THE L.I.F.E. PLAN MAN AFTER THE FALL BLOCK 1 THEME 7 - MAN WITHOUT GOD LESSON 2 (26 of 216)
BLOCK 1 THEME 7: MAN WITHOUT GOD LESSON 2 (26 OF 216): MAN AFTER THE FALL LESSON AIM: Look at the relationship between God and man after the fall. SCRIPTURE: (Genesis 2:17) 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. God created man to enjoy a special relationship with him in the Garden of Eden. Lucifer, an angel that had already rebelled against God and had fallen from heaven, was in the earth. He saw an opportunity to draw away the man God had made from him, turning the man s allegiance to Satan instead of God. God warned the man of this and commanded him to not put himself in this position by avoiding the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told the man that when he ate of this tree, he would die. Adam ignored the commandment of God, ate the forbidden fruit, and died just as God said he would. This death brought on a change in man s relationship with God and with each other. In this lesson, let s learn of the changes which took place in man after the fall. God s Word is always right. It is never wrong. It can be trusted at all times. We know this, and yet we live many times as if it is not true. God told Adam that when he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die that very day. Satan subtly and smoothly attacked Adam using God s own words to bring about Adam s fall. The use of God s Word against us is one of the methods of attack the devil uses against man to seek to destroy him. He used this weapon against Adam and it worked. He has been using it on men ever since. As God said, when Adam ate the forbidden fruit, he died. He did not die physically at that moment, although physical death would eventually take place as a result of this disobedience to God. For Adam, it happened when he was 930 years old, but it did eventually happen. Adam did die in a spiritual sense at that moment. We know this because of the things Adam and Eve immediately experienced. First, while the taste of the fruit was still in their mouths, their eyes were opened, and they knew. They knew evil for the very first time. The taking of the forbidden fruit gave them the knowledge of good and evil. They now knew of that which God had warned. Second, they knew they were naked. That is, they knew something had taken place within them. They had lost the righteousness of God which had clothed them before the fall. They stood before each other, but more importantly before God, without God s covering of righteousness. The fact that Adam and Eve knew they were naked, that is, that they had lost God s righteousness and the covering it provided, reveals another result of the fall which here comes into view. Previously, Adam was free to make choices in two realms; good or evil. Although he was free to choose evil, he did not have to choose to do it. He could have chosen not to do it. Since he chose to do evil, man lost the ability of himself to make choices in the realm of good. This is what it means to be lost and without God. This is one of the reasons man cannot save himself. From God s perspective, until and unless God lives within a person, enabling him to choose good, that person is unable to make any choice which is good in God s sight. His whole life, even the things which appear as good in the eyes of man, is sin and evil.
This is stated by Paul in the New Testament when he says that fallen man walks according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. When a person becomes a believer in Christ, the ability to make choices in both realms, good and evil, is restored. Once again, however, we do not have to choose to do evil. We can choose to do good. With the choice to eat of the forbidden fruit, Adam died spiritually at that moment. He was still alive physically, however, but things were different. The loss of the presence of God in their lives caused them to do or experience things they had not encountered before. For the first time in their lives, Adam and Eve had fear. They were afraid. Previously, they walked in faith. Now they walked in fear. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is another weapon of the devil to try to take our eyes off of God. When we are looking to God with faith in him, we are not afraid. Fear comes when we look away from God and when are not depending on him to guide and provide for us in every situation of life. The loss of righteousness brought fear to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve also tried to hide themselves from God. They hid among the trees of the garden. They found out that there was no place they could go to get away from the presence of God. Although God had taken his presence from within them, his presence was still all around them. When the Bible says that Adam heard the voice of God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day, this is a reference to the omnipresence of God; the fact that he is everywhere present at the same time, much like the air around us in the earth. Adam tried, but he could not escape the presence of God, meaning he would eventually be confronted by God about what he had done. Another thing Adam and Eve did was to try to cover their nakedness themselves. They sewed fig leaves together and made aprons to wear. What a poor substitute for the covering they previously had from God. People still do this today. They do not sew literal leaves together and wear them as clothes on the body, but they attempt to make coverings for themselves in an attempt to replace the covering man has lost before God. Man attempts to cover himself with good works, success, money, and other things. There is, however, nothing which will substitute for a righteous standing before God. The only way to have this is through the Lord Jesus Christ and the righteousness he gives us by grace through faith in him. When confronted by God about what had happened, Adam and Eve both tried to pass the buck. They each tried to lay the blame on someone else. Adam tried to pass the buck to God and to Eve. He said the woman you gave me caused this. Eve put the blame on the serpent. Beginning with the very first two people on earth, man has always attempted to keep from owning up to his own failures. It is always somebody else s fault. The whole culture of America has fallen into this trap today. The things we read of the spiritual condition of Adam and Eve after the fall are true of all people all over the earth in every generation. Adam was the representative of the human race in the decision to choose evil over good. When he fell, the entire human race fell into sin. He was the father of the race and passed on sin through the bloodline to every person born into the world. Every person is born into the world with a dead spirit. The spirit is dead because God does not live there. The results of the fall experienced by Adam are also the experience of every person on earth. We come into the world dead in trespasses and in sin. We are unable to make choices in the realm of good in God s sight. We are hounded by fear from every angle. We attempt to hide from God to keep from being held accountable for sin. We try to cover our lost condition by doing things which make us to appear to be anything other than the lost, depraved, rotten sinners that we are in the sight of God when we come into the world. We try to lay the blame of our sin to anyone but ourselves. Sin affected
every person and every person is guilty before God and comes into the world under God s condemnation. This is the reality. Without God, man is lost in sin with no way to save himself. Thankfully, God did not allow this situation to prevail. He made a way to overcome it. God did two things to correct Adam s problem. First, he corrected the lie that Satan had sold to Adam. Satan told Adam and Eve, if you eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will be as gods. This is a lie Satan is still able to sell to people today. God corrected this lie with the truth. God told Adam, on the contrary, you will not be as a god, but you are the dust of the earth. There is nothing that will shake a person loose from a lie from the enemy like a hard dose of the truth. God said you are not a god but are the dust of the earth. The place to recover from buying a lie from the adversary is with the truth. It is hard to swallow at times but is the only medicine to correct such error. God also made a covering for Adam and Eve. He killed an animal and covered them with coats made from their skin. In doing this, God demonstrated that he would not let this lost condition of man prevail. He would send a sacrifice, pictured by the slain animal, who would give his blood as a covering for the lost condition of man. Through his righteous blood, he would cover man s sin, raise his spirit from the dead, and give him a right standing before God once again. This is not true of all men. It is only true of those who come to God by faith in the sacrifice whom God sent. The sacrifice God sent was his own Son, Jesus Christ. He gave his life and his blood to cover the believer s sin. Just as the sin of Adam was charged to the account of every man, the righteousness of Christ is applied to those who believe. This would be a good time for you to examine your condition before God. Have your sins been covered by the blood of Jesus? Have you called on the name of the Lord for salvation? If not, do it now. Tell God you believe Jesus is the Christ and that you believe he died for your sins. Tell him you want to live the rest of your life according to his will. LESSON OUTLINE BLOCK 1 THEME 7: MAN WITHOUT GOD LESSON 2 (26 OF 216): MAN AFTER THE FALL I YOU WILL DIE A. Adam and Eve 1. Died spiritually a. Their eyes were opened b. They knew they were naked 1) They lost their righteous covering 2) They lost the ability to choose in the realm of good 2. Alive physically a. Fear b. Attempted to hide from God c. Tried to cover self d. Refused to take responsibility for sinful actions
B. The human race 1. Adam s sin was passed to the race 2. Each person is guilty before God II FACING REALITY A. God corrected Satan s lie B. God covered Adam s nakedness SCRIPTURES TO BROADEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING 1. Man s lost condition Ephesians 2:1-3 2. Salvation by grace through faith Ephesians 2:8-9 3. Man s sin covered by Christ s blood Isaiah 44:22-23 Colossians 2:14-15 4. Man s sin, Christ s righteousness Romans 1-11 LINES OF THEOLOGICAL CONNECTION 1. THE DOCTRINE OF SIN Imputed sin Personal sin Remedy for sin 2. CHRISTOLOGY Redemption Imputed righteousness 3. SOTERIOLOGY Justification The removal of condemnation 4. THE DOCTRINE OF SATAN The schemes of the devil 5. ANTHROPOLOGY Accountability Responsibility
QUESTIONS ANSWER KEY 1. In what two realms was Adam free to make choices before the fall? Good and evil 2. What happened in the fall to Adam s ability to make choices in the realm of good? He lost this ability 3. Did Adam die when he ate of the forbidden fruit? Yes - He died spiritually at that moment - he died physically at the age of 930 4. What happened to the human race when Adam sinned? Why? The race fell into sin as well - Adam was the father and representative of the race 5. List four results of the fall. Fear; hide from God; cover self; pass the buck 6. What does it mean to us that Adam and the race fell into sin? It means we come into the world lost, separated from God, dead in the spirit, and under God s condemnation 7. What did God do to respond to the problem of the fall? He corrected Satan s lie to Adam; He covered Adam with a coat of skins 8. Have your sins been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ? Student response
BLOCK 1 THEME 7: MAN WITHOUT GOD LESSON 2 (26 OF 216): MAN AFTER THE FALL QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE THOUGHT 1. In what two realms was Adam free to make choices before the fall? 2. What happened in the fall to Adam s ability to make choices in the realm of good? 3. Did Adam die when he ate of the forbidden fruit? 4. What happened to the human race when Adam sinned? Why? 5. List four results of the fall. 6. What does it mean to us that Adam and the race fell into sin? 7. What did God do to respond to the problem of the fall? 8. Have your sins been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ?