Catechism Q13

Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created? A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.

Gen. 3:6-8, 13; Ecc. 7:29.

Genesis 3:6–8 ESV

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 ESV

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

This question is directly talking about the event we Christians refer to as “The Fall” and it is important that the question refers to Adam and Eve as our first parents. Because they are our first parents Adam represent all man kind as our Covenant Head. When Adam fell, we all fell with him, inheriting his sinful condition. This is the reason that we are told there needed to be a second Adam that could represent us and we could have a new covenant head. According to Romans 5 and other passages in the NT, Jesus is that second Adam. This is our condition, that in Adam we are left to the conditions in which our first parents fell, but in Christ we are redeemed and made anew because he in fact, never sinned against God. This question points to what we call The Fall. The catechism calls Adam and Eve “our first parents” because Adam represented all mankind as our covenant head. When Adam fell, we all fell with him, inheriting his sinful condition. This is why Scripture speaks of a second Adam—Jesus Christ—who never sinned and stands as our new covenant head. In Adam we fell, but in Christ we are redeemed and made new.