The title is the article. I almost don’t even want to elaborate.
Adam and Eve sinned first, of this there is no debate. Their transgression set the pattern the world has followed for all the generations since. While it’s true that every person is responsible for his own actions, in a grander, more philosophical way, blame for the state of the world will always roll backward to that fateful day in the garden, when man and woman yielded to temptation. Odds are, if you asked anyone to answer the question: “What did Adam do?” or “What did Eve do?” the answer would come back “ate the apple*” or “at the forbidden fruit” or, just, “sinned.”
And while that’s true, it’s also a commentary on the way people have a bad habit of defining others around their most significant moments, especially when it’s the worst significant moment.
Yes, Adam and Eve sinned, but then they lived 900 more years in faithful service to God. That has to count for something, right? How would you like to live even 90 years and, when you die, have the worst mistake you ever made be the headline of your obituary? People err. People are flawed. People give in to their worst impulses. It happens. You know what else happens? People repent. People change. People grow and improve and end up better than they were on their worst day. Not always, but often enough that it should be remembered whenever we look back on those who came and went before us.
Adam ate the apple…then lived faithfully for 900 years.
Don’t forget it.
~ Matthew