Man-The Fall, The Failure of

The Failure of Man-The Fall

In Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Tim. 2:13-14 and other passages we have a simple record of the fall of man and what caused him to fall. Without a clear faith in the fall of man there cannot be a clear faith in the redemption of man. Men who preach and teach that man did not have a fall, that if he did he fell upward, that man is simply a victim of environment, and that man is incapable of sin, such can never lead souls to redemption from sin through Jesus Christ. Such men destroy the very foundation of Scripture and of man's eternal life and hope. One must believe in the fall, or he cannot be saved. Jesus Christ did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Mt. 9:13). If man never had a fall he could never be redeemed. If man does not believe that he is a sinner he cannot be saved. He must repent to be saved (Mk. 1:4; 6:12; Lk. 13:1-10; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 1 Jn. 1:7-9). This is the chief fundamental of the Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe (Rom. 1:16; 1 Jn. 1:7-9; Rev. 1:5-6; Eph. 1:7).

In Gen. 3 we have the historical record of the fall of man, and if anyone denies this truth he is incapable of true faith in any other part of the Bible, for all Scriptures center around man, his creation, fall, and redemption through Jesus Christ. The cause of the fall is stated as being the breaking of the commandment of God in eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had said, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17).

The whole temptation centered around this tree and its fruit. Why Adam and Eve happened to go near the forbidden tree is not stated; so we have to believe that they were curious over why God would not permit them to eat of this tree when all the other trees were not withheld from them. At any rate, they were at this tree together as is clear from the statement: "she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked" (Gen. 3:6-7).

It is true that the serpent talked with the woman, but that does not prove that the man was not present. There is no statement that Adam was not present; so we naturally conclude that he was. The main facts of the story of the fall of man are the following:

1.     Doubt concerning God's Word (Gen. 3:1). The serpent raised a doubt or a question whether God would permit man to eat of every tree of the garden. Thus Satan's first utterance in Scripture shows opposition to the Word of God. Satan's opposition to the Bible accounts for our having so many false theories of the Word of God. Any theory that teaches that God does not mean what He says and that adds to, misinterprets, takes from, or changes in any form what it plainly says is satanic. All theories that the Bible is hard to understand, that it is a mystery, that it means anything one interprets it to mean, that one can prove all things by the Bible, that one man s interpretation is as good as another, that it must be changed before it can be understood and many like theories are satanic.

2.     Addition to and misquoting God's Word (Gen. 3:2-3). The woman answered the doubt raised by the serpent by adding to God's Word the statement "neither shall ye touch it" which is a misquotation of Gen. 2:16-17. God did not say touching the tree would bring death, but only eating of it.

3.     Contradiction of God's Word (Gen. 3:4). Next, the serpent directly contradicted the Word of God of Gen. 2:16-17. God said, "thou shalt surely die," and the devil said through the serpent, "ye shall not surely die." Both statements cannot be true. One must choose to believe one or the other. Those who believe God today believe that men will die if they sin, but those who believe Satan believe that men will not die if they sin. This is a definite contrast which requires definite decisions on the part of men today just as it required a definite stand on the part of Adam and Eve. God still says, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4); "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die" (Rom. 8:1-13); "he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Gal. 6:7-8); "the end of those things is death ... For the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:14-23); "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy" (1 Cor. 3:16-17); "they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Gal. 5:19-21); and "If we deny him, He also will deny us" (2 Tim. 2:12). If one will be honest and read these passages he can see that they were spoken to Christians (except Ezek. 18:4) and this applies to all men, as did Gen. 2:17, and as is clear in itself, for God could not be a respecter of persons to permit one to die for sin and not another (Jas. 2:9).

4. Misinterpretation of God's Word (Gen. 3:5). Satan in his second statement to the woman through the serpent gave the basis of many false doctrines of false religion of men today: "Ye shall be as gods," or as it is put today, "we all have the God-power [a God-law] in us," or "we are all a part of God" and all we need to do is to look to the God in us and use the divine power of which we are a part.

5. Temptation to Transgress God's Word (Gen. 3:6). The appeal of Satan to man that he would become like God was a strong one. This desire in itself is no sin. It is a high ideal, and every Christian should strive to be like God, but in the divine way as demonstrated by Christ, not the selfish, sinful way as demonstrated by Lucifer and Adam and Eve. That is, seeking to become like God by self-gratification and rebellion is the way to become unlike God, but to be like God by self-emptying and humiliation as did Christ is to become like God, as we shall see in Lesson 21.

When Eve "saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise," she was tempted to sin. Paul tells us in 1 Tim. 2:13-15 that Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. In 2 Cor. 11:3 we read of Eve being beguiled by the serpent. This appeal consists of three main lines of temptations, the only three with which man has to deal. John speaks of them as "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 Jn. 2:15-17). These are the three lines of temptation Christ went through in the wilderness and overcame, as recorded in Mt. 4:1-11. If man overcomes these three lines of temptations he is an overcomer of Satan, the flesh, and the world. These three lines of temptations thus expressed in Gen. 3:6 are:

(1)  "Good for food," or "the lust of the flesh." In the temptation of Christ it was, "command that these stones be made bread"; that is, you are hungry, make yourself some bread so that you may live. The answer of Jesus, the second Adam, was, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"; that is, I will not use my power to satisfy my personal appetites and desires. Only for others will I use my power to do as you tempt me to do. My appetites are crucified and controlled, and I will not yield them to be exercised at your suggestion to satisfy any soulish desire or passion.

(2)  "Pleasant to the eyes," or "the lust of the eyes." In the temptation of Christ it was, "cast thyself down ... He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone;" that is, you have need of personal protection, use your power to preserve your bodily perfection and beauty. Christ answered, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God;" that is, I will not use my power for any personal bodily benefit. My body is controlled and yielded to God for the bodily needs of others.

(3)  "A tree to be desired to make one wise," or "the pride of life." This is expressed in the temptation of Christ thus: "All these things [the worldly kingdoms and the glory of them] will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me;" that is, act wise and yield your spirit to me as did Adam, and be rewarded. Christ answered, "Get thee hence, Satan ... Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve;" that is, true wisdom and God-likeness is to yield my whole spirit to God for the exaltation of others, not for my own personal gain and glory.

6.     Transgression of God's Word (Gen. 3:6). Adam and Eve went through the same routine of temptation until actual sin was committed as is true with many men today. James said, "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (Jas. 1:13-16). Sin is not sin until lust hath conceived and the law has been broken. Any temptation short of breaking the law is not sin. Any created faculty exercised along any line is perfectly sinless and legitimate within the bounds of the law. It is only in exercising these faculties in breaking the law that sin is committed. For example, it was perfectly sinless and legitimate for Adam and Eve to eat and to have a desire to be like God, but it was in eating what was forbidden by the law of God that sin was committed. There is a right and a wrong way and a right and a wrong time to exercise our faculties. When we are tempted to use them in self-gratification and sin the exercise of them is wrong but when they are exercised lawfully no sin is committed.

7.     The results of transgression of God's Word (Gen. 3:7-19). In the fall man lost spiritual, physical and eternal life and gained instead the opposite-spiritual, physical, and eternal death or separation from God and was cut off from the purpose for which he was created. He was created to live forever spiritually, but spiritual death or separation from God by sin deprives him of that privilege (Isa. 59:2; Eph. 2:1-10). He was created to live forever physically; physical death or the separation of the soul and spirit from the body deprives him of that benefit (Jas. 2:26). He was created to live forever both spiritually and physically; eternal death or the eternal separation from God in Hell deprives him of that great blessing. Thus it became necessary to redeem man-body, soul, and spirit-before he could fulfill the purposes for which he was created. Man lost in the fall the following:

(1)  Spiritual, physical, and eternal life (Isa. 59:2; Eph. 2:1-10; Mt. 25:46).

(2)  Communion and fellowship with God (Isa. 59:2, Col. 1:20).

(3)  Fellowship and pleasure with animals (Gen. 2:19; 9:2).

(4)  Dominion over all the works of God's hands (Ps. 8:3-7).

(5)  Rulership of the Earth (Jn. 14:30; Eph. 6:10-18; 2 Cor. 4:4).

(6)  God-consciousness or innocence (Gen. 2:25; 3:7, 10).

(7)  The power to do good and refuse evil (Gen. 6:5-7; Eph. 2:1-10; Rom. 7).

(8)  God's perfect image and likeness (Phil. 3:20-21).

(9)  Control of soul passions and spirit faculties (Eph. 2:1-10; Gal. 5:19-22).

(10)  The right to the tree of life (Gen. 3:22-24).

(11)  An eternal home and paradise (Gen. 2:15; 3:22-24).

(12)  The fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

(13)  God's glory and self respect (Rom. 3:23).

(14)  Righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:22-24).

(15)  Freedom from disease, sorrow, hardships, and sufferings (Gen. 3:16-19).

(16)  Many other benefits too numerous to mention, such as God's help, power, grace, and every blessing that is restored to man through redemption.

Man lost all these, and instead received knowledge and experience, a new master (the devil), condemnation, loss of his soul, an inferior position in the Earth, and cooperation with evil spirits, power to do evil, death, pain, sorrow, sickness, sin, self-gratification, unclean habits and lusts, unbelief, separation from God, hardships, sufferings, hell, eternal damnation, and many other curses too numerous to mention- which we all have experienced more or less.

He was set upon by the most powerful and subtle of spirit rebels, who caused him to fall and corrupt himself and his posterity and to come under the control of stronger rebels than he himself ever was after the fall. These evil spirit forces are so deep-seated in man's body, soul, and spirit that they seem to be a part of his creative makeup, but they are not. They have control of him as long as he voluntarily remains in sin and rebellion against God.

Man in the fall and by subjection to these evil spirit-forces became depraved, polluted, and corrupt in his nature; his understanding was darkened (Eph. 4:18, 2 Cor. 4:4 ; Rom. 1:21-32); his conscience defiled (Heb. 10:22); his will made obstinate and rebellious (Isa. 28:14; Rom. 8:7); his affections became carnal and sensual (Eph. 2:1-3); his thoughts evil continually (Gen. 6:5); his heart full of abominations (Jer. 17:9; Mt. 15:19); and all his posterity with all their faculties were constituted sinful by nature and children of the devil by life and practice (Jn. 8:44; 1 Jn. 3:8-10; Eph. 2:1-3; 2 Cor. 4:4; Rom. 5:12-21; Ps. 51:5).