Were Adam and Eve always meant to populate the earth
Yes, according to Genesis they were told to be fruitful before they even sinned. Clues to this can be found by looking at the nature of humans. We were created in God’s image but also as male and female for the purpose of procreation and union. That is part of the nature of what it means to be male and female. And this was part of our very design or nature. God would not have made male and female to begin with if he never planned for them to procreate.
Since our first parents were always meant for heaven, there was always going to be a test. Though this may be unanswerable, one wonders…had they not sinned, in what way they would have been considered to have acted…
If they had not sinned they would not have lost Original Justice and Original grace. Thus, there would be no need for them to be justified because they already are enjoying God’s Original grace and justice. However, the question remains is that once they had sinned but also beem redeemed through Christ can they know even greater grace and justice including knowing God’s mercy to a greater degree than they could have if they had never sinned?.
Finally, if they had had children, wouldn’t the human race, endowed with free will always have been vulnerable to sin? Wouldn’t there have been someone who committed the first sin? In essence couldn’t a “new Adam and Eve have plunged mankind into sin requiring a Savior?
To me the story is real history but at the same time symbolic. It is a story which tries to explain how evil and sin entered the world. There are very many symbolic elements to it. The Tree of knowledge and the tree of Life for instance. On the one hand the story is about human nature. Man was created good. He was put to the moral test and he failed to live up to God’s design for him. Choosing to do evil instead of good. And like any good parent God punishing them by excelling them from the garden. They lost their innocence and they lost their relationship with God. Isn’t the story of us all?
But to answer your question, if Adam’s children sinned, but not Adam, then God could have just killed the offending party and Adam could have just had other children. In order for sin to completely grip the entire human race it would have to start at the source, namely Adam. This is where the devil is shrewd and boastful to target Adam, not wait until they had children. However, God was able to silence the devil’s boasting through the actions of the Savior Jesus Christ, the new Adam, and through Mary, the new Eve, which restores the dignity of women lost in their part of the fall.
