Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Fall of Creation
Gen. 3:1-21“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” vs 7
Satan's plan was to draw Adam and Eve to sin, and even now his plan upon the faithful is to separate us from God. The devil was from the beginning a cheater and the great mischief-maker. Knowingly or unknowingly, we often fall into the traps of Satan.
God created man without a corrupt nature within, to betray him; but given the heavenly wisdom and freedom to distinguish the good and the bad, a full-strength, which is not weakened or impaired. But man turned aside quickly and drew all his posterity into sin and ruin for the entire mankind. Adam and Eve saw the folly of eating the forbidden fruit. They saw the happiness they fell from, the misery they had fallen into, and the curse that was bestowed upon them by God.
They saw a loving God provoked, His grace and favor forfeited. The dishonor, trouble, and the mischief sin makes wherever it gets in, and destroys all comfort. Sooner the sin will bring shame; either the shame of true repentance, which ends in glory or that shame and everlasting contempt, to which the wicked shall be subject to on that great day.
Like Adam, we have reason to be afraid of approaching God, if we are not covered and clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Sin appears most plainly, therefore God set it before Adam; and thus we should see it ourselves. But instead of acknowledging the sin to its full extent, and taking shame to themselves, Adam and Eve excuse the sin, and lay the shame and blame on others. We also do the same, find fault with others for our iniquities and sinful nature.
Heaven and hell can never be reconciled, nor light and darkness; no more can Satan and a sanctified soul. Also, there is a continued struggle between the sinful and the godly in this world. A gracious promise made of Christ, as the deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan.
God gave the earth to the children of men, to be a comfortable dwelling; but it is now cursed due to man's sin. We can observe the steps of the transgression: not steps upward, but downward toward the pit. There are many temptations to which being alone gives us a great advantage, but the communion of saints tends very much to their strength and safety.
God bid man go out; told him he should no longer occupy and enjoy that garden: but man liked the place, and was unwilling to leave it, therefore God made him go out. This signified the shutting out of him, and all his guilty race, from that communion with God, which was the bliss and glory of paradise.
The sum and substance of this chapter we see in Rom. 5:12: "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Like Adam and Eve, we are also trying to cover ourselves from our sin with different outwards expressions of faith. James says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). Faith without works is a dead faith because the lack of works reveals an unchanged life or a spiritually dead heart.
Prayer
Lord, help us to overcome the sinful nature in which we are immersed and to live faithful witnesses to glorify your name. Amen
Thought for the Day
The fall of man did not introduce evil, it placed us on the wrong side of it, under its rule, needing rescue. N.D. Wilson
Lal Varghese, Esq.
Dallas Farmers Branch