Beyond Human Measure: God's Holiness and Unfathomable Mercy

In contemporary philosophical discourse, there's often a tendency towards an anthropocentric interpretation of the divine, where human notions of justice and mercy become a universal yardstick. This perspective, while understandable from the viewpoint of our limited perceptions, risks diminishing the transcendent nature of God and His absolute holiness. When we lose sight of the infinite chasm between the Creator and creation, questions like the one about the "severity" of God's punishment for the first sin begin to sound logical, but only within a misplaced frame of reference. The words we are considering turns this logic on its head, provoking us to ponder not why God was "so severe," but why He wasn't "infinitely more severe."

"Since God is slow to anger and patient, then why, when man first sinned, was his wrath and punishment so severe? This creature from the dirt defied the everlasting holy God. After God had said, 'The day that you shall eat of it, you shall surely die.' And instead of dying that day, he lived another day and was clothed in his nakedness by pure grace and had the consequences of a curse supplied for quite some time. But the worst curse would come upon the one who seduced him, whose head would be crushed by the seed of the woman, and the punishment was too severe. What's wrong with you people? I'm serious. I mean, this is what's wrong with the Christian church today. We don't know who God is and we don't know who we are. If we have any understanding of our sin and any understanding of who God is, why wasn't it infinitely more severe?"

Biblical support from a reformed perspective

Reformed theology emphasizes God's absolute sovereignty, holiness, and justice, as well as the total depravity of man after the Fall.

God's holiness and justice

God is absolutely pure and separate from all sin:

 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3)

Any sin is an offense against His infinite holiness:

You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? (Habakkuk 1:13)

God's wrath is a just response to sin:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:18)

Human sin and its gravity

This was not merely a rule but a covenantal condition, the violation of which had eternal consequences. "Dying" began immediately – spiritual death (separation from God), followed by physical death.

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2:17)

Adam's sin affected all humanity:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Romans 5:12)

Sin is not just a mistake but a rebellion against the Sovereign God. Even a "small" sin, committed against an infinitely holy God, deserves infinite punishment.

God's mercy and grace – manifested even in "punishment"

Even in pronouncing the curse, God gives a promise of a Redeemer. This is pure grace. The Protoevangelium: 

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

Instead of leaving them in the shame of their nakedness (a symbol of their sin), God covers them, an act of mercy and a foreshadowing of Christ's righteousness, which covers believers.

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

God's "delay" of full punishment is a manifestation of long-suffering.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

Given God's holiness and the depth of human rebellion, the real miracle is not the "severity" of the punishment, but the fact that Adam and Eve were not destroyed instantly. Instead, they received a promise of redemption and were clothed by God's mercy.

Examples:

1. Adam and Eve (Genesis 3): As mentioned, they did not die physically immediately. God initiated a plan of salvation (Genesis 3:15) and showed mercy by clothing them (Genesis 3:21). Their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, though a punishment, was also an act of mercy, preventing them from accessing the tree of life in their sinful state, which would have perpetuated their fallen condition.
2. Cain (Genesis 4): After killing his brother Abel, Cain was not executed immediately. God punished him with exile but also placed a mark on him so that he would not be killed—a strange form of protection, showing that even in His anger, God remembers mercy and sovereignly determines the limits of punishment.
3. Israel in the Wilderness (Numbers, Deuteronomy): Despite the Israelites' repeated rebellions, idolatry, and unbelief, God did not utterly destroy them. He punished them but also continued to lead them, feed them, and give them His law, demonstrating incredible long-suffering. The generation that came out of Egypt did not enter the Promised Land (except for Caleb and Joshua) because of their unbelief, but the covenant with the people continued.
4. The Cross of Jesus Christ: The greatest example. God's wrath against sin was poured out in full measure, but not on us, but on His only begotten Son. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Here we see the full measure of God's justice (sin is punished) and the infinite depth of His love and mercy (salvation is offered). If we ask why Adam's punishment wasn't "infinitely more severe," the answer is that this "infinite severity" was borne by Christ for those who believe.

In conclusion, the provocative question brings us back to the foundations of the Christian faith. The problem is not God's supposed excessive severity, but our downplaying of His holiness and our own sinfulness. When we realize who God is in His majesty and who we are in our fallenness, then the real question becomes: "Why is God so merciful and patient with us?" The answer is found in His character and in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, where justice and mercy meet in a way incomprehensible to the human mind.