Consequences

After Adam and Eve disobey God, God calls out to Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9), indicating His desire to restore the relationship. (Genesis 3:15) This ultimately foretells the coming of the Savior who will defeat sin and death and in doing so, restore man’s broken relationship with God and re-establishing the connection.

The immediate consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and the effects of sin are made evident: Adam and Eve are aware of their nakedness and feel shame. They become fearful an hide from God. Adam and Eve start blaming each other for what happened: this is the start of broken relationships. Instead of focusing on each other, they begin to focus on themselves and their own self-preservation.

The metaphysical consequences are significant: Death is the natural cause of separation from the source of life because man is originally immortal by grace, the gift of the spirit of God, and not by nature. This is why God says to Adam “to dust you are and to dust you shall return” ( Genesis 3:19). Therefore, death is a natural result of the inherently corruptible nature of humanity when separated from God.

What does this mean?

This means that after the Fall, humanity inherits an inclination towards sin. When we choose sin, or choose to disobey God and His commandments, the consequences include broken relationships with others, a disruption of the original harmony between humanity and the rest of creation, a focus on self-preservation rather than self-giving, a loss of direct communion and intimacy with the Creator, and worship replaced by idolatry and self-centeredness, to name a few.

Therefore, the Fall caused mankind to become subject to mortality. We live with the consequences of Adam’s sin: mortality, but we are not automatically guilty of his sin. All humans are likely to sin, and everyone ends up sinning except Jesus.

Mankind's strong propensity to commit sin reveals that in the Fall, the image of God in man (Gn 1:26, 27) is distorted. Our natural gifts and tendencies that God gives us are used improperly, to fuel our own desires rather than for the sake of others. For instance, desire is very good when one directs it towards God. But when desire is out of control, one may use it in very inappropriate ways, such as becoming gluttonous or desiring another person's spouse.

However, the church Fathers emphasize that the divine image in man has not been totally corrupted or obliterated. Human nature remains inherently good after the Fall; mankind is not totally depraved. People are still capable of doing good, although bondage to death and the influences of the devil can dull their perception of what is good and lead them into all kinds of evil. Our conscience remains, but it can be dulled. Without grace, we fall deeper into pride and self-love. The Church teaches that we need divine help—not only to avoid sin, but to be fundamentally transformed. This often means a shift from self-love, pride, ego, and selfishness to self-giving, self-sacrifice, humility, and compassion.

We do not believe in “Original Sin” (Sin passed down genetically). In the Orthodox Church, we believe in ancestral sin, meaning, we are born into a world conditioned by Adam's sin and influenced by the sins of others. Our lives are shaped by consequences of human sinfulness. We understand that humanity lost capacity to enter into a proper relation with creation, leading to enmity between the natural world and humans replacing the original relationship of harmony and care. Domination and exploitation of creation for selfish ends became the order of history as a result of this.

Despite the death that entered into the world through the sin and disobedience of Adam and Eve, we understand that it is only in Christ that the integrity of our nature is restored. Christ restores the former image in man, as He originally created us to be a reflection of God’s own eternal and life-giving qualities, which is why we are called to turn away from sin and live a life of virtue. Indeed, St. Paul explains that Christ is the New Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22). Christ, the Son of God, became man to heal human nature from within. This is why St. Athanasius writes in On the Incarnation, that: "He became man so that we might become god."

Christ unites humanity with divinity to restore the corrupted image of God in humans. Christ’s death destroys death, and allows humanity access to God, the source of life, after Adam and Eve severed the connection. Therefore, sin is no longer a death sentence, but an illness that can be healed. This ongoing healing is accomplished through living a sacramental life, especially through Confession and primarily through the Eucharist. Confession allows for restoration and cleansing (1 John 1:9) of our sins. The Eucharist is the partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ for the life of the soul (John 6:53–56), which is also "the medicine of immortality.", according to St. Ignatius of Antioch.

Even though our nature was renewed, we did not become infallible. The nature we receive in baptism is pure, yet liable to sin, as was Adam’s nature before the fall. The gift of regeneration that we receive in baptism does not cancel the gift of free will.

This means that in the day to day lives of believers, we must live a life of ongoing repentance and struggle. We must choose daily to turn away from sin. Repentance (metanoia = change of mind in Greek) is not only sorrow, but a reorientation toward God. There is also the role of grace and synergy (human effort + divine help). There is always a cooperation between human will and divine grace - grace initiates, but the human will must respond.

In conclusion, sin is therefore not the end – it is the condition that Christ came to heal. Sin is not the final word; through Christ, humanity is restored to its former image, and each person can live a life of holiness. We are called to grow in virtue and love through the Church and her sacraments, understanding that it is only through the work of Christ in our lives that we are delivered from sin. Indeed, as St. Cyril of Alexandria says: “Sin made us slaves; Christ made us sons.”