If Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned and introduced death into creation, the world would not have become overpopulated. The Bible teaches that God had a plan in place to allow the human population to grow in a sustainable way.
When God created Adam and Eve, he blessed them and told them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). This shows that God intended for humans to reproduce and spread across the earth. However, God did not intend for unchecked exponential population growth that would exceed the earth’s carrying capacity.
In the original creation, there was no death, pain or suffering (Genesis 1:31). If Adam and Eve had not sinned, humans would have lived eternally without death. This does not mean though that reproduction would have gone unchecked. God could have providentially regulated human fertility and population growth.
One possibility is that God may have established a cycle of fertility and barrenness for women, similar to the menstrual cycle today. So even without death, by regulating fertility, the population could grow gradually rather than exponentially. God is sovereign over the womb and can open and close it as he wills (Genesis 20:18, 29:31).
Additionally, humans were commissioned to “fill the earth”. By spreading out and inhabiting the entire earth, population densities would not become excessively high in any one place. God also intended humanity to continue the work of developing the earth’s resources to support life (Genesis 1:28, 2:15). As humans multiplied, they would spread out and cultivate more of the earth to sustain them.
The earth itself was created by God with an abundance of life-sustaining resources. Scientific studies indicate that even today the planet can support a much higher human population if resources were developed and distributed effectively. So the earth had the potential to keep supporting human life as people filled it, without overcrowding and overusing resources in any one area.
If human reproduction had occurred only within God’s providential boundaries, the increasing population could have been supported indefinitely. There was no inherent need for death to prevent overpopulation. God did not create the earth with limited physical resources. Rather, the limits were only placed after the fall and curse on creation due to sin (Genesis 3:14-19).
Additionally, after the Fall, human lifespans rapidly decreased. Having people live only 70-80 years means faster generational turnover and less population growth than if they lived forever. So post-Fall life patterns also prevent overpopulation, though through the tragic introduction of death and decay.
In an unfallen world, God could also have providentially guided human migration and dispersion across the earth to balance populations in different regions. God controls all aspects of human existence and history (Deuteronomy 32:8, Acts 17:24-28). As the all-knowing Creator, he has complete wisdom regarding how to harmonize human propagation with ecological balance.
Besides regulating fertility and distribution, God likely had other means planned to prevent overcrowding and resource exhaustion in an unfallen world. But due to sin, they were never needed. So the Bible does not specify the details. We know though that God’s providence easily oversees all the intricacies of creation and human society (Proverbs 16:1,9; Job 38-41).
In summary, the Bible is clear that death only entered creation because of human sin (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12). Without sin, reproduction and filling the earth would not have led to overpopulation and resource depletion. God had perfect wisdom to ensure humans populated the earth in a sustainable way, exercising dominion over it as he commissioned.
Though now tarnished by the curse, we can still glimpse God’s wise design. Even in this fallen world, the earth can support more people now than ever before in human history. Where overcrowding and resource exhaustion do occur, it is due to problems like poverty, war, greed, poor distribution, and inadequate development of resources. At root, these issues reflect the moral and spiritual effects of the Fall rather than absolute physical limits.
God’s original plan was capable of being fruitful, multiplying, and filling the earth forever without death and destruction. Sin disrupted God’s harmonious design. But one day, Christ will consummate his redemption work by ushering in a renewed creation. It will be liberated from bondage and decay, restored to an incorruptible, indestructible paradise that lasts forever (Romans 8:18-25). A world where death is no more, yet there are nations of people alive in the holy city praising the Lord of life (Revelation 21:1-4).
This redeemed creation will be the ultimate testimony to God’s sovereignty over human flourishing. He can and will enable endless generations to inhabit an incorruptible world in fruitful community with him and each other. A world filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9). The curse of overpopulation will be no more. God’s original blessed plan for humanity to multiply and care for an undefiled earth will climax for eternity around his throne (Revelation 22:1-5).
