It would be appropriate here to decipher the origin and provocation of sin. After God created the “heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), He saw what He had made and said it was “good” (verse 31). Later in chapter 2, Adam and Eve were created. Thus, God created Adam and Eve, and they were “good.” We can interpret this as meaning that they were not in rebellion to God, but rather in unity with their Creator. Along with this creation, God gave Adam and Eve certain freedoms. For example, God gave Adam the freedom to name the wild animals and the birds of the sky (Genesis 2:19). This is the freedom to make a choice. Adam and Eve had the flexibility to make their own decisions apart from God. Even though they were created by God, they could choose what they wanted to do by their own initiative. However, God told them that they could eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). The repercussion for disobeying this command would be physical death. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s command by eating of this tree, and so, disobeyed God’s command. This disobedience is the origination of not only the word sin, but the origination of sin in all the lives of people born after them. Romans 3:23 tells us “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So in Genesis 2, we see the advent of freedom for the human race, but also the advent of responsibility to the Word of God. For further descriptions of sin in the Bible, see my book, “The Message of Reconciliation.”[1]

[1] Paul Lagasse, The Message of Reconciliation: How to Have a Relationship with Jesus Christ, published 2020, https://newtestamentevangelism.com.