The First and Second Sins
After the first sin man no longer has to love and serve God, but can do so with the option of going against Him. The implications of the sins of Adam and Eve and Cain ultimately define their importance. Without the first sin humanity could never truly show God obedience and love, but would instead be automatons of his will. Before they eat of the tree of knowledge, they have no choice of whether to disobey God or not, save eating from the tree. God, by not allowing them to eat from the tree, also does not allow them the knowledge to know any better than to eat it. The first sin also makes the second sin possible. Man would never have been tending flocks and working to get food from the earth had Eve and Adam not eaten from the forbidden fruit. Jealousy was also a trait man would not have without the ability to tell good from bad. Cain's sin is also more than just an act of jealousy. By God giving Cain such harsh punishment, the readers of the bible are treated to just how seriously the bible goes against murder. Had the first murder not been chronicled and dealt with, murder may not have had the baneful reputation the Christian and Jewish religions have given it. Neither sin is unimportant for these reasons, but the first
After the serpent has given her a reason to want to eat from the tree, Eve makes up other reasons it would be okay to eat from it. Cain himself is upset by this conversation with God even more than the last one, and lets Him know this time. Banishment is common ground between the first and second sins, as Adam and Eve are exiled from Eden and Cain is to wander endlessly over the earth. Eve and Adam's sin was eating from the tree of knowledge when God had already told them that to do that to do that surely meant death. The most obvious reason for this difference is that man now has the ability to tell between good and bad because of the first sin. Immediately after eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge Adam and Eve "realized they were naked" (Genesis 3:7) and covered and hid themselves. A clear pattern is seen for the motivations of both sins here: desire. Adam and Eve simply went ahead and ate. The motives for the second sin are somewhat less obvious than the motives behind the first. The serpent piques her curiosity in the tree by saying the tree will make her and Adam like God. Eve reports no great pain for the world's first birth to Cain, she simply states "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man" (Genesis 4:1). The most obvious difference between the first and second sin is that the second was premeditated as a crime; something to be done covertly. In both cases, the humans are not told what to do in the situations they are put in. Eve desires to be more like God and Cain desires to be in God's favor.
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Acceptance Essays
