FAQs Mondays: What Went Wrong?

"FAQs Mondays" is an ongoing series of posts based on an adaptation of The Baptist Catechism.  You can view the original documents from which it is drawn: here, here, and here.  Previous posts include: "the Introduction", "What Is the Chief End of Man?", "Who Is God?", "What is the Word?", "What is God?", and "How Does God Work within His Creation?". Reflecting on how God works within his creation drives us to ask, "If God created a perfect world, and has the ability to sustain it, what went wrong?".

Did our first parents continue in their original condition?

Our first parents having been left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the innocent condition in which they were created, by sinning against God by eating the forbidden fruit.  Genesis 3:1-7, recounts the events of the fall.  The serpent beguiles Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, and she in turn provokes Adam to eat.  When they ate, "The eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked.  And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths" (Gen. 3:7, ESV).  Solomon shares his take on the situation with these words, "See, this alone I have found, that God made man upright, bu they have sought out many schemes" (Eccl. 7:29, ESV). Paul states, "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12, ESV).  Thus, Adam's sin unlocked the doors of death and destruction upon all mankind.  But what is "sin?"

What is Sin?

Sin is any lack of conformity to, or transgression of, the law of God.  John states it succinctly, "sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4b, ESV).  Peter expresses what conformity looks like with these words: "Since it is written, 'You shall be holy, as I am holy'" (1 Pet. 1:16, ESV).  Thus, we are to be as holy as God is himself, and yet we are far from it.  Our lives are to be lived solely for the glory of God.  As Paul reminds us, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).  Yet, daily we fail to do so.  See also: Romans 5:13; 14:13; and Matthew 5:48.  Sin is disobedience to God, but how has Adam's sin affected us?

Did all mankind fall in Adam's first sin?

All mankind, descended from Adam by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell in his first sin.  Meditating on the effects of Adam's sin Paul states,

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned . . . as on trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. (Rom. 5:12, 18-19, ESV).

He also states, "For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:21-22).  It is clear from Scripture that Adam, as the appointed head of the human race, brought his descendants under the just condemnation of God by his sin.  So we have fallen with Adam, but what does that mean?

Into what condition did the fall bring mankind?

The fall brought mankind into a state of sin and misery.  David laments, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5, ESV).  David is not lamenting the illegitimacy of his birth (because he wasn't illegitimate), but the fact that he is and always has been a sinner to the core.  He is expressing the reality that sin is nature. Isaiah states, "We all like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6).  See also: Romans 5:18-19; 7:18; Ephesians 2:1-3, and 1 Corinthians 2:14.  We are driven to inquire what does that state of sin look like?  And what about the state of misery?

What is the sinfulness of that condition into which all mankind has fallen?

The sinfulness of that condition into which man fell is the guilt of Adam's first sin, the lack of original righteousness, and the corruption of our whole nature (which is commonly called original sin), together with all actual transgressions which come from his nature.  Romans 3:10 sums it up, "None is righteous, no, not one."  Paul paints it in bleaker tones with these words:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Eph. 2:1-3, ESV).

This condition is at the core of humanity.  James says, "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire" (Jam. 1:14; ESV).  But why?  Jesus declares, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander" (Matt. 15:19, ESV).

What is the misery of that condition into which all mankind has fallen?

All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.  After the fall, Adam and Eve hid from God, and ultimately they were cursed and driven out of Eden (see Gen. 3:8, 24).  Paul tells us we are, apart from Christ, by our nature "children of wrath" (see Eph. 2:3).  Paul reminds us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 6:23). Paul also reminds us that, as law breakers, we are under a curse.  He states, "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them'" (Gal. 3:10, ESV).  Of the wicked, Jesus states, "Then he [the King/Jesus] will say to those on his left [the goats/false believers], 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels' . . . and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matt. 25:41-46, ESV). In this parable about the sheep and the goats, Jesus is speaking about his second coming and the judgment of the nations.  Within that context, the wicked are said to be consigned to hell for their lawless ways.

Conclusion

Adam's sin set into motion a chain of events that has brought his descendants into slavery to sin, death, and hell.  We inherit a sin nature from our ancestor, Adam, and a fallen environment which feeds our corruption.  But is that all she wrote?  Does the story end there?  That question is the one we will try to answer next Monday.