THE FALL OF MAN AND ITS EFFECTS 1. When the evil angels were expelled from their places in heaven they were doubtless confined to the vast spaces between the worlds where God intended they should remain till their final destruction. 2 Peter 2: 4. When the angels sinned they were cast into Tartarus. Goodspeeds translation of 2 Peter 2: 4 reads, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but plunged them into Tartarus, and committed them to dark dungeons to await their doom.” (See also R.S.V. margin, and Moffatts translation.) The place referred to as Tartarus could certainly not have been the beautiful new earth which God had created and pronounced “very good.” While it is true that Revelation 12:7-9 informs us that Satan was cast into the earth, this must have reference to a later event when his activities were restricted to this world after he had caused the death of Christ. Christ said that His death would lead to the casting out of Satan (John 12:31,32). Had God originally cast Satan and his followers on to this earth, He would have placed man at a great disadvantage to all other worlds and been largely responsible for his downfall. But God did not make His perfect new world a penitentiary for evil angels. Tartarus signifies a place of confinement for criminals and no doubt is used in a figurative sense for the vacant Space between the worlds. 2. Satan with his evil angels gained an entrance into our world through his conquest of our first parents in the garden of Eden. Genesis 2: 16, 17. God protected man from Satans approach by restricting the contact of the evil one to one place. “Satan was not to follow them with continual temptations; he could have access to them only at the forbidden tree.”-”Patriarchs and Prophets,” page 53. Genesis 3: 1-6. Man yielded to the temptation of the evil one. John 16: 11. Satan became the prince of this world through his conquest of man. 3. Note the various steps which led to the entrance of sin into the human family. Genesis 3: 1. Satan appeared in disguise, using the serpent as his medium. The woman placed herself in the place of temptation by her presence at the forbidden tree. Genesis 3: 1. Satan made his first appeal to the intellect. Genesis 3: 2, 3. The woman was perfectly acquainted with Gods requirements. Genesis 3: 4, 5. Satan continued his appeal to the intellect when he gained the womans attention. He insinuated that God was withholding knowledge from man for His own selfish purpose, jealously guarding Himself from mans development to equality of status. “He [Satan] insinuated that the Lord jealously desired to withhold it from them, lest they should be exalted to equality with Himself.” “Patriarchs and Prophets,” page 54. Genesis 3: 6. “The woman saw that the tree was good for food.” She was convinced that Satans argument was correct, that the forbidden fruit was good when God had pronounced it evil. Her intellect was captured by error. Along with the appeal to the intellect came the appeal to the feelings or emotions. The tree was “a delight to the eyes.” Though the avenues of intellect and emotion the will, or deciding faculty, was conquered. “She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat,” 1 Timothy 2: 14. Adams sin, unlike Eves was not the result of Satans deception, but of deliberate choice. 4. The Effects of the Fall of Man. Genesis 3. (a) A Feeling of Estrangement front God. Verse 7. Previously “they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (2:25). Now, through their sin, their innocence was gone, and they felt ashamed to appear in Gods presence. The beautiful innocent fellowship with God had gone, the glory of God had departed from them. They could no
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:43:46 +0000
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