) .

Satan the devil will be permanently destroyed: “For his part, the God who gives peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Genesis 3:15; Romans 16:20).

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God’s Judgment (Genesis 3:8–24)

Shortly before the end of that day, before sunset, God judged the three culprits (Genesis 3:8–19). Before determining the guilt of Adam and Eve, Jehovah God asked them a question about their gesture. So they replied: ““The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate.” (…) “The serpent deceived me, so I ate.”” (Genesis 3:12,13). Far from admitting they were guilty, both Adam and Eve tried to justify themselves. Adam even indirectly reproached God for giving him a woman who made him sin: “The woman whom you gave to be with me”. In Genesis 3:14–19, we can read the judgment of God with a promise of the fulfillment of his purpose: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head, and you will strike him in the heel” (Genesis 3:15). By this promise, Jehovah God was particularly signifying that his purpose would inevitably come true, by informing Satan the devil that he would be destroyed. From that moment on, sin entered into the world, as well as its main consequence, death: “That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

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The promise of God

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head, and you will strike him in the heel”

(Genesis 3:15)

What is the message of this prophetic enigma? Jehovah God informs that his purpose to populate the earth with a righteous humanity will surely be fulfilled (Genesis 1:26–28). God will redeem the humanity through the “offspring of the woman” (Genesis 3:15). This prophecy has been a “sacred secret” for centuries (Mark 4:11, Romans 11:25, 16:25, 1 Corinthians 2:1,7 “sacred secret”). Jehovah God revealed it gradually, over the centuries. Here is the meaning of this prophetic riddle:

- The woman: she represents the heavenly people of God, composed of angels in heaven: “Then a great sign was seen in heaven: A woman was arrayed with the sun, and the moon was beneath her feet, and on her head was a crown of 12 stars” (Revelation 12: 1). This woman is described as the “Jerusalem above”: “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother” (Galatians 4:26). She is described as the “heavenly Jerusalem”: “But you have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels” (Hebrews 12:22). For millennia, in the image of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, this heavenly woman was sterile, childless (regarding the mentioned offspring of Genesis 3:15): “Shout joyfully, you barren woman who has not given birth! Become cheerful and cry out for joy, you who never had birth pains, for the sons of the desolate one are more numerous than the sons of the woman with a husband,” says Jehovah” (Isaiah 54:1).

This prophecy announces that this barren woman will give birth to many children (King Jesus Christ and 144000 kings and priests), as the apostle Paul wrote, under inspiration: “For it is written: “Be glad, you barren woman who does not give birth; break into joyful shouting, you woman who does not have birth pains; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of her who has the husband.” Now you, brothers, are children of the promise the same as Isaac was. But just as then the one born through natural descent began persecuting the one born through spirit, so also now. Nevertheless, what does the scripture say? “Drive out the servant girl and her son, for the son of the servant girl will by no means be an heir with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are children, not of a servant girl, but of the free woman” (Galatians 4:27–31). This free woman is symbolized by Sarah, Abraham’s wife: “Tell me, you who want to be under law, Do you not hear the Law? For example, it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant girl and one by the free woman; but the one by the servant girl was actually born through natural descent and the other by the free woman through a promise. These things may be taken as a symbolic drama; for these women mean two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which bears children for slavery and which is Hagar. Now Hagar means Sinai, a mountain in Arabia, and she corresponds with the Jerusalem today, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother” (Galatians 4:21–26).

- The offspring of the woman: The book of the Apocalypse reveals who this son: “Then a great sign was seen in heaven: A woman was arrayed with the sun, and the moon was beneath her feet, and on her head was a crown of 12 stars, and she was pregnant. And she was crying out in her pains and in her agony to give birth. (…) And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away to God and to his throne” (Revelation 12: 1,2,5). This son who will “shepherd all the nations with an iron rod” was designated by the angel Gabriel as Jesus Christ: “This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as King over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his Kingdom” (Luke 1: 32,33). Nevertheless, the child whose heavenly wife gives birth refers to the Kingdom of God, whose Jehovah anointed his Son Jesus Christ as King (Psalms 2). In the continuation of the narrative of the Apocalypse (14:1–5), we can read that King Jesus Christ is accompanied by 144,000 kings and priests, who constitute the New Jerusalem (21:1,2), the bride of King Jesus Christ. The King’s wife is part of this “child” of the direct offspring of this heavenly Woman because the apostle Paul, in Galatians 4:26, wrote that she is the mother of those, still on earth, called to reign alongside with King Jesus Christ.

In Galatians 4:24–26, it is written that these two women, Hagar and Sarah, represent two covenants. Hagar, the Covenant of the Law and Sarah represent the New Covenant. The beneficiaries of the Covenant Law were the 12 tribes of Israel. While the beneficiaries of this New Covenant represent those who are and will be part, in the future, of the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). This Israel of God has a heavenly part, the New Jerusalem, also referred to as twelve tribes of Israel, being the 144,000 (Revelation 7:1–8; 21:1,2). Nevertheless, according to Jesus Christ, this Israel of God will have an earthly part, in the future earthly paradise: “Jesus said to them: “Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you, in the re-creation, when the Son of man sits down on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israell” (Matthew 19:28 and Luke 22:30). This earthly spiritual Israel will be composed. of the Great Crowd of all nations that will come oute of the Great Tribulation and as well as the earthly resurrected ones who will inherit everlasting life on earth (Apocalypse 7:9–17; John 5:28,29).

On the evening of the last Passover, Jesus Christ celebrated two covenants, the New Covenant (Luke 22:19,20) and the Covenant for a kingdom (Luke 22:28–30). As we have seen, all of the Israel of God, both in Heaven and on Earth, are part of and beneficiaries of this covenant. However, regarding the Covenant for a Kingdom, only those who will reign with Christ in heaven are part of it, that is, the 144,000 kings and priests.

- The original serpent is Satan the devil: “So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him” (Revelation 12:9).

- The offspring of the original serpent represents the heavenly (demons or angels of the devil) and earthly enemies of the Kingdom of God, those who actively fight against the sovereignty of God and against King Jesus Christ and the holy ones on earth: “Serpents, offspring of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of Gehenna? For this reason, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and public instructors. Some of them you will kill and execute on stakes, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, so that there may come upon you all the righteous blood spilled on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar” (Matthew 23: 33–35).

- The wound of the heel represents the sacrificial death on earth, of the Son of God, Jesus Christ: “More than that, when he came as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, yes, death on a torture stake” (Philippians 2:8). Nevertheless, this wound on the heel has been healed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: “Whereas you killed the Chief Agent of life. But God raised him up from the dead, of which fact we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15).

The crushing of the serpent’s head means the eternal destruction of Satan the devil and demons and the earthly enemies of the Kingdom of God, at the end of the thousand years of the reign of Jesus Christ: “For his part, the God who gives peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20). “And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulfur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

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