Hello everybody, and welcome in to episode Seven of the Bible 2021 podcast. We have now made it through 1/52nd of 2021. We are reading Genesis 3 today, and our focus is on the most horrifying horror story that has ever been told – the most terrible catastrophe in all of human history, and, quite simply, the most terrible thing that has ever happened…the fall of man. Welcome to new listeners in South-Holland, Netherlands, Masqat, Oman, Manipur, India, and Sacramento, California. Thank you for joining us for Bible 2021! We are a daily podcast, where we will dig into ten minutes of truth from the Word of God by reading one Bible chapter a day. Our focus this year is on DAILY Bible reading, so you can jump in at any time and join with us. We want to invite as many people as possible to join us in daily Bible reading, so help spread the word and share the podcast Don’t forget about our new web-page, Bible2021.com – contact page, show notes, transcript and more! Click here for our reading plan! 

Let’s talk about The Fall of Man, before we reveal our focus verse, so that we can (literally) end on good news, and not terrible news. My title for this episode is without exaggeration in the slightest, because every bad thing that has ever happened, every death, ever noticeable pain, every sickness, every heartbreak and rejection, every moment of loneliness and confusion…literally every bad emotion and experience humans have EVER had is rooted in the sin of Genesis 3. Prior to this chapter, there was no death, sickness, tears, pain, or even WORK as we thing about it. After the sin of humanity…everything got harder, darker, more painful and worse in every way. So – what is The Fall of Man? Let’s get some wisdom from some spiritual giants to help us answer the question.

“The ruin that the fall brought upon the soul of man consists very much in his losing the nobler and more benevolent principles of his nature, and falling wholly under the power and government of self-love…Sin like some powerful astringent, contracted his soul to the very small dimensions of selfishness; and God was forsaken, and fellow creatures forsaken, and man retired within himself, and became totally governed by narrow and selfish principles and feelings. Self-love became absolute master of his soul, and the more noble and spiritual principles of his being took wings and flew away.” Jonathan Edwards, Charity and its Fruits.

“But now there is another reality, another doctrine, without which the history of the world and God’s work in it makes no sense. This is the reality of sin and misery, the truth which is often called the doctrine of original sin. The doctrine is this: All people, everywhere and in all times, since the fall of our first parents into sin, have an innate depravity of heart which leads us to sin as soon as we are able to sin; and this universal condition of mankind is owing to the disobedience of Adam and God’s judgment upon it.”John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).

“The soul of man, originally formed to be the temple of the living God, when defiled by sin, was justly forsaken by its great inhabitant; and since the fall, answers the prophetical description given of Babylon: it “is become the habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” John Newton and Richard Cecil, The Works of John Newton, vol. 4 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 100.

Now – that is bad news…in fact, it is ultra-hyper=catastrophic news…the worst news ever. We were created to have a relationship with God, but God cannot dwell with sin, and now we are all covered in sin. I’ve heard some argue before that Eve was at fault here, and she was deceived and shares the blame, but I should point out that the Bible usually attributes the responsibility for the Fall to Adam, as in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.” There is good news, however, and that gets us to our focus verse of the day, which is Genesis 3:15:

I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel. Genesis 3:15

Theologians calls this verse the Euangelion – or, the first gospel – the first hint that good news would be coming. I love that God, in the IMMEDIATE aftermath of the first terrible news, goes ahead and gives indication of the coming good news of Jesus. What is the good news? I love how Paul phrases it: “For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22

Let me finish the quote of Newton above…because His quote, like the Bible itself, essentially begins with bad news, but ends with great news, “The soul of man, originally formed to be the temple of the living God, when defiled by sin, was justly forsaken by its great inhabitant; and since the fall, answers the prophetical description given of Babylon: it “is become the habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”* If we ask, as with good reason we may, How can the wise and holy God, “who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity,” and with whom evil cannot dwell, return to his sanctuary thus polluted and profaned? an answer is afforded in that gracious promise, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you, and I will take away the stony heart, and I will give you an heart of flesh, and,” in order to this, “I will put my Spirit within you.”

John Newton and Richard Cecil, The Works of John Newton, vol. 4 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 100.

End of the Show: Bible memory verse for January: Mark 1:15 ¹⁵ “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

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