Bible Study Assignment # 2

Issue:
Though Jesus and Adam were said to be perfect, Adam is more prone to sin compared
to Jesus because unlike Jesus, Adam did not have same closeness with Jehovah and
age as Jesus. In other words, Adam was not exposed to Jehovah as Jesus did. Does
that explain why Adam failed to be faithful to Jehovah unlike Jesus?
Answer:
Based on the Bible and as mentioned in a few JW articles, Adam may have existed around
4000 BCE which is just 6000 years from the present. Jesus, on the other hand, had a prehuman existence.
Insight states:
If the estimates of modern-day scientists as to the age of the physical universe are anywhere
near correct, Jesus existence as a spirit creature began thousands of millions of years prior to
the creation of the first human.

From Jesus Christ, Insight, Vol. 2, p.52

In a conversation recorded in the book of John, Jesus claimed that he already existed even
before Abraham.
Abraham your father rejoiced greatly at the prospect of seeing my day, and he saw it and
rejoiced. Then the Jews said to him: You are not yet 50 years old, and still you have seen
Abraham? Jesus said to them: Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into
existence, I have been.
(Emphasis supplied)

From John 3:56-58

On the other hand, Adam was created while Jesus was there.
Both Jesus and Adam were described by the Bible as perfect. Jesus was credited to have
successfully resisted pressures and fought temptations when he assumed a life of a human
being and attributed that, aside from his love of Jehovah, to his perfection. Adam, however,
was not as successful as Jesus is despite the fact that he too was said to be perfect.
Definition of Perfection
Meriam-Webster provides the following definition of Perfect:
-

Having no mistakes or flaws

Completely correct or accurate
Having all the qualities you want in that kind of person, situation, etc.

The book Insights definition of the word Perfect can be summarized as Bringing to
completeness or full measure.
Therefore, if Adam is complete, having no mistake or flaws, or PERFECT, how was he
able to sin? Jesus was able to resist the Devils temptation, submitted himself to death and

fulfilled his mission. His accomplishments and traits were attributed, well not only for his love
for Jehovah, but also in his being PERFECT.
Adam was perfect. Jesus is perfect. Adam failed but Jesus did not. Why?
Is it because Adam was not exposed to Jehovah as Jesus was?
There is another individual who is not mentioned in the issue but is worth examining to help
us understand the matter Satan.
Like Jesus and Adam, the one called Satan was also created perfect. It should be noted that
Jehovah is incapable of making mistakes, thus all of his works are perfect. And, like Jesus,
Satan is a spirit creature, possibly not as old as Jesus but definitely not as young as Adam
and most importantly he probably had the same exposure to Jehovah as Jesus had. It should
be remembered that Satan had a few direct conversations with Jehovah recorded in the Bible
most notable of which is when Satan tested Job.
And Satan, though perfect, sinned by opposing Jehovah and caused Eve, and in effect Adam,
to sin, too.
Three individuals, all perfect yet two of them fell. What else do they share in common?
FREE WILL.
In discussing Perfection together along with Free Will, the book Insights has this to say:
[...] Gods intelligent creatures are granted free moral agency, the privilege and
responsibility of making a personal decision as to the course they will take. []
(Emphasis supplied)

From Insight, Volume 2, p.604

How the three mentioned individuals did used their gifts of free will?
A. Jesus
Still a free moral agent. Jesus himself said that all the prophecies concerning the Messiah were
certain of realization, must be fulfilled. Yet this certainly did not relieve Gods Son of the weight of
responsibility, nor did it eliminate his freedom of choice-either to be faithful or unfaithful. The matter
was not one-sided, resting solely with the Almighty God, Jehovah. His Son must do his part to make
the prophecies come true. God assured the certainty of the prophecies by his wise choice of the
one to fill the assignment, the Son of his love. That his Son still retained and exercised his own
free will while a human on earth is clear. Jesus spoke of his own will, showed that we was
voluntarily submitting himself to his Fathers will, and consciously worked toward the fulfillment of
his assignment as laid out in his Fathers Word. [] The record of the night preceding his death
strikingly reveals the intense personal effort it took on his part to subject his own will to the superior
will of the One wiser than himself, his Father. It also reveals that, though perfect, he keenly
recognized his human dependence upon his Father, Jehovah God, for strength in time of need.
(Italics and bold texts in the original, underscoring supplied)

From Insight, Volume 2 p. 67-68

B. Adam
A Free Moral Agent. Being made in Gods image, according to His likeness, man was a
free moral agent. He had the freedom of choice to do good or bad. By his willing, loving
obedience to his Creator, he was in a position to bring honor and glory to God far beyond

that which the animal creation could bring. He could intelligently praise God for his
wonderful qualities and could support His sovereignty. []
[]
A rebellious spirit son of God [Satan] caused Adams wife Eve to sin, and she placed the
temptation before Adam, who deliberately entered into rebellion against Jehovah. []
(Bold texts in the original)
From Insight, Volume 2, p.304
Did perfection require that Adam and Eve be unable to do wrong? The maker of a robot expects it
to do exactly what he has programmed it to do. But a perfect robot would not be a perfect human.
The qualities viewed are essential are not the same. Adam and Eve were humans, not robots. To
humankind, God gave the ability to choose between right and wrong, between obedience
and disobedience, to make moral decisions. Since this is the way humans were designed,
the inability to make such decisions (and not an unwise decision) is what would have
indicated imperfection.
For Adam and Eve to qualify as being created perfect, must all their decisions thereafter be right?
That would be the same as saying that they had no choice. But God did not make them in such
a way that their obedience would be automatic. God granted them the ability to choose, so that they
could obey because they loved him. Or, if they allowed their hearts to become selfish, they would
become disobedient. Which means more to you - when someone does something for you because
he is forced to do it or because he wants to?
How could such perfect humans become selfish, leading to acts of sin? Although created perfect,
their physical bodies would not continue to function perfectly if not provided with proper food. So,
too, if they let the mind feed on wrong thoughts, this would cause moral deterioration, unholiness.
James 1:14, 15 explains: Each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire.
Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin. In the case of Eve, the wrong
desires began to develop when she listened with interest to Satan, who used a serpent as his
mouthpiece. Adam heeded the urging of his wife to join her in eating the forbidden fruit. Instead of
rejecting the wrong thoughts, both nourished selfish desires. Acts of sin resulted.
(Italics in the original. Underscored and bold texts for emphasis were supplied)

From Reasoning p.371-372

C. Satan
However, like the rest of Jehovahs intelligent creatures, the angel who became Satan had the
freedom to choose between right and wrong. By choosing a course in opposition to God and inciting
the first human couple to join him, he made himself Satan, which means Resister.
[]
How, though, could a perfect spirit creature - who had neither weaknesses from within nor wicked
influences from without become wrongly inclined? He evidently craved worship that belonged only
to God and saw the possibility of bringing humans under his rule instead that of Jehovah. By
continuing to dwell on this prospect of rulership instead of dismissing it, he allowed the idea to
fester until, at last, he acted upon it. []
To illustrate: Imagine an accountant who sees an opportunity to manipulate records in such a way
as to steal from his company for personal profit. He might quickly dismiss that wrong thought. If,
instead, he dwells on this possibility, then the idea will grow in its appeal, and he is likely to carry it
out. If he does, he has, in effect, made himself a thief. If he lies about his crime, he becomes a liar
too. In a similar way, by cultivating wrong desires and acting on them, the angel whom God created

used his free will to engage in deception and rebel against his Father, thus making himself Satan
the Devil.

From Did God Create the Devil? The Watchtower 2011, p. 21

It should be cleared from the cited articles that both Adam and Satan misused their free will
which caused their fall. Jesus on the other hand, took it carefully to consider Jehovahs will in
his every move. Jesus exercised his free will by submitting himself to the will of Jah.
Being also perfect, all three individuals enjoy the privilege of directly conversing with Jehovah.
Jesus for his part, despite the length of time he was with Jehovah and had much direct
exposure with Him more than any of the creatures, he still sought Jehovah whenever
something is distressing him. That is not what Satan and Adam did and instead they relied on
their own limited understanding of a situation and acted based on their own personal
unguided conclusions.
(Personal) Conclusion/Learning
As I have pointed yesterday, comparing Adam and Jesuss length of existence and direct
interaction with Jehovah is not a valid excuse to Adam and Eves rebellion/sin. If I understand
the issue correctly, I will illustrate it like Adam is a kinder student while Jesus is a PhD
candidate and yet they were given the same school examination. It may be the case but the
examination was a type of test where you can directly ask the Examiner for answers. In the
case of Adam, he answered the examination himself using his own judgment - as a kinder.
Adam may not be equipped with personal experiences with Jah the way Jesus did but he
certainly was given the privilege of communicating with Jah directly in case he has questions
or something is bothering him.
While searching and writing this paper, I learned and appreciate more that the key to not
sinning in Eden is love for Jehovah and deep respect for his authority which would result in
not wanting, nor even think about, rebelling against him. A kind of love and respect that was
demonstrated by some Biblical characters like Abel, Joseph (the son of Jacob), Noah, and
Daniel. Perhaps Adam committed a sin because he wasnt as informed as Jesus or he
doesnt have any other individuals before him that he can look up to as models? The answer
to that is also a question Isnt Abel lived in a similar circumstance? But still, Abel was able to
demonstrate devotion to Jehovah. So the point is, had it been anyone from Abel, Joseph,
Noah or Daniel who were in Adams place when Eve tempted him to eat the forbidden fruit,
perhaps the story might have been different.

Other Notes:
1. God saw everything he had made and, look! It was good. (Genesis 1:31) Indeed, from the
very beginning Adam was perfect in every respect. He was equipped with the power of
speech and with a highly developed vocabulary. [] He was capable of carrying on a twoway conversation with his God and with his wife.
For all these reasons and many more, Adam was under obligation to love, worship, and
strictly obey his Grand Creator.
-

Insight, Volume 1 p.46

2. It was possible for Adam to sin because God created him with free will. That gift is not at all in
conflict with the fact that Adam was perfect. In truth, only God is perfect in the absolute sense.
Perfection in anyone or anything else is limited. For example, a knife might be perfect for
cutting meat, but would you use it for eating soup? A thing is perfect only in relation to its
purpose.
For what purpose, then, did God create Adam? It was Gods objective to produce through
Adam a race of intelligent people with free will. Those who wanted to cultivate their love
for God and his ways would show this by choosing to obey his laws. Obedience was
therefore not programmed into mans thinking faculties but would spring voluntarily
from the heart. Thus, if Adam had lacked the ability to choose disobedience, he would have
been incomplete imperfect. As to how Adam chose to use his free will, the Bible record
shows that he followed his wife in disobedience to Gods law concerning the the tree of
knowledge of good and bad.
Well, then, did God create Adam with a moral weakness, so that he lacked the ability to
make sound decisions or to withstand temptation? Prior to Adams disobedience,
Jehovah God had examined all of his earthly creation, including the first human pair,
and had determined that it was very good. Thus, when Adam sinned, his Creator did not
need to correct some design flaw but rightly placed the blame squarely on Adam. Adam
had failed to let love for God and right principle motivate him to be obedient to God
above all.
Consider, too, that Jesus when on earth was a perfect man like Adam. Yet, Jesus, unlike
other descendants of Adam, was conceived as a result of holy spirit and thus inherited no
vulnerability to temptation. Jesus of his own volition remained loyal to his Father despite
the strongest pressures. Adam, in exercising his own free will, was personally responsible
for his failure to obey Jehovahs command.
Why, though, did Adam choose to disobey God? Did he believe that he would improve his
situation in some way? No, for the apostle Paul wrote that Adam was not deceived.
However, Adam decided to accede to the wishes of his wife, who had already chosen to eat
from the forbidden tree. His desire to please her was greater than his desire to obey his
Creator. Surely, upon being presented with the forbidden fruit, Adam should have paused to
reflect on the effect that disobedience would have on his relationship with God. Without a
deep, unbreakable love of God, Adam was vulnerable to pressure, including that from his
wife.
(Emphasis in bold texts were supplied while texts in italics were in the original)
Note:
Volition the power to make your own choices or decisions (Meriam-Webster)