Consequences of Sin

Consequences of sin are immediately apparent after the first act of disobedience in Genesis 3.
Genesis 2:17: God's warning against eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil: "in the day that you eat of it, you shall die."
Raises the question of why Adam and Eve didn't die immediately after eating the fruit.

Death is not merely the cessation of breath and heartbeat (a material explanation).
Humans are a psychosomatic unity: both physical and spiritual beings.
Death in Genesis 2:17 refers to spiritual death, manifested as alienation.
Before sin, humans lived in a state of perfection and innocence; sin disrupts this state.

Genesis 3:7: After eating the fruit, "the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked."
They sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Sin leads to shame and a sense of brokenness within themselves.
Before sin, there was no shame or need to hide.
Experiencing inner alienation due to original sin, and/or actual sins committed.
Mental illness is an evidence of humanity's brokenness, not a punishment for sin.
Mental illness (e.g., depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety) is not divine punishment but a manifestation of humanity's brokenness.
Christ's redemption aims to heal this brokenness and alienation.

Initial intimate relationship between humans and God (God creating Adam, naming animals together).
Genesis 3:8-10: The relationship becomes broken after the sin.
Humans hide from God: "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden…and the man and his wife hid themselves."
God seeks them out: "The Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’"
Adam's response: "I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself."
Humans choose to distance themselves from God due to sin.

Initial perfect fit and harmony between humans.
Adam's declaration: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."
Sin leads to alienation and blame.
Genesis 3:12: Adam blames Eve: "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate."
-- Blaming others for one's own failures as a way of protecting oneself.
Genesis 3:16: Consequences for the woman include increased pain in childbearing and subordination to her husband: "Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
This subordination is not God's prescription but a consequence of sin.
Husbands ruling over wives is evidence of sin, not the intended relationship.
The choice to live into that sin or overcome it through Christ.

Initial provision and harmony in the Garden of Eden.
Humans had everything they needed without labor.
Sin's consequences extend to the created world.
Genesis 3:15: Enmity between humans and the serpent: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers."
Disruption of harmony between humans and animals.
Genesis 3:17-19: God curses the ground: "Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life."
Labor and toil required to grow food: "Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you."
Necessity of work to sustain livelihood due to the fall.
Work is difficult and necessary rather than purely enjoyable.

All aspects of alienation manifest in our lives and relationships.
Only Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit can heal this brokenness.
Human efforts alone are insufficient to overcome sin's infection.
Potential to harm others and hide from God exists apart from the Holy Spirit.
Willpower and good choices are insufficient to heal the radical source of alienation.
Only through Jesus Christ can life be brought out of death.