The Fall of Man (5)

Well, it's been a while, a couple weeks since we've been together on Wednesday nights. I appreciate Pastor Simmons taking care of last Wednesday evening. We're going to jump back into our study on what the Bible teaches about man and sin. And we have been camped out in Genesis chapter 3 for the last four times together. And I think tonight will finish it, I think. Chapter 3 of Genesis is worth spending time on. Especially if you're talking about man and sin, this is the pivotal chapter in all the Bible. And really the most foundational chapter in all of the Bible when it comes to talking about what happened to man and what sin all about because this chapter really explains the need for the rest of the Bible. And the reason for God's redemptive plan, the reason for Christ coming into the world to be our Savior is all rooted in chapter 3. And you can't really understand what happens in redemption unless you understand what happened in the fall. And so Genesis chapter 3 is critical to our understanding, very foundational to our understanding of what's wrong with us that is fixed and remedied in God's amazing plan of salvation and redemption through Christ and His sacrificial death on the cross. So what we've been looking at in the last two or three weeks is the results of the fall. What happened to the human race and really all of creation because of Adam and Eve's sin? What was the result? What happened? And so far we have looked at eight of 11 consequences of the fall. We're going to look at the last three hopefully tonight. But let's go ahead and review those eight just very quickly. The first judgment because of the fall was on the snake. And we talked about that and the difference in the that creature because of its role in being used by Satan and the temptation. But the deeper judgment was upon the serpent, Satan himself. And then there was God's judgment upon Eve and women and upon nature and mankind that we saw as a result of the fall. Then the fifth far reaching judgment and consequence was increased mental and physical toil. The sixth was a changed diet and we saw that probably before the fall man ate from the fruit of the tree of life and other fruit in the garden. It was fruit of the tree of life. It was the perfect nutritional food for mankind to keep him living forever in a healthy state. And other fruits probably did not even eat of plants before the fall because a part of the judgment was now you will eat of the plants of the field. Plants that you grow in a garden if you will. And so man's diet was changed. And of course meat was not introduced until after the flood. We saw that a little bit too. Then the seventh change that we saw last time was physical death. Not immediately, but it was put into motion the processes which would lead to physical death. And then number eight, man was excluded from the garden. And we saw that that was first of all an act of judgment. It really visibly demonstrated man's breach of fellowship with God being excluded from the place where he walked with him in the cool of the day and fellowship with God. So it was a visible reminder of that break. But it also was an act of mercy because as we saw man could no longer eat of the tree of life and gained that nutritional food that would keep him living. And so it was actually an act of mercy as well. So that's where we left off last time. Let's begin with this one and we're going to spend a good bit of time on this one because this really. Theologically informs what happened to us as a result of the fall. And that is a changed relationship with God. Now there's a whole lot packed into that. A changed relationship with God. So let's dig into it and explore it a little bit. Let me get us started and then we'll throw it open for questions and comments that you have. There are four ramifications, four consequences of this changed relationship with God. The first being spiritual death. One of the ways a significant basic way that our relationship with God changed is that spiritual death is now introduced into the equation as far as man's relationship with God is concerned. Now spiritual death is so basic and foundational to our understanding of everything else in the Bible. We're going to take a little bit of time to describe what that means because there are two arms of spiritual death. One is separation from God. Now that at the basic level is what spiritual death is, separation from God. The meaning of death in the Bible involves separation. That's what death is. The essence of death is separation. In physical death there is a separation of the immaterial part of man from the material part. Often just spoken of the separation of the soul or the spirit from the body. That's what physical death is. Now it is possible scientists use doctors, use different measurements of when a person dies. If there's any remaining brain activity, if there's any pulmonary activity and so forth. But they cannot measure except by the physical consequences of when the spirit actually leaves the body. But physical death occurs when there is a separation of the spirit of man from the body. So in its essence, at its very core, death means separation. So if physical death involves that kind of separation, then what would you expect spiritual death means? So what separation is involved in spiritual death? What happened to Adam and Eve? What kind of separation happened? Separation from God. And it's more than just separation from God. It is separation from spiritual life because spiritual life originates with God, doesn't it? A couple of verses that indicate quite plainly that this spiritual death includes and really means separation from God. First of all, Isaiah 59 and verse 2 where Isaiah is talking to the nation of Israel as a whole blanket statement about the nation of Israel. Your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden in space from you so that he will not hear. What's the problem in Israel when they cry out to God in the temple? The problem is their spiritual relationships have been cut off because of sin they no longer have a relationship with God so that he does not hear them. Your sins, your iniquities have separated you from your God. Paul makes this very plain statement in Ephesians 4 verse 18 about unbelievers. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. There's a whole sequence of phrases he uses there to describe what's wrong with us and it really affects every part of us as we'll see in a moment when we talk about another arm of spiritual death. Paul makes it quite clear that part of the problem with mankind as far as his relationship with God is he is separated from the life of God. So separation from God is the first element of spiritual death. Any questions there comments on that concept? That's pretty basic. Pretty self-explanatory. Any questions? Tommy? I don't know if I can tell you that he's been talking about a guy who's been living in prison and he's kept in mind God, he said, he's dead male and said that he's sick and he's dead. They know what's in her heart and she's free. So that's telling the body and the health. That made a separate level of damage in the health and that's how it goes. And certainly an evidence of that darkening of the understanding that Paul talks about. You see, we're going to see in just a moment we're going to talk about total depravity that every part of us has been affected by the fall. Nothing has been left out, including the mind. And so when people deny that there's a God, that's just a symptom of separation from God of how the mind has been affected by the fall has been twisted, perverted, depraved because of the fall. And that's why the Psalmist says in Psalm 14, Paul repeats it in Romans 3, the fool has said in his heart there is no God. And the fool is not a mentally deficient person who doesn't have a third degree education, that's not a fool in the Bible. The fool is someone who does not understand life from God's perspective. That's a fool, according to Proverbs. So just a symptom, an evidence of the separation from God. Okay, anything else there? Before we move into a very important truth to understand. Yeah, especially in the sense that you're speaking of Bob there in Galatians 5 where the flesh is used not of the physical body but of the sinful nature. And there is that battle between our spirit which has been quickened and were indwelt with the Holy Spirit and that sinful nature, there's that constant pulling and battling inside. Yeah, Paul describes that in very graphic terms. Okay, the second arm of spiritual death is what theologians called depravity or total depravity. Now the word depravity simply means the word literally means a perverse or twisting of man's nature. And basically the idea is that our nature is polluted because of sin. We have our human nature is now polluted because of sin. And when people speak of total depravity, what theologians mean by that, and we're going to see some things that it doesn't mean and things that it does mean in just a moment. But basically what people mean by that when they say total depravity is not that you're as bad as you can get but that but every part of you is affected by the fall. There's nothing that is not affected by the fall. You are totally polluted by the fall in the sense that if you go back to the beginning of our study when we talk about the different parts of man, the immaterial and material part, your body is affected by the fall. That's obvious. It's decaying and dying and everything else. But every part of your immaterial part, your heart, soul, mind, emotions, will, conscience, everything, everything. Every part of you that is found in that immaterial part is affected by the fall. So it's not just depravity is so important to understand because it doesn't mean that, okay, I'm just unsaved. No, it means that the way you think, the way you feel, the way you choose, the actions of your will, the inclinations of your will, all of that and everything else you are has been polluted by the fall. So none of it works right. You know, it's not just your body that doesn't work right. It's not just nature that doesn't work right because of man's sin. It's your mind and your heart and your emotions and your will and everything else is messed up. It's been twisted and polluted because of the fall. That's why we are such a mess. God did not intend us to live that way but we're such a mess because of the fall. So that's what is meant by total depravity. Now I want to explore that a little bit more by what depravity does not mean and then what it does mean. But let's get that basic concept first that toe when theologians speak of total depravity, they're talking about every part of you as a human being is polluted by the fall. Nothing is left untouched by sin. That's pretty tragic. Okay, questions or comments there? Okay, let's talk a little bit more, let's parse this out a little bit more carefully and split it out a little bit more finely. When we talk about depravity, let's talk first about what it does not mean. The fact that sin has affected every part of us and we are totally in that sense depravity that does not mean that unsaved people never desire to do good. Doesn't mean that. Put some verses on the screen for you. This one is Romans 2, 14 and 15. Paul's talking about Gentiles who do not have the law of God. They're unreached. Do not have a Bible. He says, indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves. Now what that means is that becomes their accountability to God even though they may not have the word when they do by nature, by inclination, by that choice of desiring to do something that is morally good, then that becomes the basis of God's judgment and condemnation. So they become a law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, the word of God. They show the requirement, they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts. Their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them. Now we dissected that verse back when we were talking about the different parts of man's nature. Remember we were talking about how the heart, the conscience and the mind work together, all three of them in this verse, and they all three God and Ten intended them to work together. And there are cases where even unsaved people understand what is the right thing to do in certain situations. They grasp the principles that are found in the Bible, and we're going to see it's muddied by a lot of other things in just a moment, but unsaved people sometimes have an inclination or desire to do morally good things. A couple of examples in the Bible. Let me ask you, can you think of any examples in the Bible of unsaved people who did what would be at least accepted as morally good. Now I'm not talking about gaining merit before God. I'm not talking about anything that would gain you merit or please God, but that would be seen in the eyes of people as being morally good. Any examples? To a good example, a parental love for a child is an expression of the law of God written on people's hearts to give of themselves for the benefit of another their children. Okay, good Samaritan. We don't know anything about him spiritually, but Jesus was certainly picking a person that the Jews would despise to be the good guy in the story. I'm thinking of a couple of other people. Okay. Okay, part of her putting Joseph into prison probably did not believe everything his wife had said, but to say face gave him a lesser punishment than what the crime deserved in Egypt. So he was choosing a moral good path there. What about what about Saul of Tarsus? You remember Paul's testimony in Philippians 3? Let me make sure I get the wording right probably best just to look at it. In Philippians 3, he's talking about his pedigree as a Pharisee and one comment he makes in verse 8, he says as per zeal, persecute you to the church, as for righteousness based on the law, fought less. Is that mean Paul could work his way to heaven? No, no, no, no, not by any stretch of the imagination, but Paul kept the law morally and was morally clean. Okay, thoughtless. Another example I'm thinking of is Cornelius. Cornelius and Acts chapter 10. The Bible says he was a God-fearing man. He prayed and gave gifts to the poor. And God responds to that by getting him in contact with Peter. Remember the story? He sends for Peter done in Japa. God speaks to an angel to Cornelius. He goes in for a man in Japa and Peter comes up and gives him the gospel. Now, please don't misunderstand that. It doesn't mean that God looked at Cornelius and said, you're a good man, so that's good enough for me. I'll save you. He did not contribute to his salvation at all by the good things he was doing. But the Bible says God looked upon those good things and gave him more light, gave him the gospel. Now, is God obligated to do that with everybody that lives up to a moral standard? No. But in that case, God did. God chose to do that. I think Cornelius is an example. So, the gravity does not mean that an unsafe person never desires to do morally good things. Okay? Comments or questions? Okay? Yeah. There are lots of folks like that. Some of the most kind people you ever know are unbelievers. Okay. Now, some of you're getting a little nervous here. I can tell. We're going to get to what it does mean in a minute and you're going to see that none of that does us any good before God. Okay. And that's what the gravity really does mean. But unsafe people can choose to do morally good things and desire to do that. And secondly, the gravity does not mean that unsafe people do nothing that is good. Matthew 23, 23. Again, I'm not saying they do anything that merits favor with God, but as far as choosing a good moral action, the gravity does not exclude that. In Matthew 23, 23, Jesus said to the Pharisees, what do you teachers the law and Pharisees? You hypocrites. You give a tenth of your spices, mint, dull, and common, but you've neglected the more important matters, the law of justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. So, is Jesus saying by giving the tenth they were doing a good thing, that was a good thing? It doesn't save them. It doesn't merit any favor with God, but it was a good action. It was a good, and Jesus said you should do that. You should keep doing that. The problem was they neglected the matters of the heart. They misunderstood the purpose of the law. So, the gravity does not mean that unsafe people never do anything that is morally good. Third thing, the gravity does not mean that unsafe people are as bad as they can be. It doesn't mean that they're as bad as they can be. We always got room to get worse. Second Timothy 313 says this, while evil doers and imposter will go from bad to worse. Now notice, it's not just talking about deceiving and being deceived. It's not just talking about culture as a whole will get worse. There'll be more acts of sin. Not saying that. It's saying individual people, imposter and evil doers will degrade further into lower levels of sin. They will go from bad to worse, which indicates there are different levels of wickedness and iniquity. So, depravity does not mean that unsafe people are as bad as they can be because the scriptures say they can go from bad to worse. They can get worse. I think we all would testify to that. Let me give you a couple more real quick and then we're going to get to what it does mean because I'm afraid we're going to leave you hanging here. Number four, depravity does not mean that the unsafe people commit all kinds of sins. Not every person commits every sin. Some people are too proud to get drunk. They're pride is a sin, but they would never be found guilty of drunkenness. So it doesn't mean unsafe people commit all kinds of sin. Every kind of sin. Fifthly, depravity does not mean that unsafe people have all sinned in the same way or to the same degree. Again, that is clear from examples in the scripture. So when we say that people are totally depraved, we're not saying that unsafe people never do anything morally good. We're not saying that they are as bad as they can be. They just absolutely can't get any worse. We're not saying that they commit all kinds of sins or that everybody sins in the same way and to the same degree. We're not saying that. Total depravity has to do with the fact that our nature is polluted to the core. And every part of us is involved. Every part of us is included. Now what does the property mean? Okay. Number one, the property means that even our good deeds can be wrongly motivated. Okay, now there's a lot more that I'm going to say, but this is a little piece of the pie. When unsafe people do morally good deeds, not always, but sometimes it is possible that even those good deeds are wrongly motivated. The motivation for doing those good deeds is sinful. And that just shows how polluted we are, that even when we do good things sometimes we do them for sinful reasons, not for God's glory. But for selfish ends we got an agenda. We're working an angle. We're manipulating a situation even through something that we may do that is a good deed. Now here's an example, three examples that Jesus gives of the Pharisees in Matthew 6. Look at these three examples on the screen. So when you give to the needy, is giving to the needy a good thing? Of course it is. But when you give to the needy he says, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by others. Truly I tell you they have received their reward in full. Here's the problem. You can give to the needy, but do it to be noticed. And if the motive is impure, that just shows your depravity. Okay, so even an unsaved person can do a good deed, but do it for the wrong reasons and have impure selfish, prideful motives. Jesus gives a couple of other examples for of the Pharisees, verse 5. When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. Well they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you they have received their reward in full. In other words, if your motive for praying is to be heard and recognized as a really good prayer, you know, if that's your reason, if that's your motive, then you have no reward in heaven. You got your reward. You got what you were looking for. You have no reward from God. So you did a good thing, but you did it with an impure motive. And then the third example of Jesus gives us in verse 16. When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you they have received their reward in full. So this is just a little piece of the puzzle. It's not the whole issue in depravity. We're getting to some of those right now. But a piece of the puzzle is that even the morally good actions of an unsafe person can be polluted because of their motivation for doing those good things. So it's not just the actions that God looks at. It's the motivation behind those actions that can also spring from a polluted depraved nature. The second thing depravity does mean is this and this is very important to understand theologically good deeds do not gain anyone a righteous standing before God. That is at the core of what depravity is all about. There is nothing you can do to earn any merit with God to gain a righteous standing before God. Now look at how Isaiah says this and a very familiar verse Isaiah 646. All of us have become like one who is unclean. That's the gravity. And all our righteous acts that he admits that there are righteous acts from morally unclean people. But all of those righteous acts are like filthy rags. We all struggle up like a leaf like the wind or like the wind or send sweep us away. The point here being that even good moral actions which unsafe people do gain no merit before God. So depravity does mean that our good deeds contribute nothing to a righteous standing before God. Now I know what some of you are thinking. You are thinking Romans 3. There is none good, no not one. And that is not saying that unsafe people do not do morally good actions. It is talking about the heart, the nature, there is none good. There is none that doeth good as far as a righteous standing before God. Okay, that whole context in Romans 3 is about how you get righteousness from God. Starts back in chapter 1. He is proving that we are all sinners. We can't get righteous on our own. That is the issue. And that is what I am talking about here. No good deed, no good moral action by anyone will ever make them righteous before God. That is why we can't be saved by our works. And in that sense as far as gaining a righteous standing before God, none of us are good and nobody ever does any good. Okay, in that theological sense which is the sense of which Paul is talking in Romans 3. I want to give some time for questions. So let me get these last two. And number 3. What depravity does mean is that we have all sinned and we are all capable of doing what we are doing. We are all under the right conditions of the worst of sins. Oye, after this read Romans 3 and that passage talks about how we are all unclean, none righteous, no not one. And then he gives all kinds of examples. Our speech, our actions, everything. And that is the total pollution of sin and how it has affected us. So we are capable, even though we may not do the worst despicable sins, every person is capable of that. So none of us should ever think that we are any better than anyone else. We all have the same depraved nature. We are all totally, every part of us corrupted by sin and under the right conditions we are capable of the worst of sins. And Romans 3 paints that picture clearly of all of mankind. And here's the kicker, here's the icing on the cake. The depravity does mean that we have no hope of recovery in ourselves. Absolutely no hope of recovery in ourselves. And that's what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2. I don't have this one on the screen for you, but it is so critical to understanding of depravity. In Ephesians 2 Paul says, as for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. In other words, there is no life spiritually and no hope that you can do anything to get life spiritually. You cannot contribute to your salvation in any way. That's what spiritual death means. So you're dead in your transgressions and sins. In which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world, the ruler of the kingdom of Ayurveda, the spirit of his network and those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh, following its desires and thoughts. Notice cravings, desires, thoughts again, total depravity, everything polluted. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. And then he says, in verse 8, for it is by grace you've been saved through faith and this, the whole package of salvation does not originate with you. It's not from yourself. It is not initiated by you. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. And he says in verse 12, remember that at the time you were separate from Christ, excluded from the citizenship and Israel, foreigners to the covenants of the promise without hope and without God in this present world. So depravity does mean I have no hope of saving myself to any degree. There's no hope of recovery in me. That's why Paul says in Romans 7, 18, I think we do have this one on the screen for you. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me. That is in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good. We saw that earlier, but I cannot carry it out. In other words, there is nothing in me that raises me up toward God and can gain me any degree of merit before God. That is depravity. Every part of me is tainted by sin. Even my motivations, I cannot in any sense or to any degree gain any part of a righteous standing before God on my own. It has to be done by God. That's what depravity is. I've taken a lot of time to describe it and you may have questions swirling. I haven't given you a lot of time for it. Let's take those now. Bill, a reward for... I guess I would say Bill that if we do something with the awareness of the angle that we're trying to work with, or the impure motive, obviously we've just discredited the whole reward for that action. The motive is impure. It's wood hay and stubble. It's going to be burned up at the judgment of Christ. If I did something purely for the glory of God and later I recognized, you don't God blessed me for that. No, that's different. That's different. I'm not sure that really is the essence of what you're asking, but there's a fine line there. Any obedience to God does bless us and is good for us. There's nothing wrong with rejoicing in God's blessing and favor because of our obedience. But if I say, if I do this, then I'll get this. That becomes my motivation rather than the glory of God, then I cancel out. I don't get rewarded for that. That's an impure motive. I think that's where I would land on that. Tommy? No, you won't lose the reward for what you did good. If at the time you did it, it was for the glory of God. If later on you speak up in a prideful way, you just committed a sin. See how that works? You'll still be rewarded for the good thing you did for the glory of God. But when later you speak up it pridefully, you just shocked yourself in the foot. But in that moment, if you're trying to witness to somebody, you're going about it all wrong with pride. So you're chasing for pride. Sure, yeah, that's pride as well. Exactly. We are totally dependent on the grace of God every moment we live or we'll mess up everything because we are totally polluted, totally depraved. Very. It's in us to have a pure motive. I would say it is in us to the extent that the Holy Spirit is prompting that. But the flesh is not prompting that it doesn't come from me. No pure motive comes from me. That's why Paul says nothing good dwells in my sinful nature. So there's no pure motive in me. No, any pure motive is motivated by the Holy Spirit as any act of obedience would be. Yes, Kisti. Kisti just made a great point. I don't know if you were able to hear it in the back, but Kisti said, don't you think we're going to be surprised in heaven at what we're rewarded for not rewarded for because we're not really able to determine our motives, whether or not we're really doing this out of a pure motive. And that's exactly what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4 about people who were judging his motives. He says in 1 Corinthians 4, he says this is this thing is how you ought to regard us as servants of Christ. And as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed, it's required that those have been given such trust must prove faithful. And he says in verse 3, I carry very little if I'm judged by you or by any human court. Indeed, I do not even judge myself. And that's exactly what he's talking about. Kisti is, I'm not really able to make clear judgments about my own motives, but notice what he says next. He says, my conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time. Wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time, each will receive their praise from God. So I think you're right on target. I don't know that any of us can say with any degree of absolute certainty. I know that I'll be rewarded for this. I think Paul is saying, I'm not sure I can judge my own motives. Again, my capacity to deserve, which is a part of my spirit or my mind is affected by the fall. Right? That's part of total gravity. So even that part of me is affected by the fall. So I'm not sure that I can rightly evaluate the purity of my motives. That's why Paul says, I know some of you folks are judging me for things I've done or said, Paul says, obviously he didn't enjoy that, but he said, that's really not of any consequence because I really can't be sure myself. It's the Lord who judges. So let's wait till he sorts it all out and he'll do it right. I think that is a very critical point. If you do something in secret, nobody knows anything about it, but God, that is purely for the glory of God, if that was your motive in doing it. But again, again, I found myself a couple of times in my life thinking I was doing something like that and then find myself thinking, wasn't that great? Nobody ever know about this. That's how subtle pride is. Pride comes in and starts congratulating, patting you on the back. And so can I really judge my own motives? Let's just wait and let the Lord do that. I think that's what it is. One thing I know that we will be judged for is the Oana workers will judge us severely for going five minutes over. So we better stop. Okay. Let's stop. The great questions. We'll maybe get back to some of them next time. We didn't finish Genesis 3. Promise we will next week. All right. Let's pray. Father, thank you for being able to delve into your word. It's not pretty what we see about ourselves. So Lord, I pray that our study tonight will cast us more fully upon your grace, recognizing how dependent we are upon your grace. Without your grace, nothing good would happen to us. Certainly would not come from us. So thank you, Father, for that recognition. Keep us mindful of that every day that we live in Jesus' name. Amen.