The Fall of Man – Who is at fault?
Michelle has a very valid point, it would do everyone
involved in this discussion a great deal of good to look at the entire dynamic
that created the fall in order to understand the current state of man.
It all starts in Genesis Chapter 1. Many atheist use Genesis
Chapter 1 as a point of focus in attempting to scientifically disprove the
creation, when, in fact, Genesis Chapter 1 is not meant to be a scientific
account of how God brought the world into existence, but it is to set the stage
for the fall of man, which is the transitional pivot on which the plan of God
turns from a day by day abidance and renewal of a covenant to an eternal
engagement between man and God facilitated through God’s plan of grace. (Grace
is more than the word that Christians place over their sin, it is the entire
plan of God that allows a fallen race to engage their Savior from a position of
righteous. It is God’s unmeritorious plan of reconciliation. There is nothing
man can do to bridge the gap between him and God that sin created. To attempt
to do so forms legalism bred from religion, which is man’s attempt to gain the
approbation of God through works.)
Genesis 1 is simply setting the stage of a perfect
environment created as an inhabitance for one species, man. A close study of
the first three chapters of Genesis will reveal that the entire creation was
centered on the entrance of man into history. The role that man would play in
settling the Angelic Conflict (the ongoing battle between God and Satan and his
fallen angels) would prove to be huge. It is not the purpose of this study to
completely address the fall and its consequential impact on the angelic
conflict, but to simply investigate the grand culpability of the fall. Who is
ultimately responsible? Does Eve get an undue share of the blame? We shall
delve into this to see what the Bible lends to this quandary.
We know that Genesis 1 lends the environment to the entire
story so let’s move on to Genesis Chapter 2.
5 (F)Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth,
and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, (G)for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there
was no man to [c]cultivate the ground. 6 But a[d]mist
used to rise from the earth and water the whole [e]surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed man of(H)dust
from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and (I)man became a living[f]being. (Gen. 2:5-7, NASB)
The
first thing that must be observed here is the fact that there are no shrubs and
no plants of the field. There are two reasons for this. First, God had not yet
sent rain upon the earth. The second is what I want you to pay attention to;
there was no man to cultivate the ground. This is important is understanding
man. God did not yet put the vegetation on the earth because there was no man
to cultivate it. In this we find the man’s work. Man was designed to work. In
this work a man finds fulfillment. A man has to have a work in order to have a
sense of fulfillment.
It
is important; however, to understand that this work is not arbitrary in shape
form or fashion. Each man is given a specific type of work that is in direct
correspondence to his particular design and gifts. In other words, each man is
designed by God with a particular purpose in mind and this work corresponds
with his purpose. Then, it is also necessary to understand that a man’s work is
not necessarily what he gets paid to do, that is his job. A man’s work is that
thing that he is innately driven to do. It is that thing that creates passion
within him. When the man is lucid in his thinking his passion reveals his work,
his work reveals his purpose, and his purpose reveals his identity. A man’s
identity is what provides his confidence and ability to lead based on the
vision that he has received from God.
The next thing that I want
to bring attention to is the word “formed”. Verse 7 says that God formed (Hebrewיצר , yâtsar, meaning to squeeze and form into
shape). So, in essence when God created man, He performed two acts in one; he
first formed the shell or material form of man from the dust of the earth, and
then he breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living (Hebrew,
Nephesh, meaning a living being [a spirit being inside a material body made
from the ground] from nothing he created a spirit from the model of His own
essence.
15 Then the Lord God took the man and
put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.16 The Lord God(Q)commanded
the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;17 but
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not [n]eat, for in the day that you eat from it (R)you will surely die.” (Gen. 2:15-17, NASB)
Here God purposely placed the man in the midst
of the Garden to cultivate it. Here you see God having given the man his work.
Adam’s work was to cultivate the Garden. He also gave Adam the mandates and
instructions of what he could do and what he could not. At this point, the only
sin in the entire world is “eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil”. It is worth taking note of the fact that the woman has not yet been
created and given to Adam as a helper, so Adam is given the vision and his work
before the woman arrives. This is the formulation of the male’s role as leader.
He was given the vision (which constitutes purpose, direction, and destiny)
before the woman (female of the human species) arrives on the scene.
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not
good for the man to be alone; (S)I
will make him a helper[o]suitable
for him.” 19 (T)Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the [p]sky, and (U)brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man
called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the [q]sky, and to every beast of the field, but for[r]Adam
there was not found (V)a helper [s]suitable for him. (Gen. 2:18-20, NASB)
God declared that it is not good for the man to be alone. The first thing
of note here is that this statement is diametrically opposed to the mindset of
many that feel that they don’t need anyone, or specifically a mate (Paul’s
personal preference, notwithstanding). In this fallen world, will everyone find
a mate, unfortunately not, and in these cases, God will provide the strength and
insight to live the life of a believer. Yet, it was meant for man to have a
mate.
Not only does God say that it is not good, but he says that he will “make”
(Hebrew, ‛âśâh – to make or sculpt from something) a helper suitable
(Hebrew, neged – meaning a front, that is, part opposite;
specifically a counterpart, or mate). This helper was to be of the same
species, but different. Her physical attributes would be counteractive to his.
She would be different in spirit and her personality would be meant to mesh
with his. She was designed to perfect and complete him.
Then we see that God creates all the creatures of
the earth and then allows the man to name them. In doing this it establishes
man’s dominion, but more importantly, what is subliminally and subtly stated is
that each animal that passes before Adam is both male and female (meaning that
they are meant for one another and they are capable of procreating and
replenishing their species. What this does is make Adam aware of his need for a
mate. After Adam names all of the creatures, he sees that there is still no
mate suitable for him.
21 So the Lord God caused a (W)deep
sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and
closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The Lord God [t]fashioned into a woman(X) the
rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. (Gen.
2:21, NASB)
Now God puts Adam to sleep and removes a “Rib” from his
side. From this “Rib” he “fashioned” (Hebrew, bânâh – meaning literally to build).
Meaning that he took the time to build, fashion, shape the women; making her
specifically to the specification of the man’s natural desires. In other words,
the women was built to meet the needs of the man in every way, physical,
emotionally, and spiritually.
“(Y)This
is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
[u]She shall be called[v]Woman,
Because[w]she was taken out of [x]Man.”
And flesh of my flesh;
[u]She shall be called[v]Woman,
Because[w]she was taken out of [x]Man.”
24 (Z)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his
mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.25 (AA)And
the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Gen. 2:23-25, NASB)
The man was
given the responsibility of naming his helper. His response; “Bone of my bone
(Rib), flesh of my flesh (by extension, a part of my body), she shall be called
“woman” because she was taken out of man. What is important here is to
understand is that when the man’s Rib was removed, he was now not whole or
complete, but God returned his Rib to him in the form of a mate that would
function as his spiritual Rib. She would cover his vulnerabilities. She would
not exploit them, she would not use them to control him, and she would not
expose them by sharing them with others. She would cover them, providing the
confidence the man needed to lead.
God declares that in the
case presented that the man should leave his mother and father and be joined to
his wife and they should become one flesh. So, how do they become one flesh?
There is a common misconception that they become one flesh at the moment of
exchanging vows, but actually this is not the case. In order to gain clarity we
actually will borrow from the Apostle Paul.
16 Or (AD)do you not know that the one who joins himself to a
prostitute is one body with her? For He says,
“(AE) The two
shall become one flesh.” (1 Cor. 6:16, NASB)
So we can see now that the two become one flesh through the
act of sex, and so many wonder why they are so spiritually, emotionally and mentally
fragmented. When you have sex with someone you become one (joined to that
person, physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally) with that person and
every time you break up and move on you leave a part of yourself. Fortunately,
we serve a God that is able to restore and rebuild.
So what we see from Chapter 2 is that God created the man
and gave him the vision and the responsibility of leading and adhering to the
mandates that accompanied the vision. So when Satan enters the scene in Chapter
three, he does not approach the man, he approaches Ishshah, the woman (she did
not become Eve [the mother of all living] until after the fall).
As a man of God that understands divine order. The first
question I ask is: Where is Adam, and why is he not covering Eve? We are not
given a true time frame of how long it took for the initial couple to fall, but
obviously there was enough time for there to be enough distance from the vision
and God for Adam to allow his wife to be alone. This is massive in
understanding order. The woman was designed with great power, but she was
designed to always be covered by a man. In Biblical times, the woman was to
remain in her father’s home, under his covering until her husband came for her
and took her out from under her father’s covering and placed her under his.
There are certain things that the woman is susceptible to and when uncovered
she becomes an easy mark for the enemy.
All three involved in the fall, the serpent, the woman, and
the man have a level of culpability in the fall, but the man was given the
vision and the mandate, and if you notice, when the woman ate of the fruit,
there were no immediate repercussions; however, when the man took of the fruit
and ate, humanity was forever changed. This is because the vision and the
mandate was given to Adam (the man).
When Paul is explaining justification in the book of Romans
he tells us that through the first Adam, sin entered into the world (not
through the woman, but through the man) and through the second Adam (Jesus
Christ) the righteousness would be established:
 |
| Dr. Rick Wallace |
12 Therefore, just as through (X)one man sin entered into the world, and(Y)death
through sin, and (Z)so death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 for[h]until
the Law sin was in the world, but (AA)sin is not imputed when there is no law.14 Nevertheless
death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned (AB)in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a [i](AC)type of Him who was to come… 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience(AM)the many(AN)were made sinners, even so through (AO)the
obedience of the One (AP)the
many will be made righteous. (Rom. 5:12-14, 19, NASB)
So then the man carries the brunt of the responsibility. It
is still true today. The man has moved out of his God ordained role as leader,
provider, covering and protector. He has left the woman to fend for herself and
she has been deceived and overtaken by the machinations of the enemy. The man
must move back into position and the woman, must come to understand her role,
value and importance in God’s plan. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace
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