‘The Fall’ is the theological term used to describe the events that take place in Genesis 3, where the first human beings, Adam and Eve, rebelled against God. When human beings rejected God’s authority and sinned against Him, they fell from His blessing into curse. The consequences of the fall were immediate and far reaching, not just for them but for all their descendants - the human race. They felt shame (Genesis 3:7) and feared God’s displeasure (Genesis 3:10). The relationships that they were designed for were ruined, with each other, with their children, with animals and even with the earth itself (Genesis 3:14-19). Ultimately they ruined their relationship with the God who made them, were cast from His presence and had to face death. Ever since the fall, human beings have inherited the sin and guilt of their first parents and so have faced the same consequence of separation from God and death. The wonderful news of the Gospel is that the sin of all human beings fell on Jesus Christ in His death. Those who believe in Him will receive God’s ‘abundant provision of grace’ and ‘the gift of righteousness’. They will receive eternal life and have their relationship with the God who made them restored (Romans 5:12-21). The creation itself is still affected by the fall - we live in a broken world because of our sin - but one day, when Christ returns, the creation will be ‘liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God’ (Romans 8:21). On that day, the consequences of the fall will be removed once and for all.
