What would life be like if Adam and Eve had never sinned?
Usually, if we consider this question, we think about the bad things sin brought. And that is indeed the main way we should approach this question.
I’d known for a few years that I wanted to write a song titled “If Adam Never Fell.” It never came together like I wanted until, one day, I realized something:
There is a sweetness when we, a sinner newly saved by grace, come into communion with our Maker for the first time. If Adam never fell, we would be born into communion with God; but we would never know what it is like for communion to be restored.
There is an awe when our sins are washed away and we behold ourselves as a new creation in Christ. If Adam never fell, we would never have sinned in the first place; but we would also never experience our sins being washed away as we become a new creation.
And how amazing will it be to experience resurrection? Of course, if Adam never fell, we would never know death. But because he fell, and because the second Adam redeems us, we will someday know resurrection.
A few songwriting notes: This was one of the last songs I wrote for the Somewhere East of Eden album. So I made it a sort of summary song. Each of the three verses references one of the other songs on the album, more or less by name. “East of Eden, far from grace.” “Jesus nailed it to His cross instead.” “We are dust, our days are few.” I hope this helps show that the album as a whole tells a bigger story; it’s not just a collection of random songs on a similar theme.
Ben Garms, who produced this track, came up with a banjo/mandolin duet that is one of my favorite musical moments on any track I’ve put out. Its hauntingly evocative beauty is perfect for this lyric!