I have read a number of commentaries and many sermons discussing the fall of Man. In each, it is clarified that God had only given one law that Adam had to follow. Read Gen 2:16-17. The law begins with all that Adam was allowed to do, followed by the one restriction and ending with the outcome to reaffirm the need for the restriction. '
As everyone will tell you, all he had to do was not at from that tree. The question I am asking is what if Adam had lied prior to eating from the tree? Would that have been sin? Would that have resulted in the fall?
In looking at this, the Lord has revealed that my question is wrong or that my understanding of sin and sin nature was faulty. I propose that Adam was incapable of lying prior to the fall because the manifestation of sin, that is lying, requires a sin nature. We commit sin because we are sinful. In the garden Adam did not have a sin nature. He was innocent.
To clarify this, lets look at a possible lie Adam could have told and dig deep into it.
Adam could have told Eve, "I rode a Rhino today" when he had not done anything of the sort. This is a lie where he is trying to get Eve to think he was brave or even to get her to increase her desire for him. We lie like this all the time in small and big ways in our lives. We exaggerate our history to increase our prestige, or we gloat over small victories expanding them to make a better story.
We do this because we want to be respected, to be considered superior. Adam in the garden, did not have this flaw of the sinful nature. He truly loved Eve and his desire for her would have been to lift her up and not himself. He would not have considered lying, because the sinful desires that would have prompted that lie did not exist in his nature.
Their are many types of lies we tell, but the intent and desire that underlies those lies come from a nature that seeks our own glory, our own self preservation, our own rebellion from God. Adam, when he ate that apple, decided to take his life into his own hands instead of trusting in God. God created us in His image. We were intended to be other-focused, other-centric, good creatures of Love. When Adam put himself before God he became unnatural. Thereafter, all humanity became unnatural, corrupted, prone to committing acts of sin from their sinful nature. Each a betrayal of the Love and Goodness of God that deepens the stain of sin and further cements us as separated from God.
We are not good people that slip up and tell lies. We are rebels to God and we lie because it is what we are. Each lie darkening our rebellious nature a deeper shade of evil. We cannot do good because it is no longer in our species. When Adam fell, there was only sin. God must judge that sin. Yet He had a purpose in creating us and no creature in Heaven or Earth will thwart His will. His Love surpasses even our rebellion and at great personal sacrifice, He sent His beloved son, with no regard for His own concern, to take on the penalty for our sin. He experienced the full wrath of God on that cross, a willing sacrifice on our behalf. Now God's judgement has been satisfied and His Love also has been satisfied, in that if we trust in His son, he will give us a new life, the life of His son, eternal. For in Christ we die, yet we live, but not us, Christ lives in us and through us.
If you find yourself lying, look at the source. Are you glorifying yourself, protecting yourself, executing your plan for your life? Stop, confess your sin, repent, and seek the glory of God, trust God to protect you, follow His Will and then surely the goodness of God will follow you.
