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Part 3 - The Fall and the Restoration
The Fall of Man
The sanctifying work of Christ has made a way for mankind to be restored
into fellowship with God. But restored from what, and to what?
Sanctification involves separation, so a look at the fallen place of man and
how he got there will help to better understand not only what one is being
separated from, but also what one is being restored back unto.
The word "gospel" means good news. Romans 10:15 states, "How beautiful
are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings
of good things!" The good news is that through Jesus Christ mankind can live
forever in union with God. What makes this especially good news however, is
the bad news that precedes it. It is the dark condition of the human race, a
condition of bondage to sin and death in which there is no hope, that makes
the good news exceedingly good. We were "without Christ, . . . having no
hope and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12). The state of the world is
called "this present evil age" (Gal. 4:4). The fall of Adam and Eve created
this condition. The gospel cannot be fully appreciated apart from this.
Two trees, two choices
When God created Adam and Eve, He placed them in a garden. Their only
restriction was not to eat of one of the fruit trees in the garden. Only two
of the trees were named, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. Yahweh commanded Adam saying, "Of every tree of the garden
you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you
shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen.
2:16).
Man was created with a free will. God did not create man as an automaton,
with no ability to freely decide his future. As newly created beings, placed
in the garden in fellowship with God, there were two inherent choices that
would have to be made by Adam and Eve. These are reflected in the names
given to the trees and the results of eating of either one. Rather than
being an arbitrary test by God, the choice of eating of either of the trees
reflected the reality of the situation: they were beings of free will, newly
created and placed in the presence of God, with a choice of where to go from
there.
Adam and Eve would have to make a decision. Should they accept their
position under the Creator and choose to live with him forever? Or should
they refuse a relationship of submission and dependence on Him and seek to
order and run their own lives? The tree of life and the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil reflected these choices.
The deception
Genesis records, "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'has God indeed
said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the Garden?" ' And the woman said
to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, "You
shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die." ' And the serpent
said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day
you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil.' "
In this account, a mixture of truth and lies by the serpent can be
observed. After drawing the attention of Eve to the forbidden tree, the
serpent flatly contradicts God by stating "You will not surely die." This of
course turns out to be a lie. Mixed with this is the assertion that Eve will
be like God, knowing good and evil. Now this is very subtle, for in one
sense this was entirely true. Immediately after Adam and Eve ate the fruit,
the Bible states, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew
..." (Gen. 3:7). The Lord also says, "Behold, the man has become like one of
Us, to know good and evil" (Gen. 3:22). In one sense, they did become like
God, in that just like God they became aware of good and evil.
But the subtlety of the serpent was in the beguilement to be like God in
the sense of possessing the powers and abilities of God. The serpent implied
that the nature of man would be improved, that his innate being would be changed to be like that
of a god. Man was deceived into thinking that he could evolve upward from a
lower state, that of being of God's creation, to a higher state, that of
being in the same class as the Creator. This is the error that brought about
the fall of Lucifer.
I will ...
Lucifer's fall is recorded in Isaiah 14:12-15, "How you are fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will
also sit on the mount of the congregation, On the farthest sides of the
north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the
Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of
the Pit."
Lucifer, also known as Satan or the serpent in the Garden of Eden, fell
because of pride. He elevated himself to the point of thinking that he could
"be like the Most High." Even though he was only a created being, he thought
that he could rise to the place of the Creator. Note the words he used: "I
will ascend," "I will exalt my throne," "I will sit on the mount," "I will
ascend" (again), and "I will be like." These are statements of moving up
from a lower position to a higher one.
Rebellion against the Creator
Instead of recognizing a dividing
line between the Creator and His creation, Satan thought that he could cross
that line and be an equal with God. An un-crossable line, in which God is in
one class and His creation in another class below Him, would imply that all
of creation must be in submission to the Creator. Submission would mean
being lower than God. By declaring five times "I will," Lucifer rebelled
against God, refused to accept his place under God, and attempted in his
pride to evolve upward into Godhood. Of course the reality was that he was
not at all like God and was immediately cast down from Heaven. He deceived
himself about who he was and what he could do, and so lost forever that
glorious place that his Creator had given him.
Jesus summed up the right relationship that mankind is to have with God
with these words: "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark
12:30). Jesus divided the makeup of man into four parts: his heart, his
soul, his mind, and his strength. It is in each of these areas that mankind
rebelled against God in the fall of the human race. As Lucifer elevated
himself to be an equal with God, so has mankind done in these four parts of
his being.
The following is an examination of mankind's rebellion in these areas.
The rebellion of man's heart.
The rebellion of man's soul.
The rebellion of man's mind.
The rebellion of man's strength.
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