************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 14c ************
Doctrine: The Fall of Man
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on July 26, 1998
B.C. 14(c)
Genesis 3
"The Fall of Man"
Introduction
Article 14 describes the human tragedy. But what is this tragedy? Is it tragic that every inclination of the thoughts of our heart are only evil all the time (Gen 6:5)? Is it tragic that there is no one who does good, no, not even one (Rom 3:10b)? Is it tragic that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and beyond cure (Jer 17:9)? Though all this is awful, this is not the real tragedy. The real tragedy is our fall, our loss, our miserable exchange of birthrights. The real tragedy is that man, made in the image of God, chose to listen to Satan and became a slave to sin.
I am sure you realize there would be no tragedy if we were made corrupt and sinful and evil and wicked. There would be no tragedy if we were not made in God's image: good, just, holy, and able by our own will to conform in all things to the will of God. For, then, there would be no perfection for us to fall from.
I The Fall of Man
A When we talk about man's fall into sin we have to start off by acknowledging its mystery. How is it that man could possibly fall into sin? How is the fall possible when man had it so good, was created so good, and personally knew the Source of all that is good? It is a mystery!
B Very little is said about the fall of man in the Confession of Faith. Much more is said about its sad and terrible consequences. However, the Confession does mention three things.
First, we are told that man was naive and innocent about himself. Says the Confession
But when he was in honor
he did not understand it
and did not recognize his excellence.
It was not until after the fall, when he knew about good and evil, that man knew the goodness that was his in Paradise. Strange, isn't it, that this is so often the case. So very often we don't realize how good we have it, how happy we are, until something happens to mar our situation.
C Second, we are told that man "subjected himself willingly to sin and consequently to death and the curse." Here the Confession insists on the voluntary character of the first sin. Nobody outside of Adam and Eve can be blamed. No one was holding a gun to their heads. No one was twisting their arms. It was willful and free. On his own, man performed a reckless disobedience in the Garden.
Let's explore, for a moment, what the voluntary character of the first sin means. It means that man has no excuse. It also means that God is under no obligation to save man from the sin into which he willingly plunged himself; it would be entirely just and fair of God to leave man in his sin and condemnation. And, it further means that sin is not God's will; there neither was nor is a plan on God's part to make sin a necessary part of the world's structure or man's nature.
We have a saying: "To err is human; to forgive divine." This saying teaches that it is part of man's nature and makeup to sin; and, it is part of God's nature and makeup to forgive. We can't agree with either part of this equation. To err is NOT human – at least not the way God made us. And, to forgive is NOT divine; God is not under any compulsion to forgive; that He does forgive is solely an act of grace – unmerited, unearned, undeserved grace.
D Third, we are told that man performed his reckless disobedience when he lent "his ear to the word of the devil."
Topic: Satan
Subtopic: Arch Deceiver
Index: 3153
Date: 4/1986.14
Title: The Bellbird of Death
Lost in the jungle, a man sought desperately to find his way to safety. His strength was ebbing fast as the insects and stifling heat did their deadly work. Suddenly he heard what he thought to be a bell tolling in the distance. Believing he was nearing civilization, he struggled bravely onward; but he never seemed to draw closer to the sound. Finally he fell to the ground exhausted, never to rise again. The mysterious bellbird had claimed another victim!
This story is related in detail by G.B. Robeson. He says that many a traveler in the heart of the rain forest of Central and South America has been led to his death by the uncanny call of this seldom-seen bird. Its enticing, reverberating "toll" produces an almost overpowering temptation to seek its source.
Satan employed a similar device to ensnare the human race. He rang the bell of being like God. By listening to it, Adam and Eve plunged the entire human race into the jungle of sin and despair
Now, don't forget, man's fall into sin was entirely voluntary. Man, in other words, could have turned a deaf ear to Satan; he didn't have to listen to Satan. But he did. Satan approached Eve and aroused within her doubt concerning God's command:
(Gen 3:1) He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
These seeds of unbelief or doubt stimulated the lust in her eyes and prompted her to disobey:
(Gen 3:6) When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
How ironic are the ways of God. Man first fell into sin by giving ear to the words of the Devil. Through the ear man first fell into sin. But it is also through the ear that man hears the Gospel of life and is reborn good, righteous, holy, and able to conform in all things to the will of God. The ear provided the way to death and destruction but it also provides the way to life. Here is a reminder – as the children's song puts it – to be careful, little ear, what you hear.
II The Results of the Fall
A What were the results of man's fall into sin? What happened because of man's moment of reckless disobedience?
The Confession, based upon Scripture, tells us the sad results of sin. First, by his transgression and disobedience, man "separated himself from God, who was his true life." As soon as they sinned our first parents, Adam and Eve, hid themselves in the Garden from the presence of God. From the very first sin a chasm existed between man and God.
Topic: Sin
Subtopic: Effects of
Index: 4205
Date: 7/1998.101
Title: The Grand Canyon
When you stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon you can hardly believe the view in front of you: a vast chasm one mile down, from four to eighteen miles across, and more than 200 miles long! People at the bottom look like ants. When Ruth and I were there in 1976 airplanes and even jets were flying one thousand or more feet below us.
Sin produces a chasm between God and man that is deeper and winder than the Grand Canyon – a chasm so great that no mere man can possibly bridge it to reestablish contact with God.
The chasm, the separation, between God and man we know as death – spiritual death.
B Second, we are told that when man fell he also became subject to "physical death." Paul tells us that the "wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). Before sin death was not part of the human experience. But it certainly is now. Yesterday's newspaper is filled with death:
McKayla Davis, a 22 month old girl missing since Wednesday was found dead on Friday
Two officers were killed in a shooting in the U.S. capitol building
A dear man in the last church I served died this past Wednesday; his sweet wife died this past December
The funeral services for 13 people are listed in the Obituary column
On account of sin every single person experiences physical death. Death is the final enemy
C Third, we are told that when man fell he "corrupted his whole nature." Man is "wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways." He has "lost his excellent gifts which he had received from God" – the gifts of being good, just, and holy, and able by his own will to conform in all things to the will of God. "All the light in us is turned to darkness" because of the fall into sin.
A quick glance through yesterday's newspaper gives us ample examples of man's corrupt nature:
Two officers died in a shooting at the U.S. Capitol building Tour de France riders protest a drug scandal
Lawyers discuss Clinton testimony in the Monica Lewinsky investigation
Black church's lawyer says Ku Klux Klansmen created climate of hate
A former Air Force Academy cadet was found guilt of murder in killing a 16-year-old girl
Judge allows incest victim to get abortion
Or, consider this.
Topic: Sin
Subtopic: Total Depravity
Index: 3338-3359
Date: 7/1998.101
Title: Man Killed Twins
PITTSBURGH--A man bludgeoned his 5-year-old twins to death with a sledgehammer on Thursday, June 4, because they were slow in getting ready for day care.
Investigators said the man was agitated that he could find only one of the Power Rangers masks his children wanted to take to day care.
His son was found in a pool of blood on the couch, and his daughter was found in front of the TV set. Both had suffered multiple blows.
Or consider this Associated Press news story of May 8, 1990 from North Chicago:
Topic: Sin
Subtopic: Total Depravity
Index: 3338-3359
Date: 7/1998.101
Title: Acid in Baby Formula
NORTH CHICAGO--Prosecutors say a father poured sulphuric acid down the throat of his infant son, and then he put sluphuric acid in a can of baby formula, and then he conspired with the mother to blame the manufacturer of the baby formula, hoping for a large cash settlement. The baby boy, after 27 months, his throat and insides irreparably burned, died.
Or, consider this:
Topic: Sin
Subtopic: Total Depravity
Index: 3338-3359
Date: 7/1998.101
Title: Killed Baby at Prom
A teenager in Trenton, New Jersey, murdered her newborn son at her senior prom. The mom gave birth in a bathroom stall at the highschool prom. She strangled and suffocated the 6-pound, 6-ounce boy, left the body in a trash receptacle, and returned to the dance floor.
We don't have to look in the newspaper or watch TV to see examples of man's corrupt nature. All we have to do is look at ourselves. Everyone of us, none excepted, are corrupt in our entire nature. And, those who live with us see that every single day.
The theological word we use for this is "total depravity." Every part of man has been affected and influenced by sin. No part of human life remains untouched.
D The Confession sums up the disastrous results of the fall by saying that man is now a "slave to sin." Man is in bondage. He is in shackles and chains. Man is owned, body and soul, by sin.
If man is but a slave to sin, can we say he has a "free will"? The answer is yes and no.
In a certain sense man has lost his moral freedom. In another sense he still retains it.
When man fell into sin he retained the freedom to make choices in accordance with the desires of his soul. He knows the difference between good and evil, virtues and vices. Yet, left to his own devices what fallen man always chooses is sin and evil. Left to his own devices fallen man never chooses for God and salvation. He chooses for sin and evil because that is the desire of his soul.
On Memorial Day my family and I went white-water rafting on the Kaweah River. When we started out it seemed like we were in control of the raft. But then we came to the first rapids. Big waves threatened to engulf us. The water swirled around us and pushed and pulled at us. No matter how hard we paddled or even in what direction, we had no choice but to go through the rapids and down the river. You see, it was the river – not us – that was in control.
In the same way, in fallen man it is sin and evil, not man himself, that is in control. No matter how hard we try, sin and evil plunges us straight ahead into the abyss of ruin and destruction.
E Many people deny the total corruption of man's nature. They deny that man is a slave to sin. They can't agree with Paul when he says, "I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin" (Rom 7:14). For proof they point to the many accomplishments of fallen man:
Man explores the heights of heaven and the ocean depths
In art, music, and literature fallen man has produced things of lasting loveliness and value
Every nation on earth has laws determining what is right and wrong
Human civilization includes police officers, fire-fighters, ambulance attendants, nurses, doctors, social workers, and so on
How can these accomplishments be possible if man is totally corrupt and a slave to sin? None of these are proof of any natural goodness in fallen man; rather, they are evidence of God's goodness towards all men. You see, God has left in man "small traces" of the "excellent gifts" he was created with. So any good thing that fallen man does, he does only because God works it in him (John 3:27; John 6:44; 2 Cor 3:5).
Conclusion
Man has fallen. The result is that he is a slave – a helpless slave – to sin. So there is nothing man can do to help or save himself. No parade of human inventions or human philosophies leads to salvation. We cannot be saved by the works of our hands for those hands are covered with the stain of sin. All that we do and all that we think are but the sinful work of sinful man.
The only answer, the only solution, to the fallenness of man is the grace and power of God. Only through the blood of the cross can man be saved. Only through the indwelling of the Spirit can man again choose what is good, righteous, and holy.