Theological Effects of the Fall

Theological Effects of the Fall

Thank you, honored to be here, encouraged by this amazing church. I bring you greetings from our church in America. God is doing a great work here, and we are excited to participate with you in the great work he is doing.

Our church has been praying for you.

I’ve been asked to preach on the “theological effects of the fall.”

To understand the good news of Jesus Christ, you have to understand the bad news of sin.

WHY BAD NEWS? Do you like getting bad news?

You can’t see the glories of the stars until it’s dark; you can’t see the GLORIES OF THE SAVIOR w/o seeing the DARKNESS OF SIN.

I will talk about what happened when mankind fell into sin, so that we can know how to escape the power and penalty of sin.

Genesis 1: the creation of the whole world, including man & woman.

It was beautiful.

It was good.

It was peaceful.

Genesis 2: a close up description of how God created Adam and Eve.

Genesis 2:15-17.

What did God say would happen to Adam and Eve if they disobeyed him? They would die. The consequence of sin is death. Sin requires death.

Genesis 3:1-7.

WHAT CONSEQUENCES?

Shame (they knew that they were naked)

Broken relationship with God

Fear

Broken relationship with one another

Other things: broken relationship with creation; now hard labor just to produce food. But all these things are tied back to the main effect of the fall.

Genesis 3:1-7 - did they die?

God didn’t just mean they’d immediately drop dead. When you study what the Bible says about death, there’s more to it than just bodily death. There’s something worse than your heart stop beating, your lungs stop breathing, your brain stops working.

I want to talk about the theological aspects of the fall by looking at what the Bible says about death. The bible talks about 3 kinds of death. Physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death. These are the three major effects of the fall.

# 1 Physical death

From the moment Adam and Eve sinned, their bodies began to die. They grow older. They grow weaker. Their muscles deteriorate. Their eyes grow dim. Their hair falls out. They die slowly, over the course of years.

Genesis 5

We’re also in danger of dying from other causes. Genesis 4 records the first murder. We can be killed. We can be killed by other people, or we can be killed by disease, by wild animals, by natural disasters. Ever since the fall, it has become a certainty that we will die.

Because of sin, every person must face death: Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”

Everyone here will die. I will die. You will die. Your loved ones will die. We sometimes think we will live forever, but we will die..

In America we don’t like thinking about death. We are scared of cemeteries and graveyards. We do everything we can do try to forget about death. But we can never eliminate the shadow of it. Every once and a while, death knocks on our door. We see our grandparents die. We see loved ones die. We get sick, and we remember that we will die.

Do you forget that you will die? You will die because sin entered the world.

God’s original design did not include death. Death entered because of sin.

Hebrews 9:27 “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”

Everyone will die, and then, after we die, we will stand before God, the great judge.

# 2 Spiritual Death.

Everybody born in this world, whether in Uganda or America, whether they’re rich or poor - is born spiritually dead.

Ephesians 2:1. Spiritual death means that we are separated from God, we no longer have a loving relationship with him.

Spiritual death means we are darkened in our minds. Ephesians 4:18.

Spiritual death means our hearts are deceived. 2 Corinthians 4:4 - Satan has “blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”

When people are spiritually dead, they don’t care about God. Romans 3:10-18.

Every person, because of sin, is born spiritually dead: darkened in their minds, deceived by Satan, and unwilling to trust and obey God.

Imagine if every child born into your family was a runaway. Imagine if they were born with hate in their hearts against you!

Ever since the fall, every person is born spiritually dead.

The people in this world are all the living dead. They don’t know God, they don’t love God, they’re deceived, and their darkened in their hearts and minds.

# 3 Eternal Death

Revelation 20:11-15.

Everyone is born spiritually dead.

Everyone will physically die.

And if there is no forgiveness of sins, everyone will eternally die.

Eternal death is the ultimate theological effect of sin. It is the most frightening reality. There are some people who reject God’s mercy and grace, and they will die an eternal death.

So everyone is born spiritually dead, everyone will physically die - and after that you must face eternal death:

UNLESS you know God’s way to escape death. That’s why I’m here.

All the world is in danger of dying an eternal death if they do not have a savior. That is why I’m here. I want you to know, and I want everyone to know.

The One Who Conquers Death

God in his mercy, provided a way to escape death.

You see, all sin requires death. But God is merciful. Rather than leaving us all to die physically, spiritually, and eternally, God entered into his own creation in the person of Jesus Christ. And he did not sin, and so he did not need to die.

But he chose to take our sins upon himself, and suffer the death we deserved, so that we can be forgiven.

But he did not remain dead. After three days, Jesus demonstrated his power of death and rose from the dead. He is alive right now, saving everyone who turns from their sins and trusts in him.

If you have not yet trusted him, the shadow of death is still upon you. But you can trust him now and have your sins forgiven, and the fear of death removed.

We are all born spiritual dead, but Jesus, Lord of all, gives new spiritual life.

We deserve eternal death, but Jesus suffered on the cross, took the penalty we deserved, and died in our place.

We are going to going to die, but Jesus, who rose from the dead, will one day raise us from the dead to eternal glory.

The damage of sin is everywhere. And no politician, no businessman, no government, no program can fix it. Only Jesus Christ.