CREATION, FALL and SIN
The Creation of the World
As we have seen in our first study, Scripture everywhere teaches that Allah is the creator of the universe. In fact, the very first words of the are "In the beginning Allah created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1). We find in the first chapter of the a description of when and how Allah created the world and all that is in it. In every case it is written as follows "Allah commanded and there was..."
Allah only had to speak the command, and that which had never been came into existence. We also find at the end of the description of the creation the words "Allah looked at everything he had made and he was very pleased." The creation as Allah had made it was without sin and perfect. As Allah is holy and righteous and pure, so his creation was also without fault and perfect.
The Creation of Man
We also find in the first part of the a description of the creation of man. In the we see how the first man, Adam, and his wife, , were the pinnacle of Allah's creation. As such, Allah chose to make them after everything else had been created. In the we read,
Out of the ground Allah Ta’ala made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Taurat, Genesis 2:9)
Man was the pinnacle of Allah's creation and Allah took personal interest in him and breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils. The also describes how in all creation man was unique in that he was made in the "image" of Allah. Now of course, Allah does not have a form so it does not mean in the physical image of Allah. Rather, it means the power to decide between right and wrong. Created with a conscience, man had the ability to follow Allah's commands or to choose to disobey and do evil. Man was the only one among all of Allah's creation who had this unique gift of Allah. We would not speak of an animal as sinning. It has no conscience and hence no conception of right or wrong. Only man has a conscience and the ability to obey or disobey Allah. Besides a conscience, Allah also gave man a unique job to do.
Allah gave the following command to Adam in the first chapter of the ,
Allah blessed them. Allah said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Taurat, Genesis 1:28)
Thus, Allah took special interest in man, created him with special qualities, and gave him the great responsibility of ruling over and caring for Allah's creation.
We must also note at this point in man's history that his relationship to Allah was not yet marred by sin. As with the rest of creation, Allah had also created man perfect and sinless. Allah had pronounced the words "it is very good" over man. Thus, we see that Allah created the world as a paradise for man to live in and to care for and to have dominion over. Sin was absent from that world and the terrible results it brings such as war, oppression, greed, hatred, poverty, sickness, pain, suffering, sorrow and death. The world that Allah first put Adam and into was one of perfection and beauty, one without any strife, jealousy or envy. It was one in which man's relationship to Allah was totally open and unhindered by the existence of sin. In the early chapters of the , man is in his initial state of purity and has a very intimate and close relationship with Allah. Yet, something would soon occur which was to have a far-reaching and terrible effect on the relationship between Allah and man as well as all other of man's relationships.
Allah's Command and Man's Disobedience
Allah commanded Adam and not to eat of one of the fruits of the land-- "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:17) Thus, Allah gave man a simple and very easy to obey command to test and see whether man would obey him or not. However, not long after Allah gave the command, Shaitan (Satan) appeared in the form of a snake. He came to deceive man and to cause Adam and his wife to sin. Let us look at this very important and terrible event as the describes it--
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any animal of the field which Allah Ta’ala had made. He said to the woman, “Yes, has God said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?‘”
2The woman said to the serpent, “Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.‘”
4The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die, 5for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.“
6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.
(Taurat, Genesis 3:1-6)
Thus, we see that Shaitan in his evil wisdom was able to give rise to greed in the heart of and thereby caused her to eat of the forbidden fruit. She in turn went on and caused her husband to sin. Thus, we see at the very dawn of history that greed, selfishness and a disregard for Allah's commands had its beginning. This is without a doubt the most important event with the most far-reaching consequences of any event in the history of mankind. Let us examine the results of this terrible thing.
The Results of Man's Disobedience
One of the first results of their willful disobedience of Allah's command was the realization of their condition. They understood they were naked and felt terrible embarrassment. In the original pure state in which Allah had created man he was without clothes. Yet, sinless man felt no need for clothes and suffered no embarrassment over their absence. Immediately upon disobeying Allah's command; however, "Both of their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves coverings." (Genesis 3:7) Thus we see the fact that is still true today. When any man sins his immediate response is embarrassment and a desire to cover up what he has done so that no one else will discover his wrongdoing.
Another result of the first sin was Adam and 's attempt to justify themselves before Allah and to put the blame for their disobedience on someone else. In the the following is recorded,
9Allah Ta’ala called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?“
10The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.“
11God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?“
12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.“
13Allah Ta’ala said to the woman, “What is this you have done?“
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.“
(Taurat, Genesis 3:9-13)
Once again we see the same is still true today. Despite the fact that all men are sinners, no one likes to admit his own sin. Our first response is just as with Adam and in that we automatically try to justify ourselves and put the blame for our own actions on someone else. However, now as then, Allah is much above our feeble excuses. Allah is everywhere present and all-knowing. He knows what we will do before we do it and He will never be fooled by the excuses we use to try to fool men. Thus, Allah immediately put a stop to their giving of excuses and pronounced judgement on them for their disobedience. The following account of the judgement of Allah on Adam and is found in the ,
14Allah Ta’ala said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every animal of the field. On your belly shall you go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.“
16To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.“
17To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. 19By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.“
(Taurat, Genesis 3:14-19)
Thus, we see that the results of the sin of Adam and were not limited just to them but were to affect all of mankind. Before the first sin, as we have seen, there was no such thing as pain, sorrow or death. Man lived in perfect harmony with himself, the world around him and Allah. However, after the first sin this was all changed. From then on, according to the curse of Allah just cited, there would be pain, toil and death. Man's harmony with himself and other men, with his world and with Allah were all destroyed by Adam's sin. From then on man's history has been one of strife, selfishness and greed ending in pain and death. What Allah had created as perfect has become corrupted and ugly through man's greed and self-seeking. That same corruption and ugliness has continued down to our present day and is seen everywhere around us.
Allah's Mercy to Sinful Man
Yet, man was still Allah's creation and Allah still loved him even though he had sinned. Thus, even though in His justice and holiness had had to punish man for his sin and put a curse on him; still, in His mercy and love Allah blessed His fallen creation. In Genesis chapter three we find two outstanding evidences of this mercy and love of Allah. The first relates to man's nakedness. Allah sees man's condition and has mercy on him and according to the , "Allah Ta’ala made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21) Thus, we see sinful man standing guilty before Allah with no means to cover the effects of his sin. Yet, Allah in His mercy takes it upon Himself to save man from this terrible plight.
The second incident of Allah's mercy in the midst of His justice is found in the passage already quoted from the in which Allah pronounced judgement on Adam, and the serpent. In the midst of Allah's curse on Shaitan, Allah says He will send an offspring of the woman who will be injured by Shaitan; yet, through whom Shaitan will be totally crushed. (Genesis 3:15) Thus, we see in this passage a wonderful promise that through one of the descendants of , Allah will bring about victory over Shaitan. This is a promise that will be seen to occur over and over again in Scripture and one that we will be looking more closely at later.
We have now seen in this lesson how sin first entered the world and the terrible results and consequences of that sin. We will look at the next lesson at our spiritual condition before Allah.
