Eden Revisited #7: Original Sin Theology

At what point do Adam and Eve “fall from grace”?  How does Original Sin fit with a natural interpretation of the Eden texts?  Actually, these theologies are not biblical, so they do not.  Without the unbiblical constraints of perfectionism, God treats each individual uniquely.  Grace abounds with love, mercy, and forgiveness.

Sin is the choice to transgress law.  Choice is not hereditary, however consequences can be. 

Adam and Eve listened to bad advice and made a bad choice before touching the fruit.—Yes, they sinned before touching the fruit.—Eating gave them God-like knowledge of good and evil plus the byproduct of shame, neither of which are inherently sinful or evil.  Along with the Breath (our spirit), these were their children’s inheritance.  Each person must choose how to manage these God given gifts.

People can live sinless lives (like Enoch or Jesus) by always making good choices.  For the majority of us who continue to make stupid, bad, or rebellious choices against God’s law, God is gracious to provide a cleansing process.  From the beginning, He chose to forgive the sins of a repentant heart.  He chose to wash sins clean with the blood of animals, then with His own blood.

God is patient and His grace abundant.  Abba Father meets our failures with a smile and open arms.  He forgives every time we repent.  That forgiveness is complete with no reservations.  Humans do not forgive fully.  Often we do not forgive ourselves.  God does.

Only our hard heart interrupts that process.  Pride tells God we do not need His help, His guidance, or His mercy.  Arrogance tells God that it is not His place to criticize our decisions or interfere in our life.  Tradition tells us we can redeem ourselves through ritual.  That grieves His Spirit, but He honors our choice.

It is natural for humans to defend their actions.  However, if we rationalize and justify evil, then shame no longer softens our heart.  If people do not try to be good, then evil becomes “normal.”  Repentance seems ridiculous.  Eventually, God cleanses a population that thinks evil is good and good is evil.

Without repentance, each bad choice corrupts our soul (our mind) and slowly kills our spirit (God’s image).  We “die” of a hard heart before our physical heart stops beating.  This is second death.  Physical death locks-in our non-repented choices as final.  We condemn ourselves.

God begs us to choose differently than that kind of arrogant death.

God did not kick Adam and Eve out of the garden for eating forbidden fruit.  Nor did they get the boot for sinning, lying, hiding, or even bringing evil into the world.  God separated them from the tree that gave eternal life.  He restored our access to that life through the death of Jesus.  If we eat His sweet flesh and drink His “juice,” life is ours.  But, we must make the choice to repent of our rebellion, submit to His guidance, and “die” to our selfishness.  This grows a clean soft heart.

God died so that we could know how much grace He always offers.  He graciously gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to repent.  They chose to pass blame.  God gave Cain the opportunity to repent.  He chose a lie.  God did not instantly kill them.  He let them live, hoping they might eventually learn to take responsibility for their actions.  Biblically, God’s grace begs us to learn repentance each time we transgress law, each time we think of transgressing His law, and each time we do not love our enemies.  He desires our goodness.

When we enact that knowledge, God rejoices.  Life is not based on religious ritual.  Life finds salvation in relationship.  This was God’s plan from the beginning.

To be continued:

[Lessons from Creation’s Parables: Genesis and Standard Science, Sung as One, by Jo Helen Cox.]

[Lessons from God Makes Us Holy, by Jo Helen Cox.]

Also in this series:

Eden Revisited #1: Powerful Love vs. Limited Perfection

Eden Revisited #2: A Safe Place to Grow

Eden Revisited #3: The Garden River

Eden Revisited #4: Humanity’s Origins

Eden Revisited #5: Creation of Death

Eden Revisited #6: Curse? What Curse?

Eden Revisited #8: The Lesson of Blessing

Also see series:

Genesis Revisited

Eden Revisited