Did you know that there was a time when all of mankind walked with God? There was a time where death did not exist, man was innocent, the earth was without thorns and thistles, and peace ruled over all creatures, big and small. How did mankind go from a state of peace to what we see today? Death has become an everyday part of life, which eventually affects everyone, man is corrupt in all his ways and rejects God, the earth is full of thorns, thistles, decay, and even the creatures of the earth kill each other, big and small. What happened to bring about such a change in this once perfect creation? Today we are going to talk about the fall of man, the condition of mankind as a result of the fall, how mankind tends to approach God, and why we need a savior - I know this does not sound like much of a Christmas message; however, Christmas is about the giving of a special gift to mankind, by which mankind could be saved from its corruption. Understanding what happened to mankind will shed light on why the giving of this gift is so important.
In my blog on the Old Testament, I have been writing about creation. In the beginning of Genesis, we find mankind in a state of innocence and peace. Genesis 1:26-31 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
Mankind is in a wonderful garden, with everything needed to sustain life. Within this garden are two special trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The only rule that mankind must live by in this garden is to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Genesis 2:17. The penalty for eating from this one tree was death. Actually, God was a bit more emphatic with His warning, " But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will not eat from it for in the day you eat from it dying you will die."
When God created Adam, He also created Eve. Eve was formed from the side of Adam to be his helpmeet, Genesis 2:18; 21-24. She was, and still is, man's perfect counterpart. Adam was responsible to pass on the law that God gave him to Eve, and he did; however, Adam added to the law. He added, do not touch, Genesis 3:2, 3. This seems like a harmless addition; however, it could have very well assisted the Serpent in deceiving Eve.
In the fall of mankind, Satan, through the serpent- a very shrewd creature, deceived Eve. He addressed Eve, rather than Adam, and asks a simple question, "Did God say..." Now you may think that because Eve was deceived, surely God would understand; however, it was not Eve's eating of the fruit that brought about the fall of mankind, but rather Adam's. You see, Eve was thoroughly deceived by the serpent and transgressed that law. Adam, on the other hand, was not deceived. 1 Timothy 2:14 "and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being thoroughly deceived was in transgression." Eve transgressed, or broke, the law. Adam sinned. Adam knew full well what he was doing, and chose to disobey God. The result of Adam's sin brought about a change, not only in man, but also in creation. God warned Adam that if he ate from the tree, dying he would die.
Romans 5:12-14 "Wherefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin, the death, and thus unto all men death came, for all have sinned- for until law, sin was in the world, but sin was not counted when there was no law; nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses even upon those who did not sin in the likeness of Adams transgression..."
Adam stood as a representative of all mankind and therefore passed on the result of his sin to all mankind. Now, physical death reigns in the world and is passed on to all generations, even those who did not sin after the likeness of Adam's sin. Unfortunately, physical death is not the only thing that Adam passed on. Adam's sin cause death to come upon all; however, before Adam sinned, he trespassed. (a trespass happens when we determine to fulfill a desire that lacks in character. Trespass is not a sin, rather, it is a result of the determination to commit a sin. James 1:14,15 but every man is solicited by that which lacks in character (tempted)when he is drawn away and baited by his own desire. Then when lust has conceived, it births sin. And when sin is finished, it brings forth death. ) The result of Adam's trespass was spiritual death. (Death is separation, not annihilation. Physical death is the separation of the spirit and soul from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of the spirit with God.) What does all this mean? All mankind has inherited the results of Adam's trespass and sin. Therefore, all of mankind is condemned in Adam. "And not according as through one man's sin, the gift, for on the one hand judgment out from one into condemnation..." Romans 5:16. (Condemned is being in a state of having judgment already passed and awaiting punishment.) Not only does all of mankind face physical death, because mankind is spiritual dead the ability to receive the things of the Spirit is also gone. 1 Corinthians 2:14 " but the soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he does not have the ability to experientially know them because they are spiritually discerned."
Man is in a state of separation from God, no longer having the ability to receive the things of the Spirit, and physically dying. Man also continually rejects God and His ways. Romans 1:19-32 speaks of a time when all men know God and knew the judgment of God. This time was just after the flood, when only a few remained. You would think that after seeing the world flooded because of judgment that you might pay a bit more attention to following God. However, all of mankind rejected God again. It began with not glorifying God. They did not attribute to God all that He was, nor were they thankful. Rather, they became useless in their imaginations and their hearts were darkened. (The heart of a man is the center, where the body, soul, and spirit intersect. This is where the person and determinate will reside.) Mankind continued on this path of rejection until God became, to them, equal with the creatures of the earth and they fulfilled the desires of their sin nature at will, knowing full well that it would bring judgment upon them.
Even though mankind was rejecting God, God still chose one man and gave him and his seed a promise. However, rather than taking God at His word, when it was time for the nation of Israel to receive the promise, they rejected it and asked for law. Exodus 19:8. They wanted a way to show God how righteous they could be. (The Jewish nation is a representation of all of mankind. What they did, would have been done by any of us in their shoes.)
The end result of mankind's actions throughout history resulted in the situation we see today. So much crime, destruction, and hopelessness exist today. All of this is a result of the choices humans have made throughout history and continue to make. Now we live in a world without hope. There is no hope, because there is not one that is able to save mankind. All have fallen short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. No one has lived up to God's opinion of him or her. We have all gone astray. All are condemned and awaiting punishment. We can not even pay for our own sins, much less the sins of the entire world. Mankind needs a savior.
A single expression of God's love changed all of this. Some two thousand years ago, God expressed His love towards the world. God gave us His son. "For God so loved the world that He gave his unique, one of kind son, in order that all the ones believing in him should not perish but have eternal life," John 3:16. The second person of the Godhead came to be found in the likeness of a man and submitted himself to death so that we could be free, Philippians 2:5-8 "Let this frame of mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus, who existing in the outward form of God, did not think to be equal with God a things to be grasped, but emptied Himself, being found in the outward form of a servant, coming to be in the likeness of man and being found in the appearance of man, He humbled Himself, becoming subject unto death, even a cross death." The result of this one expression of love forever changed the lives not only of those who believe.
Born of a virgin, born under the law, rejected by His very own people, becoming the savior of the world. Just as God had told the prophets thousands of years before, God the Son came in the flesh. In the genealogy given in Matthew beginning with Abraham, Christ came out from Mary, a descendant of the king David. Mary, at the time of her pregnancy with Christ, had not known a man. Rather, the Holy Spirit came upon her and she was found with Child. A child that would save the world. Luke 1:26-35 Now in the sixth month ( of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist) the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29 But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end." 34 And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy thing shall be called the Son of God. Jesus was born to a virgin, so the condemnation that was upon mankind did not pass unto Him. For it is through the seed of a male that the condemnation is passed on to the next generation.
Jesus was also born under the law, Luke 2:21-24 And when eight days were completed before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord "), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." Jesus was born to fulfill the promise of a savior for the Jewish people. He came to fulfill God's word and rule over them. Luke 1:33 "and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end." During Jesus' earthly ministry the Jews came first, even though at times He did give to the Gentiles. Mark 7:26-29 Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And He was saying to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 28 But she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs." 29 And He said to her, "Because of this answer go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter." Jesus came unto his own, but they rejected Him. John 1:11 "into his own things he came, but his own people did not receive him." However, this time, God used this rejection to bring about salvation for all.
During this time of the year we have set aside a special time to remember the gift that God so graciously gave us; the birth of our Lord. It was this gift that made it possible for us to be spiritual alive. For all who receive him, their spirits are united with God's spirit and they share in a quality of the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthian 2:16 "for who knows that mind of the Lord? The one being knit together with him. For we have a quality of the mind of Christ." Christians are no longer spiritual separated from God. Rather, they are joined with him and share intimately with His Son.
Because of this gift we have a new nature, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore since anyone is in Christ; a new creation, the old things have passed away, all things have become new.
Because of this gift we partake in the Divine nature, 2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Because of this gift we are able to live out God's life through ours, 2 Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (godliness is living out God's quality of life.)
Because of this gift we have hope. Therefore, as we take the time this week to remember Christ's birth and the gracious love from God, let us also remember the results of this gift in our lives. Through our own actions, mankind has brought about death and destruction. Through our own action, mankind has fully rejected God. Through one act from God, all of mankind can be saved.
For those of you who are not saved - The celebration of the birth of Christ is so precious because it is through his birth that salvation entered the world. Salvation comes by expressing faith at Christ through the Gospel for salvation. Faith is taking God at His word and is based upon a promise. The promise is, Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again on the third day according to the Scripture, 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4. Believe and you will be saved!
For those of us who are already saved. Let us remind ourselves that through this gift from God, we received salvation. Not a stagnate salvation, but one that is alive. We are not waiting for eternal life so that we may live out God's quality life through ours, we already posses it. Let us work out this salvation that God gave us, by using it in every day of our life.
There was a time when all of mankind walked with God, but through one man's actions we were separated from God. Now there is a time when those who receive Christ are intimately joined with God through Christ, all because of one expression of God's love.
May you all enjoy this Christmas season and especially the gift that God so graciously gave us.
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