I received a great text question on Sunday. It asked how Adam (and Eve) could have understood the consequences of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, since they had never seen death according to Romans 5:12? Or was Romans not teaching that there was no death prior to the Fall?
My honest answer is that when I read these texts I read it as only applying to human life and death. I don’t consider animals (and yes I love my pets – but they aren’t created in the image of God) as even being part of this conversation. BUT I know that others have given this a whole lot more thought than I have, so before I start spouting off I thought I’d head over to one of the creationist sites and sure enough, Ken Hamm has both these questions wrapped up into one article….
https://answersingenesis.org/death-before-sin/biblically-could-death-have-existed-before-sin/
Stay warm this cold second week of 2024!
Pastor Scott
Grace Notes 