23. Adam and Eve's sin immediately damaged their relationships.
Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. {Romans 5:12}
The consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin were immediate. Everything began to die, right then, right there. Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened, but they were opened to shame and guilt and nakedness. They were embarrassed, and they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. Instantly, they began to hide from each other even though they’d never felt the urge to hide from each other previously.
And then they hid from God. When they heard Him walking through the garden, they ran away. God had never done anything—not one thing—to inspire fear in them, yet the second they heard the sound of His footsteps, they bolted. When God found them, they admitted that they hid because they were afraid of Him. And even though nothing He said to them should have fueled that fear, they began to blame each other for what had happened, likely in the hopes that whatever wrath they thought was coming would be centered on the other.
Self-preservation had infected the world, and from that moment on, it tainted everything. It not only affected humans’ relationship with God, but it also corrupted our relationships with each other. In their shame and guilt and fear, Adam and Eve ultimately blamed God for the choices they had made and the consequences that were to come, and 6,000 years later, we’re still singing that song.
If you want to dig deeper—
Genesis 3:7-13