Counsel #5 — The Fall

Picture: Counsel #5 — The FallCSe 76.1

God had done everything possible to demonstrate His love to Adam and Eve, providing them with all that would contribute to their happiness, including His own companionship. But God wanted His created beings to serve and love Him from choice, with the freedom to reject or accept His sovereignty. The holy couple could accept Satan’s lie, “If you eat of the fruit of The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall be as gods” or resist Satan’s enticements to sin.CSe 76.2

Since the sad day of Adam and Eve’s fall, humanity has been living in a part of the universe occupied by Satan, the cosmic rebel, who seeks to bring as much heartache as possible to planet earth. Suffering began when humanity broke the Divine Law, and the choice to sin still brings pain and disaster.^{[77]https://www.adventist.org/the-great-controversy/#humanity}CSe 76.3

“For the wages of sin is death….” Romans 6:23 NKJVCSe 76.4

“It was not the will of God that the sinless pair should know…. evil… From [the time of the Fall] the race would be afflicted by Satan’s temptations. Instead of the happy labor heretofore appointed them, anxiety and toil were to be their lot. They would be subject to disappointment, grief, and pain, and finally to death.” Ellen White in Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 59CSe 76.5

Reflect: In what ways are Adam and Eve’s choice in Eden repeated in your life?CSe 76.6