Fall/Man
So God created everything and it was infinitely beautiful and good. What happened? By 2014, we all know that there is very little about this world that we would call good, whole, pure, or filled with joy. Why so much evil, anger, hatred, rape, violence, abuse, selfishness, pride, wars, injustices? As Tolkien said, “Certainly there was an Eden on this very unhappy earth. We all long for it, and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, its gentlest and most humane, is still soaked with the sense of ‘exile.’”
One day in the Garden of Eden, all Hell broke loose and unleashed itself on Eden. The Bible explains the unleashing came when mankind, represented by Adam and Eve, decided to run the show. The serpent tempted them with the Knowledge of Good and Evil, offered them a chance to be like God. They “drank the kool-aid” of the serpent and concluded that God was evil and withholding good while the serpent had the real truth.* It is the most tragic passage in the whole of the Bible (Genesis 3) and one of utmost deception. God had not created mankind to sustain such a terrible burden of knowledge.** Up to that point they had the knowledge of good but He had protected them from the knowledge of evil. They thought it would bring them life but in fact it brought them death.
Donald Miller goes on to describe the stark contrast before and after the Fall:
Donald Miller goes on to describe the stark contrast before and after the Fall:
“I’ll bet he [Adam] didn’t have any self-doubt or any low self-esteem because he had God there. - Can you imagine... what it must feel like in the soul to have God’s glory shining through you? With that much glory, that much of God shining through you, you would never have a self-defeating or other-person-bashing thought again.”
He went on to say that Adam and Eve had no insecurities, so much that they were able to walk around naked and unashamed.
“But when that relationship was broken, they knew it instantly. All of their glory, the glory that came from God, was gone. It wouldn’t be unlike being in love and having somebody love you and then all of a sudden that person is gone. - And this feeling, this feeling must have been so much more painful for Adam and Eve, this feeling of having an infinite amount of love pouring through their lives and then it’s suddenly gone. - I wondered at how terrible it must have felt, at the fear of no longer feeling God, at the ache of emptiness and the sudden and horrifying awareness of self. God have mercy."***
The Fall caused Adam and Eve to make a way for themselves, caused them to grasp at the first fig leaves, hoping to erase the consequences of their actions and their shame. In essence they experienced their first taste of Hell, the place void of God. Hell gives us a picture of the cost of even the slightest belittlement of God’s name through sin. Perhaps the punishment seems harsh for the mere bite into a piece of fruit. In reality, the act was one of cosmic treason and rebellion against a good and loving Creator who in His grace had given the entire earth as a gift to His creations. We toy around with sin as if it's not really that big of a deal. God does not. His punishment is eternal torment.
Matt Chandler calls all of this glory theft and says, “To discount the enormity of God’s severity, as if we aren’t really that bad and really deserve mostly kindness” is a grave distortion where we believe it is God who is fallen and we who are good. Adam and Eve and you and I have committed glory theft. We have all chosen our own way rather than God’s way at some point in our life.**** It is true that you and I were not participants in the garden but the curse that came to Adam and Eve as a result of their sin is passed on to their descendants as well as all of creation. Perhaps you and I haven’t tasted the forbidden fruit but as early as infancy, we are literally screaming to have our own way. We want to be in charge, we want to be God and we commit glory theft over and over. We want God for His gifts but don’t want Him as our Lord.
Matt Chandler calls all of this glory theft and says, “To discount the enormity of God’s severity, as if we aren’t really that bad and really deserve mostly kindness” is a grave distortion where we believe it is God who is fallen and we who are good. Adam and Eve and you and I have committed glory theft. We have all chosen our own way rather than God’s way at some point in our life.**** It is true that you and I were not participants in the garden but the curse that came to Adam and Eve as a result of their sin is passed on to their descendants as well as all of creation. Perhaps you and I haven’t tasted the forbidden fruit but as early as infancy, we are literally screaming to have our own way. We want to be in charge, we want to be God and we commit glory theft over and over. We want God for His gifts but don’t want Him as our Lord.
Since that moment in creation’s history, we humans, like Adam and Eve, have searched frantically to find value, joy, identity, and satisfaction outside of ourselves. Just as they grasped at fig leaves, we run to 4 main wells to find our filling. We tend to run to the well of self, thinking we can do enough good or become a better version of our current self, to earn value or God’s favor. We also run to the well of others thinking they will complete us or show that we have value. We run to the well of religion hoping that if we have more good than bad or do all of these rituals then God will finally love us and we will be validated. Finally we run to the world (drink, sex, pleasure, food, entertainment) to find our ultimate satisfaction and hope. None of these things were meant to be ends in themselves but rather were meant to point us to God. They fail us miserably when we seek joy and security from them. Sadly, the wells are empty and we are left with a painful thirst that causes us to grasp for more.
As we have already discussed, God is a just God and as such, He cannot stand to see sin. He is perfect. Consider the diagrams below. Begin by asking, ‘How much sin do you think Mother Teresa had? The white box represents her goodness and the black circle represents her sin. Perhaps you would make her black circle very small since she seemed to have done much good in her life.
Mother Teresa
Next think of an evil person such as Hitler and how much sin he would have. Perhaps the black circle would almost fill the entire square.
Hitler
Next think about what God’s square would look like. We have already mentioned that He is perfect and without error. He has no wrong associated with Him. He is loving and glorious, and good. His box would be completely white.
God
Now think about the sin in your own life. How big do you think the circle would be representing your own sin. Perhaps you may think you have more sin than Mother Teresa but less sin than Hitler so your circle would look like what is shown below.
Self
Today’s popular thinking believes that God would surely let Mother Teresa into Heaven because she has such little sin and would surely send Hitler to Hell for his atrocities. Popular thinking also speculates that if my circle is less than half then surely God would let me in since I have more good than bad on my account.
The problem with this thinking is that since God’s circle is white, He cannot allow any sin to come near Him or Heaven. Any imperfection or blemish or tiny dot of sin would pollute His very purity. Were He to let sin near Heaven, it would likewise become defiled. Heaven would no longer be the place of wholeness for which we long, but rather, would become like earth, tainted with sin and death and the knowledge of evil.
Look again at Mother Teresa’s square, even the tiny bit of black would ruin the purity of God/Heaven. We instead need a completely white box. The Bible puts it this way, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’"***** In other words, God demands us to have a perfectly clean slate. Keep all the laws, live perfectly, never sin or you’ll have hell to pay. And with these truths, we realize that there is no way that we can do enough good because He demands we do only good and no bad.
We tend to treat sin as 'not that big of a deal.' We think He is generally tolerant with our flaws because 'we’re not really that bad.' In reality, the tiniest sin is an affront to God and He justly declares it worthy of the full weight of His wrath.
These truths are bleak. How can we find the Eden our souls long for? Is there any hope for our wicked hearts or for peace both now and eternity? Can we find a way around facing the wrath of God? Can we find ultimate redemption, rescue, and a restored relationship with God? The answer is yes! Stay tuned for the next post with good news.
Today's song is called 'The Fall'.
Today's song is called 'The Fall'.
As usual, if at any point in the series you have questions or comments you can either comment below or email me at lookingforgreenergrasses@gmail.com Please correspond with me also if you have gospel related topics you would like me to address.
Sources:
*Genesis 3
**Elisabeth Elliot, Taking Flight, 55.
***Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What, 68-73.
****Chandler, The Explicit Gospel, 43-44.
*****Galatians 3:10
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