06 Fall of man

Adam and Christ

Fallen man needs a Savior!

Text:  Romans 5:12-21; Genesis 3

Introduction:

“I/We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression, fell from his sinless and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but of choice; and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.”

1.      In an earlier message (Last week) we looked at the wonder of creation and position of man in it.

a.      Here we have this wonderful creation – magnificent and pristine.

b.       There is no sin, no flaw, only perfection.

c.       Adam is given charge to manage the garden made for him by God himself.

d.       Adam is given someone to help him and to be his companion – she is gorgeous!

e.      Adam and God are companions who enjoy one another’s company.

2.      Then… the saddest day in all eternity!

a.      The serpent, Satan, the Devil was more crafty, subtil, shrewd.

"To give prudence [same word as “subtil” – meaning “shrewd”] to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion—" (Proverbs 1:4, NKJV)

b.       He finds Eve when she is alone.

She was the object of his attack, being the weaker one and needing the protection of her husband. He found her alone and unfortified by Adam’s experience and counsel. (Cf. 2 Tim. 3:6.)

2 Timothy 3:6 (NKJV)
6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

Though sinless, she was temptable and seducible.[1]

c.       Adam’s sin is rebellion.

Man was without sin, as was all creation. God created all things perfect. But man rebelled against God and perfection, and so fell away from that sublime destiny God had for him.[2]

d.       “And the eyes of them both were opened…” (Matthew Henry tells what they saw when their eyes were opened.)

i.        “Now, when it was too late, they saw the folly of eating forbidden fruit.

ii.     “They saw the happiness they had fallen from, and the misery they had fallen into.

iii.   “They saw a loving God provoked, his grace and favour forfeited, his likeness and image lost, dominion over the creatures gone.

iv.    “They saw their natures corrupted and depraved, and felt a disorder in their own spirits of which they had never before been conscious.

v.       “They saw a law in their members warring against the law of their minds, and captivating them both to sin and wrath.

vi.    “They saw, as Balaam, when his eyes were opened (Num. 22:31), the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand;

vii.  “and perhaps they saw the serpent that had abused them insulting over them.

viii.           “The text tells us that they saw that they were naked, that is,

1)       “That they were stripped, deprived of all the honours and joys of their paradise-state, and exposed to all the miseries that might justly be expected from an angry God. They were disarmed; their defence had departed from them.

2)       “That they were shamed, for ever shamed, before God and angels. They saw themselves disrobed of all their ornaments and ensigns of honour, degraded from their dignity and disgraced in the highest degree, laid open to the contempt and reproach of heaven, and earth, and their own consciences.” [3] 

3.      Sin is defined for us very clearly.

a.      Eve was deceived and her sin was unbelief. “Did God say…?”

b.       Adam’s was rebellion and outright rejection of God choosing to follow his wife rather than be under the authority of God.

c.       Both Adam and Eve sinned because of pride – “I know better than God.”

i.        Pride, more than any other sin, separates people from God.

ii.     Our pride refuses to let us admit our sin and seek forgiveness from God.

d.       The order is important.

i.        If Adam first sinned then Eve could say she was merely being obedient to the authority God put over her.

ii.     Eve sinned by NOT being in submission.

iii.   Adam sinned by yielding to his wife rather than to God.

4.      Adam’s first response is to hide.

i.        To hide himself behind leaves.

ii.     To hide from God whom he knows will come calling for him.

5.      God’s response: (Everything that follows Genesis 3:6 in the Bible is about the results of the fall.)

a.      God questions:

i.        God directed his questioning to Adam who responded by blaming Eve and, by implication, God.

ii.     Eve blamed the serpent for deceiving her.

b.       God punishes:

i.        First the serpent and Satan.

ii.     Second, Eve (v. 16)

1)       because of sin and the curse, the man and the woman will face struggles in their own relationship.

2)       Lifelong companions, husbands and wives, will need God’s help in getting along as a result.

3)       The woman’s desire will be to lord it over her husband, but the husband will rule by divine design (Eph. 5:22–25).[4]

iii.   Adam, “because you have heeded…” (v. 17)

1)       The reason given for the curse on the ground and human death is that man turned his back on the voice of God, to follow his wife in eating that from which God had ordered him to abstain.

2)       The woman sinned because she acted independently of her husband, disdaining his leadership, counsel, and protection.

3)       The man sinned because he abandoned his leadership and followed the wishes of his wife. In both cases, God’s intended roles were reversed.[5]

c.       God covers:

i.        Since the Fall man has been trying to uncover what God has covered.

ii.     The first innocent blood is shed.

iii.   It pictures the gospel message of the innocent blood of Jesus Christ shed for us to cover our sin.

6.      Two questions to answer:

a.      Is the Fall fact or fiction?

b.       If it is a fact, why was the “tree” necessary?

I.       The Fall: Fact or Fiction

A.      Is Genesis 3 a myth?

1.      Talking snakes and special trees?

2.      Proof of reality is comparison of Adam and Jesus in by Paul

a.       Jesus is indeed a historical figure.

b.       Jesus came to undo what Adam did.

You do not need an historical atonement to undo a mythological fall or a mythological transgression. All you need is another myth. But if Christ needed to be real to save us, then Adam was real, too. It is because Adam was real that Christ also had to be real to make atonement.[6]

B.      Because the Fall is historical our guilt is genuine!

1.      We want this account to be a myth so our guilt cannot real.

2.      If mythical this story only shows that we live in an imperfect world.

3.      Thus we are not to blame, we simply inherited imperfection.

4.      In fact, we were born in sin because our father really sinned against God.

5.      We need a Savior – the Second Adam.

II.    Why the One Prohibition?

A.      Adam in the garden was under probation.

1.      Probation is the state of being under trial or the act of proving.

2.      Because Adam had a rational and moral nature it was necessary he be tested.

3.      God created humans with a FREE WILL.

B.      The tree was his test.

1.      Adam was neither holy nor sinful, but innocent.

2.      With the exercise of his will Adam would become either holy or sinful.

3.      The temptation was the offer to know evil which God prohibited.

The bridge is tested by the weight; the student is tested by the examination; the soldier is tested by the battle; the metal is tested by the fire; and man’s integrity was tested by a prohibition.

C.     The risk of giving us freedom to choose.

1.      We are not robots. We make our choices.

2.      We are inclined to dismiss our responsibility for our choices.

3.      We would have also failed the test. God knew that and loves us anyway providing the Second Adam as our Redeemer.

Conclusion:

1.      Only two lines: Adam and Christ

a.      Adam’s line leads to destruction and eternal damnation

b.       Christ’s line leads to blessing and eternal life.

2.      Your free will means YOU decide which line you will be in.

(1 Corinthians 15:42-49, NKJV) "So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”

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[1]MacArthur, John Jr: The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed. Nashville : Word Pub., 1997, c1997, S. Ge 3:1

[2]Boice, James Montgomery: Genesis : An Expositional Commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Books, 1998, S. 168

[3]Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody : Hendrickson, 1996, c1991, S. Ge 3:6

[4]MacArthur, John Jr: The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed. Nashville : Word Pub., 1997, c1997, S. Ge 3:16

[5]MacArthur, John Jr: The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed. Nashville : Word Pub., 1997, c1997, S. Ge 3:17

[6]Boice, James Montgomery: Romans. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Book House, 1991-c1995, S. 583