The answer
The question could be reworded in another way:
How does man know that his present condition is not in its original form?
Or…
How can man realise the extent of his fall without knowing what he was like prior to it?
In response, we say:
We did not know the meaning of sin, until we came to know Our Lord Jesus Christ (referred to by the Apostle Paul as “the firstborn among many brethren” [Rom. 8:29]), who became like us in everything except for sin alone when He took flesh and came to us on Earth.
So, in meeting with the Lord Jesus, the full image of God is realised in us, which He desired for us from the beginning. This is the “Mystery of the Incarnation,” in which we had a far greater meeting than that which was on the Day of Creation.
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II
Pope Tawadros II, My Faith: A Series of Dialogues on the Creed (Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, 2014), 63.
The page in the book (63)
