A number of years ago, General Electric had a wonderful commercial which showed the lights coming on in the nation of Hungary. After the fall of communism, a new day had begun for the people of that land. Our text today is Genesis Chapter 3. In these verses, we see that after the fall of humanity, after Adam and Eve have sinned, a new era begins as well. This time, however, the lights are going out. Their decision to eat the forbidden fruit had a devastating effect on Adam and Eve and on the rest of the world. In Verse 23, we are told God banished them from the Garden of Eden, the Paradise He had made for them. The next morning when Adam and Eve woke up, somewhere east of Eden, they saw a very different world. Life after the fall would not be the same as it had been before. And though many thousands of years have gone by since the events recorded in Genesis occurred, our lives today, our lives here on the Range in 1998, are still impacted greatly by what happened then. We too live A.F., after the fall. Today we are going to explore the consequences and lasting effect of Adam and Eve's disobedience to God. As we do, let's pray that God would use His Word to help us experience His grace and blessing in the midst of a fallen world.
I want you to pretend you are Adam or Eve in their new home the day after the fall. What is different now that you are out of Eden? #1) Right away you notice the physical environment has changed. Your new home looks different from the Garden. There are different types of plants. When you touch some of them, they prick your fingers and it hurts. The following verses indicate what God had told Adam and Eve would happen because of their disobedience. Genesis 3:17b,18,19a "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken;..." Because of sin, a corruption of nature has occurred. In the Garden of Eden, a perfect harmony had existed be-tween man and his environment. I'm sure there were oranges, peaches, and papayas hanging on trees just waiting to be eaten. But outside of the Garden, that harmony has been broken. Thorns and thistles seem to be everywhere. Getting food to eat is now hard work. Even today, we experience this lack of harmony between man and nature. Many of you go out to your garden and see that the weeds are growing much faster than the veg-etables. It is because we live after the fall.
There were other differences in the environment east of Eden. There may have been mosquitoes in the Garden, but they didn't bite like they do now. Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods never disrupted life in Eden, but now they are a very real threat. A few years ago a couple went to live in a cabin in a remote part of the Canadian Rockies. They were real nature lovers, who considered themselves friends of the earth. After living there two years, they realized the earth was not all that friendly. Temperatures of 60 degrees below zero, 80 mile-an-hour winds, blizzards which pro-duced four feet of snow, torrential rains, and a drought were all part of their experience. Nature doesn't seem to look out for our best interests. That has been very obvious the past year. Though El Nino has brought some rather pleasant weather to us, it has been devastating in many parts of the world. Central America, especially, has suffered from heat and drought which have almost destroyed their economy. Weather and human beings don't enjoy any harmony A.F., after the fall. This is because the planet we inhabit today, after the fall, is not the same one that God created in Genesis 1 and called good.
#2) As you wake up the day after the fall, you probably noticed there is a tension between you and your spouse, between husband and wife. You do not get along with each other as you had in Eden. Part of it may have been because you are mad, blaming Eve or Adam for your decision to eat the forbidden fruit. But part of the tension is a result of what God had said to Eve in 3:16 "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Right from the start, God made men and women so they could have a sexual re-lationship which would lead to the birth of children. But now, after the fall, having a baby is going to be a very painful experi-ence. I don't know that from experience, but from what I have read and what women have told me, it hurts a lot to give birth to a child, even with our modern medications. After the fall, having a baby involves pain.
The most interesting part of this verse is the last phrase 3:16b "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." We talked about this a few weeks ago, so this may be a review, but it is very important. Many have thought this verse means that a wife will have a sexual desire for her husband, which I don't think really makes a lot of sense. Instead, a better translation is "your desire will be to rule over your husband." When God created man and woman, it was intended to be a harmonious relationship. Eve was to be a partner and helper. But A.F., after the fall, she is no longer content in that role. Now, women will attempt to dominate their husbands. The husbands will fight back and, because they are usually physically stronger, will often force their wives to submit. The battle of the sexes had its origin as soon as Adam and Eve were banished from Eden. Today, both the radical feminist movement, the N.O.W. crowd, and male chauvinism owe their existence to the fall. When God originally created human beings, it was not supposed to be that way. Men and women were intended to support and help each other. But, things changed and almost everyone in this room, married and single, has experienced the tension and conflicts which exist between men and women after the fall.
#3) Being outside of the Garden, you notice that God now seems far away. Verse 8 refers to God walking in the Garden, and in Eden you enjoyed a wonderful, close re-lationship with the Lord. But that was lost. After disobeying God, you feel guilty. Because of this, Verse 8 says, Adam and Eve hid from the Lord when they heard Him in the Garden. When they were banished from Eden, they were banished from God's pres-ence. In 2:17 God had told Adam and Eve that if they disobeyed Him, if they ate the forbidden fruit, they would surely die. In 3:4, the serpent tells Eve, "That's not true, you won't die." Now, I know God, not Satan, is the one telling the truth. Thus, I would expect when Adam and Eve take a bite of the fruit, they will immediately fall over dead. But, they don't. Their hearts keep beating, their lungs keep breathing, they are still alive. Satan was right. Or was he? In a very real way, Adam and Eve died the second they ate the fruit. They died spir-itually. The very special relationship they had with God came to an end. One day they would die physically. As God said in 3:19b "...for dust you are and to dust you will return." But spiritual death was an imme-diate result of disobedience to God.
Friends, you and I and every human being on the planet tastes this spiritual death too. In Romans 5:12, Paul tells us that in Adam we have all died. Now, we are not going to take time this morning to talk about how this has happened or to discuss whether or not it is fair. The Bible does make it clear that when we are born, we are descendants of Adam. He is the father of the whole human race. We inherit from Adam not only his tendency to sin, but we are also born with his guilt. The theologians call this "original sin." Unless by God's Spirit we are born again, unless by God's grace we put our trust in Jesus Christ, we are not spiritually alive. We are spiritual zombies, corpses walking around, breathing and eating, but spiritually dead. We are no more capable of relating to God than a corpse lying in a coffin is capable of relating to us. I realize this may seem confusing, but it is one of the most important teachings in the entire Bible. Apart from Jesus Christ, we are not spiritually sick, we are spiritually dead. Only because of the grace of God through Jesus are we able to have a relationship with God, and thus with-out Jesus, God will always be far away.
Friends, life after the fall could be summarized by the word separation. The separation of human beings from nature, the separation of human beings from each other, and a separation between us and God our Creator. This is the world in which we live. It is not a pretty picture, but it is reality. There are a lot of folks who don't want to accept that, but just pretending everyone is basically a good person doesn't make it true. We live in a troubled, fallen world. Every effort to deny reality and create some kind of Utopia, as the communists did, have been utter failures. This world is not the good world that God made in Genesis 1.
So, what is the practical value of knowing this truth? What does living after the fall mean to us? #1) It helps us realize that evil and suffering will be a part of our lives. The most common question that people have about God is this: Why does God let bad things happen to good people? Why do earthquakes kill thousands? Why are babies born severely retarded? Why does a 12-year-old girl get killed by a drunk driver? The Bible's answer to these ques-tions is not, as some have suggested, that God is unable to prevent these things from happening. He clearly could do that. Rather, the reason we experience evil and suffering is because we live A.F., after the fall. The world we live in is not the same kind of world God made. Sin has corrupted every part of our existence and all human suffering is either a direct or indirect result of human disobedience to God. In other words, whenever any of us suffer, whether it is from a mosquito bite or a tragic death of a spouse, it is not God, but sinful human beings who are ultimately responsible for this situation.
Now, when we experience or see suffering, it is only natural to ask a second question: Why doesn't God stop evil? Why doesn't He do something to eliminate the suffering? That is a tough question, but we need to remember, He will. Right now the crime is still in progress. It makes no more sense to blame God for evil and suffering in this world, than it does to blame a judge when someone robs a bank. No judge promises to prevent crimes from occurring, he or she is only responsible for punishing those who have already committed these acts. God is the judge of the universe. Yes, right now a lot of sin is still occurring and lots of people are suffering. But, one day God will bring about justice. One day He will punish the wicked and reward the righteous. But until then, evil and suffering will be a part of our lives.
But, there is good news for right now. #2) As Christians, we can begin to see the results of the fall erased in our lives. God has a solution to the fall. Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." This is an amazing verse. At the dawn of time, we have God's promise and prophecy concerning a Savior. For thousands of years, the meaning of this verse was somewhat obscure, but when we read the New Testament, it all becomes very clear. Jesus Christ is the seed of the woman. The Jews spoke of a child as the seed of a father, but because Jesus was born of a virgin and had no human father, He is the seed of the woman. This verse also speaks of the conflict between Jesus and the forces of evil. The heel of the Savior would be bruised. Certainly when Jesus is crucified, it appears to be a victory for Satan. But He will crush the serpent's head. Jesus' resurrection and ultimate victory over evil described for us in Revelation, a book whose theme is "Jesus wins," are indeed the crushing of Satan's head. This is the amazing prophecy here at the beginning in Genesis 3, and then in 33A.D., the most important event in history takes place. Jesus dies on the cross as a sacrifice for human sin, and three days later He is alive as the risen Lord. At that point, it's as if God pushes the reverse button. We are on our way back to Eden. The results of the fall are being erased. The lights are coming on. This is life after Jesus Christ.
There are a number of reversals of the fall we can experience as Christians, which allow us to move back in the direction of Eden. One is work. As we said a couple of weeks ago, God always intended that human beings work. As a result of the fall, work became very painful. But, as Christians, we can see this result start to be reversed. We can begin to enjoy work, whether at home, in the shop, at the office, or at school, not because the job is necessarily fun, but because, as Colossians 4 says, we as Chris-tians are able to do our work heartily and joyfully unto the Lord.
We can also experience a reversal of the fall and its effects in our relationship with other people. Yes, there will be conflicts until Jesus returns. Nations will still fight wars and, as individuals, we will probably face situations where it seems no matter how hard we try, we just won't seem to be able to get along with someone else. But I believe, in Christian homes, that war can come to an end. Some folks find it puzzling that throughout the Old Testament, God allows polygamy and liberal divorce. The reason for this is that after the fall, marriage relationships were not as God intended. But now, as Christians, our marriages can begin to move back to Eden. The wife no longer has to strive with her husband for power, but can joyfully submit to him. The husband no longer has to try to dominate his wife, but can focus on loving his spouse. That is what Ephesians 5 is all about. It describes mar-riage as God intends it to be, the type of marriage which basically disappeared after the fall, but is now possible through Jesus Christ.
I realize some of you may be thinking, "My marriage is not moving toward Eden at all. Conflict is what my marriage is all about." Yes, we live in a fallen world, but as Christians there is hope. By God's grace, it is possible that our marriage can be re-stored to what God intended it to be. It will take some work, a lot of prayer, but through Jesus Christ, it can be done.
Most importantly, when we trust in Jesus Christ, our relationship with God is restored. We are no longer God's enemies, but through Jesus we are His friends, His children. God in His grace has taken spiritual corpses, people who were dead, and breathed in spiritual life. Through His Spirit, He has enabled us to trust and follow Jesus. When we do that, we begin to experience that joy which we all long for deep in our hearts. That God-shaped vacuum starts to fill and we are no longer like donuts with holes in the middle of our hearts. God is now our loving Father.
#3) Those of us who are Christians look forward to a final home even better than Eden. This will occur when Jesus Christ returns to earth, coming back not as a baby, but as the judge and ruler of every man. The results of this great event is described for us in Revelation 21. This is the place where, according to Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. I don't know if you realize it, but at that point, the end of history described in the last chapters of the Bible, humanity will have come full circle. Romans 8 speaks of creation itself waiting to be delivered from its current corrupt state. When Jesus returns, the harmony between man and nature will be restored. That is when Isaiah's prophecy will come to be, and the lion will lie down with the lamb. We will be back in Eden, though the new Eden will be even better than the old. The results of the fall will be totally erased. What a day that will be.
Friends, that is great news for us. When times come that we are discouraged by all the terrible things around us, or the very difficult things happening in our lives, this hope enables us to hang in there and not give up. In the end, Jesus is going to win, and all of us who belong to Him, who are Christians, are going to celebrate that victory in our eternal home which will be even better than the Garden of Eden. Next time you feel down and overwhelmed, think about that glorious future which belongs to you if you are a believer in Jesus Christ.
Friends, as Christians, it is important that we do not forget that we live A.F., after the fall. We need to be realists in the midst of a world which has been marred by sin in so many ways, and is so different than the world God first made. We can't put our heads in the sand and think everything is just fine. But, we also need to remember that as Christians we are on our way back to Eden, to a home even better than Eden. We should find joy in that hope because when we arrive, it will be a glorious day.
-------------------------------------------------------
Go to www.life.1stbaptist.org/sermons.htm for Pastor Dan's full text Bible based sermon site
