Temptation and Fall
45
Had some great test been appointed Adam, then those whose hearts
incline to evil would have excused themselves by saying, “This is a
trivial matter, and God is not so particular about little things.” And
there would be continual transgression in things looked upon as small,
and which pass unrebuked among men. But the Lord has made it
evident that sin in any degree is offensive to Him.
To Eve it seemed a small thing to disobey God by tasting the fruit
of the forbidden tree, and to tempt her husband also to transgress; but
their sin opened the floodgates of woe upon the world. Who can know,
in the moment of temptation, the terrible consequences that will result
from one wrong step?
Many who teach that the law of God is not binding upon man,
urge that it is impossible for him 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
. The law of God can no more be
transgressed with impunity now than when sentence was pronounced
upon the father of mankind.
After their sin Adam and Eve were no longer to dwell in Eden.
They earnestly entreated that they might remain in the home of their
innocence and joy. They confessed that they had forfeited all right to
that happy abode, but pledged themselves for the future to yield strict
obedience to God. But they were told that their nature had become
depraved by sin; they had lessened their strength to resist evil and
had opened the way for Satan to gain more ready access to them. In
their innocence they had yielded to temptation; and now, in a state of
conscious guilt, they would have less power to maintain their integrity.
In humility and unutterable sadness they bade farewell to their
beautiful home and went forth to dwell upon the earth, where rested the
curse of sin. The atmosphere, once so mild and uniform in temperature,
was now subject to marked changes, and the Lord mercifully provided
them with a garment of skins as a protection from the extremes of heat
and cold.
[62]
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. The death of the frail, delicate flowers