The Abiding Gift of Prophecy

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The Tragic Entry of Sin

Such was the wonderful future that the Lord planned for the human family. But our first parents tragically failed to appreciate their glorious prospect. There, in their Paradise home, in the possession and enjoyment of all that God had bestowed upon them, they proved untrue to Him. They gave a listening ear to the base insinuations of one who had become the archenemy of their beneficent Creator. Yielding to the influence and suggestions of that enemy, they disobeyed the command of God. Their sin had brought a terrible tragedy upon the world. AGP 17.3

After they had sinned, Adam and Eve “heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” AGP 17.4

“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? AGP 17.5

“And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid.” AGP 17.6

“And the Lord God said, … What is this that thou hast done?” AGP 17.7

“And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast … eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake.” AGP 17.8

“Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden.” Genesis 3:8-10, 13, 17, 23. AGP 17.9

Thus “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” “By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.” “Death reigned from Adam to Moses.” Romans 5:12, 19, 14. AGP 17.10

This wrongdoing brought incalculable woe upon Adam and Eve. They lost the sweet, satisfying innocence that had been theirs. They lost the beautiful garment of the righteousness of God, which had clothed them. The virus of sin entered their hearts, and they were “filled with all unrighteousness.” Romans 1:29. All the deadly evil into which the human race has plunged during six thousand years existed in embryo at that fatal hour of disobedience, ready to give birth to the mightiest effort possible for the defeat of the divine purpose. AGP 18.1

“The fall of man filled all heaven with sorrow. The world that God had made was blighted with the curse of sin, and inhabited by beings doomed to misery and death. There appeared no escape for those who had transgressed the law. Angels ceased their songs of praise. Throughout the heavenly courts there was mourning for the ruin that sin had wrought.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 63. AGP 18.2

“That,” writes J. W. Westphal, “was the gloomiest hour this world has ever seen. Never has there been a moment since when the star of hope has not been shining to pierce even the midnight darkness. But at that moment there was not one ray of light to cheer the bewildered, sinful, grief-stricken pair. They had experienced the first pangs of death, and although much was still hidden, they well knew that in the course they had taken there was no hope of relief. Separated from God, they had no rest. They had become one with the archenemy of God.” AGP 18.3