Daily devotion – death only by Adam
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Death was alien to God’s “very good” creation, until Adam sinned.
The trustworthiness of Genesis and the entire Bible hangs upon the accuracy of this fact: “There was no death before Adam sinned.”
To make light or to err about when and why death came to Earth is to err about the theological and historical foundation of the Gospel. The death of Christ, and therefore the Gospel of Christ, won’t make sense if death came to Earth any other way other than by Adam’s sin in Eden.
If death came first, the New Testament would not be worth the paper it is written upon. It would be irreparably wrong about salvation.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ depends on the truth of Adam’s sin triggering death on Earth; and the reliability of the Bible depends upon the truth of Adam’s sin triggering death on Earth.
Cutting to the core of the issue – if death somehow came to Earth apart from Adam’s sin, we cannot be confident that hell is inescapable. The stake are high in how you view the Book of Genesis!
Remember what Paul wrote about death…Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.