Mankinds Unique Rejection
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Rejection of God
Rejection of God
This morning I get the task of covering the uniqueness of the fall of man.
So far Pastor Jared has covered how we are uniquely created by God, we are composed uniquely and are gendered uniquely. Mankind is apart from creation in those ways and in the fall that is not any different.
We discussed not only gender last week but also this idea of authority and that in the proper context there is authority structures that are good and right.
What are some authority structures or relationships?
Husband & wife, boss & worker, teacher & student, pastor & member, government & citizen.
In the right avenue those are good and needed, designed by God. But we have also seen over human history that those authorities can veer into the wrong lane and disrupt the intended design.
We talked specifically last week about how just because wifes are subject or are to submit to their husbands does not mean they are to submit to men everywhere. Husbands don’t get to just boss everyone around because of the authority that have in this silo.
The government doesn’t get tell you what theology is right and proper, that is outside their God-given authority. Teachers cannot tell you how to spend your Christmas break.
And so we see this authority structure when in the right mode and methods it is good and yet out of whack it is bad.
In creation there was an authority structure that was clearly outlined:
God then Man then Creation (serpent).
This was how it was designed and intended from the start. We are going to come back to this and discuss how this got jumbled up.
Let me ask a question—what do you know about angels? It’s Christmas time, we sing about angels, we perhaps decorate with them in our houses, they are part of the Christmas story—what do you know about them?
Angels are all throughout the biblical narrative.
Herman Bavinck says this, “They rejoice over the conversion of a sinner (Luke 15:10), watch over believers (Ps 32:7, 91:11), protect little ones (Matt 18:10), are present in the church (1 Cor 11:10, 1 Tim 5:12), follow it on its journeys through history (Eph 3:10), allow themselves to be taught by it (Eph 3:10, 1 Peter 1:12), and carry believers into Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22).”
Angels seem to have this mysterious aurora around them—we don’t think about them much.
I came across in my study three roles angels serve: Bringing God’s Word, Fighting God’s Battles, Ministering to God’s People.
And so where on this spectrum do angels belong?
In the original created order?
I will add this is debated but I think scripture is clear they would be under man as part of creation.
5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? 7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, 8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
We see that Christ subjected himself lower than the angels for a time, as part of the redemption story.
16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
The angels are helpers to mankind, not the other way around.
It is through mankind God established the church and gave the good news. Man was made in the image and likeness of God, not the angels.
Angels are temporarily above men post-fall but in the new creation it is mankind that will rule the world to come, not the angels.
I bring this up because what is satan? What do we know about Satan?
The serpent in Gen 3 is Satan
2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Satan has a group of angels—this group of fallen angels are the forces of evil in Ephesians 6:10-18
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
We know that Satan is the ruler of the world currently
We know he is a slanderer Rev 12:10
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
We know he is the father of lies
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
We know he tempts us with his speech. We see this with Eve but we also see this with Jesus.
Satans role is Lies, False Prophecy, Fighting against God’s Kingdom and Temptation and Accusation.
Everything is counter to what angels do.
So Satan even before fall was under mankind and Satan is still below mankind in the garden.
For what do we know about mankind?
Turn to Genesis chapter 1
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
We will go through this quickly because we have covered it but in creation
For all of creation we see God said, God said, God said and there was.
There is a shift in verse 26, God said, “Let us.” The trinity is involved in the creation of mankind because they are the crown jewel of the created world.
in a world of relics & idols as Jared covered we are made in the image and reflection of the creator, the only one worthy of praise.
We see throughout scripture that Jesus serves three roles: Prophet, Priest & King.
We see that reflected in mankind as we serve reflections of those roles.
Mankind is given control just like a king. We are to have dominion as we see here in Genesis
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
It’s interesting this dominion does not go to days 1 and 2 of creation, thats a glimpse of the gospel because the light is God and God alone and in him there is no darkness.
But we have control over these things. John Frame says this,
“Man is not omnipotent as God is, but he is able to accomplish amazing things by his physical strength, intellectual acuity, and linguistic ability, abilities that no animal can match.”
Mankind has control over creation in God’s design.
Secondly mankind reflects the prophecy in their authority. We are a speaking people. The very first thing mankind encountered was God speaking to them. The very first command given to mankind was to name the animals.
We are a speaking creation and the complexity of our speech and communication is one of the ways we are seperated from the rest of creation.
As we covered at summer camp a couple years ago, our speech so greatly fails us. There is no surprise the bible covers the sins of the tongue so much in the bible.
Man has been designed to go and teach others through our gift of speech. We have this authority and as believers we still have this command—Go and make disciples, teaching them.
There use to be this old saying—go and preach the gospel and if necessary use words. No—use your words. Tell them the good news of Jesus Christ.
Anyways, I digress.
Thirdly, mankind reflects God in his priesthood through presence.
Adam was to fill the earth in which he owns. He can’t be everywhere like God but he can marry and have kids and slowly fill the earth.
Frame says, “Adam’s priestly work. The ministry of a priest is to pray for others and lead them in worship, and therby to bring God’s blessing upon the people he serves. So Adam is a priest to his people, in whatever territory they are led to settle. His blessing upon them will also be a blessing upon the earth. “
I bring all of this up for a very important reason. Mankind was given dominion over the earth. We were intentionally placed between God and creation in the created order. And so when the fall took place something happened to mankind that didn’t happen to anything else.
Remember our picture of the original world: God over man over creation (serpent)
Turn to Genesis 3.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
What happened in the garden? What was the serpents appeal?
He questioned the word of God. Ultimately the denial of the word of God is what every sin is based in.
God says to this, we do that.
God says this is right, we do this.
God tells us what is required of us, we don’t do it.
Worse yet, often times we don’t just disobey, we question.
Did God really mean that? Does God really care? Did God really say that the gates of hell will never prevail against his church?
Did God actually say?
Those words, spoken by the crafty, deceitful serpent flipped the created order.
Because he goes on—what else does he say?
You will not die—he gives false hope.
You will be like God—knowing good and evil.
See he convinced her that this order could be changed. That man could go equal to or above God.
Remember the roles of satan?
Satans role is Lies, False Prophecy, Fighting against God’s Kingdom and Temptation and Accusation.
Lies—you will not surely die
False Prophecy—your eyes will be opened
Fighting against God’s kingdom—you will know good and evil
Temptation—you will be like God
Accusation—Did God really say that?
Satan is in all out attack mode trying to convince Eve she can be like God.
He convinces her equality with God was within her grasp.
The irony of the situation was while was trying to flip this, what was actually happening was Satan was flipping this
In the fallen order: God over serpent over man.
Let’s keep reading.
6 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. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
We see they disobey. Then they try to hide themselves as shame enters the world.
God asks why they ate of it and Adam immediately starts blaming.
You know what is interesting is what was Adam’s sin here? What did Adam do—it’s not any different than Eve.
It’s worse than Eve’s—he took what the serpent was trying to convince Eve and verbalized it to God himself.
It’s your fault! You don’t have my interest in mind! The women you gave me was the problem! I was just fine until this lady came along and made me eat.
He challenged God and his plan and questioned God himself.
Sin was not apart of who we are originally but rather a disruption.
Sin came into the world and tainted all things.
And so ultimately mankinds rejection of God’s rule in wrongly taking dominion, has brought us under the curse of sin and death. Satan now rules us as the “god of this world.”
This is not how it was meant to be.
But this is how it now is. And in that there is also unique consequences that mankind has had to endure post-fall.
Sin has brought a threefold curse to mankind.
First: Guilt. We are now all guilty. We are all at fault. It doesn’t take long in Genesis to see that sin was not an isolated incident. Just 5 verses removed from Adam & Eve leaving the garden (which is now protected with an angel with a flaming sword) Cain gets angry with God and within 8 verses they are killing one another.
Sin has infected everyone.
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
I have taught on this before and you may think thats not fair that sin spreads from generation to generation, that your born guilty but thats irrelevant for you because you yourself have condemned yourself.
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
Mankind alone has been cursed with guilt, a guilt that passes from generation to generation to generation. We have a new default nature of sin that deemed us guilty.
Secondly: Punishment. There is consequences immediately because of the fall. As a matter of fact all three characters in the garden account had consequences.
Who are the three characters in the garden? (Not including God)
Serpent
Eve
Adam
What punishment did he serpent receive?
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
He is banished to his belly and will eat dust.
Ultimately we know that Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire.
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
But in Genesis 3 he is banned to his belly.
There is a punishment relationally between Adam & Eve which is what?
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
What about to Eve?
16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
The pains of childbirth are now on all women. Additionally there nature is not by default to try and circumvent the established order. Her desires will now counter her husbands.
What about Adam?
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
You will continue to work but now the work will be hard. The ground is cursed and nothing will be easy. You will have pain and you will have to eat of it and weeds and thorns will make it even harder.
You will sweat. And then you will die. You are dust and to dust you shall return.
Punishment was handed out that is unique to mankind.
Thirdly there is corruption. It doesn’t take anyone very long to find corruption. There is corruption in your homes, your neighborhoods, your schools, your jobs, your government.
21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
This talks about the future in which we will be freed from the bondage of corruption meaning currently we are subjected to corruption. We cannot avoid or escape it.
Everyone knows the world is broken.
But have you thought about because of corruption the sin of Adam leads to more sin. And how often do your sins lead to more sin? You do XYZ and then your cover up or your suppressing of that sin leads to more sin? You can’t avoid it.
