The Fall: Changes Before and After

The Fall - What really happened & how did it impact you and I? Did Adam's sin cause an inherent change to the innocence for all mankind after him? Or, is the only change to our environment and our mortality?

God did not loose control of His creation (in a sense of their state of innocence) as a result of Adam’s sin. With regard to the person or soul, we are created in perfect innocence, the same innocence Adam had. Our own personal experience confirms this. We come into the world naked and unashamed, without guilt or understanding of sin, without understanding of good and evil, and at best, a neutral disposition towards God and at worst, a complete unknowing of Him.

With regard to our environment, we, no doubt, inherited a world marred by the consequence of sin. But, to blame Adam, is to miss the Adam within.  Its quite common to hear people romanticize the relationship between man & God prior to the fall but yet there is no biblical support for this. Ex. "Man walked in the cool of the day with God". In reality, they "heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the cool of the day" - Gen 3:8.  Note this was after the fall and it was God alone coming to confront their sins. At best we can only speculate about their relationship prior to the fall.

Genesis chapters 1 & 2 record very little of Adam's thoughts and disposition towards God. In fact, he speaks only twice and both occurrences are of his naming God's creation; animals (Gen 2:20), then Eve after her creation from his own flesh (Gen 2:23).

The attached image highlights (10) aspects of Adam's life pre and post fall, both those internal and those of his environment.