Humanity’s Role within the Created Order and the Effects of the Fall

Humanity's Role within the Created Order

From the outset, man had a unique position in God’s creation. In Genesis 1:26, God stated, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Interestingly, the Hebrew term for “image” not only conveys “copy” but also connotates the idea of “representation.” In antiquity, rulers would place an image or effigy of themselves in their realm to symbolize their authority and sovereignty. When others saw the image, they knew who had control. Likewise, God’s image bearers represented God in the world.{1} In short, man’s created role in a sinless, perfect paradise was extraordinary. Humans enjoyed a special relationship with God and were able to exercise authority on His behalf over the earth.

However, Adam and Eve’s disobedience would sever their special relationship with God. Their sin rocked the creation, and they would be expelled from the paradise that was the Garden of Eden. The effects of the Fall have far-reaching consequences.

The Effects of the Fall

Sin has had a devastating impact on humanity and the rest of creation. When Eve fell to the serpent’s temptation and then gave Adam the forbidden fruit, the couple lost their innocence and experienced guilt. The inflicted curse was and is comprehensive. As a result of their disobedience to God, their roles became distorted. According to Genesis 3:16, the woman would experience pain in childbirth, and she would seek to usurp her husband’s authority. Because Adam abandoned his leadership and listened to Eve, the ground would produce only through hard labor and sweat. Most significantly, humankind would lose its immortality (Genesis 3:17-19).

In his writings, the Apostle Paul states that sin and then death came into the human race as a result of Adam’s disobedience; there was nothing other than man’s sin that caused death to originate. Romans 5 speaks of human death, but in Chapter 8, Paul explains further that it was not only humans who were affected by Adam’s sin. The whole creation was rocked.

Beyond death entering the world, the creation’s physical attributes and processes changed in unimaginable ways. It is impossible to fully grasp the alterations that took place after the Fall; perfection is very difficult to comprehend in our dying, chaotic environment.

But certain assumptions can be made based on a limited understanding. After the Fall, Adam would have faced issues he had never encountered as a result of his disobedience. Hygiene, for instance, would become a part of his daily concern. “Uncleanliness” from grime and sweat would now be a part of daily life.{2}

In the Garden of Eden, work would have been a casual and enjoyable endeavor. At the curse, germination and the spread of pesky plants were “turned on.” After the Fall, randomness in natural processes became destructive; we could call it a kind of controlled chaos. Before sin entered creation, energy was utilized without waste; after the Fall, energy could not be converted perfectly and thus produced waste. Refuse from energy production has many implications in our temporal environment.{3}

In a post-Garden of Eden world, it is challenging to fully comprehend that the environment we now inhabit is an "all-out struggle." Humankind has become used to post-Fall conditions. For many non-believers, the concept of a perfect world without daily strife is a fairy tale. However, may the children of God contemplate Eden to truly understand how far down Adam’s sin has brought us, so that we may fully appreciate the Second Adam, Christ Jesus. May we look forward to eternity with joy in our hearts.

{1} John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue, Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (Wheaton, Crossway, 2017), 659. Kindle

{2} Taylor B. Jones, “Thermodynamics and the Fall—How the Curse Changed Our World” in What Happened in the Garden, ed. Abner Chou (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2016), 200-201.

{3} Taylor B. Jones, “Thermodynamics and the Fall,” 200-203.

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Genesis 3:17-19

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

Cursed is the ground because of you;

In pain you will eat of it

All the days of your life. 

Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;

And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face

You will eat bread,

Till you return to the ground,

Because from it you were taken;

For you are dust,

And to dust you shall return.”

Romans 8:18-25

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with

the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we eagerly wait for it.