Some conclude that sin came by some mere disobedience such as eating an apple or some other fruit that God told Adam and Eve not to eat. The story goes that a Father had two children, Adam and Eve. Father told the children that they could eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden for all of the trees were good for food, but there was one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that they were not to eat of, for if they did, they would surely die. One day, while alone in the Garden, a “snake” talked Eve into eating from that tree. She, in turn, gave some fruit to Adam. After eating of this tree, the children were afraid and hid themselves from their Father.

This means every baby born blind; every murder, adultery, heartache, pain, sorrow and death was brought about by the original sin.

The Father’s judgment was that the children would experience all kinds of sorrow, pain and death. Really? They would die for eating an apple or some kind of fruit? What a dreadful story. What awful consequences for eating from a tree. The story continues that one day in the future, this loving Father would send some of his children to hell to burn in a lake of fire. Whatever happened in the garden caused all of the sin, sorrow, pain and death experienced in the world. This means every baby born blind; every murder, adultery, heartache, pain, sorrow and death was brought about by the original sin. Think of it! This sin caused mankind’s expulsion from Eden’s paradise where everything was perfect. To redeem us from this sin it would even necessitate the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. What was the original sin? It had to be an awful deed for this kind of severe and terrible punishment to be meted out by a holy and righteous God. Surely it was more than eating an apple or something similar from a tree. The search for the answer to this question has led a few to believe unscriptural and ridiculous thoughts such as Eve had sex with the devil or Eve had sex with a snake. While these thoughts are obviously not true, how can one believe that a snake could talk as depicted in many of the pictures and stories concerning the original sin? A talking snake sounds too much like a fable from Greek mythology. We are not to believe cunningly devised fables as all truth must have its source from the Bible. The truth of the original sin is not something new. Originally, it was a truth spoken by Moses in Genesis; we will discover it is also a New Testament belief. John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John all believed and taught this basic but Biblical truth.

Who or What Was the Serpent? A casual reader of the Bible who was taught as a child that the serpent was a snake in a tree that somehow convinced Eve to eat an apple will certainly visualize a snake who can talk. But really, can a snake talk? Exactly how then did the serpent seduce Eve? To understand this from a Biblical perspective, you will need to remove from your mind those pictures seen as a child of a snake wrapped around a tree while talking to Eve and discover what the Bible actually says. Genesis 3:1 states, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

This is one of the mysteries of God that has remained hidden, but now it is revealed.

This verse gives us the first clue as to who the serpent was. He was a beast and not a snake or a reptile. He was more “subtil” (which means subtle, shrewd, crafty, sly, and sensible) than any of the other beasts of the field. He had to have been the highest order of animal life next to man. He could reason and speak human language so he must have been very close to the human race, much more than any chimpanzee or ape, because he was able to both reason and talk. He was certainly not a reptile wrapped around a tree because he walked erect like humans do. This is evident from God’s Word. Genesis 3:14 states, “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:” He apparently didn’t crawl upon his belly before God cursed him or else it would have been pointless for God to curse him. It is evident that part of the curse was that his form was to be changed and that he would no longer walk upright but would have to crawl upon his belly. So, the beast known as the serpent was not a snake, for he could reason and talk and walk upright. He was able to beguile, or deceive, Eve into sinning. Eve in turn, gave to Adam and he partook of sin also. It is important to understand that sons of God were to reproduce as God does and that is by spiritual multiplication, by the means of the Spoken Word of God. Genesis 1:27-28 states, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” God created Adam in Genesis 1:27 in His image, which is Spirit.

John 4:24 states, “God is a Spirit…” Even though God had created Adam’s spirit, He had not yet placed him into an earthly form to till the Garden. Genesis 2:5 states, “…. and there was not a man to till the ground.” Genesis 2:7 states, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” In Genesis 1:27, man was created as a spirit in God’s image, but yet was not tangible or physical with a corporeal body. There was no man to till the ground until God formed a physical body from the dust of the earth. It is easy to see by studying these two passages that God created man’s spirit first (Genesis 1:27) and then placed the spirit of man into a body that He had formed from dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). It is important to realize that when God told Adam to multiply and replenish the earth, he was still a “spirit man” for his spirit had not yet been placed into a corporeal body. Let me restate that: While Adam was still “spirit man” and before his body was formed from the dust of the earth, Adam was told to be fruitful and multiply. Man was not told to reproduce in a sexual manner. He was told as a spirit to reproduce as God does and that was by the power of the spoken word. Granted though, God made man so that he could reproduce sexually when formed into his corporeal body for the purpose of free moral agency. However, Adam was instructed to reproduce by Spirit means and that is by the spoken word. Every son of Adam, as an offspring of God, would then have been born by creative Word in the same manner that God reproduces. This is exactly how God brought forth Jesus, the Second Adam. Jesus was not born of sexual birth, but by the spoken Word of God. God created a blood cell (both egg and sperm) and placed it in the Virgin Mary by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost. Flesh then formed around that created blood cell and fashioned the body of Jesus. When we are born again of the Second Adam, we too are born of the Spirit by the Word, in the manner that we were supposed to have been before the fall of man. I Peter 1:23 states, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” We know our first birth was wrong because we have to be born again. By our first birth, we are born into all the pain, sorrow, and death it entails. By the second birth we are born into Eternal Life and all the joy that it entails. Here is the Biblical account of what happened in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says that Eve was beguiled by the serpent. It says in Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.” This beast was so close to a human being (and yet was an animal) that he could reason and talk. He was an upright creature and was somewhat in between a chimpanzee and a man, but closer to a man. He was so close to being human that his seed could, and did mingle with that of the woman and cause her to conceive. When this happened, God cursed the serpent. He changed every bone in the serpent’s body so that he had to crawl like a snake. Science can try all that it wants to, but it won’t find the missing link. God saw to that. Man is smart and can see an association of man with animal, and he tries to prove it by the theory of evolution. There isn’t any evolution, but man and animal did mingle. This is one of the mysteries of God that has remained hidden, but now it is revealed. It happened there in the midst of Eden when Eve turned away from Life to accept Death.

Was There Seed of the Serpent? Was there seed of the serpent? The Bible clearly states that. Genesis 3:14-15 states, “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” As you can see in verse 15, the serpent had a seed or an offspring “between thy seed (the serpent) and her seed.” So if language means anything, then the serpent had a seed, an offspring. Notice again what God said to them in the garden. Genesis 3:15 states, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed, It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” If we give credit to the Bible that the woman did have a Seed, Jesus, then the serpent must surely have had a seed also.

If we give credit to the Bible that the woman did have a Seed, Jesus, then the serpent must surely have had a seed also.

There is no Bible student who does not know that the Seed of the woman was the Christ Who came by the instrumentality of God, apart from human intercourse. It is just as well known that the predicted bruising of the serpent’s head was in actuality a prophecy concerning what Christ would accomplish against Satan at the cross. There at the cross Christ would bruise the head of Satan, while Satan would bruise the heel of the Lord. This passage was most definitely a prophecy of Christ (the woman’s Seed). The Redeemer was to come by the woman, and by her alone, without the consensus of man through sexual intercourse. This sinless Man would bruise (crush) the head of the serpent at Calvary and in turn Jesus (the woman’s Seed) would be bruised in the heel (in His humanity when he walked upon the earth).   The Tree of Knowledge Was Not For Food Genesis 3:2-3 states, “And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” God had placed two trees before them: the Tree of Life that was symbolic of Jesus Christ and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which was symbolic of sin, death and the devil. One Tree was Life and the other was a tree of death. The fruit of the tree of death was knowledge. Genesis 2:9 states, “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Man is a free moral agent. This is unlike animals that have no ability to make choices concerning right or wrong. Man was made in the image of God so he was not a robot or someone who was unable to make choices. God placed two trees before mankind – the Tree of Life and the Tree of Death. They could eat of any of the other trees but were warned not to partake of the Tree of Death. The fruit of this tree would give knowledge, making the eater wise, and would open the eyes of the eaters to their sexuality. By eating of this tree, Eve would lose her innocence and gain knowledge of her nakedness. The Ancient Serpent The Bible identifies the old (ancient) serpent as Satan who deceives the whole world. Revelation 12:9 states, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old (ancient) serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Satan is a fallen angel, an evil spirit. A spirit needs a body to become tangible. There was a beast in the Garden who was next to man that the devil could enter. Using the serpent, he could talk to Eve. It was while listening to Satan, who was using the beast (the serpent) to speak through, that Eve learned of her nakedness. The serpent told her she was naked for God asked in Genesis 3:11 “And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” Eve had eaten of this fruit even as the adulteress woman of Proverbs 30:20. “Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.” Eve conceived and brought forth Cain from this fruit, or seed, she had eaten. I John 3:12 states, “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one….” Not only did Eve partake of this knowledge and learn of her nakedness, but she then gave to Adam and also conceived from him. Genesis 3:6-7 states, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” So we have discovered thus far that man was to live by the Tree of Life but chose instead to partake of the Tree of Death. In doing so, man would learn of his nakedness or his sexuality. The serpent, an upright beast that was next to man, was able to mingle his seed with man. He beguiled Eve into finding her sexuality and she bore Cain, her firstborn, who was of the wicked one. She again gave to her husband and also conceived by him and bore Abel. Because of that wrongful birth, all children would now be born of sex into death with sin nature ruling in their lives. When Adam and Eve heard God’s Voice, they hid themselves. Genesis 3:7 states, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Notice: They covered the part of their bodies they had sinned with! They did not cover their mouths, but their nakedness!

The Curses There is further proof of this in the judgment of God. God is just and gives punishment appropriate for the crime. Genesis 3:16 states, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee”.  Notice: He did not curse her mouth! He cursed her womb and conception! She had conceived by this act and her conception would be multiplied. She, in fact, would bring forth twins, Cain and Abel. Because of this, childbirth would be brought forth in pain and not by the Spoken Word. Genesis 3:16 “…and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee”. God is specific in handing out His decree to her. He strictly charged the woman that her desires (cravings and longings) for sexual needs were to be with her husband only. That is also declared in Hebrews 13:4 which states, Sexual intercourse would only be acceptable in marriage; otherwise, it’s a grievous sin.

Adam knew what had happened and its consequences and did not have to die, but he took Eve quickly to himself and by doing so, he fell with her. Now God would deal with them both.

As for Adam, he was not deceived. I Timothy 2:1 states, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”  Adam knew what had happened and its consequences and did not have to die, but he took Eve quickly to himself and by doing so, he fell with her. Now God would deal with them both. This was exactly what the Second Adam, Christ, did for us. II Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”  Genesis 3:17-19 states, “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” God cursed the ground because of Adam’s transgression. Now, not only would he lose Paradise where he ruled and had dominion by the Word, but the ground from which he was taken would also be cursed. His body of dust would lose its immortality. Thorns and thistles, disease and afflictions would torment him until his body finally turned back to the dust from which it was taken. However, through the Second Adam, one glorious day this very thing will be reversed. Not only will sin be conquered, but our bodies will also be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 states, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 

Genesis 4:1 states, “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel.” The Bible does not mention in this verse about the serpent also knowing Eve carnally for that has already been mentioned in Chapter Two. The Scripture simply picks up the story and tells us that twins are born from these conceptions and that Eve said one of them was from the Lord. Obviously, all life comes from God, and in this way, Cain was from the Lord. However, he was truly of that wicked one. I John 3:12 states, “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” Notice, the struggle begins immediately between the two seeds, and hatred so overcomes Cain that he kills Abel. Cain, the evil one, slew his brother, and God sent him away from Adam’s family into the land of Nod. Thus you have the lineage of Cain which does not go back to Adam, and there is a separate record of his lineage. Note further that Adam’s book of descendants does not include Cain; there is no mention of him in the book of Adam’s generations. Genesis 5:1-4 states, “This is the book of the generations (descendants) of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.  And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:”  Adam’s race, also known as the sons of God, was a righteous people. Hebrews 11:4 tells us, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” They were righteous because of a blood offering of an innocent substitute as they called upon the Name of the Lord. Genesis 4:26 states, “And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.” But the lineage of Cain, was evil and from that lineage came murderers. Genesis 4:23-24 states, “And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.”

In Noah’s time, the two races came together and Cain’s descendants and Adam’s race mixed together. In doing so this caused God to destroy the earth because of the increase of evil. Genesis 6:1-2 states, “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” Adam’s sons took the daughters of Cain, and through those daughters that lineage made it through the flood. Now, Cain’s lineage was mixed among all of mankind. This truth of the serpent’s seed was known through the ages. However, like many other truths, it was not fully restored in the reformation. John the Baptist knew this truth. He recognized this in men who would not receive the Word. Matthew 3:7 states, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation (offspring) of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Jesus also taught this truth. Matthew 12:34 states, “O generation (offspring) of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”  Matthew 23:33 also states, “Ye serpents, ye generation (offspring) of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” The Jews were claiming to be Abraham’s children, and physically they could trace their lineages back to him. However, even the Jewish race was not exactly pure. John 8:39-44 states, “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

Jesus told them that they were not of God, but rather their father was the devil.

Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” These Jews were claiming to be of God, but Jesus told them that they were not of God, but rather their father was the devil who was the murderer from the beginning. They protested and argued this point saying, “We are not born of fornication” (John 8:41). Jesus was the Virgin born Son of God the promised Seed of the woman. Mary (the woman) had no seed but this Seed was created in Mary by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost. Jesus was conceived by the Spoken Word and was the creation of God. The seed of the serpent bruised this Seed (Jesus) at Calvary. So who bruised Him? Was it men or snakes? If men, then truly the seed of the serpent was in flesh. The Apostle Paul also taught this same truth in II Corinthians11:2-3. “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” He was telling the Corinthian church that he had espoused them to one husband (Christ) and desired to present them as a chaste (pure, undefiled) virgin, but he feared that they would be defiled (lose their virginity) like Eve did when the serpent beguiled her. Eve was espoused to Adam but lost her status as a chaste virgin to the serpent, and she was defiled when the serpent gave her the knowledge that she was naked.

Who Are The Seed Of The Serpent And Who Are The Children Of God? Jesus told a parable of two seed sowers in Matthew 13:37-42. “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Jesus plainly tells us that the world was sown with two seeds: the children of the kingdom and the children of the wicked one.

 Here Jesus plainly tells us that the world was sown with two seeds: the children of the kingdom and the children of the wicked one. One seed was sown by Christ, the Son of Man, who was the Tree of Life and the other was sown by the devil. The children of the devil will be cast into a furnace of fire. However, there will not be one of God’s children in hell. What is the difference between these two seeds? In the Book of Revelation, chapters 1-3, there are seven churches representing seven ages in which God would deal with the church. Every church age ends with the same admonition. “He that hath an ear, let him (an individual) hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”The Spirit gives the Word. He has the truth for each age. Each age has had its own elect, and that elect group always ‘heard the word,’ and received it, proving they had the Seed in them. John 8:47 states, “And he that is of God heareth God’s Words. Ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” In summary this Biblical truth fully explains why the Redeemer, our Lord Jesus, had to be born of the Virgin birth apart from sex. It also explains why all men born of sex must have a new birth. John 3:3 states, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”