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The fall of man in the Garden of Eden, as recorded in Genesis 3, had far-reaching consequences that affected humanity’s relationship with God, themselves, and the world around them. As I mentioned above, there are consequences or effects of Adam’s high treason in the Garden of Eden, but below are three that I have chosen to discuss.

Separation from God:
The immediate effect of the fall was separation from God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they broke the perfect harmony they had with God. This act of disobedience introduced sin into the world, and as a result, humanity in Adam became spiritually separated from God (Genesis 3:6-7, Romans 3:23). This separation led to a loss of intimacy and fellowship with God, and Adam and Eve were no longer able to walk with God in the same way as before.
Their spirits died the moment they disobeyed God because, as God had said, the day they ate from the tree, they would surely die (Genesis 2:17). Indeed, they died spiritually and, as a result, could no longer relate to God, who is a Spirit. Since they were dead spiritually, they couldn’t enjoy intimate fellowship with God anymore. This spiritual death also led to physical death in the world. Adam and Eve, who were created to live forever, now became mortal (Genesis 2:17, Romans 5:12). Physical death became a reality, and humanity has been subject to it ever since. However, through faith in Jesus Christ, we can have hope of eternal life and resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:50-57, Revelation 21:4).

Sin Consciousness:
The fall of man also introduced sin consciousness into the world. Adam and Eve, who were previously innocent and without a sense of guilt, now became aware of their nakedness and felt ashamed (Genesis 3:7-10). This awareness of sin led to feelings of guilt, shame, and condemnation, which have been universal human experiences ever since.
Sin consciousness is the awareness of our sinful nature and the guilt, shame, and condemnation that come with it. It is the realization that we have fallen short of God’s standards and that we are deserving of punishment. Sin consciousness can lead to fear, anxiety, and despair as we struggle to come to terms with our sinful nature and the consequences of our actions.
However, through faith in Jesus Christ, we can overcome this as we walk in the reality of the nature of righteousness we received when we got born again. In Romans 8:1-2, the apostle Paul writes, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Additionally, Romans 5:17 states, “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” This verse emphasizes that through faith in Jesus Christ, we can be free from the guilt, shame, and condemnation of sin consciousness as we walk in the reality of our right standing with God.

Fear and Anxiety:
The fall of man introduced fear and anxiety into the world. Adam and Eve became afraid of God and hid from Him when God came visiting in the cool of the evening, as He always did, and since then, humanity has struggled with fear and anxiety (Genesis 3:10, Hebrews 2:14-15). Fear and anxiety have since become present in human experiences, affecting every aspect of human life.
The Bible lets us know that fear and anxiety are not from God but rather are the result of humanity’s sinful nature and separation from God (2 Timothy 1:7, Romans 8:15). However, through faith in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome fear and anxiety and live in the peace and freedom of God’s presence.

In summary, there are many effects of the fall of man, but whatever seems to be the effect, the good news is that through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, they were all conquered. If any man puts faith in the finished works of Christ, he is restored, and through the renewal of the mind, is guaranteed a different experience from that of unbelievers and carnal believers.

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The Bible teaches that God’s nature is immutable, meaning He cannot change (Hebrews 6:17-18, Malachi 3:6, James 1:17). God cannot change, neither can He lie; He says what He means and means what He says. We have to understand the nature of God. He is the good God. There is no evil in God, and there is no situation or circumstances where God will respond to you in evil. So it is an established truth that the nature of God cannot change.

Rather, His responses of goodness and mercy, which are characteristics of His good nature, are what men often confuse as God-changing. God may say something or predict a future that is going to happen, but because of His merciful and good nature, He may respond to a cry of repentance from a man, and that event or situation may not happen as foreseen. This is not because He changed, as it were, but because He responded by His unchanging nature, which is merciful and good to a changing man.

By that, I mean that man is ever-changing. As a result of this, a man may have done something, and there is a consequence of his sin or actions, but if he turns around and asks for mercy genuinely, he is going to get mercy instead of what he deserves.

This alludes to what Henry Thiessen said in his book Lectures in Systematic Theology: “The immutability of God is not to be confused with immobility. God is active and enters into relationships with changing men. In these relationships, it is necessary for an unchanging God to change in His dealings with changing men in order to remain unchanging in His character and purposes.”

The following scriptures are places and events where God changed His mind:

For instance, in Exodus 32:1-15, God had just given the Israelites the Ten Commandments, and while Moses was receiving further instructions from God, the people persuaded Aaron to create a golden calf for them to worship (Exodus 32:1-6). God saw this and told Moses that He would destroy the Israelites for their idolatry (Exodus 32:7-10). However, Moses interceded for the people, reminding God of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and asking Him to spare the Israelites (Exodus 32:11-13). The Bible then states that “the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened” (Exodus 32:14).

Again, in 2 Kings 20:1-11 and Isaiah 38:1-8, when King Hezekiah was sick and near death, God sent the prophet Isaiah to tell him that he would not recover. However, Hezekiah prayed and wept, and God extended his life by 15 years.

Also, in the book of Jonah Chapter 3, Prophet Jonah was instructed by God to go to Nineveh, and proclaim a message of judgment. Jonah was to warn the people of Nineveh that God had seen their wickedness and would destroy the city in 40 days if they did not repent (Jonah 3:4). However, the people of Nineveh, from the king to the lowest citizen, took Jonah’s message seriously. They declared a fast, put on sackcloth, and turned from their evil ways. Even the animals were included in the fast, and the king issued a decree calling for the people to turn from their violence and injustice (Jonah 3:5-9). When God saw the people’s repentance, He relented and did not destroy the city as He had said.

Furthermore, in Genesis 18:16-21, God informed Abraham of His plan to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah due to their wickedness. However, Abraham was concerned about the fate of his nephew, Lot, who lived in Sodom. Abraham turned to God and asked if He would destroy the righteous along with the wicked. He asked God if He would spare the city if there were 50 righteous people in it (Genesis 18:23-25). God agreed to spare the city for the sake of the 50 righteous people. Abraham, however, continued to negotiate with God. He asked if God would spare the city if there were only 45 righteous people, then 40, 30, 20, and finally 10 (Genesis 18:26-32). Each time, God agreed to spare the city for the sake of the righteous people.

Reconciling all the scriptures to the unchanging nature of God, one thing appears to be constant in all of them – repentance and intercession. This shows that in God’s dealings with men, His immutability should not be confused with immobility. Because He is dealing with a constantly changing man who has free will. God’s mobility enables Him to interact with men without changing His nature and attributes.

When a man cries out to God, God’s merciful and good character enables Him to respond with forgiveness, withholding what the man deserves and giving him what he doesn’t by His grace. This beautiful attribute of God may appear to mean God changing His mind. Whereas in the real sense of it, He is only remaining true to who He is. In addition, God’s forgiveness should not be mistaken as Him changing but rather a demonstration of His consistency in nature.

In conclusion, God’s actions and decisions can appear to change in response to human actions and intercession. However, this does not necessarily contradict God’s unchanging nature, which refers to His character and attributes.

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As a believer in Christ Jesus, one of the ways your Christianity becomes visible to others, especially unbelievers, is through good works that result from a relationship with Jesus. This relationship is made possible through your new birth, which gave you a new nature of love.

However, it’s essential to remember that these good works did not grant you salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly states that we were saved by grace and not by works. This means that no amount of good works can earn salvation; instead, it’s through faith in the finished work of Christ.

You might wonder, then, how good works that stem from a relationship with Christ are necessary for bearing witnes for Him. Verse 10 of Ephesians 2 provides the answer: “We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” This means that our salvation, which is purely a work of grace and faith, involves our recreation into a new being that can truly do good works that bring glory to God.

This is possible because, at our new birth, we were translated from darkness to light, and now we are children of light. As a result, we bring light to our world through our works, which are enabled by our relationship with Jesus. Every light has a source, and the quality of the light depends on that source. Just as the sun’s light is brighter and higher than the moon’s and stars’, our good works can only truly shine when they stem from a relationship with Christ.

Matthew 5:15-16 reinforces this point: “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” This scripture emphasizes that good works are expected of believers, and these works should inspire others to glorify God.

The question, then, is not whether good works are expected, but whether you have an active relationship with Jesus that enables you to do good works that bring glory to Him. Any good works that do not stem from a relationship with Christ are merely acts of philanthropy, not bearing witness to Christ.

As Paul emphasized in Ephesians 2:10, “We are created unto good works.” This means that recreation is necessary to do good works that truly bear witness for Christ.

The story of the rich man in Matthew 19:16-26 illustrates this point. The rich man asked Jesus what good things he must do to be saved, revealing his misconception that salvation could be earned through good works. Jesus’ response showed the rich man that his good works were rooted in selfishness, not a genuine relationship with God. Despite claiming to have kept all the commandments since his youth, the rich man’s good works did not lead him to salvation. Instead, Jesus presented him with a way of grace, instructing him to sell his possessions and give to the poor. However, the rich man’s inability to rejoice at this instruction exposed the true motivation behind his good works – selfishness, not a desire to glorify God.

In conclusion, 1 John 2:3&6 reminds us that we ought to walk in the same way Jesus walked. Jesus went about doing good and healing those who were afflicted. As followers of Christ, good works are expected of us, and by doing so, we bear witness for Christ.

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Jesus, during his earthly ministry, understood and walked with the consciousness that he is not just fully man but also fully God. His constant pronouncements or declarations of these truths made it known to many that indeed he is the Son of God, though the Jews couldn’t stand this declaration of his as The Son of God. That didn’t deter him in any way, as he was confident about who he was, where he came from, and his relationship with The Father.

Below are four scriptures that show The Deity of Christ and my understanding of them:

1. John 2:16
“And He said to those who sold doves, ‘Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise.'”

Jesus’s emphatic declaration of The Temple, a place of worship to God, as His Father’s house, did not only show his recognition of God as his Father but, by calling God Father, he automatically declared his sonship and the place he holds in the Trinity. This declaration as His Father’s house made it clear that he is conscious of his relationship with the Father, and this relationship spurred him into protecting his Father’s house.

1. John 4:25-26
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

The Jews, through The prophet, had been told of a Messiah who would come into the world, forgive them of their sins and those of the whole world, and reconcile them back to God. Ever since, they had been waiting for this Messiah. Jesus’s response to The Samaritan woman, who spoke of the Messiah to come, by affirming that He is that Messiah, buttresses his claim as God, declaring Him as having the power to forgive sins and reconcile the world back to God.

1. John 6:32-33
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”

33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Again, Jesus’s declaration of God as his Father points to his consciousness of his special relationship with God, granting him access to call Him Father and, by that, inferring he is the Son of God, which means he was equal with God. Another revelation from this scripture is his acknowledgement that he is the true bread from heaven, revealing his claim of coming down from God and thereby residing with Him, as coming down from heaven means heaven is his home.

1. John 7:33
Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.”
Jesus’s declaration that he will soon go back to Him who sent him is another proof of his Deity and His claim that he came from God. If he came from God, that means he resides with God; if he resides with God, that means he is one with God.

Throughout the Gospel of John are scriptures that help show the Deity of God, but I’ve chosen to focus on the four listed above.

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