Written by Don Fortner, C.R. Carmichael |
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
The fall of Adam is an historic fact; and, the fall of the human race in Adam is the only satisfactory explanation of human history. These are facts which cannot be denied: man is a fallen creature. Since the fall of Adam, all men are sinners by birth, by nature and by practice. Fallen man needs a Savior.
During the days of the Great Depression, there were soup kitchens in large cities all over America. People were hungry, poor, jobless and homeless. The only way they could eat was to be fed at one of those soup kitchens.
One day, as a man was working at a soup kitchen in Chicago, Illinois, he spotted a man in the line who stood out from the rest. At one time, this man had obviously been quite wealthy. Even though his suit was ragged and dirty, it was a well-made suit. It fitted him so well that it had to have been tailor made. His hat was soiled; but it was a handsome, well-formed hat. Though they were ragged, the man wore a matching tie and handkerchief set.
The person serving the soup could not help looking at the man questioningly, as if to say, “I wonder what your background is?” When the man held out his cup for soup, he said, “Sir, I’ve seen better days.”
That is a pretty good description of humanity. Like the poor beggar in that queue, man has a stateliness even in his fallen state. Even though he is now ragged and soiled by sin, he still declares, “I have seen better days.” We are not now what evidently we once were (Ecclesiastes 7:29). There is no way to explain the universal condition of the human race except by the account of the Fall given in Genesis 3.
What Genesis 3 Teaches Us
This much is evident: if Genesis 3 is true (and it is!), then both the science and the sociology taught in our day are wrong. The evolutionary scientists tell us that man is slowly, but surely, evolving into a perfect being, that though he began very low, he has climbed very high. God tells us that he made man perfect; but man has ruined himself. God tells us that he made man very high; but man has fallen very, very low.
Leading sociologists, psychologists, educators and philosophers have been telling us for a hundred and fifty years that man’s problem is his environment. Religious leaders tell us that man has great potential. His problems are outward. God tells us that our problem is our heart. The fact is, man is a fallen, depraved creature, under the wrath and curse of the holy Lord God, in need of redemption, regeneration and grace. That is the message of Genesis 3.