The topic of last month’s Gleanings was "Economics Before the Fall."¹ This month, I will discuss economics after the fall.

When Adam and Eve were created, they were given one command: they were told not to eat of one tree in the garden. If they did, the penalty would be death.²

Death has generally been understood to mean existence separated from God. A more robust understanding of death became clearer after the fall. (By the term fall, I am referring to Adam and Eve’s disobedience to the one command.³) Specifically, Scripture reveals three aspects of death:

• Immediate spiritual death. Mankind is a tripartite being—body, soul, and spirit. One aspect of death executed immediately at the time of the fall of man was spiritual death. Spiritual death means that man is no longer acceptable to God. This lack of acceptance was pictured in Adam and Eve’s need to be covered in God’s presence. Adam and Eve’s inefficacious attempt to make themselves acceptable with garments made out of fig leaves illustrates this point.⁴
• Ultimate physical death. Though physical death did not occur immediately at the time of Adam and Eve’s initial sin, physical death did occur. Adam died at the age of 930 years.⁵
• Final eternal death. Scripture records that all people will be resurrected from physical death to give an account of their lives. Anyone whose name is not in the book of life, will be banished to the lake of fire for eternity, which is called the second death.⁶ Christianity asserts that God alone records names in the book of life and the only way that one’s name will be recorded in the book of life is based on the work of Christ paying the penalty for one’s sin.⁷

Given that there was no reproduction before the fall, all descendants of Adam and Eve (all human beings) have the same ontological condition as Adam and Eve, that is, all humans are born under the curse of death—spiritual, physical, and eternal.

The fall ontologically changed Adam and Eve from a state of innocence to a state of depravity. Paul recorded the reality of this fallen state and argued for Christ as the only solution.⁸

The Bible is a record of God’s unfolding revelation over time about the depth of mankind's sin and the amazing gift of God’s mercy and grace to redeem mankind through the work of Christ.

The fall impacted everything, including economics. The intent of economics was to facilitate mankind’s rule of God’s creation. After the fall, the work of ruling would be harder because, in part, economics became harder. This reality is intimated in the consequences that Adam suffered for his role in the fall. Note the words of Scripture on this point:

And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." —Genesis 3:17–19 ESV

The reference to the ground being cursed with thorns and thistles suggests that the work of ruling God’s creation, which starts with tilling the ground for food, would be much harder. Furthermore, Adam and Eve were removed from the garden,⁹ which meant they would have to plant a garden. Clearly, expanding an existing garden would have been easier than starting with no garden.

Given this initial condition of the fall, here are some thoughts about how the fall impacted economics.

First, economics before the fall continued but was impaired by sin.

• Food production. Before the fall, mankind lived in the perfect garden. To obey the Creation Mandate meant simply to expand the garden. After the fall, mankind had to plant and grow a garden in an environment cursed as a result of the fall. Issues such as labor problems, unfavorable weather, crop failures, plant diseases, and blights caused by pests became significant impediments. Furthermore, harvesting, processing, storing, and distributing food were impaired.
• Mining. Mining activities were impaired by the fall. Finding and processing fine metals, herbs and spices, and precious stones would be more difficult. At a minimum, labor and weather issues made mining more challenging.
• Families. Family unity was disrupted by sin. Training children to find and fulfill their purpose in God’s metanarrative became difficult due to the bias toward sin in the hearts of both parents and children.
• Education. Developing and applying technology to facilitate the Creation Mandate became more difficult because of sin. As with parenting, the bias toward sin in the hearts of both teachers and students impaired the training.

Second, the fall introduced new activities. These new activities, however, did not increase mankind's efficiency in obeying the Creation Mandate; rather these activites were required to manage the consequences of sin.

• Clothing and shelter. Because of the fall, weather patterns changed. No longer was the climate perfect for human life. Some of the finite resources of the universe had to be allocated for clothing and shelter.
• Health care. The curse on the ground suggests there would be substances toxic to humans and the human immune system would not be fully efficacious. Precious resources were needed to develop and apply technology for human health care.
• Social order. Sinful humans were hostile toward each other. The first recorded incident after Adam and Eve multiplied was murder.¹⁰ To fulfill the Creation Mandate, however, required an orderly world that valued human life. To maintain order required laws and law enforcement, which required economic resources.
• ἐκκλησία. Adam and Eve were the people of God before the fall. After the fall, God chose, as part of his metanarrative, to have a select group of people (ἐκκλησία) who would bear witness of him. In the Old Testament, the ἐκκλησία was Israel and in the New Testament it was, and is, the church. To gather, lead, feed, protect, and guide the ἐκκλησία required economic resources.

The fall introduced inefficiencies associated with sin. Sin management, therefore, became a requisite activity that impacted every area of life. And sin management has economic consequences.

Consider, for example, health care. Bdellium was specifically mentioned as present in the garden.¹¹ It had medicinal value among other uses. Perhaps one of the implications of its early mention in Scripture was the revelation that specific substances were effective in facilitating human health. To find and develop these substances required resources.

And consider social order. For mankind to engage in expanding God's rule on earth required social order. Social order required laws and law enforcement aligned with Scripture to produce an environment conducive to a growing population and advancing technology in accordance with the Creation Mandate. And social order required resources.

Wise stewardship of resources is the essence of economics. The most effective way to steward resources was (and still is) alignment with God’s principles.

Because of sin, economics after the fall became harder. Nevertheless, the stewardship of finite resources—time, talent, treasure, and technology—was (and still is) required for mankind to fulfill the purpose of God. This makes sound economic practices an essential tool for mankind. May we have grace to discover God's principles of economics and may we apply them well.

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1. http://strategieswork.net/publications/gleanings/2016/2016-06.htm.
2. Genesis 2:16–17.
3. Genesis 3.
4. Ibid.
5. Genesis 5:5.
6. Revelation 20:11–15.
7. Ephesians 2:1–10; Philippians 4:3.
8. Romans 1–3.
9. Genesis 3:22–24.
10. Genesis 4:1–8.
11. Genesis 2:12.

Walking in Financial Freedom