Was Adam created perfect?
I suppose that will depend upon how we define perfect. Some declare Adam was created in perfection because he was created sinless. Adam was created innocent, but he was not created holy. In my understanding of the word perfect, it includes the thought of being incapable of sinning. While Adam was made in an environment where there was absolutely no sin that he could commit, his sinlessness was obvious.
At some point, however, the Lord planted a different tree in the Garden of Eden. We read in 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.” Before this tree, there was no way Adam could disobey God for there were no restrictions placed upon him. By creating this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the Lord allowed Adam the opportunity to obey Him. He instructed Adam not to eat of this tree under the penalty of death. Here, we see that the Lord did not put that tree there to tempt Adam, but He put it there so that Adam could obey the Lord.
We have no idea how long that tree existed before Adam and Eve fell prey to the temptation of Satan and disobeyed God by eating of it. We read in Genesis 3:1-7, “Now the serpent was more subtil 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 of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely 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.” Adam was not perfect because he had the capacity to sin…and he did sin!
The Lord Jesus Christ was perfect in every way. We read of Him, that He:
- Knew no sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21
- Did no sin. 1 Peter 2:22
- In Him is no sin. 1 John 3:5
The temptation of the Lord Jesus by Satan in Luke 4:1-13 was not to see if the Lord could sin. It was to prove the Lord could not sin.
THAT is perfection. Never sinning. Never having a desire to sin. Having no ability to sin. God is holy and perfect, and choosing to sin would be a contradiction within Himself. God cannot sin! These things describe the Lord. They do not describe Adam. I trust this makes it so clear that Adam was not created in perfection. (CC) (642.4)