Weekly Devotional 4-3-17 Adam’s (Man’s) Fall
Adam, man’s federal head (representative) had been created righteous, and had harmony with God having the same will and of the same mind. Adam knew nothing other than the goodness of God from which he had been created. He was above all other creatures of creation, and in likeness of God he was in harmony with all of creation. We read from Genesis 1:26-28; “26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (NKJV). There is much that is implied in this passage, not the least was Adam’s freedom of will and choice.
Adam was given only one prohibition. “15Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:15-17 NKJV). The consequence to Adam from disobedience was to be an immediate spiritual separation from God.
From the record we know that Adam did disobey and took of the fruit. As a consequence he became separated from God, he died spiritually toward God. No longer was there fellowship with God, at least in the way it had been before his disobedience. Another consequence of Adam’s disobedience was God’s cursing of the earth. From Genesis 3:17-19 NKJV we read; “17Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it: Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” God’s cursing of the earth was not limited to the time of Adam, but was and is perpetual and will continue until the consummation of God’s redemptive work; when He will restore the wonders of the Garden over all the earth.
God’s foreknowing that Adam would take of the fruit, many have wondered why God gave such a prohibition. Why would he allow Adam (man’s representative) to fall, given what that fall would bring, and why He would curse the earth? The answer is found in God’s love, mercy and grace; attributes of His being. Man and angels could not know the extent of God’s love, mercy and grace had not the prohibition been given, without Adam’s (man’s) disobedience and God’s cursing of the earth.
There is much that should be said, and will be said, in the next few weeks about these things, but in this offering we close with these words from the apostle Paul. “18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:18-22 NKJV).
God is a God of love, mercy and grace. It is His desire that man experiences the fullness of these things and God has established the means by which that is accomplished. Stay tuned.
stevelampman@comcast.net stevelampman.com
Transforming Power; The Work of God on Behalf of Man
Christian National Church