It states (1:4) טוב כי האור את אלקים וירא, "And Hashem saw the light that it was good." And it states (1:10) ארץ ליבשה אלקים ויקרא טוב כי אלקים וירא ימים קרא המים ולמקוה, "And Hashem called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas, and Hashem saw that it was good." For each part of creation, it states טוב כי אלקים וירא, “And Hashem saw it was good.” The exception is when man was created. The Torah doesn’t say טוב כי אלקים וירא regarding the creation of man, and this is surprising. The purpose of creation was for man, yet Hashem doesn't say explicitly that this creation was good.
The Yismach Moshe zt’l (רעיך יקרו מה ולי י"א ה"ד) explains that this is because man wasn't created “good.” He has many faults, and he has a strong yetzer hara. He becomes good when he improves his ways. Hashem says, אדם נעשה, “Let us make man.” נעשה is written in plural form because it is man together with Hashem who makes the person as he should be. Man must do his part to perfect himself, to make himself good.
Chazal (Avodah Zarah 8.) teach, “The day Adam was created, the sun set. Adam said, ‘Woe is my portion! The world is turning dark because of my sin. The world will revert to being ובהו תהו, void and emptiness.’ He sat and cried all night. "But then, daybreak came. He said, ‘This is the way of the world.’” He discovered that there is darkness, but then there comes light. This is the way of the world.
The same applies to aveiros r'l. Falls are the way of the world, but one need not worry because the past can be rectified. Hashem asked Kayin (4:6), פניך נפלו למה, "Why did your face fall?" Sforno explains, "Whenever one is faced with a problem that has a solution, it isn't proper to be upset about what happened. Instead, one should look to the future and try to rectify it." Hashem told Kayin that although he didn't bring a good korban, there would be another chance for him to bring a better korban. And when something can be fixed, there is no reason for sadness.
Adam and Chava took the leaves and fashioned belts, as it states (3:7), תאנה עלי ויתפרו חגורות להם ויעשו. The Divrei Shmuel zt'l said that 'belts' is an expression for strengthening oneself. (As we say, בגבורה ישראל אוזר, Hashem girds us with strength, and there's a Yiddish expression זיך אונגעגארטלט, which means to put on a belt and make oneself strong). After his aveirah, he didn't permit himself to feel down. He girded himself with confidence and joy and was ready to serve Hashem again. This is because there is always the option of teshuvah, and everything can be rectified.
It states (6:5-7), וכל בארץ האדם רעת רבה כי 'ה וירא האדם את עשה כי 'ה וינחם היום כל רע רק לבו מחשבת יצר בראתי אשר האדם את אמחה 'ה ויאמר לבו אל ויתעצב בארץ. The Tchibiner Rav zt'l repeated a wonderful explanation on these words according to remez. He hears the lesson איש איש מפי from the Chozeh of Lublin zt'l: בארץ האדם רעת רבה כי 'ה וירא, Hashem sees the many evil deeds that people commit, but Hashem isn't angry at them because Hashem understands that היום כל רע רק לבו מחשבות יצר וכל, people have a yetzer hara – it isn't their fault. How could they stand up against such a strong yetzer hara?
'ה וינחם, Hashem regrets, and this means that Hashem regrets that He created the yetzer hara, as Chazal tell us (see Succah 52). However, לבו אל ויתעצב, if a person becomes sad and upset that he did so many aveiros, and if he loses hope, then האדם את אמחה 'ה ויאמר בראתי אשר, Hashem says He will destroy man. This is because man must always be happy. The sins of the past can be rectified with teshuvah.
Chazal say, “Whoever says שירה פרק every day, I testify, he is a ben Olam HaBa. He will merit learning and teaching Torah, and he will remember Torah. He will be saved from the yetzer hara and merit to see the era of Moshiach.”
Why is saying שירה פרק so special? Rebbe Bunim of Peshischa zt’l explains, “When a person sins, he loses his tzelem Elokim, and he appears like a בהמה, rachmana litzlan. Sometimes his sins are so great that he takes on the appearance of a rodent (שרץ) or another non-kosher animals. If he can sing to Hashem from that low level for all the kindness Hashem does for him, he deserves great reward. For that is the highest level: to pick oneself up and serve and praise Hashem, no matter which level one falls to.
The Zohar (vol.2 184.) says, דנפיק נהורא ליכא חשוכא מגו אלא, “Light shines solely from darkness.” This means that due to the aveiros of the past when he does teshuvah, he reaches even greater levels than before.
