The origin of sin: First you need to read my article on, “When Did Lucifer Fall?” This discussion is a continuation of that article.
Evil: Would God create a man that would incline himself toward evil? And why would Adam sin in the natural condition and environment he was created in? Adam and Eve may have been so taken in by the beauty, grace, power, and might of God, that when the serpent implied that they could be like God, it struck the cords of envy, pride and covetousness within them. The serpent said to Eve,
Genesis 3:5, “in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods = (God,) knowing good and evil.”
They were drawn to the tree of good and evil: and in that moment of vain-glory, and high notions, they made the wrong decision.
Imagine what Adam and Eve may have been thinking. “If we eat of this tree, we may become like the God we serve.” They thinking, “It may be worth the risk.” The Scriptures do not say this happened, but it may be! Well, we know the rest of the story. Pride and envy were Lucifer’s sin in heaven. Adam, Eve and the rest of us harbor the same desires as Lucifer, that being to be like God and to live our lives for ourselves.
I have never known a person who did not have a desire, or thought of possessing the things of others. Be it an athlete who possesses great speed, strength, power, timing, etc., or a musician, a speaker, a writer, a corporate exec., etc. If not these it may be to possess the poise, beauty, success, intelligence of others. Many would do whatever it took to acquire the physical looks, skills, or material wealth their souls long for.
How many golfers would do anything to be as good as Tiger Woods? How many basketball players envy the skills of Michael Jordan, or to earn the money made by them? What kind of sacrifice would you make? How far would you go to achieve that which others posses? We have created multi-billion dollar industries in clothing, make-up, health spas, various face and body surgeries, steroids for muscle growth, hair implants, bre –, lip, buttock implants, sex enhancement drugs, etc.
This is Satan’s world, the world of the flesh. This is how he stimulates our desires, our emotions, our wills. In these things they become the Idols that we glorify. We become fanatics to our own glories and successes.
As a virus cannot reproduce itself, it invades a healthy body, first a single cell, and becomes one with that cell. And if a person’s immune system is weak, the virus spreads, effecting the health of that person. So also people with the idea of play now, pay later. Drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, crooked business dealings, lying, cheating, envy, etc. all these will lead a person into a great fall. Satan works through our flesh.
The Holy Spirit works through our spirit. Each works to direct the soul, or mind of a person, this depending on who the person invites in. After the choice is made, they will either rise or fall.
Many Christians would do any thing to have the mind of Christ! To speak in parables as he did; to perform miracles as he did; to respond to questions as He did; to have the compassion He has? We may desire to have the mind of our Lord, but we cannot be God. This is covetousness; this was the sin of Lucifer, Adam and possibly us.
The mystery of iniquity: I am going to approach this subject with a very close examination of both the Heb. and Greek words. This will relieve me of any personal opinions I hold. The following may be rather long, but I need to establish certain basic conditions and events in order to deal with the heart of this subject.
So the question is, why would God create a man that would incline himself toward evil? The first misconception concerning this subject is to rid ourselves of the idea that God created Adam perfect. He did not. Adam was like the rest of the creation, he was called, “good,” and not perfect.
The word, “good” when used in Genesis 1, is the Heb. word, “tobe.” it means in the text of Gen.1, and in the context of all the verses of Genesis 1, fair, pleasant, better, best, agreeable, fertile, a beautiful place; but not perfect. Was Adam formed differently from the rest of creation? Yes he was. How?
Next we must understand what the makeup of animals, birds, and fish are. They were made with a body of flesh and a soul; a soul, a mind, as in feeding themselves, survival, reproduction, etc. Only man is said to have the following, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “I pray God your whole SPIRIT and SOUL and BODY be preserved blameless.” What are these? are they different, one from the other?
1. A body of flesh: The physical being of a person is skin, bone, muscle, cartilage this is the body of flesh. Upon our death, it is buried, and will return to the dust of the ground.
2. The soul, speaking of the mind that can pray to God, one that perceives, remembers, reasons, loves, hopes, fears, compares, desires, resolves, adores, imagines, and aspires for immortality. In the specific sense of mind, it is distinct from the body and spirit. It is referred to about fifty time in the N.T.
3. The spirit: Mans spirit will always remain with his soul, even after death, although they are not the same. This is mans’ incorporeal = (immaterial) being. God is said to be a Spirit, as are angels. The flesh is not the soul or spirit, the spirit is not the flesh or soul, and the soul is not the spirit or flesh. The three, body, soul and spirit sets man apart from all other creatures, including angels. We are three dimensional.
What is the difference between angelic beings and man? Spirits’ or angel’s, are without a fleshly body, invisible to the naked eye, and untouchable by man’s physical hand. They have a soul as we do, that is, a mind to reason with, to make choices, to serve God, or to fight against Him. This is the mind of these spirit creatures. They are two dimensional, spirit and soul, unlike man who is body, soul and spirit.
I consider a spirit to be invisible and untouchable, but as real as we are. They are sometimes referred to as Ghosts. I believe that each and every human has a spirit that lives in them. Man’s spirit is directed by his soul, his thinking, his inner feelings, emotions, and wants. The spirit and soul, are who we really are, and our literal fleshly bodies only mark us in the physical world for individual identification, and to live and function in the environment created for us, by God.
After our death, the spirit and soul leave the body. The body returns to the earth as dust. The spirit and soul of a good person goes to be with the Lord. This until the body is raised incorruptible, to be one perfect man or women in Christ Jesus. For the bad guys, their souls and spirits go to a place called hell, waiting for the great white throne judgment. Then their corrupted bodies will be reunited with their soul and spirit, and cast into the lake of fire.
Jesus said moments before He died physically,
Luke 23:46, “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” His fleshly body was dead, but His soul and Spirit lived on.
Acts 7:59, “Stephen calling upon God, and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
He died; his soul and spirit went to be with the Lord. Matthew 17:2, we read about the transfigured before the apostles; both Moses and Elias talking with the glorified Christ. They were seen and heard talking together by the apostles. Both Moses and Elias had been dead for many centuries, yet both were alive. Seen and witnessed was this miraculous event. Jesus showed that He is the God of the living, even after the natural death of these two men.
In the parable of the rich man and the poor man, we see both men speaking, feeling, hearing, seeing, this after their physical death. After Samuel’s death, king Saul had the witch at En-dor summon Samuel up from the grave. Samuel spoke, and told of Saul’s future demise. Was this sanctioned by God? Of course, we know only God can foretell the future, therefore, this was not a miracle of Satan, because the prophesy came to pass,
1 Samuel 28:12-13-15, “Samuel said to Saul, etc. –.”
God also has the three above characteristics of a body, soul, and spirit. We are shown this in the birth of Jesus Christ. This is why it is said that,
Genesis 1:27, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”
God took on human flesh whenever it pleased Him. He walked as a man in the garden with Adam and Eve, this in the cool of the day. He spoke with them, as they tried to hid themselves from His presence.
We see Jesus walking in the flesh with men throughout Scriptures. He wrestled with Jacob; was seen by Samson’s father Manoah and his wife; by Abraham and Sarah; by Joshua outside the city of Jericho, etc.
This is the picture: Lucifer left heaven with a third of the angels of heaven. The earth was made for the battle ground. Why? Fallen creatures cannot remain in the presence of God. The place we call earth was now Lucifer’s new domain. God would deal with him here on earth. I do not believe the earth was made for man.
Man in the image and likeness of God was to be the third party in this spiritual war. Scriptures say the saints of God, the saved, are Aliens, strangers upon this earth. We are not to conform to the things of this world. We are not comfortable here, we are strangers among the enemy.
The devil was cast forever from the throne of God, this upon the resurrection of our Lord. He will never again appear in the place he was created to serve. He now moves to and fro upon the earth, upon the sea, and in the atmosphere above the earth.
Jude 6, “angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation.” Habitation means dwelling, abode. They relinquished their place in heaven,
Isaiah 14:13-14, when Lucifer said, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God — I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
Revelation 12:4, when the serpent’s tail = (the angels followed behind) “drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and (he, Satan) did cast them to the earth.”
What is the origin of sin? Did God create sin? Did God create man with the inclination to sin, if so, why?
For all men, the law of liberty is interwoven with our free will, this must be to hear and obey God. His spoken words are His law. His laws either spoken or written impose obligations upon us and prescribe a rule of life for us, this beginning from Adam. It punishes transgressors, and rewards mankind for obedience, this in both the spirit and physical world.
The words which God spoke and now speak through the scriptures are a law that gives liberty from the guilt, power, dominion, and influence of sin. It is perfect in providing salvation for every man, this from Adam till now. His laws are perfect in opposition to the Satan’s lies.
“Perfect,” to show that His words must be considered, received and acted upon, not in part, but in the whole; with all its gifts, graces; threatenings; promises; precepts; and privileges. Perfect obedience coming through Jesus Christ!
Let’s get back to Adam who was made, “In the image and likeness of God.” When God spoke to Adam of the tree of knowledge, of good and evil, Adam never asked God what He meant by evil. In this, I conclude that Adam had the full range of understanding concerning the language of words used by God. Adam must have had created in him the whole spectrum of understanding of the spoken language. He most likely understanding everything from the most frivolous to the most important of subjects spoke to him by his Creator.
This thinking applies to knowing and understanding both good, and evil. Adam and Eve must have understood what God meant when He spoke of the tree of good and evil. They must have understood the whole idea of the thought and actions required of them by God. Their excuses offered them no reprieve. In this I believe they fully understood God’s command not to eat of that particular tree.
Evil rides on the idea of disobeying God. It was not in the eating of the fruit of that tree, it was in Adam’s noncompliance to God’s warning. Adam chose to follow his wife who had listened to the serpent. We see the same picture developing in the story of Job. Job had some doubt as to his suffering, but never fell into disobedience in his weakest moment. For this he was rewarded.
The idea of evil and sin:
Evil and sin walk hand in hand. They are a violation of the divine word and law. They are a transgression, impious and work wicked deeds. Sin causes evil and serious consequences to yourself and others; as in evil, disposed, malevolent, malignant and wicked. Lucifer sinned against God. Adam sinned against God, he influenced by the serpent. Cain sinned after being warned of God
Genesis 4:7, “If thou = (Cain) doest well, shalt thou not be accepted: and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.”
Also, Genesis 6:5, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Millions died, all but eight survived.
Evil spirits, malignant demons;
Matthew 13:19, Jesus said, “when any one heareth the word of the kingdom,” (as Adam did,) “and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.”
This is a clear picture of the demise of Adam and Eve. With,
Verse 38, “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one.”
Adam was the first seed planted by God in this world. Collectively with,
Verse 39, “The enemy that sowed them (the tares) is the devil.” and so it was in the garden. Satan planted the seed of temptation; Adam ate and became the first born, the first child of the wicked one. This is played out to this day.
Would God create a man that would incline himself toward evil? My response is, Adam and Eve were not created with evil, but had the capacity to understand the difference between good = (obedience) or evil = (disobedience.) Upon this newly formed earth walked both God and Lucifer. Adam only knew of God. If he had believed by faith, refusing the temptation suggested, he would have lived forever with the Lord, but he fell to sin, and died.
God was man’s Creator, he being made in His image and likeness. Lucifer spoke a lie; man believed the lie, and death was now his end. Instead of reporting this deception to his Maker, Adam chose to hear Lucifer, and to reject God’s warning of death. In this he sinned against God. They now understood, and had full knowledge of Lucifer, his evil, and of God’s promised judgment for disobedience.
Genesis 3:22, “God said, behold, the man (Adam) is become as one of us, to know good and evil:”
God had foreknowledge of Adam’s decision long before he made it, also of the murder of mankind by a lying serpent.
John 8:44, “He = (Lucifer) was a murderer from the BEGINNING, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. — for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
He lied to Adam, causing Adam and every man to ever be born to inherit the curse of death, therefore Satan was a murderer.
Before these events occurred, God had already prepared a way of salvation.
1 Peter 1:20, Jesus, “Who verily was foreordained (Jesus Christ) BEFORE the foundation of the world, but was manifest = (revealed) in these last times for you.”
Revelation 13:8, “whose name are not written in the book of life of the Lamb = (Jesus) slain FROM the foundation of the world.”
Matthew 13:35, “I will utter things which have been kept secret FROM the foundation of the world.”
Ephesians 1:4, “He = (God) hath chosen us in Him BEFORE the foundation of the world.”
Matthew 25:34, Jesus said, “inherit the kingdom prepared for you FROM the foundation of the world.”
This is my understanding of the two questions,
1. Would God create a man that would incline himself toward evil?
2. And, why would Adam sin in the natural condition and environment he was created in?
Phillip Laspino www.seekfirstwisdom.com