In order to get a good understanding of the nature of man we would have to go all the way back to the beginning, the book of Genesis. In this book we will see the state of man and how it came to be. Genesis chapter two beginning with verse eight lays out for us the location of Adam's home, the Garden of Eden, the introduction to Eve, and the instructions that God gave. In Genesis 2:16-17 God instructs Adam as to what he is and is not allowed to eat from the Garden of Eden. It is recorded as such:

Genesis 2:16-17, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Notice that not only did God give a warning to Adam but he also gave him the consequence as to what would happen if he was disobedient. So Adam knew that if he were to take and eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil he would surely die. In Genesis 2:21-23 we see Eve (though she was not yet named) being brought into the picture. As we move along into the third chapter we will now see the beginning works of Satan. Satan is a crafty, cunning, deceiver that is about to speak to Eve (the woman) and convince her that what God said about dying was a lie. And she bought into that lie.

Genesis 3: 1-7 says, Now the serpent was more subtle 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? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 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.

In these verses we see how man and woman have sinned. This was the first sin that man had ever committed. Before these events Adam and Eve were perfect because they were formed that way. We also know that they were perfect because God allowed them to stay in the Garden of Eden, which if you continue reading in chapter three you will find that once Adam and Eve sinned they could no longer stay there. They were kicked out of the Garden by God and He put an angel at the entrance to keep it secure. Now the reason that the Garden had to be secure was because of the second tree. The second tree , Genesis 2:9, was the tree of life. This is a tree that Adam and Eve could have taken part in, but in order to take part they had to be perfect. But since the sin was committed Adam and Eve were tainted. So, now, they could not touch the tree of life.

The consequences of disobedience were dealt with by God in Genesis 3:14-19,

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. 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. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast harkened 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 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.

In these consequences we see ourselves. We see that even today we deal with the consequences that were handed to Adam and Eve. Eve was dealt the pains of child birth and thus so are the women of today. Adam was promised that for his disobedience he would have to work the ground for his food and it is the same for today. God promised that it would not be an easy task for either the woman or the man. Ask yourself, is it easy in this life? You can see how the nature of man is passed along to us. If this is all that we had to work with I could understand a little if you were skeptical. But this is only the Old Testament.

Lets look to what the New Testament has to say.

Romans 5:12 says, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

In this one verse we see exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden. First, we see that through Adam eating the fruit, sin entered the world. Second, God's promise to Adam in the Old Testament held true.

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

In the Old Testament Adam died the spiritual death just as God said. In the New Testament we see back up of what God said, because He says as sin entered the world death accompanied it. This verse solidifies the fact that sin causes death and that death was passed to all mankind. Lets look at one more verse that will help us to understand even further that because of Adam's error, we all pay the price.

Romans 5:18, Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation?

The offense of one, which is referred to here, is talking about Adam. And because of the offense came one judgment which fell upon all mankind to condemnation.

In closing, I want to say this, many believers understand that the only way to Heaven is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Meaning that we as believers are unable to get to Heaven on our own merit (Ephesians 2:8,9) it's only by Jesus coming to earth in flesh, dying on the cross, and being risen from the dead that takes our sin away. If we can believe that one man (Jesus) can take away our sin, then why do we have a problem believing that condemnation came to all by one man (Adam)?

Romans 5:18, Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.