“The Fall”? “The Curse”? What Does The Bible Really Say? A “Curse”? A “Fall”?

Edward O’Hara

Why is it that we hear so many using such hyperbole? Is it hyperbole? Or is it Biblical language? Is this language found anywhere in the Bible from which we may conclude anything like this? When we read the Genesis account do we ever see God using this language? Do we see God using “The curse” or “The fall” in connection to what happened to Adam and Eve? Does God say Adam and Eve were cursed? Or that they “fell” from anything? Do any of the writers of the scriptures use these terms to describe what happened to Adam and Eve? Let’s take a look. You may be surprised at what we find. We’ll start with Genesis and then also see what Paul says about this. 

But first, let me give you something to consider that will be answered later in this message. Ask yourself, if Adam had not eaten the fruit, but instead remained a natural man as Paul said he was when God created him a living soul (1Cor.15:45-50 and 2:14). Then how was mankind to ever get to heaven? Is that what God wanted from the beginning? For a man to be able to go to heaven? If it was then something had to happen to make this possible. Because Paul said that flesh and blood, the natural man, can not inherit the kingdom of God. And Paul said he can not understand spiritual things. Hmmm. This message can also be listened to at this link- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FBCF6aA7whM&feature=youtu.be

Now on to the Genesis account. After we read that Adam and Eve ate the fruit in Gen.3:6 the first thing we see is that the direct result of this is that their eyes were opened just like God, and the serpent, told them they would be. And when we skip down to vs.22 we see what was meant when God, and the serpent, said: “their eyes would be opened”. Because in this verse God says exactly what happened as a direct result of their eating the fruit. God said, “the man has become as one of us to know good and evil”. So from the very first moment after eating the fruit God says “the man has become as one of us”. Should we consider this to be a curse? Are we to believe that it is a curse for someone to become more like God? 

Now let’s see what happened after their eyes were opened to see whether the Bible says Adam and Eve are cursed because of this. In vs.11-13 we see God asking the man and the woman if they had eaten the fruit. Then after answering Him, in vs.14,15 we see God telling the serpent he is cursed saying, “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed…” So it is clear that the serpent was cursed. No question about it. 

Then in vs.16, we see God speaking to the woman saying, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Now the question is, is this a curse? Or simply instructions? And if it is a curse why would God phrase it so different from what He said about the curse on the serpent? Why didn’t He just simply say “thou art cursed” as He did to the serpent? Is this a difference without a distinction? As we read further I will show you that it is not. 

In vs.17-19 we see God telling the man “Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast has eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt, thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” In this passage we see God saying the ground was cursed, but conspicuous in its absence again, just as it was with the woman, is the lack of any mention of a curse on Adam himself. 

In the rest of the chapter, we see Adam naming his wife Eve. And God made them clothing to wear for protection in this new harsher environment they will now be living in. Made so by death’s reign over everything in it. And God making good on what He told them about death by no longer allowing them access to the tree of life. And yet still we do not see God plainly say, as He did concerning the ground and the serpent, that Adam and Eve were cursed or had fallen. And interestingly we do not see this anywhere else in the Bible either.

So as I asked before, is this a difference without a distinction? In answer to this, we must note how Paul describes these events in Rom.5. Paul describes them saying that neither the sin of Adam nor the sins of any that came after him until Moses, were imputed to them. And Paul says the reason they weren’t imputed is that until Moses there was no law. Can someone be “cursed” or “fall” for something they did without what they did being imputed to them? Isn’t that what imputed means? Because doesn’t it mean that they are cursed or fallen because what they did in violation of the law has been imputed to them? Yes, that’s exactly what it means. So Paul clearly says that what happened to Adam and Eve after they ate the fruit can not be a curse or a fall. Because it is specifically the imputation of a penalty(curse/fall) that produces the curse/fall. So from Paul’s teaching, we see the reason the Genesis account never calls anything that happened to Adam and Eve a curse/fall is because apart from the law there is no imputation of sin. 

So it is clear that the reason Adam and Eve were not cursed is because their sin was not imputed. And that what happened as a result of eating the fruit was not a fall because they had the same relationship with God after they ate the fruit as they did before. A relationship that Paul says was not a spiritual one, but a natural one(1Cor.15:45,46). So that what happened to them was the effects of the reign of death over the natural world. Their physical bodies. Not a curse or a fall because their relationship with God changed. Because we see clearly in Gen.3:16-4:15 that God continued to talk to them after they ate the fruit just as He did before.
But, what did change was their new knowledge of good and evil. Which as we saw in Gen.3 made them “as one of us”. And that because of this death would reign over their physical bodies. Something that God said began because “the man has become as one of us” so He no longer allowed them access to the tree of life. 

But, the beautiful, wonderful, amazing, and awesome thing is that these effects are destroyed by Jesus’ sacrifice. Because when He raised from the dead He conquered death. And now when we trust in Him and His resurrection death has no more hold on us as Heb.2:14-18 says. This happens because we are now empowered(John1:12,13) to trust in Him instead of only what our God-given “very good” natural senses(the flesh) tell us. Because by the new birth we are equipped to trust in what the Spirit of God tells us. For “they that are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God”. Rom.8:14. 

So why do so many who say they believe the Bible also say they believe that what happened to Adam and Eve and the rest of mankind after they ate the fruit was that a curse/fall was imputed to them? We have seen clearly that the Bible never says any such thing. So it makes no sense that they would since we have seen that from the plain language of the scriptures that one can not reach such a conclusion. This means it must come from an outside source. Something other than the Bible that actually contradicts its plain teaching. That source is the Augustinian view that teaches “original sin” and “necessity”. A teaching that has permeated the visible church. The false teaching that is so contradictory to the Bible that it meets the requirements of Paul’s “another gospel” that he spoke of in Gal.1:8,9. It is the teaching he described saying, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”2Tim.4:3,4. 

Don’t let these false teachers fool you. When Paul says “sin is not imputed when there is no law” in Rom.5:13 speaking of the time from Adam to Moses, he means their sins were  “not imputed”. And since sin is not imputed from Adam to Moses, then what happened to Adam and Eve and all those who lived until Moses, was not a curse or a fall. But, only the effects of their no longer being able to eat from the tree of life. Effects that began the death process in the natural world. A process that we can be so thankful for Jesus’ sacrifice destroying. Because by God coming as a man Hebrews says this is what happened; “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”But, as awesome as this is, it wasn’t only the conquering of death’s reign over the natural world that was accomplished by Jesus’ sacrifice. Because by His coming mankind has also been given the opportunity to become spiritual beings through the new birth that Jesus spoke of in John3. To become the new creature that Paul described in 1Cor.5:17. The spiritual man that Paul also described in 1Cor.2:10-16. And that Peter taught in 1Peter1:23. And John spoke of in 1John3:9. A being that is equipped for heaven. And not just for living on earth as Paul said Adam was when God made him in 1Cor.15:45-50. 

If you are reading this God is calling you. He loves you and wants you to know Him. Because knowing Him is eternal life.John17:3. So if you do not know Him please take the time right now to pray and confess Jesus as Lord of your life. And believe that He has raised from the dead. Because by doing this and really meaning it from your heart you will be saved from death to life. From sin to righteousness. And from the wrath to peace with God. Because when you trust in Jesus you leave the old life behind where you were only equipped to trust in what has been made. And now will be equipped to trust in Jesus who alone can equip you for heaven because by His resurrection He is the only WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE

Edward O’Hara

Prophecy Unfolding Before Our Eyes in Real-Time

StevieRay Hansen
Editor, HNewsWire.com

God often uses men who are not of the best moral character. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Herod, and Trump (amongst others), to accomplish His will in events He orchestrates during human history. We either trust the sovereignty of God or we don’t. Nothing happens apart from Him…

The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back…

The Birth Pains Are Growing Stronger….

One of the signs of ruling class collapse is when they can no longer enforce the rules that maintain them as a ruling class. When the Romans started making exceptions to republican governance, it was a matter of time before someone simply decided the rules no longer applied to them. Perhaps the robot historians will consider Obama our Marius or Sulla. Maybe that person is in the near future. Either way, the rule of law is over and what comes next is the rule of men.

1. Corinthians 4:8-11 New King James Version (NKJV)
2. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9. persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10. always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

“Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants.”

GOD, free will, Bible, Biblical Truth, John17:3, “The Fall”? “The Curse”?