THE STATE OF MAN AFTER HIS FALL

“But 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 2:17 (NKJV).

   When man violated God’s commandment by eating the forbidden fruit, the divine abilities and the spiritual potential that he possessed at the point of creation were destroyed. Thus, the genuineness of man’s heart was distorted and his absolute dependency on the Lord was abated. Well did Solomon, by the wisdom of God, made mention of this, as he wrote, “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 (KJV). Fellow brethren, man’s fall brought beyond doubt three major calamities. These are:

One

   Man’s faith is diverted from God, the Creator, onto the creation. Without doubt, man trusts the creatures instead of the Creator. He believes in his natural strength but underrates the ineradicable strength of the Almighty. He fears the fallen angels, the evil spirits, but handles the things of God lightly. Man pays more attention to stories and clings to delusions, but he despises the truthful and unadulterated words of God. 

   In the Garden, the enemy poisoned man’s mind against God by making slanderous remarks about Him. While God warned man not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for he shall die as a consequence of eating it, the enemy approached man and persuaded him to eat it to be like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 2:17; 3:4-5). This causes man to always doubt God’s immeasurable love and misconstrue His commandments. In Colossians 1:21 Apostle Paul says, “And although you at one time were estranged and alienated from Him and were of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities,” (AMP). From generation to generation, the mind of man is doubtful and questioning God’s word.

Two 

   Man wants to be independent of God. Genesis Chapter 3:7 tells us what transpired immediately after the fall of man. It states, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings” (NKJV). Man’s mental faculties increased when he ate the forbidden fruit. Thus, man became aware of his nakedness, and as a result, he sewed fig leaves as the solution to his nakedness.

   Fellow brethren, the fig is a fruit plant. Its leaves can only stay fresh for approximately three days and will dry out by the heat of the sun. Sewing fig leaves implies how man by his own wisdom is investing a great deal of time and effort in providing for his needs. Nevertheless, the result of man’s efforts is a temporal glory, which glitters and attracts the attention of the onlookers today and fades away tomorrow.   

   After the fall of man, man trusted in his strength and might, his wisdom and understanding, his potential and abilities. Thus, man supposes he is prudent, mighty, and well-equipped and can do everything independently. Hence, he no longer looks to God for his provision, not releasing that without the Lord he is blind, poor, wretched, and crazy.    

Three 

   Man became anxious about himself. As man’s awareness has increased, he became conscious of his future needs. As a result, man becomes anxious as to how he will cater for himself.

   In our previous discussion, we understood that the first need of man right after he was created was a dwelling place. His second need was food, the third was instruction, and the fourth was a companion. The fifth could be clothing; that is when they produce offspring. For in the statutes of the Lord, the husband has his conjugal right over his wife’s nakedness, likewise the wife over her husband’s nakedness. This truth is revealed in Leviticus 18:4-18; Exodus 20:26; First Corinthians 7:4. Based on this principle, nothing was wrong with the man and his wife being naked since there was no one around them. I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will enlighten the eyes of our understanding so that we may know that Adam and his wife were influenced by their anxiety to make themselves coverings at the wrong time.

   Throughout generations, man has been anxious and completely obsessed about his future needs and wants. Man’s anxiety causes him to engage in several activities whether or not they are genuine in providing solutions for his future needs. This has corrupted man’s ways, so he always misses the correct timing of God.