During the first Sunday of Lent, the Revised Common Lectionary directs Christians to read Romans 5:12-19, which draws upon Genesis 3 to contrast the Adamic dominion of sin and death with Christ’s dominion of righteousness and life.

This is because the lectionary invites Christians to find their stories within a larger theological narrative of humanity. Sometimes the early part of this narrative is called “The Fall,” which tells the story of how the first humans transgressed God’s first and only restriction despite the fact that they had more than enough to satisfy them (Gen 2:15-3:24). Although many of us focus on how Adam and Eve disrupted their relationship with God by transgressing a divine command, we must not neglect the fact that their trespass also violated their relationship with the nonhuman creation, specifically with the food it provides (Gen 2:17; 3:11).

Paul reflects on this narrative in Romans 5:12-21 and considers its consequences to be dire for humanity. He believes Adam’s transgression[1] ushered in an era of slavery, slavery to sin and death (see also 6:17, 20; 8:2). As a result of sin’s powerful influence over humanity, Paul explains that people’s “feet are swift to shed blood” and that “ruin and misery are in their paths” (Rom 3:15-16).

When we hear these lections, most of us probably think of the destructive consequences of sin among humans—the gossip, injustice, violence, murder; and these are quite a lot to consider, address, and rectify. But both Genesis and Romans trace not only the destructive effects of sin among humans but also those between humans and the rest of creation. These books illustrate the ancient belief that human actions affect nonhuman creation, either for good or ill.

We of course encounter the first of these creational effects in Gen 3:17, where the land / earth enters a cursed rather than blessed condition on account of the human’s transgression. As the story progresses through fratricide and widespread murder (Gen 4:8, 23-24), the fabric of creation itself appears to unravel so that the earth itself was destroyed (Gen 6:12). Now, the NRSV indicates that the earth was “corrupt,” but the Hebrew verb here (šḥt) does not simply mean morally corrupt or physically sullied. The Hebrew verb “signifies an act of ruthless destruction subjecting the object to complete annihilation or decimating and corrupting it so thoroughly that its demise is certain.”[2] This destruction, it may be assumed on the basis of 6:11, results from the violence filling the earth. “All flesh” engaged in destructive acts, which left the earth destroyed (6:12). Human (and probably animal) violence resulted in creation-wide consequences.

Like Genesis, Romans too depicts creation-wide effects of human activity. After alluding to the narrative about Adam and his descendants in Rom 5:12-21, Paul goes on in chapter 8 to discuss the condition of the nonhuman creation. The nonhuman creation experiences longing, subjection, frustration, slavery, and destruction. Again, “destruction” may not ring a bell when you hear Rom 8:19-22. The NRSV translates a part of Rom 8:21 as “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay.” “Decay” has a very narrow range of meaning in English, denoting physical decomposition or spiritual / moral degeneration. Understood physically, “decay” is something that happens naturally, and humans have little to no power to prevent it. However, the underlying Greek term has a much broader range of meaning. Its meaning includes death, destruction, bloodshed, and decay. It is likely, then, the word Paul uses here alludes to a much more active process in which unnamed agents cause destruction. When we hear Paul say that creation will be liberated from its slavery to destruction, we’re inclined to perceive ourselves as possible agents of this destruction (though we are certainly not the only agents or forces that destroy life and wellbeing on earth).  

Although Paul does not explicitly correlate creation’s destruction with human sin or violence in Romans 8, he does connect its liberation with human glory. This glory is usually understood as a reference to the completion of God’s work of restoring human righteousness / justice and holiness, which will culminate in resurrection (Rom 8:19, 21, 23). Paul’s correlation of human glory with creation’s liberation in Rom 8:21 implies that for creation to be liberated from slavery to destruction, humanity must finally and fully be freed from sin. I would suggest that we follow Paul’s lead by understanding creation’s slavery to destruction to be closely related to destructive human activity. This conclusion finds corroborating evidence in light of Paul’s dependence on Genesis and the Adam narrative earlier in this letter (Rom 5:12-21). It is further confirmed by his assertion that creation eagerly anticipates the revealing of resurrected humanity (Rom 8:19), for when humans live righteously and gloriously, creation can freely flourish as God intended.

Ethically and practically, these texts teach us to consider human action in a much more holistic fashion than we’re often inclined to do. They direct us to pay particular attention to the ways in which our actions, lifestyles, and perhaps even our words and attitudes stimulate the destruction of life and wellbeing rather than their flourishing. Paul’s letter to Rome, in particular, instructs us to conform our lives to Jesus Christ, who is our Liberator and the restorer of life, as we await the culmination of God’s salvation story. We do this by alleviating creation’s slavery to destruction now.

---

Please join my list of friends!

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.

---

[1] Paul only mentions Adam, not Eve.

[2] Conrad, “Šāḥat,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 584.