God's Providence, Freewill, and the Evil Inclination (Revised Part 4 of 4)

AFTER THE PATTERN OF ADAM

Adam’s sin did not automatically condemn his descendants to death because the Bible tells us, “everyone will die for his own iniquity,” (Jer 31:30). Instead, Adam’s descendants inherited a greater tendency toward sin, as it is written, “He (the LORD) punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation,” (Ex 34:6). In the words of Jesus, “Flesh gives birth to flesh,” (John 3:6). Instead of being born balanced between the flesh and spirit, the flesh came to dominate the thoughts and actions of Adam’s descendants.

Whereas Adam had been created “in the image of God,” (Gen 1:27), his son, Seth, was said to be created in the likeness and image of Adam (Gen 5:3). The fact that the Bible says Seth was created in Adam’s image, and not the image of God, indicates to us that the nature and character of Adam’s descendants were altered because of Adam’s sin. After Noah, man is not again said to be created in “the image of God” until the New Testament, (1 Cor 11:7).

Since Jesus came after the pattern of Adam (Rom 5:14), He possessed an evil inclination which made it possible for Him to be, “tempted in every way, just as we are,” (Heb 4:15). This idea runs contrary to the common belief that the “God nature” of Jesus made it impossible for Him to sin. If Jesus was only God, He could not be tempted because, “God cannot be tempted by evil,” (James 1:13). However, Jesus was made “lower than the angels” (Heb 2:7), and then “emptied Himself” of His God nature, “taking the form of a bond-servant being made in the likeness of men,” (Phil 2:7). As a man after the pattern of Adam, Jesus became an example to all believers of the life that can be lived.

Satan understood that sinning was possible so he tempted Jesus repeatedly, yet Jesus did not succumb to the overtures of Satan, as Adam had. Instead, Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb 5:8-9). Having experience real temptations, Jesus became a high priest who can “sympathize with our weakness,” (Heb 4:15).

If Adam could have resisted the temptation of Satan in the Garden, Adam would have merited rewards, become perfect, and possibly brought about the perfection of the entire world for the descendants of Adam. However, the decision of Adam to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil forever tilted his nature, and that of his descendants, toward the flesh, as it is written, “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin,” (Rom 5:12). It was left to the second Adam to prefect the creation.

THE PROMISED REMOVAL OF THE EVIL INCLINATION

The struggle with the flesh will not persist in man forever. The New Testament quotes Jeremiah speaking of a future time when God will write His law on the heart of believers, effectively removing the evil inclination, leaving only the good inclination.

“I will put my laws into their minds and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of the to the greatest,’ declares the LORD.” (Heb 10:10)(Jer 31:33).

In the future, when “the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants” (Deut 30:6), the evil inclination will cease to exist. Only the law of the LORD will remain written on our heart “to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” (Deut 30:6). Ezekiel spoke of this future time quoting the LORD Who said, “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances,” (Ezek 36:26-27).

“Our Sages write (Succah 52a) that at a future time, God will take the evil inclination and slaughter it before the righteous and the wicked. The righteous will view it as a great mountain; the wicked as a thin hair. Both will weep. The righteous wondering how they were able to conquer such a lofty mountain and the wicked wondering how they were unable to conquer such a thin hair.” (The Twelve Prophets, Vol. 2, ArtScroll, page 250)

(THE END)