Question 21: Into what condition did the fall bring mankind?

The fall brought mankind into a condition of sin and misery.

DAY 1: Psalm 51:5

The context of this chapter is the famous confessional prayer of King David after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. He is definitely a broken man over his sin. It has been at least a year since he had committed these sins and we are taken into his prayer closet as he goes before the Lord.

Notice that David is not interested in casting the blame on anyone but himself. He does not say that it was Bathsheba’s fault for bathing on the roof in front of him and not being modest. He does not blame the servants who brought her to him. He does not blame Uriah for being her husband and causing him to have to jump through so many hoops to cover his sin. No, he claims responsibility for his own sin. In the first five verses, David refers to his sin, his responsibility, and his needing mercy.

In verse five, which is the passage we are focusing on, David is not giving an excuse. No, he has already acknowledged wrongdoing. He has already accepted responsibility for his actions. Unlike Adam and Eve, who were unwilling to acknowledge their sin in Genesis 3, David does take that step. David just wants to establish the roots of his sin. The roots of his sin are not just with him. Rather they run deep within his heritage. David says that he was brought forth in iniquity. He references his birth and says that it was even at his birth that he came into the world in iniquity. The word iniquity means, “Depravity or perversity”. He is saying that is the nature of himself and the Bible makes clear that it is also the nature of every man. David is not claiming that little babies are not corrupt. In contrast he is saying that they are depraved and perverted from the beginning.

But, lest we give anything to those who would like to believe that King David thought that life began when the babies head began to crown, look at what else he says. David says that his mother conceived him in sin. The word conceived refers to the moment in time of his mother’s conception of him. When he was just the mere joining together of sperm and egg, there was corruption. No one conceived has been holy and perfect the way Adam was, since the Fall. All who are a descendent of Adam are corrupt in their nature. They are sinners. Again, David does not use this as an excuse to say to God, “You made me this way so why are you angry with me” (Rom. 9:20). He does not take the opportunity like Adam and accuse God of some injustice. He accepts the responsibility for his sin and acknowledges that even though his sinful nature is passed onto him, he is ultimately responsible for his actions.

Let us reflect on our own actions and confess our sins. Let’s not be trying to figure out whom to put the blame on, but let’s be willing to accept the responsibility for our actions and confess them as sin. God says that He will be faithful to forgive us.

DAY 2: Isaiah 53:6; 64:6

We had just finished reading Isaiah 53 the other night with the kids after they had seen a shirt that I have depicting Christ in a gruesome fashion hanging upon the cross. You could tell that they were captivated by what they saw. Their eyes were fastened upon his bloody body hanging upon the cross and the crown of thorns on his head. Although they have heard of Christ’s death, like many adults have, they just can’t seem to get in their mind the vicious nature and cruelty whereby He was put to death. Their little eyes were completely captivated by the image as I read to them. When I finished, they said, “Those people were mean, weren’t they Daddy?” I said, “Yes they were mean, but it was for our sins that Christ died”. I asked them, “Do you not sin?” “Is your sin any less in the sight of God?” They looked at me as if I wasn’t making any since and it was at this moment that we looked and Isaiah 53:6.

God says that we are all like sheep. We are alike sheep in the fact that we all go our own way. The word astray means “to wander”. We all go the way of our own judgment. We are not interested in God’s way. We are not interested in the way of righteousness. Rather, we are interested in the greener grass on the other side. Isaiah uses the term sheep to describe us as silly and stupid. We are those who forsake the commands of God for whatever seems right to us. Just like Eve saw that the fruit was pleasing to the eye and able to make one wise, we too, look at the forbidden fruit in life and determine the same thing.

The shepherd would often use a staff with a crook at the end of it so that he would be able to herd his sheep and keep them together. This is what is spoken of in Psalm 23. Why was it necessary for a shepherd to use such an instrument? Didn’t the sheep just stay there with him wherever he was? No they didn’t. So he would have to constantly be watching out for them because they would constantly be unaware of where they were or where they were going as they grazed. They wandered. Men do the same thing. Though they may have the Word of God, like the Jews did, because of their depravity they wander from it. They slowly drift away from the truth. They don’t see themselves as bad as they are and they don’t see clearly what God has instructed them to do.

But men go farther than just moving out of the path of righteousness. They take others with them. They turn every one to his own way. They are not content to make the journey to destruction by themselves, but they tend to point others in that direction as well. Jesus said it was better to have a millstone tied around you neck and be thrown into the sea than to do this. Yet, this is the way of sin, and it is the way of man.

Isaiah 64:6 goes on to say that we are an unclean thing. There were certain things in the Jewish culture that were considered unclean and many things required that you must go through certain rituals to become clean again. One who was unclean was not allowed to participate in the aspects of the culture. Isaiah thus says that all are unclean and unable to participate in the things of God. We put on an appearance of righteousness. We try to be holy and be good citizens, but before God it is a filthy garment or a menstrual cloth. Our sins have so polluted us that there are terrible stains that have been imbedded in the fabric of our soul that cannot be removed. Though we try to cleanse them, we just make the stains worse, for they cannot be cleansed by the efforts of sinful men. Isaiah says that we become like the leaf the fades or falls. As soon as it detaches from the branch, it is blown wherever the wind blows. So goes man. His nature leads him in a direction of which he is ultimately enslaved. He goes in the path in which his depraved nature takes him.

Isaiah does not leave us in despair though. He tells us that Christ bore our iniquities. They were placed upon Him by God and born on the behalf of those who are His elect. Christ did this on behalf of those who were incapable of doing it for themselves. This is what set true Biblical Christianity apart from all other religions and even all other “Christian” professions.

DAY 3: John 3:67

In this passage, Jesus is talking with Nicodemas and is emphasizing the need for a new birth. He is speaking to him about the need for a birth from above. However, Nicodemas has trouble understanding this because he seems to be looking at the instruction of the Lord as something physical or outwardly that he can do. Jesus does not communicate this to him at all.

Jesus tells him that a new birth that comes from the Spirit is not man’s doing. He says that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Jesus tells us later on in John chapter six that the flesh profits nothing. The flesh has no capability of being pleasing to God. As we saw from Isaiah 64:6, our own iniquities drive us out of the path of God like a leaf being blown in the wind.

However, Jesus does tell us that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Then he told Nicodemas that he should not marvel that one must be born again. Nicodemas was a teacher of Israel. He was of the elite class of Pharisees and should have known this concept. The new birth was not some New Testament doctrine that had not yet been revealed, but was rather, an Old Testament doctrine that was hated and despised because it was not controllable and obtainable. Jesus said that men were not in control of the new birth. He equates the new birth with the wind blowing. Though we cannot see the wind, we do see evidence that the wind is blowing. Jesus says it is the same way with those of whom the Spirit of God has given the new birth.

Why is the new birth necessary? Jesus’ words clearly tell us that the flesh does not, nor can it produce what is acceptable to God. Man’s problem is that he is so corrupt that he does not believe God and obey him. Therefore, he is under condemnation (vs. 18), hates the truth that exposes his sin (vs. 20), and remains under the wrath of God (vs. 36).

Our own sin has so deceived us that we will not even want to obey God from a pure heart unless we have the new birth. All of our other attempts at inheriting the kingdom will be fruitless apart from the Holy Spirit giving us what we so desperately need for our eyes to be open and truly see our own sinfulness and turn to God through Jesus Christ.

DAY 4: Ephesians 2:1-3

Chapter two of Ephesians is, to me, one of the greatest chapters of the Bible. It is so clear about man and so clear about God and how salvation is wrought in the heart of the believer. Paul opens in verse one after telling us in chapter one that God is the initiator and builder of his kingdom by predestining those who will come to faith in His Son. He is the one who is able to choose those whom He wishes to set His love upon and show favor to. He is the one who is able to take sinful men and make them into sons of God that they might inherit the riches of His grace. In verse one of chapter two, Paul tells us what kind of men God chooses, for His only glory, to make His children. He chooses dead trespassers and dead sinners. You have to hand it to God, when He does something, it is spectacular. He chooses the most imaginable people to display His glory.

Paul uses the word nekros here for dead. In the context, it simply means, “to be dead spiritually or to be destitute of a life that recognizes and is devoted to God”. All of us come into the world like this and, apart from the grace of God, we will all leave this world in that condition.

Verse two tells us that we conduct ourselves a certain way. We walk according to the course of the world. We are those who follow after the wisdom of those who are of the flesh rather than the one who made and instructed us. We also follow after the evil one, Satan. He is the prince of the power of the air, who works in the sons of disobedience. We were also sons of disobedience.

Verse three tells us the practical ways our conduct was carried out. Notice that our conduct comes from the inside out. Paul says that our conversation, or our lifestyle, was one that was caught up in the lusts of the flesh. The concept of lusts of the flesh is really a simply one. It is the desires and cravings that come from the carnal mind. It is those “impulses”, if you will, that seem to come from nowhere to be dwelt upon in our minds. Unfortunately, our lusts do not just stay bottled up inside of us. Paul says that we fulfill them. They become such a craving within us that they become desires. Desires have to do with the will. While lusts can be defined as standard equipment on the depraved nature, it is the will that becomes bent on fulfilling the lusts. And so it does. The flesh speaks to that which is sensuous and the mind speaks to that which is our thought life. We are often able to indulge in sinful activity, not only with our physical body, but also with the power of our own minds. God has made us where we can “act out” certain things within our own minds. Thus we are corrupt sinfully at the core of our very being.

The text goes on to say that we are by nature children of wrath. It is our natural inkling to come under the wrath of God, not the grace of God. That’s pretty profound for our day. We somehow think that God is not fair if the latter does not precede the first. However, there must be the bad news of God’s judgment before there can really be the good news of His grace. And so, Paul gives us the good news of His grace in verses 4-10. Share this with your family.

DAY 5: 1 Corinthians 2:14

We have covered this passage before, but it’s been a while so I thought we would give a brief overview of what the text is saying in light of the question this week. I think it is most beneficial.

Paul has been telling the Corinthians that he is sharing with them, not the wisdom of men, but the wisdom of God. However, verse twelve tells us that we are the ones who receive the things he is teaching. The “we” I am referring to is believers. Why? Because he says that we have received the Spirit who is from God.

Paul goes on to say that the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. The natural man refers to the person who is not a believer. He is one who thinks the things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to him. Paul uses the word moria, which is where we get our word moron from. He is implying that the unbeliever is not able to understand the significance of the things that God has said.

We also looked at before the phrase “nor can he know them”. The phrase carries a Greek absolute negative in it which means that the phrase is saying, “He cannot know them”. The things of God are impossible for him to know. Why? Because they are spiritually discerned. Paul uses the word pneumatikos for spiritually. We get our terms for pneumatic from this word. Its root word means "to breath or to blow, as in the wind." This refers back to what we looked at in John chapter three, where the Holy Spirit’s work is likened to the wind.

The passage thus shows that man is totally engrossed in his sin and captivated by it to such an extent that it literally takes an act of God to bring him out of it so that he can even understand his own sin and the true holy character of God.