LESSON 7

February 16, 2020

THE FALL OF HUMANKIND

GOLDEN TEXT

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death
through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned”
(Rom 5:12)

USEFUL PRACTICE
In sinning against God, man lost complete dominion over creation and
became vulnerable to death; but in Christ we have the kingdom and
eternal life.

SCRIPTURE READING
Genesis 3:1-7

1 - Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals
the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You
must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 - The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the
garden,
3 - but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the
middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 - “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 - “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
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.
7 - 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.
 GENERAL OBJECTIVE
To raise awareness of the severity of the fall of humankind.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
I - To relate free will with divine sovereignty;

II - To present the Fall as a historical and literal event;

III - To point out the consequences of the fall of Adam.

INTRODUCTION
We will study today the most tragic chapter in history: the fall of
humankind. Throughout the lesson, we will show that the narrative of
Adam and Eve's sin, far from being a parable, was a real event whose
literalness cannot be questioned, as it is endorsed throughout the Bible.
We will first examine free will and its implications for human experience.
Then we will find out about the Fall itself. And next we will focus on the
consequences of Adam’s rebellion. It is, therefore, an essential subject for
the study of the doctrine of man, as found in the Holy Bible. May the Holy
Spirit enlighten us to understand this lesson!

I – THE FREE WILL OF HUMAN BEINGS

In this topic, we will define free will. Then we will look at its relationship to God’s
sovereignty, and, finally, deal with human responsibility to divine ordinances.
1. Free will.
It is the gift we have received from God, through which we can
unimpededly choose between good and evil (Deut. 28:1; Josh 24:15; 1
Kings 18:21; Heb. 4:7). Without free will, we would not be what we are
today: autonomous beings, aware of our own existence and place in
God's created universe.
2. Divine sovereignty.
It is the absolute, unrestricted and unquestionable right that God has over
all his creation (Exodus 9:29; Deut. 10:14; Ps 135:6). Therefore, the Lord
acts as He pleases. In his hands we are clay; He is the sovereign potter
(Jer. 18:6). It is not for us to question the sovereignty of the Almighty
(Rom. 9:20). He is God and Lord!
We should not, on the other hand, view divine sovereignty as despotic
and tyrannical, because all God's actions are grounded in His love,
justice, and wisdom. What He does now we will only come to understand
later (John 13:7). Let us, therefore, rest in the divine will (Ps. 37:5).
3. Human responsibility.
Between free will and divine sovereignty lies our responsibility (Jer.
35:13). There is no doubt that God allows us the right to obey or not to
obey his commandments (Deut. 11:13). However, He will one day hold us
accountable for our choices (Eccl. 11:9; 12:14). Judgment Day is not
fiction; it is the reality that awaits the human race in the consummation of
all things (Rev. 20:11-15).
ll - THE FALL, A HISTORICAL AND LITERAL EVENT
The apostasy of Adam and Eve came as a result of the conflict between human free
will and divine sovereignty. In this episode, there was the possibility of the fall, the
reality of temptation and the historicity of the fall.
1. The possibility of the fall.
In his unquestionable sovereignty, God created Adam and Eve free,
allowing them the right to obey him or not. However, the Lord's command
concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was quite clear
(Gen. 2:16, 17). If they chose to ignore it, they would have to bear the
consequences of their act: spiritual death followed by physical death.
2. The reality of temptation.
When tempted by the serpent, Eve was deceived by Satan's old, well-
designed lie — the possibility of man becoming a god (Gen. 3:1-6; 2 Cor.
11:3). In the following minute, Adam and Eve sinned against God (1 Tim.
2:14). In view of Adam's prominence, he was held accountable for sin
entering the world (Rom. 5:12).
3. The historicity of the Fall.
The narrative of the fall of man must be taken literally, because the book
of Genesis is not a collection of mythological parables, but a reliable
historical account (2 Cor. 11:3; Rom. 15:4). Let us deal with the Holy Bible
with fear and shuddering — the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and complete
Word of God.
Ill - The consequences of Adam’s fall

Because of their rebellion against the Lord, the human race had to shoulder heavy
burdens: the sinful conscience, the loss of communion with God, the transmission of
sin to subsequent generations, the sickness of the earth, and, finally, physical death.

1. The sinful conscience.

In tempting the woman, the old serpent promised her divine omniscience,
but what our parents inherited was a sinful conscience that generated
dead works (Gen. 3:1-6; Titus 1:15; Heb. 9:14). Sin causes us to lose the
light in our eyes and physical strength (Ps. 31:10; Ps. 32: 3). This is why
man must be born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5).
2. The loss of communion with God.
As a result of their sin, Adam and Eve were expelled from the presence of
God (Gen. 3:23, 24). From then on they could no longer live in the
Garden of Eden, where they talked to the Lord on a daily basis (Gen.
3:8). But though they had offended God, they continued to be the target
of his immense, eternal, and infinite love (John 3:16).
Since the Fall, in order to resume communion with God, human beings
have to approach him by faith (Heb. 11:6). In this resumption, we are not
alone. Jesus Christ is our effective mediator (Rom. 5:1). He is the True
God and True Man (1 Tim. 2:5).
3. The transmission of sin to humankind.
As Adam was the father of the entire human race, his sin eventually
reached all mankind (Rom. 3:23; 5:12). What we call "original sin" has
universally contaminated humanity. Even the newborn baby already
carries this seed (Psalm 51:5). Although the child, in the phase of
innocence, does not have the experience of sin, Adam’s iniquity is
impregnated within it, ready to be awakened. Only in Christ can we
overcome both original and experimental sin (1 John 1:7).
Many children are taken away by God, in the phase of innocence, despite
the iniquity of their parents (1 Kings 14:13). Among those who died
without experiencing sin are the innocent little ones murdered by Herod
(Matt. 2:16).
4. The sickness of the earth.
Because of Adam's sin, even the earth itself has become sick. Expelled
from Eden, Adam would have to work harder to provide for his daily living
(Gen. 3:17). Since then our planet has been going through famines,
earthquakes and floods (Matt. 24:7).
In his Epistle to the Romans, the apostle Paul describes the earth as
groaning because of the forecasts of the last things (Rom. 8:22). But
when the Kingdom of God is manifested, soon after the Great Tribulation,
the planet will be healed of all its sicknesses (Isa. 35).
5. Physical death.
Man was not created to experience physical death. In this sense, we can
say that we were created to be immortal; with the possibility of living
forever (Gen. 2:17). Not only eternity but also immortality were within
human beings.
Death is the saddest consequence of sin (Rom. 6:23). However, the worst
death someone can experience is eternal separation from God, the
second death (Rev. 2:11; 20:6). As for us, death will have no effect on
those who have already received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior,
because He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).

CONCLUSION
Two events marked the doctrine of man in the Holy Scriptures: Creation
and the Fall. At first, Adam's sin brought serious consequences to
Creation. However, God was never surprised by any event. He is not a
reactive being, nor does he improvise. No process, whether in heaven or
on earth, has ever surprised him, because He is the Supreme Being par
excellence. He is what He is: the eternally blessed God.
In order to clean man's sin up, God, in his foreknowledge, had already set
apart the Immaculate Lamb from the foundation of the world to redeem us
from all sins (Rev. 13:8).