Declaring Doctrine – Part 18 – The Fall
Alright well we’re there in Genesis 3. Tonight, we’re going to be continuing our declaring doctrine sermon series. We’re studying doctrines on Sunday nights. It’s a theological study. We’re going through the major doctrines of the Bible and we’ve been in this section on the doctrine of man. Last week we looked at the doctrine of creation. Tonight, we’re going to look at the doctrine of the fall. Last week we looked at how God created the heaven and the earth. Today we’re going to look at how we messed it up and how mankind ruined creation and we’ll talk about the fall of man. And I want to do it in a way that maybe you’ve never heard before. I want to fill in some gaps that maybe you haven’t thought about before. Oftentimes when we look at these narratives in the Bible, God gives us a story and he gives us what’s needed for that story but sometimes he doesn’t fill in what’s going on in the spiritual realm.
In the Book of Revelation, the book is divided into 2 sections. The first 11 chapters take you through the story and you get a picture from an earthly standpoint. The last 11 chapters get you through the same events but you see them from a heavenly perspective. In Genesis and in different books of the Bible, we see the earthly perspective but not the heavenly perspective. And I want to fill that in for you tonight. I’m going to give you ten statements that will walk us through the theology of the fall of man. My job as a Pastor is to preach highly application sermons which are the vast majority of sermons that I preach. However, my job is also to teach you the word of God, to teach you doctrine. And I want this to be the church that is filled with doers of the word but I also want this to be filled with men and women who know what they believe and why they believe it. I want this to be the most educated church in the world and that’s what our attempt is. So, I want to teach you the doctrine of the fall of man. I want to give you ten statements that will walk us through this theology and I would encourage you to write these down. Because like you’ve heard me say in the past, as preachers we don’t preach to be heard, we preach to be applied. But we also preach to be repeated. You should teach this to your children, grandchildren, future convert and someone that you may be discipling.
10 statements in regards to the theology of creation. The first statement is this, when God created the heaven and the earth, everything was perfect in it. This means there was no fault, no error, no corruption. Everything was as it should be. Everything was perfect. Notice in Genesis 1:31, at the end of creation week, the Bible says “31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”. In chapter 1 we see that all things were made in 6 days and then God rested on the 7th day. In chapter two we see the seventh day in which God rested. We also get a recap and a review of the creation week. In chapter two and then in chapter three we see the fall of man. But what I want you to notice is that when God created everything, when God created the heaven and the earth, everything was perfect. It was good. The Bible says everything that he had made “and behold it was very good”.
And I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this but let me explain this to you. The Gap Theory teaches that between verses 1 & 2, Satan fell and there was war in heaven and these things happened. The problem is that God could not say everything was good if that had already occurred. All these things obviously happened but the fact that they would happen during that creation week, this is a proof against that. Why? God would not have looked at creation on day six and said “Everything that he made was good” if there had already been major sin and you know devils and things of that nature. So, we get to the end of the creation week and what we know is this, it was good. Everything was as it should be and God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good.
So, number one, when God created the heaven and the earth, everything was perfect in it. Here’s the 2nd statement. Satan sinned. Because we know Satan fell between his creation and his appearance in the Garden of Eden. Ezekiel 28:12 “12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him,”. Here we have Ezekiel prophesying about a man, the king of Tyrus. He’s actually prophesying about that physical, literal man. But in the way that many of these prophecies are, there is a physical immediate application and then there is oftentimes another application which is spiritual. Here we have Ezekiel preaching to the King of Tyrus but he’s really preaching about Satan who is controlling Tyrus. We know that the Bible teaches that the devils are the ones that control the politicians of our world. The Bible says “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”. And this is what Ezekiel is talking about.
He says “12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.”. Notice verse 13 “13 Thou hast been in Eden the Garden of God;”. Where was Satan? In the Garden of God. “every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.”. I want you to notice that the Bible teaches that Satan is a created being. Satan was created by God. There was a day where Satan was created. The Heaven and the Earth was created in the 1st day so Satan was created in that first day.
From this we realize that Satan did not fall during the creation week because at the end of the creation week, God said that everything he made was good. Now look at Ezekiel 28:14 “14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;”. Satan was the anointed cherub. “and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”. Notice “15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”. Satan is a created being. Mormons want to teach that Jesus and Satan were brothers. This is a lie. The Bible teaches and we talked about it last week that Jesus is the creator and Satan is a creation. The Devil was created by God. Here the prophet tells us “thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created”. Notice he was perfect. That matches what we read in Genesis 1:31 where God said that he saw all things that he had made and God said that they were all very good.
He was perfect until “till iniquity was found in thee.”. We know that Satan fell. We know that Satan rebelled against God. We know that in pride he lifted himself up and he said that I shall be like the most high. And here Ezekiel tells us that when he was created, he was perfect. He was the anointed chariot. He was perfect in his ways until iniquity was found in him. Verse 16 “16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.”.
So, here’s point number one, when we talk about the theology of the fall of man, we have to understand that when God created the heaven and the earth, everything was perfect. Number two, Satan sinned. Satan fell and Satan sinned or fell between the time of creation or the end of creation. In Genesis chapter number one everything was good but then in the Garden, Satan had already fallen. We aren’t sure how much time went by. Maybe days, maybe weeks, maybe years or maybe a decade. But here’s what we do know, at the end of the creation week, God said it’s all good. God said it’s all perfect. Here’s what we do know, Satan was a created being. So, at the end of that creation week, when God said “Everything is good”, Satan was included in that. So, we know that the gap theory is not TRUE. Satan did not fall between the creation of heaven and earth. And when God began to fill the earth, we know that that Satan made it through that creation week and he was perfect in all his ways. We also know that Satan was perfect until iniquity was found in him. We know that the serpent was Satan and we know that in Revelation, the Bible calls him Satan. It calls him the great dragon. It calls him that old serpent. It refers to him being back in the Garden of Eden.
So, here’s what we know, between the end of the creation in chapter 1 and his appearance in Genesis 3, Satan rebelled against God. Here’s the next thing we know, when Satan sinned, God prepared hell and condemned him to it. Did you know that God created hell for the Devil and not for us? Matthew 25:41 “41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”. When God created hell, he did not create hell with an intention of sending mankind there. Hell was not created for mankind. The Bible says that God prepared this Everlasting fire. He says it was prepared for the devil and his angels.
Now the Bible does not tell us specifically when hell was created and I’m not going to stand up here and pretend like I have all the answers. I’ll give you my opinion and it is simply an opinion. But I don’t believe that hell was created during the creation week. First of all, we don’t see it described during the week of creation. But also in my opinion, I don’t think there would be a need for hell yet because God said that everything he made was good. We are told in Matthew 25:41 that God created hell and it was prepared for the Devil and his angels. It was prepared as a place of punishment for their sin. And it would make sense to me that God would create hell after Satan fell, after the fall of Satan and sometime between genesis chapter 1 and genesis chapter 3. We know that Satan fell and we know that God created hell and he prepared it for the devil and his angels. You could say that God created hell with the anticipation of the need for it or of the capacity for it and I wouldn’t have an issue with either of those things. But the point is this, hell was not created for you or for me. Matthew 25:41 “41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”. So, when God created the heaven and the earth, everything was perfect in it. Satan sinned between his creation and his appearance in the Garden of Eden. And when Satan sinned, God prepared hell and condemned him, condemned Satan and his devils to it between creation and his appearance in the Garden of Eden.
In order to really understand the fall of man, I believe you have to understand the context that leads us into the fall of man. We have to understand the other things that God tells us have taken place between creation and the fall of man, between creation and the story of the Garden of Eden. Some things have happened within that space. How long that space was, I don’t know. But we know this, Satan fell and hell was created for the devil and his angels.
Here’s statement number four. Satan understood that God is just and God is truthful. Satan was condemned to hell. God created hell because Satan is sin. In fact, God condemned Satan to hell. God may have expressed to Satan that the wages of sin is death and because you have sinned now you must die the 2nd death. God condemned Satan to hell as a result of his sin and Satan understood that God is just and God is truthful. And because God is just and because God is truthful, God must stand by his Word.
Deuteronomy 32:3 “3 Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4 He is the Rock,”. And by the way, notice here that we’re told that our God is the Rock and in the new testament we’re told that the Rock is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Rock. His work is perfect for all his ways are judgment. What does that mean? It means that all his ways are just, a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right. See, God has no iniquity. God does not make inappropriate judgment calls. God is truth. God is just. God is justice in all his ways. Satan understood this. He understood that God is just. He understood that God is truth. He understood that God is not a man that he should lie. He understood that God must abide by his word.
So, number one, when God created the heaven and the earth, everything was good. Number two, Satan sinned between his creation and his appearance in Eden. Number three, when Satan sinned God, prepared hell and condemned him to it for his sin. Number four, Satan understood that God is just and truthful and must stand by his Word. Number five, Satan also knew that God’s greatest and most loved creation was mankind. Human beings are not animals. This is what we’re told by our society today that we are animals. We talked about it last week. God created us differently than animals. When animals were created, God spoke and they were. But it was very different with man.
Genesis 1:26 “26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”. Notice verse 27 “27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”. Satan knew something about mankind. Satan knew that God’s greatest and most loved creation, the climax of creation, was the creation of mankind. The only being that according to the Bible has ever said was created in the image of God is man. You don’t see this with animals. The Bible says that God formed man from the dust of the earth and that God breathed into man the breath of life. The Bible teaches that our life literally came from God and man became a living soul. We’re created in the image of God and Satan understood that the greatest and most valued and the most loved creation of God was mankind. Satan also knew this that God created man for his own fellowship and pleasure.
Genesis 3:8 “8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.”. This is where we get our famous hymn of “walking in the Garden with God”. And I personally believe this is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead. He came down and walked with Adam and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day.
Colossians 1:16 “16 For by him” This is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. “were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”. Why was mankind created? Who initiated the creation of mankind? The Bible seems to indicate that it was the Lord Jesus Christ. Obviously, there was unity in the Godhead. There’s unity in the trinity and it was the will of all. However, it was the Word of God, the Son of God, the 2nd member of the Godhead. The Bible tells us created all things by him, all things consist, we were created by him and for him.
Revelation 4:11 “11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”. Satan knew that the greatest and most prized creation, the greatest and most loved creation of mankind of God was mankind. And Satan knew that God created man for his own fellowship and pleasure.
Genesis 3:8 “8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.”. This is something they had not done in the past. In the past there was no shame in their nakedness. “9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”. Why are you hiding? See, Satan knew that God created man for his own fellowship and pleasure.
Point 1 – Everything that was created was good. Point 2 – Satan sinned between the creation and the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. Point 3 – God prepared hell for Satan and his angels. Point 4 – Satan understood that God is just and truthful and that God must stand by his word. Point 5 – Satan knew that God’s greatest and most loved creation was mankind. Point 6 – Satan knew that God created man for his own fellowship and pleasure. So, what does Satan do? Here’s statement number 7.
Satan tempted mankind to sin. As a result, they would die and be condemned to the same hell that he was condemned to. Genesis 2:15 “15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”. God said you can have any tree of the Garden. He said they’re all for you except one. We’ll talk about this in a different sermon. However, in a different sermon on a Sunday night, we will deal with the doctrine of individual soul liberty or the free will of mankind. And we see that God did not create robots. God put in the Garden a tree that he said don’t touch it and Adam and Eve had to choose to obey God in regards to that.
Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”. Notice how he questions the word of God and later he alters the word of God. “2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” And by the way, when he said you shall not surely die, that’s a lie. First, he questions the word of God. Then he alters the word of God. First, he questions the word of God. Then he changes the word of God and says “Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”. The only part of them that became like God is that they knew good and evil.
Verse 6. “6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”. See, Satan tempted mankind to sin so that as a result man would die and man would be condemned to the same death and to the same hell that he was condemned to.
Here’s statement number eight. Satan launched one of the greatest attacks against God throughout the Bible. You’ll notice that Satan had a series of great attacks against God. The first great attack was the rising up0 where he said “I will ascend to be like the most high.”. His 2nd great offense was that of the Garden of Eden where he attempted and succeeded to tempt man to sin. Another great offensive was the offense we talked about during Easter, the attack to put the son of God to death. And there’ll be others. The battle of Armageddon, the battle of Gog and Magog. But Satan launched here a great attack against God to force the hand of God. See, sometimes we don’t really understand or maybe we don’t really think about the implications of this story. We think this is just a nice little story of Adam and Eve and the Serpent and they sin. There is nothing wrong with that but I want you to understand that this attack that Satan launched upon God was what I like to refer to as the great catch-22 of the ages.
The definition of a catch-22 is a situation in which there is no good solution or a possible resolution because the way in which the factors of the solutions relate to each other. See, when Satan was able to get Eve to sin, the Bible says that she was deceived. She was beguiled. And she was tricked into sinning. And then Adam partook of it as well. And the Bible says that he was not deceived but he was disobedient. When Satan got man to sin, he put God in this great catch-22 because there seemingly was no good answer. Either God would make an exception for mankind, his greatest creation, his most loved creation, his most prized creation, and choose to look the other way and Satan would be able to say that God was not just. Or Satan forces God to abide by his word and to not only condemn the devil and his angels to a torment in hell but to also condemn his greatest and most loved possession which is mankind. And we have this great catch-22 of the ages. So, all of these verses that say sin is condemned to hell does not only apply to the Devil but also to mankind as well. This is a great catch-22 and there was no good solution.
Genesis 3:10 “10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”. And of course, the Bible says that Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves and created aprons to try to cover their shame and their guilt. And that is a picture of works, a picture of us trying to cover our own guilt and shame and God says that will just not do.
In verse 21 we find something that has never happened in creation up to this point. God told Adam and Eve that if thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And that was true that day. When they ate, their soul died. Their spirit died. That’s why the Bible says that our spirit must be quickened. They also began the process of dying physically. But up to this point, they had not seen any death. And when Adam and Eve show up, they have fig leaves of righteousness. God says that will just not do. Notice verse 21 “21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”. Now we aren’t really told what these are but for coats of skins, it would mean that God had to go out and find an animal and grab an animal. And we’re not told which animal just like we’re not told which fruit. People think that Eve ate an apple and you know usually that’s the way it’s pictured. The Bible doesn’t really tell us which fruit and the Bible doesn’t tell us in this passage which animal. But we know that God took an animal. And I can only imagine how Adam and Eve for the first time, never having seen God do this, grab an animal and make coats to replace the aprons. You can’t cover yourself. You can’t cover your shame and your guilt. You cannot be covered based off your own work. You must be wrapped in somebody else’s righteousness. And as God takes an animal for the first time, Adam would see what it means for something to die, to be sacrificed. And God would take the skin off that animal and he would robe Adam and Eve.
And the lesson would be this. If God would be caught in a catch-22, he would be caught in a great catch-22 of the ages. God would be forced to send mankind to hell and punish mankind for their sins and because of his word, he could not stop that. Because of his word, he could not deny that. Because of his word, he could not nullify that. If God had to take mankind and make man pay for their sins then God would become man and die for mankind that man might be robed in the righteousness of Christ. See, God’s surprise response was to become a man in order to redeem man.
Adam and Eve is more than just a story of a girl eating an apple. It’s a story of God creating the heaven and the earth and all that in them is. And God would look down at their creation and say that it was good. And that God would create a climax within that creation called mankind that was created for his pleasure, for his fellowship, for his friendship. The most loved of that creation. And that Satan would sin and as a result of his sin hell would be created. And that Satan would then wage war on God by attacking his most loved creation which is mankind and put God in a bind of having to send man to hell. And God responded by becoming the sacrifice for the sin. This is what John the Baptist talked about in John 1.
John 1:28 “28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”. See, the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth. The Bible says that God was manifest in the flesh. The Bible says the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth. See, the Bible says that the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, came down and John said “Behold the Lamb of God” who will die for your sins.
You may have noticed that throughout the Bible Adam takes the blunt of the blame for the fall of man. “wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world”. And some hard-headed guys might say “Wait a minute. What about the woman?”. This has to do with the authority structure. Adam was the authority. Adam was the one who must take responsibility. We understand that but part of it also has to do with the fact that the Bible very clearly tells us that Eve was deceived. Now the Bible talks about throughout the old testament about the sacrifices for the sins of ignorance. The Bible does not give a pass to people when they sin simply out of ignorance. He may not deal with them as harshly but God will hold you accountable for every sin whether you knew it or not. In romans we’re told that every man will stand before God without excuse. Eve sinned because she was beguiled but Adam made a conscious choice. He knew what he was doing. He had the Romeo and Juliet type of romantic approach to the situation. And he thought, well if you’re going to die then I might as well die with you.
The Bible calls Jesus the second Adam. And the Bible calls Jesus the last Adam. And what Jesus did, Jesus did not come to this earth and partake in our sin, Jesus came to this earth and reconciled us to God. And this is my opinion and I’ll be very careful to tell you but it’s my opinion that there might have been a chance for Adam to bring Eve to the Father, to bring Eve to the Lord and say “I’d like to reconcile this relationship”. It was a sin of ignorance still requiring sacrifice but not as harshly as when Adam chose to sin. And as a result, the blame falls on him.
1 Corinthians 15:45 “45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”. The Bible refers to Jesus as the last Adam. The first Adam messed up. The last Adam fixed it. The first Adam took away our innocence. The last Adam gave us his righteousness. There’s an epic portion of classic literature called “Paradise Lost”. Paradise Lost is an epic poem by the 17th century English poet John Milton. The first version published in 1667 consisted of 10 books with over 10,000 lines of verse. The poem concerns the biblical story of the fall of man, the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It’s called paradise loss because it’s the story of how the first Adam lost paradise which we know as the Garden of Eden.
Here’s statement number 10. Jesus, the second and last Adam, came so that the paradise that had been lost by the first Adam could be regained. 2 Corinthians 12:1 “It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I knew a man” I believe he is referring to himself. “in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.”. If we remember, we learned from Genesis chapter one that the firmament is called the heaven. That’s what we call the sky. Then there’s the third heaven which is where God resides, where the kingdom of God is, where the throne of God is. And then there’s the second heaven which is what’s between the first heaven, sky, atmosphere and the 2nd heaven which is what we call as heaven – the kingdom of God. And that would be what we call outer space.
He says “2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.”. The 3rd heaven is where souls that are saved go when they die, where God resides. He says “3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)”. Verse 4. “4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”. Notice in verse two we’re told that he was caught up to the third heaven. And verse four we’re told “and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”. Paul used the terms of heaven and paradise interchangeably.
Revelation 2:7 says “7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”. Later we’re told in the book that these trees are surrounding the throne of God. Luke 23:42-43 “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”. You say why did Jesus come? He came so that paradise which had been lost by the 1st Adam could be regained. Jesus came as a surprise. God turns the tables on Satan. Satan tries to destroy man and condemn them to hell and God turns the tables by sending his Son to become a man.
Jesus the second and last Adam came so that paradise which was lost might be won. That’s the story of Adam and Eve with a few more thoughts and a few more details that you may have not considered in the past. But this is why we find ourselves where we find ourselves. This is why we do what we do. This is why we say when we go out soul winning that we are engaged in spiritual warfare. Satan wants to take as many people to hell with him as an attack on God. So, would you join us as we fight the good fight of faith on behalf of our great captain the Lord Jesus Christ?
Let’s pray.