The Doctrine of the Curse

The Doctrine of the Curse

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, December 17, 2025 (Donate)

With over 50 movies with “curse” in the title, like the popular The Curse of the Black Pearl (Pirates of Caribbean movie series) our culture is inundated and fascinated by the concept of a curse. And sadly, our culture is also addicted to “curse” words too! They fill media, books, and film, many workplaces, and public events.

Where did the idea of “a curse” come from? Do people really know the extent of God’s curse? Let’s take a few moments to explore the doctrine of the curse and its ramifications.

The Doctrine Of The Curse In Scripture

The doctrine of the curse refers to God’s righteous and judicial response to man's sin, first introduced in Genesis 3 after Adam’s disobedience. When God completed creation, He declared it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). The world was originally free from “The Seven D’s”:

·       Death

·       Despair

·       Discomfort

·       Distress

·       Decay

·       Disease

·       Disorder

Adam and Eve lived in direct fellowship with God, creation functioned perfectly and harmoniously, and there was no moral or physical corruption. God upheld all things in a perfect state.

Image requested by Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

This changed when Adam, acting as mankind’s federal head of the human race, rebelled against God’s clear command (Genesis 2:16–17; 3:6). As a result, God pronounced specific curses (collectively call the "curse". The serpent—which was party to Satan’s influence—was cursed above other animals (Genesis 3:14). The ground itself was cursed (Genesis 3:17–19)—which extended to all of creation according Romans 8.

As parallel to the curse, the woman (Eve) was given increased pain (from the new pain they were now already experiencing with their sin and shame) in childbirth and sorrows (e.g., relational conflict; Genesis 3:16). The man was condemned to painful toil, frustration, sweat, and both were to have eventual physical death by returning dust. Thus, death entered the world through sin (Romans 5:12).

The curse did not mean creation became evil in substance, but it became broken, frustrated, and subjected to decay. God now longer upheld everything in a perfect state, but the way He now upholds it gives us a taste of what life is like with His full blessing and perfection.

Scripture later explains that creation was “subjected to futility” and now groans under bondage to corruption (Romans 8:20–22). Thorns, thistles, disease, natural disasters, and predation are all consequences of this curse, not features of God’s original design.

The Curse And The Flood Of Noah’s Day

The Flood recorded in Genesis 6–9 is directly connected to the curse and humanity’s worsening sin. After the Fall, sin rapidly increased, culminating in a world described as filled with violence and corruption (Genesis 6:5, 11–12). The Flood was not a random global catastrophe but a world-covering judgment on those who had become unrepentant and ripe for judgment like twigs waiting to be thrown into a fire.

Image requested Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

The curse set the stage for the Flood by introducing death, corruption, and separation from God. Man’s hearts, already inclined toward sin since the Fall, became continually evil (Genesis 6:5). The Flood showed the curse’s effects in action against a sinful world. God used the Flood to judge wickedness. He also preserved life through Noah, a descendant of the tenth generation of Adam, by grace (Genesis 6:8).

After the Flood, God reaffirmed the curse was in effect. Though the world was cleansed of rampant violence, human sin remained. God said,  

And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. (Genesis 8:21, NKJV)

The curse was not removed by the Flood; rather, the Flood was a severe judgment within a cursed system. The Seven D’s continued afterward, confirming that the curse remained in effect.

Living In A Sin-Cursed And Broken World Today

Scripture reveals that we are still living under the effects of the curse. Though, Christ has done the work through His death, burial and resurrection to solve the issue from an eternal perspective, we endure until the end at Judgment Day.

Physical death remains (e.g., Hebrews 9:27). The earth continues to produce natural disasters, disease, famine, and environmental decay. Human relationships are marked by conflict, injustice, and violence. Even believers experience The Seven D’s (e.g., 2 Corinthians 4:16–18).

The curse affects all of creation, not just humanity. Animals suffer and die, ecosystems collapse, natural disasters wreak havoc and the natural world resists man’s dominion. Romans 8 teaches that creation itself longs for redemption, awaiting the new heavens and new earth that will accompany Christ’s return. This explains why the world does not function as God originally declared it in Genesis, even though He remains sovereign and good.

The Curse In Our Daily Lives

Because man is a fallen creature, the curse of sin in this world affects us body and spirit. We suffer and we die (thus, the need for a Savior in Jesus Christ). But it also affects our minds in our fallen nature. When we hear curse words, cuss words, bad words and the Lord’s name in vain, it reflects the sin nature of man’s heart.

Scripture teaches that man should keep his tongue tame because words flow from the heart and reveal one’s broken spiritual condition. Jesus said,

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, NKJV)

Speech is not morally neutral—there is no neutrality as one is either for Christ or against Him (e.g., Luke 11;23)! Speech often reflects whether the heart is governed by wisdom from God and His forgiveness or still in our sinful nature. Because man is made in the image of God, our words carry moral weight and are meant to honor God, edify others, and speak truth. Foul language goes against each of these like the stench of rotting flesh.

Image requested by Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

Idle speech is bad because it is wasteful before God. Jesus warned,

“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36, NKJV)

Idle words include careless, frivolous, deceptive, or harmful speech that serves no righteous purpose. Scripture consistently calls believers to speak with good intention, wisdom, and restraint (e.g., Proverbs 10:19).

Unrighteous cursing, including corrupt or profane language, is forbidden in the Bible because it contradicts God’s righteous holiness. Man, being fallen beings, don’t do it righteously and thus, it defiles us when we use foul cursing language. God says,

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29, NKJV)

Believers in Christ Jesus should have their speech be “with grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6), reflecting God’s character rather than the world’s sinful corruption due to sin and the curse. Profanity cheapens speech and reverence for God. It often is associate with the sinful heart of anger and unrighteousness. Onlookers also lose respect for those who speak in such ways—whether the speaker realizes it or not.

Cursing others is especially evil because it misuses the tongue (and thus our sinful souls) against those made in God’s image. James rebukes this inconsistency, saying,

But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. (James 3:8–10, NKJV)

Scripture commands blessing instead of cursing, even toward enemies (Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:14). Ultimately, taming the tongue is an act of submission to God and is the fruit of sanctification (growing in holiness). A controlled tongue shows spiritual maturity, humility, growing in holiness (i.e., sanctification), and obedience (James 3:2). God is glorified when speech reflects godly material.

The Removal Of The Curse

While the curse is real and ongoing, it is not permanent. Scripture points forward to its ultimate removal. The infinitely-powerful Christ bore the curse on the cross, becoming “a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13), addressing the spiritual root of the problem: sin and more specifically, the infinite punishment our sin deserved from the infinite Father.

Image requested by Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

The final chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21–22, God promises the reversal of the curse. In the new heaven and new earth, “there shall be no more curse” (Revelation 22:3). Death, pain, sorrow, and decay will be eliminated (Revelation 21:4).

There will be a “new heavens and a new earth”, exceeding the former glory or the original creation. We will have direct fellowship with Christ eternally.

Conclusion

Cursing, if done properly in pure righteousness, would be acceptable. But with man in our fallen and sinful state, we fail to live up to proper righteous cursing—thus, that remains the prerogative of God and His provision only.

The doctrine of God’s curse in Genesis 3 explains why a world created “very good” now experiences The Seven D’s: Death, Despair, Discomfort, Distress, Decay, Disease, and Disorder.

Due to Adam’s sin, the curse affected all of creation. The taste of the curse was swallowed at the divine judgment such as the Flood. It also continues to shape life today until the final judgment.

Yet God, in His perfect wisdom, also promises that the curse is temporary by the grace of God through Jesus Christ His Son. Through Christ work, God will fully undo the curse (Revelation 22:3) and restore a new creation to its intended eternal glory.

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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.  

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children. 

 

Finland School Shootings: The Sad Evolution Connection

Finland School Shootings: The Sad Evolution Connection 

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, July 1, 2025 (Donate) 

“I am prepared to fight and die for my cause, . . . I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of natural selection. No, the truth is that I am just an animal, a human, an individual, a dissident . . . . It’s time to put NATURAL SELECTION & SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST back on tracks!”[1]

Sadly, these words were among the last things said before a self-proclaimed Social Darwinist took action in a shooting rampage in Jokela High School about 40 miles from Helsinki, Finland. At least eight people were reported killed by the student gunman named Pekka-Eric Auvinen, who had an online alias “Sturmgeist89,” in a tragic event that has shocked the country that sits in the far northern region of Europe.[2]

Image from Presentation Library

The Rise Of Evolution

Finland, like many other European nations, used to be very Christian in its culture. They still have a Nordic blue cross on the flag of their country. But over the years, evolutionism began to infiltrate in schools, universities and so on. Evolutionism is a religious view that denies that the Bible is God’s Word and that God is the final authority. Instead, the evolutionary religion has man as the supreme authority. Evolutionists have made clear the meaning of evolution:

“Christianity has fought, still fights, and will fight science to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus’ earthly life was supposedly made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and the original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the son of god. Take away the meaning of his death. If Jesus was not the redeemer that died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing.”[3] 

And: 

“Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear . . . . There are no gods, no purposes, no goal-directed forces of any kind. There is no life after death. When I die, I am absolutely certain that I am going to be dead. That’s the end for me. There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to life, and no free will for humans, either.”[4]

In such a religion, if God is left out, then the only other option for supreme authority is mankind. If that is the case, then each person can determine what is right and wrong in his or her own eyes (Judges 17:6). In this little town in Finland, this is exactly what the gunman did, with no regard for human life.

Image from Presentation Library

In today’s culture there is a war over true history. This war is significant, since it deals with how people live their lives. The way people view their history affects how they live their life, i.e., their purpose, goals, and views of morality.

Mass murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, for example, lived his life believing evolution was true history, and therefore, it affected his theology (believing there was no God) and how he lived his life (without regard for other human life). Dahmer said:

“If a person doesn’t think there is a God to be accountable to, then—then what’s the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we, when we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing…”[5]

Fruits Of Evolution

This student professed to be a “Social Darwinist,” which is a fancy way of saying he held to the religion of evolution. Even his revealing quote that initiated this article confirms his evolutionary beliefs. And like Darwin, he felt some people were “unfit” to survive. Charles Darwin wrote:

“At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes . . . will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian [Aborigine] and the gorilla.”[6]

Darwin was not afraid to admit that people may one day exterminate others. Many have applied his ideas on a grand scale and others are doing it on smaller scales.

Hitler, Marx, Stalin, And Others

Darwin’s teachings have influenced many in the past, such as Hitler, who tried to get Nazi Germany to conform to evolution. Sir Arthur Keith, a prominent British anthropologist (and evolutionists himself), pointed out that Hitler, based on his writings, was an evolutionist:

“The German Führer, as I have consistently maintained, is an evolutionist; he has consciously sought to make the practice of Germany conform to the theory of evolution.”[7]

Karl Marx, Pol Pot, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin—to name a few—avidly held to Darwinian evolution to justify their actions.

Now that evolution is being taught in most parts of the world, it is logical to assume this influence will sadly continue to bear more fruit. But after the fruit that was born by the Marxist teachings of Hitler and Stalin, can mankind afford more fruit like this?

School Shootings and Mass Murders in the US

School shootings in the US often now only invoke brief headlines because so many have occurred. Amish children were killed, and in a Cleveland-area school, a shooter opened fire killing four while cursing.[8] Few forget the evolutionary kids who made news in Columbine, where one of the two gunmen was even wearing a “natural selection” T-shirt while racing through the school shooting fellow classmates on April 20, 1999.[9]

Who Has A Right To Be Upset?

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families affected by any shooting tragedy like this, though nothing can replace those they have lost. As Christians who hold that people are made in the image of God, there is a basis for the value of human life and for absolute morality.

If evolutionists are upset about this tragedy in Finland (or any other school shooting), then on what basis could they make a case to condemn it? On the basis of their materialistic beliefs, what they just observed was a random set of chemicals reacting with another random set of chemicals. Do evolutionists get upset with baking soda reacting with vinegar?

Often, however, even evolutionists are outraged by the school shootings, but in order for them to justify being outraged, they have borrowed from the Christian worldview to acknowledge that such things are wrong.

But the fact remains that these murderers were living a life consistent with the real teachings of atheistic evolutionism. Children catch on quickly and eventually put two and two together. When they are taught that there is no God, no right and wrong, people are animals, etc., then they may reason: “Why not kill or steal?” and so on. It is a logical connection.

Creationwise by Dan Lietha; Image from Presentation Library

So long as evolutionism is forced onto children (no God, people are animals, no right and wrong, etc.) and so long as they believe it and reject accountability to their Creator, then we can expect more of these types of gross and inappropriate actions.

Did God Make The World Full Of Suffering And Death?

In today’s culture, when news like this hits, one of the most common questions people ask is this: “If there really is a loving God, then why did he make the world like this?” It disheartens me to hear the wrong answer to this question—and Christians even, more often than not, are giving the wrong answer.

The answer is to death and suffering is simple. God didn’t make the world like this. He originally made it perfect (Genesis 1:31; Deuteronomy 32:4). There was no death, pain or suffering (Genesis 1:29–30). But due to man’s sin (Adam and Eve) against God, death and suffering entered into creation (Genesis 3). Death is the punishment for sin (Genesis 2:17). We all sin and fall short of God’s holiness and glory (Romans 5:12, 3:23). Thus, according to a holy and righteous God who gave us life to begin with, we all deserve death.

Yet God loved us enough to send His Son to die in our place to offer salvation and peace with God. John 3:16–17 says:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Image from Presentation Library

God truly is a loving God to have offered Himself a perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty of our sin and to offer us the free gift of salvation. One day those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord will experience a world where there is no longer any death or pain and where the tears will be wiped from our eyes by God Himself (Revelation 21:1–4). When we see sad news like this, it should be a reminder that sin is serious and has consequences, but in the same respect the good news of Jesus Christ can set us free from the eternal consequence of sin. When viewing the world’s history and life either through an evolutionary or biblical perspective, only the biblical view has any real hope.

If you don’t know that your sins are forgiven and you are reconciled to God, can I encourage you read the book of John (Link) in the New Testament part of the Bible.  And then turn from your sin, tell God you are sorry and that you gratefully trust in what Jesus did on the cross to pay for your sins.  Then find a church where the Bible is taught and believed as the authoritative Word of God.  

Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.  

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children. 

Originally at Answers in Genesis; Edited; Republished by permission.

---

[1] As reported by Sami Torma, “Seven killed at Finland School after YouTube Post,” Yahoo! News; “Finland School Gunman Dies,” AOL News; Anonymous [missionary in Finland], email message to author from a missionary that listed the shooters recent post in detail, November 7, 2007.

[2] Ibid.

[3] G. Richard Bozarth, “The Meaning of Evolution,” American Atheist, 20 Sept. 1979, p. 30.

[4] William B. Provine, Origins Research 16.1 (1994), p.9.

[5] Jeffrey Dahmer, interview with Stone Phillips, Dateline NBC, Nov. 29, 1994.

[6] Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (New York: A.L. Burt, 1874, 2^nd ed.), p. 178.

[7] A. Keith, Evolution and Ethics, Putnam, NY, USA, 1947, p. 230.

[8] “Police: Suspended Boy Shoots 4 at Ohio School,” MSNBC, October 10, 2007.

[9] D. Catchpoole, How to build a bomb in the public school system, Creation 22(1) December 1999, p. 17.

Why Is There Death And Suffering?

Why Is There Death And Suffering?

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, June 7, 2025 (Donate)

We live in a broken world—marred with suffering, death, broken relationships, disasters, wars, famines, and diseases. People often ask, “will it ever end?”, “how did the world get like this?”, “why did God make the world like this?”

Image from Presentation Library

These are great questions—did you know that the Bible answers these questions? Let’s start with the last question first and work backwards.

Why Did God Make The World Like This?

The answer to this is quite simple—He didn’t. It’s a common misconception that God made the world full of all this evil and terrible things like suffering and death. God did not make it that way.

Instead, a perfect God of life made a perfect world at creation. A world with no death in it. That is what we expect from a perfect God.

God miraculously created all things in 6 days and rested on the seventh. This is not too hard for an all-powerful God. Consider upon the completion of Creation Week that God declared all things “very Good”.

·       Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:31, NKJV

Because God is perfect, we expect His works to be perfect—including the work of creation. Consider:

·       He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. Deuteronomy 32:4, NKJV

·       Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. James 1:17, NKJV

God didn’t make the world full of brokenness, pain, and sorrow. That now brings us to the next question.

How Did The World Get Like This?

Our perfect creation was short lived. In only the 3^rd chapter in the Bible, we read of the historical account that devasted everything. Our mutual ancestors rebelled against God and committed high treason against the God who create them.

Adam and Eve sinned against God defying His command not to eat from a particular tree. They elevated their own thoughts and actions to supersede what an all-powerful, just, and truthful God had commanded them. Instead of being holy and happy, they were now thrust into a world of sin (i.e., rebellion against God in thought, word, or deed) and misery.

God, being perfectly just, had to punishment mankind for their sin—the punishment for sin was death (consider Genesis 2:17 and 3:19).  Furthermore, the entire dominion of man had now fallen with a curse—animals and the ground itself!

Because of man’s sin, death and suffering now exists. It is the due punishment for our sin against God.

Now you might be thinking—why am I being punished for something Adam and Eve did? Get ready to have your mind blown—you and I were a part of that rebellion (Romans 5:12 and Hebrews 7:9-10) and we continue to sin in our own right (Romans 3:23). Adam lived 930 years and has one sin on record. You and I have more sins in one day that we can count!

We all deserve death for our sin (culminating in an eternal death where the wrath of God is on us. God is a God of life and death is like a parasite on good and life itself. God originally created the world "very good" (Genesis 1:31), meaning there was no death, disease, or suffering. For instance, man and animals were originally vegetarian (Genesis 1:29–30), and there was no predation, pain, suffering, violence, diseases, wars, or tornadoes and hurricanes.

The world changed due to sin and we are given a taste of what life is like without God and His blessings.

The Origin Of Death And Suffering

Death, and the associated anguish and pain and suffering, entered the world through the sin of Adam and Eve. When they disobeyed God by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17; 3:6), they brought a curse upon all creation. This event, known as the Fall or the Curse or the Corruption, introduced death, suffering, disease, and decay into the world (Romans 5:12; Romans 8:20–22). From that point forward, all of creation was subjected to corruption because God is no longer sustaining it in a perfect state.

Take note that this view directly contradicts the false religious idea that millions of years of animal death and suffering existed before man. Accepting long ages (as in atheistic evolution or old-earth-syncretized-with-Christianity models) undermines the Gospel, because it puts death before sin. Death before sin is a huge theological problem for any old earth worldview that tries to mix the secular religious story of origins with the Bible.

If death came before sin, then death cannot be the penalty for sin but part of God’s “very good” and “perfect” creation, which undermines the whole reason Christ came to die! Christ died to take the infinite and eternal punishment for our sin—because Christ, who is the infinite and eternal God, was the one in a position to take the these eternal and infinite consequence for our sinful treason!

Human And Animal Death (e.g., Genesis 1:29-30)

Human death is both physical and spiritual. Adam’s sin brought physical death (the body returning to dust) and spiritual death (separation from God—unless we are saved will be an eternal separation with the wrath of God abiding on sinners in hell forever).

All people inherit a sin nature from Adam (called original sin) and are under the same sentence of death for our individual sins (Romans 5:12–19). Animal death and suffering are also a consequence of the Fall, though animals are not moral beings like man (e.g., they were cursed for their involvement in sin through the serpent and Satan’s use of it in Genesis 3). God’s original creation was free of carnivory, predation, and diseases; these came only after the Fall—with the majority of the fossil record being a testimony to the Flood. This now brings us to the first question!

Will It Ever End? Yes—The Solution Is To Receive Jesus Christ

Jesus the Christ or Messiah is the only solution to death and suffering (John 3:16-18, 14:6; Acts 4:12, Roman 10:6). Jesus, the infinite Son of God, came into the world to take the punishment we deserve brought by Adam’s sin.

By living a sinless life and dying on the cross, Jesus took the penalty for sin upon Himself (Isaiah 53:5–6; 1 Peter 2:24). His resurrection demonstrated victory over death (1 Corinthians 15:21–22, 26).

Through repentance (truly being sorry for your sin) and faith in Jesus Christ—who He is, His death, burial and resurrection—one can receive eternal life, spiritual restoration, and the promise of a future where suffering, tears, death, famines, wars, and pain will be no more. Revelation 21:4 describes the new creation as a place where God will “wipe away every tear,” and “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.”

Again, God will make things new (a new heaven and a new earth) and perfect for an eternity of good and amazing things to which we can’t even comprehend on this side of heaven. God will one day restore creation to its original perfection (called Consummation).

This includes the removal of the curse and the reestablishment of a death-free, suffering-free world for those who are in Christ. The current suffering is temporary and will be replaced by eternal joy in God’s presence (Romans 8:18; Revelation 22:3).

Take hope in that. Those in Christ have passed from death to life (John 5:24; 1 John 3:14) and look forward to an eternity with loving and infinite God.

 

Why Do We Get Punished For What Adam Did?

 Why Do We Get Punished For What Adam Did?

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, April 29, 2025 (Donate) 

When Adam sinned, his punishment was death (Genesis 2:17). The punishment for sin is a real punishment. This was evident for Adam and Eve, and they are no longer alive today.

Because of Adam’s sin, death came upon all men—because all of his descendants were born into this sin. This is called “sin nature”. Some have said that this is harsh for God to punish all of Adam’s descendants for something Adam did. But is it? 

The Doctrine of Sin is founded in Genesis with Adam, Eve, and the Fall; Image from Presentation Library

The answer is simple—we are without excuse since we sin too (Roman 5:12, Romans 3:23). To assume Adam’s descendants are innocent is a false assumption fallacy. 

Due to the sin nature received from Adam, death is coming for all since all have sinned anyway (Romans 3:23). So, no one has any excuse and equally deserve to be punished which is death. 

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12, NKJV)

One cannot blame Adam entirely since we sin too. So, the real question is why would God permit sin nature to pass along to Adam descendants, doesn’t that seem harsh? Recall, the Bible says:

Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. (Hebrews 7:9-10, NKJV)

Consider what the Holy Spirit says in Hebrews when He points out that Levi was in the loins (body) of his ancestor Abraham when he paid tithes to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20).

If we extend this a little further, we can say Abraham was in the body of Noah before the Flood.  And Noah was in the body of his ancestor Adam when he sinned! In other words, we were all in Adam and the Woman (Eve) when they sinned! This explains why we inherit a sin nature. When Adam and Woman sinned, a sin nature came over them and since we were in them and our life came from them, so we inherit this nature as well.

So far, this all sounds like bad news, and it is bad, but there is good news.  Consider

For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22, NKJV)

Through Adam, death came into the world but in the same fashion, Christ showed that He holds power over death. Those in Christ will be saved and death will have no sting:

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57, NKJV)

Image from Presentation Library

Knowing this, there is something to look forward to. Now look back even further. The life that we have came through Adam but it ultimately originated from God (Genesis 2:7; Luke 3:38). He owns us and gives us our very being (Hebrews 1:3), and it is He whom we should follow instead of sin.

For since the first sin in Adam, we need a Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God who stepped into history to take on flesh and become a man and take the punishment for sin. Such a loving feat shows that God truly loves mankind and wants to see us return to Him. God, being the author of life, the sustainer of life, and redeemer of life, is truly the One to whom all things are owed. 

Originally here: https://answersingenesis.org/adam-and-eve/why-do-we-get-punished-for-what-adam-did/; Republished by permission.

Could Death Exist Before Sin Biblically?

Could Death Exist Before Sin Biblically?

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, August 21, 2024 All Scripture NKJV (Donate)

Death and sin—these are two things today’s society seems to want to avoid in a conversation! In today’s secular society, kids have been taught for generations that death goes back for millions of years. But there is a huge contrast when you open the pages of Scripture beginning in Genesis.

The Bible is the authority on the past (as well as the authority on scientific and theological aspects), and it is logical that the Bible should be the authority on the issue of death and its relationship with sin. Getting a big picture of sin and death and how they are related in the Bible can make us better witnesses to today’s culture.

Everything Was Originally Perfect 

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)

He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. (Deuteronomy 32:4)

When God finished creating at the end of day six, He declared everything “very good”—it was perfect. God’s work of creation is perfect. We expect nothing less of a perfect God.

What was this “perfect” or “very good” creation like? Were animals dying? Was man dying? Let’s look closer at what the Bible teaches.

Everything Was Originally Vegetarian 

And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. “Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. (Genesis 1:29–30)

We know that animals and man were not eating meat originally, according to Genesis 1:29–30. So, meat-eaters today were all vegetarian originally, which also points to death not being part of the original creation. Plants are not “alive” in the biblical sense of nephesh chayyah, only animals and man. So, plants being eaten did not mean death existed before the Fall. One would not expect a God of life to be a god of death. When we look at God’s restoration in Revelation 21–22, there will be no death, pain, or suffering.

If a Christian wants to side with the atheistic view of a world where death existed for millions of years using the majority of the fossil layers as evidence of slow, gradual accumulation instead of a global Flood, they have major problems. The fossil layers consist of many animals that have the remains of other animals in their stomach contents. As we’ll discuss later, Scripture tells us that sin brought about animal death, something that did not occur prior to the Fall. This rules out many of the rock layers as evidence of millions of years because the Lord declared that everything was originally vegetarian. The Flood of Noah’s day is a much better explanation of the rock layers, which show animals eating other animals after sin.

Death Is a Punishment 

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17)

God gave the command in Genesis 2:16–17 that sin would be punishable by death. This is significant when we look at the big picture of death. If death in any form was around prior to God’s declaration in Genesis 1:31 that everything was “very good,” then death would be very good too—hence not a punishment at all.

Some have pointed out that this passage is not referring to animal death. In one sense, we agree with them: this verse was not directed toward animals. But by the same logic, this command was only directed toward Adam, yet Eve died, and so do we (Adam’s descendants) for sin. This shows the all-encompassing impact of the sin-death relationship.

Adam Knew What “Die” Meant 

Some people have brought up the objection that if there was no death existing in the world, then how did Adam know what God meant in Genesis 2:17.

God, the author of language, programmed Adam with language when He created him, as they conversed right from the start on day six (see Genesis 2). Since God makes things perfectly, Adam knew what death meant—even if he did not have experiential knowledge of it. In fact, he probably understood it better than any of us because he had a perfect mind, uncorrupted by sin and the Curse.

Sin Brought Animal Death 

The first recorded death and passages referring to death as a reality came with sin in Genesis 3 when the serpent, Eve, and Adam all were disobedient to God. Please note that what happened is the first hint that things will die:

So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. (Genesis 3:14)

Genesis 3:14 indicates that animals, which were cursed along with the serpent, would no longer live forever but have a limited life (all the days of your life). This is the first hint of animal death. Since animals were cursed, they too will now die. Though this particular verse doesn’t rule out animal death prior to sin, its placement with sin and the Curse in Genesis 3 may very well be significant.

The Lord’s sacrifice to make coats of skins for Adam and Eve

The first recorded death of animals comes in Genesis 3:21, when God covered Adam and Eve with coats of skins to replace their fig leaf coverings they assumed would cover their nakedness.

Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

Abel apparently mimicked something like this when he sacrificed from his flocks (fat portions) in Genesis 4:4, as did Noah after the Flood in Genesis 8:20. The Israelites did this as well, giving sin offerings of lambs, doves, etc.

Noah offering sacrifices

The punishment for sin was death; so, something had to die. Rightly, Adam and Eve deserved to die, but we serve a God of grace, mercy, and love. And out of His love and His mercy, He basically gave us a “grace period” to repent.

The Lord sacrificed an animal to cover this sin. It was not enough to take away sin but merely offered a temporary covering. This shows how much more valuable mankind is than animals (see also Matthew 6:26, 12:12). The punishment for sinning against an infinitely holy God is an infinite punishment, and animals are not infinite. They simply cannot take that punishment. We needed a perfect and infinite sacrifice that could take the infinite punishment from an infinite God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is infinite, could take that punishment. These animal sacrifices foreshadowed Jesus Christ, who was the ultimate, perfect, infinite sacrifice for our sins on the cross. Hebrews reveals:

And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)

This is why Jesus had to die, and this is why people sacrificed animals to cover sin. These passages make it clear that animal death has a relationship with human sin, as well as the fact that it came after sin (see Christian Theodicy in Light of Genesis and Modern Science). Also, it is the very basis and foundation of the gospel.

Sin Brought Human Death

 

This same type of proclamation that animals will ultimately die (all the days of your life) comes back in Genesis 3:17, where man would also die (all the days of your life). So, like the animals, man would die in fulfillment of what God said in Genesis 2:17.

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. (Genesis 3:17)

Some have stated that they believe this was only a spiritual death, but God made it clear in Genesis 3:19 by adding that humanity will return to the dust from which we came, which makes it clear it was not excluding a physical death.

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”. (Genesis 3:19)

Even Paul, when speaking of human death, specifically says:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:26)

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. (Romans 5:14)

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.) (Romans 5:17)

If the death God mentioned is only spiritual, then why did Jesus have to die physically—or rise physically? If the Curse meant only spiritual death, then the gospel is undermined.

It is true that Adam and Eve didn’t die the exact day they ate, as some seem to think Genesis 2:17 implies. The Hebrew is die-die (muwth-muwth), which is often translated as “surely die” or literally as “dying you shall die,” which indicates the beginning of dying (i.e., an ingressive sense). At that point, Adam and Eve began to die and would return to dust. If they were meant to have died right then, the text should have used muwth only once, as is used in the Hebrew meaning “dead, died, or die” and not “beginning to die” or “surely die.”

Does the Bible Teach Death before Sin?

 

The Bible tells us very clearly that there was no death before sin from many passages. In fact, there are no Bible verses indicating there was death prior to sin.

Death before sin is a problem for a perfect creation at the end of day six

The only reason some people try to insert death before sin is to fit man’s ideas of “millions of years” of death from a uniformitarian view of the fossil record into the Bible. But this makes a mockery of God’s statement that everything was very good in Genesis 1:31. Death, animals eating other animals, thorns, cancer, tumors, and so on are not very good, and yet these are found in those fossil layers.

This leads to compromising what God plainly says to accommodate fallible man’s ideas. Besides, the Scriptures reveal a global Flood in Genesis 6–8, after sin, which explains the vast majority of fossil layers. So, one need not appeal to billions of years to explain these layers. It is better to trust what God says:

It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man. (Psalm 118:8)

Keep in mind that having death before sin also undermines the very gospel, where Jesus Christ stepped into history to conquer sin and death. In doing so, He graciously offered the free gift of salvation to all who receive him.

Conclusion 

A Biblical View of Death

A Secular View of Death

Keep in mind there are primarily two views of history (secular and Christian) with two different authorities (man’s fallible reason apart from God and a perfect God) with conflicting views about the past.

According to the Bible, a perfect God created a perfect creation, and because of man’s sin, death and suffering came into the world. But through Christ, we look forward to a time when there will be no more pain or death or suffering (Revelation 21:4).

In a secular worldview, there has always been death. So, when Christians try to incorporate the secular idea of millions of years into their theology, two main questions arise. Was there really a change when Adam and Eve sinned? And what will heaven really be like then?

This article was first published here: https://answersingenesis.org/death-before-sin/biblically-could-death-have-existed-before-sin/; Reprinted by Permission.