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From Eternity Past
glittering sword. None of the family of Adam were permitted to pass
that barrier; hence there is not an immortal sinner.
Is God Too Severe?
The tide of woe that flowed from the transgression of our first
parents is regarded by man as too awful a consequence for so small a
sin. But if they would look more deeply into this question, they might
discern their error. In His great mercy God appointed Adam no severe
test. The very lightness of the prohibition made the sin exceedingly
great. Had some great test been appointed Adam, then those whose
hearts incline to evil would have excused themselves saying, “This is
a trivial matter, and God is not so particular about little things.”
Many who teach that the law of God is not binding upon man urge
that it is impossible to obey its precepts. But if this were true, why
did Adam suffer the penalty of transgression? The sin of our first
parents brought guilt and sorrow upon the world, and had it not been
for the goodness and mercy of God, would have plunged the race into
hopeless despair. Let none deceive themselves. “The wages of sin is
death.”
Romans 6:23
.
After their sin, Adam and Eve earnestly entreated that they might
remain in the home of their innocence and joy. They pledged them-
selves for the future to yield strict obedience to God. But they were
told that their nature had become depraved by sin. They had lessened
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their strength to resist evil. Now, in a state of conscious guilt, they
would have less power to maintain their integrity.
In sadness they bade farewell to their beautiful home and went forth
to dwell upon the earth, where rested the curse of sin. The atmosphere
was now subject to marked changes, and the Lord mercifully provided
them with a garment of skins as a protection from the cold.
As they witnessed in drooping flower and falling leaf the first signs
of decay, Adam and his companion mourned more deeply than men
now mourn over their dead. When the goodly trees cast off their leaves,
the scene brought to mind the stern fact that death is the portion of
every living thing.
The Garden of Eden remained upon the earth long after man had
become an outcast from its pleasant paths. But when the wickedness
of men determined their destruction by a flood of waters, the hand that