Man, Sin, Salvation: On Man's State

On Man's State

Since the dawn of time (or, shortly thereafter) man has been in a quandary; fallen from Grace, removed from that paradise he was placed in. He is short of redemption and has found himself on death row with a jury proclaiming his guilt and a holy Judge dropping the gavel.

How did man find himself in this position? What events were orchestrated in what fashion that lead him, blood stained, before the jury?

Man's Offense

Shortly after creation, man found himself in a paradise with a beautiful woman. They had it good. The whole place to themselves, trees, gardens, fruit, flowers, large carnivorous beasts reduced to mere cuddly animals. It was heaven on earth. That's the way God intended it.

There was only one rule: don't eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2:17). The world was their's to inhabit, to have dominion over, and that was the extent of their restriction.

But there was another there whose purpose was Chaos and his weapons were Deceit and Pride. He is referred to only as the serpent (Gen 3:1).

He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'you can't eat from any tree in the garden'?" (HCSB Gen 3:1)

The woman, having never been beguiled, being perfectly innocent, converses with the creature on which trees they may eat from.

"...about the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, 'You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.'" (HCSB Gen 3:3)

"No! You will not die...In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (HCSB Gen 3:4-5)

...So she took some of its fruit and ate [it]; she also gave [some] to her husband, [who was] with her, and he ate [it]. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked... (HCSB Gen 3:6-7)

Lead astray by their desire and the beguiling words of the serpent, Adam and Eve both eat of the fruit. They trespassed against the only Law that God had given them. They were perfect, innocent human beings. Yet, even in that perfection, they chose sin!

Now man stands before the Judge with the same bloodstained, betrayal on his hands: trespassing against the law that God instituted.

Man's Guilt

Man's guilt is two-fold. Firstly, it is genetic, passed down through generations of men starting with the first man, Adam.

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned. So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is there is life-giving justification for everyone. For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous." (HCSB Romans 5:12,18-19)

Through Adam's sin, sin passed upon us all. For we, were we in Adam's perfect state and mind, would have made the very same decision that Adam made. How can we say that we would have done differently? Are we better than Adam? Or was Adam imperfect? No. Neither we, then, were we in Adam's position with his mindset and created perfectly, nor any human creature apart from Christ able to do differently.

We are guilty, secondly, because we have sinned. Whether or not we are as guilty as Adam makes no difference.

"For all have sinned..."(HCSB Romans 3:23) "...There is no one righteous not even one...There is no one who does good, there is not even one." (HCSB Romans 3 10, 12)

So then we cannot say, "Why must I pay the price for something I cannot help. Adam has sinned and condemned me! I am not responsible!" Are you sinless? Have you not sinned yourself? Do you not, every day, choose for yourself what pleases you? Do you not lust and kill? So then you are guilty and condemned of your own sin as well!

One must look no farther for the guilty party than to look at oneself. He is condemned not only because of Adam, but because he too made the decision that eat the forbidden fruit.

Man is guilty and must pay the price for this guilt.

Man's Sentence

Man's sentence is singular, simple: death.

Paul neatly concludes his treatise on man's sin and God's salvation with this statement.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (HCSB Romans 6:23)

Apart from the intervention of God, Man is in a state of sinfulness and guilt. The sentence that hangs over the head of man is death.

Man is under a declaration of guilt for his inclination towards sin and the logical and justified end of that sin and guilt is death. In addition, man is placed in a state of eternal seperation from God in a supernatural holding cell known as Hell.

The end of Hell is a lake of fire.

"And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." (HCSB Revelation 20:15)

Man is seemingly in a state of no hope, sinful, guilty, and headed for death and Hell.