While we were at the Ligonier 2010 Conference, R.C. Sproul dealt with the questions of what evil is and where evil comes from. Better him than me - those are certainly difficult ones. To read about his answers, click here.
As Sproul talked, he spent some time in Genesis 3. Not surprisingly, he focused on Eve's exchange with the serpent. The serpent famously lies to Eve, contradicting God by saying, "You will not surely die."
That got me thinking back to Genesis 2:15-17. In these verses, God instructs Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he does, God tells him, "You shall surely die."
We know from scripture that death comes from sin. Since no one had ever sinned in Genesis chapters 1-2, there could have been no death up to that point. So here is my question for you: Since Adam had never seen death of any kind, how did he know what God was talking about when God told him that if he ate of the tree he would surely die?
What do you think?
3 comments:
this isn't the most theological answer but, maybe He did tell them, I mean it does say they He came down and talked with them every afternoon. It doesn't say what they talked about, but it's safe to assume that they DID talk. Maybe they talked about death. Not a totally deep answer but it's something.
Jessica,
Thanks for your answer. I think that is a good guess. You are right that they talked together. Maybe God explained it in such a way that they could understand even though they never experienced it.
like the way you explain death to a child who has never experienced it...its tricky but nessasary
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