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What is the Truth about the Creation and Fall of Man? |
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What is the Truth about the Creation and Fall of Man? |
The Lord’s graciousness, goodness, and wisdom surpass our understanding, the greatness of which is seen in his giving his Son, Jesus, as the atoning sacrifice for our sins to save us. Next to his wonderful work of saving us through Jesus ranks his creating us. He was not compelled to make us, yet he did, and the body he gave us is marvelous in all its aspects. With the psalmist, David, we must say, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
The purpose of this lesson is to learn how the human race was created, what transgression it then committed against its Creator, and what the terrible consequences of that transgression have been.
(A,B) Gen.1:27 God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
1. God created the human race in his image, not in a physical likeness, since God is a spirit, but in his spiritual likeness.
2. God created the human race with two distinct sexes, male and female. When God created Adam, he made the male sex. When he created Eve, he created the female sex. Each was the representative of his or her respective sex.(A) Mt.10:28 Be afraid of him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
1. God created male and female with a soul and body.
(A) Eph.4:24 . . . and that you put on the new self, created like God in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
1. The “new self” which has been created in us Christians is our new spiritual image, which is in the likeness of God’s righteousness and holiness.
2. Man and woman were created with this spiritual image of God’s righteousness and holiness.(A) Col.3:10 . . . and have put on the new self that is being renewed in the knowledge according to the image of the One who created it.
1. We Christians are being renewed in the spiritual image which Adam and Eve possessed at their creation. It consisted of a perfect knowledge of God’s will.
(C) Gen.2:7 And the Lord God formed the man with the dust from the ground, and he breathed in his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
1. God created the human race in the person of the first man from the dust of the ground. Having formed his body, God gave him the precious gift of life, which made him a living being.
(D) Gen.2:18-24 And the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a helper corresponding to him.” Then the Lord God formed from the ground every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the cattle and to every bird of the sky and to every beast of the field. But for man he did not find a helper corresponding to him. Then the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept. Then he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at the place. Next the Lord God built with the rib that he had taken from the man a woman, and he brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This one this time is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh. This one will be called Woman, because from man this one was taken.” For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will cleave to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
1. God made the female, Eve, from Adam’s rib.
2. God made the female to satisfy the male’s need for companionship. Adam delighted in the woman God had made for him.
3. The woman was created to be a suitable partner for the man, different from him, yet compatible to him, in her role as his helper. Being man’s helper did not imply she was an inferior creature to the man, for she was made from his flesh and blood.
4. When God brought the woman to the man, he established the marital relationship. Marriage consists of one man and one woman who become husband and wife. In marriage man and woman may enjoy the sexual union God had planned for them. Future generations of men would also delight in the women God provided them and would enter into the same holy state of marriage God had united the first man and woman in.
5. As Adam had named the other creatures God had made, so he named the female “woman”, a name formed from the root “man”, just as she had been formed from the man.(E) Gen.1:28 And God blessed them, and God said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that crawls upon the earth.”
1. God blessed both the male and the female.
2. God’s blessing gave them the ability to have children, which is one purpose of marriage.
3. God’s blessing included their subduing the earth. Each should use his or her talents in his or her respective role as a head or a helper to master the earth and rule over its creatures.
4. Man was the crown of God’s creation, who would rule over the other creatures. He was superior to them, not on the level of an ape as evolutionists claim he was. The man’s intellect, knowledge, and capabilities were clearly evident in his naming all the creatures God had made within a few hours of the sixth day.
The Truth Is: God made man, the human race:
A. Creating man with a body and a soul and in his image, a spiritual likeness of holiness and a knowledge of God’s holy will.
Note: God is a rational, emotional, volitional living being. God made man in his image with these characteristics as well.
B. Creating two distinct sexes, male and female.
C. Creating first the male from the dust of the ground.
D. Creating the female from the man’s rib to be his companion and helper, and joining her to him in the holy state of marriage.
E. Blessing both sexes with the ability to reproduce and to use their individual talents in their respective roles to master the earth and to rule over the other creatures.
(A) Gen.2:16,17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat from every tree of the garden; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it, you will surely die.”
1. The Lord is loving and good. He provided Adam and Eve with the opportunity to freely show their love for him by obeying this one command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
2. Death would be the punishment for disobeying God’s command.(B) 1 Jn.3:8 ...the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
1. God had made all things, including his angels, perfect. But the devil sinned against God and led many angels into sin with him.
(B,C,D,E) Gen.3:1-24 Consult your Bible for these verses.
1. The devil, after his own fall into sin, came to Eve in the form of a serpent and tempted her.
2. Eve was deceived and ate from the tree.
3. She gave the fruit to Adam, who was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14), and he ate it also.
4. Being guilty of sin, Adam and Eve ran from the Lord to hide, because they were afraid of him. Their sin destroyed their close relationship with their Creator. It erected a barrier which now exists between the human race and the Lord.
5. God cursed the serpent for the part it played in bringing sin into the world. He informed the devil that a descendant of the woman would arise who would destroy him.
6. The coming destruction of the devil was good news to Adam and Eve. Upon his destruction they would be saved from him and the punishment for sin he had ensnared them in. The Lord showed he was merciful, announcing Adam’s and Eve’s salvation through a coming Savior before uttering even one word of punishment to them for what they had done.
7. The Lord also demonstrated he was a fair and just judge, announcing the temporal punishments Adam and Eve would suffer for their sin.
The Truth Is: A. In love God commanded his creature man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
B. Satan showed he was the enemy of God and man, corrupting God’s perfect creation and creature, man. He deceived Eve so that she willingly ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam, who, not being deceived, also ate the fruit willingly.
C. The human race no longer enjoyed a close fellowship with God but was separated from him by its sin.
D. God promised a Savior for the human race, revealing the depth of his love and mercy for fallen mankind. Instead of destroying mankind immediately for its sin, he provided a salvation from eternal death and damnation.
E. The human race would bear the consequences for its sin during life on this earth.
Note: The punishment God imposed on the human race was to remind people of the horror of sin and its terrible consequences. This would alert people to their need for the Savior who would come to bring them salvation.
Temporal death is the punishment of the soul being separated from the body and the Lord’s blessings in this world.
Eternal death is the punishment of body and soul being separated from the Lord and his heavenly blessings forever.
(A) Gen.5:3 And Adam was one hundred and thirty years old when he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his own image, and he named him Seth.
1. Adam’s son inherited his father’s spiritual image, which after the fall was not holy and righteous, but was sinful.
(A) Ps.51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
1. All people inherit Adam’s sinful nature through their parents. They are sinful at conception and birth.
(B) Ro.7:18 For I know that no good thing dwells in me, that is in my sinful nature.
1. The sinful nature of us humans is totally corrupt and depraved, lacking anything good.
(C) Gen.8:21 The Lord said in his heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his childhood.”
(D) 1 Cor.2:14 But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.1. The sinful human nature cannot believe or accept the gospel of God’s love in Jesus, for it considers the gospel foolishness.
2. The sinful human nature cannot understand the gospel of God’s salvation through faith in Jesus. It has no spiritual understanding.(D) Eph.2:1 You were dead in your trespasses and sins.
1. The sinful human nature is spiritually dead, unable to believe God’s promises.
(D) 1 Cor.12:3 No one is able to say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
(E) Ro.8:7 . . . because the sinful mind is hostile toward God.
(F) Eph.2:3 We were by nature children of wrath, even like the rest.1. Being sinful by nature, all people are subject to the wrath and punishment of God.
The Truth Is: The human race is now spiritually dead as a result of the fall into sin.
Spiritual death is the human spirit being separated spiritually from God and being unable to understand and enjoy the blessings of his truths and gifts.
A. Adam’s sinful nature was passed on to all people through their conception and birth. This is called inherited, original, or natural sin.
B. Nothing good rests in the sinful nature. It is totally corrupt.
C. The human heart is now intent only on committing evil. It has no desire to love God or abide by his will.
D. Humans by their own reason and determination cannot believe in Jesus Christ or understand the gospel. Spiritually humans are dead and blind. They cannot bring themselves to faith or begin to co-operate in bringing themselves to faith. Faith is solely the work and gift of God.
E. Humans by nature bear an enmity and hostility toward God in their hearts.
F. Because of their sinful nature, all humans from birth are subject to the wrath and punishment of God in hell.
(A) Mt.15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, and slanders.
1. Our inherited sinful nature brings forth sinful thoughts, words, and deeds.
(A) Mt.7:17 Every good tree produces good fruit, but the bad tree produces bad fruit.
1. Our sinful nature, like a bad tree, can only produce sinful fruits.
(B) Ro.7:19,20 For the good that I desire to do, I do not do; but the evil that I do not desire to do, this I keep doing. Now if what I do not desire to do, this I keep doing, no longer am I the one doing it, but it is the sin living in me that does it.
1. Though we are Christians who have been reborn spiritually and desire to obey God, our sinful nature, called the Old Adam, remains with us throughout our lives, causing us to do evil rather than the good we desire to do.
The Truth Is: Our inherited sinful nature affects our behavior.
A. By nature we can only commit sins in thought, word, and deed. This is known as actual sin.
B. Though we are Christians who have been reborn spiritually, our sinful nature clings to us throughout our lives, causing us to commit sins we do not want to commit.
1. When the human race was created in the image of God, of what did that image consist?
2. Each person now consists of what two chief parts, or elements?
3. Explain what the Lord did to create the man and the woman.
4. What distinctions has the Lord made between the roles of man and woman?
5. When the Lord blessed the male and female, he said they should subdue the earth. In light of this, would it be wrong for a married woman today to work or to have a career outside of her home? Or must she occupy herself only with her household duties as a wife and a mother?
6. True of false: The best way for us to show our love for God is to keep his commandments.
7. God said the punishment for sin would be death. We have discovered three kinds of death which now afflict the human race. What are they?
8. How did the Lord show himself to be a loving and merciful God immediately after the fall into sin?
9. Does God punish us for our sins?
10. If an infant died shortly after birth, would he deserve to go to hell as a punishment for sin?
11. The philosophy of humanism, which is so influential in our society, believes man is good by nature. Compare this belief to what the Bible says about man and evaluate its correctness.
12. Consider the spiritual nature of the human race as it is now after the fall into sin. In light of this, are the calls “Make your decision for Christ” and “Receive Christ into your heart” biblically sound ways to preach to unbelievers? Why, or why not?
13. What are the two classifications of sin?
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Unpublished work. Copyright © 1995 JCS of Christian Inconnect. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced for distribution or publication without prior permission from Christian Inconnect. |
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All Scripture verses on this web page, unless otherwise indicated, are a translation of the pastor of Christian Inconnect and are a part of the Christian Inconnect Version (CIV), on which he is working. He reserves all rights to his translated verses and to their copyright ©. They may not be quoted without his prior permission.
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