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1. Before the fall
When God made Adam and Eve, they were holy, just as the Lord is holy. They lived in the presence of God, enjoying His blessings, and were pleased to live, to the glory of the Lord, under His authority and according to the rules established by Him. They had no hostility toward God in their hearts, no conceit, but love, reverence and submission. They gloried in the LORD God and obeyed Him. Therefore they experienced no adversity but prosperity, happiness and health, and fulfilled their responsibility as God's stewards with great joy, ease and satisfaction. There was no disunity between God and them but unity. They enjoyed a life of peace, joy, love and abundant blessings in the glorious presence of God the Eternal; they had fellowship with God and enjoyed the rest of God’s creation as well.
Moreover, the relationship between the man and the woman was peaceful, free of conflict and opposition. There was harmony, mutual respect, intimacy, and trust between the man and the woman – “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). Lastly, the relationship between men and the rest of creation was good, and they perfectly fulfilled their role as God’s stewards, ruling “over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28) as God Himself would. Man was God’s faithful deputy regent on earth, for he ruled over the earth to the glory of the Lord and gloried in Him; he ruled with uprightness and perfectly cared for God’s creation. Therefore God’s favor rested upon him, for he was holy in all his conduct. But this blissful life in the glorious presence of the Most High was swiftly forfeited by man, when he deferred to Satan’s lies and rejected God’s rules and authority.
2. Human rebellion: Man’s defection from God’s rules and authority
When the LORD God made men, He put them in the garden that He Himself planted to supply them with food for their sustenance. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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 2:16-17). Adam and his wife kept this commandment that the LORD God gave them to preserve them from death, they joyfully lived under God’s rules and authority and enjoyed God’s blessings and His presence until the day the serpent came to the woman and incited her to doubt the goodness of God. “He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:1-5).
Thus the serpent deceived the woman and she ate the forbidden fruit and gave some to her husband. The man and his wife thus defied the Lord’s authority and violated His commandment. Their desire to be like God was an act of treason against Him as it defected from the chief purpose of mankind, which is to glorify God and rejoice in Him. Their deference to the serpent’s lie was an affront to God’s goodness, for the Lord had commanded them not to eat “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” to protect them from death; but the serpent gave them a distorted meaning of God’s prohibition, thereby calling into question the goodness of God.
God’s goodness guarantees blessing, comfort and blessedness; but the serpent caused the man and his wife to doubt this reality and incited them to believe that God's prohibition was designed to do them harm rather than good, to withhold something good from them rather than preserve them from something bad. The serpent said, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” He denied the truthfulness of God's threat and distorted the meaning of God’s prohibition in order to tarnish the beauty of the Lord. This led to man having a distorted view of God, a misunderstanding of God, which created in his heart the desire to live independently of God, outside of God's rules and authority; for the God of love was now seen by man as an oppressor. Hence his desire gave birth to sin, and as a result, peace was lost and death entered the realm of man. He severed himself from God and His blessings.
3. The impact of human rebellion
Depravity - Curse - Enslavement
The effect of the fall of man is apparent in the degradation of men’s relationships with God, with one another, and with the rest of creation. For every faculty of their being has been utterly altered: their minds have become depraved and dull, their volition perverted, their hearts hardened, their eyes blinded, their ears stopped and their tongues inflamed – “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes”(Romans 3:10-18).
Such, then, has been the state of men since sin entered the world, and every aspect of their lives since then has been seriously stricken; for in their desire to exalt themselves rather than God, men defiled themselves and incurred divine curse. Therefore they can no longer enjoy God’s blessings and love, but suffer the effects of the curse: “To the woman [God] said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” And to Adam [God] said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:16-19).
Thus man traded a life of blessedness and comfort for a life of pains, miseries, drudgeries and sorrows; he lost his moral purity and fell into depravity, giving up life and offering himself, body and soul, to death. Man was originally created to live forever in the presence of God: neither his body nor his soul was to see death. But once man became tainted by sin, he died spiritually, that is, his soul died to the things of God. Man’s rebellion against God led to his depravity. “Every intent of the thoughts of his heart [is] only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). He has become an enemy of his own soul, for all his deeds are evil and his wage is death. He hates God and the things of God. The mind of man is no longer set on the things of God but on the things of the flesh, “which are: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these” (Galatians 5:19-21). And as it is written, “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are of the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8).
Man by himself can no longer walk uprightly, for his heart has a propensity to do evil. And not only has man become dead to the things of God, but also “to dust [he] shall return” because of his sin. Which means he will also experience physical death. In addition, if a man returns to dust while still spiritually dead, he will also experience the second death, also called the eternal death, which is eternity in hell. For although the body perishes, the soul lives forever, and once the coming bodily resurrection is wrought by the Lord, each person’s soul will be reunited to their body and they will live forever, either in heaven or in hell.
In his rebellion against God, man traded his freedom in the garden of Paradise – where life abounds – for slavery to sin, Satan and the system of evil in a cursed realm – where death prevails; he turned from God and His authority to Satan and his lies; he traded God’s blessings for curses, and fellowship with God for friendship with the devil. Because he became spiritually dead, man no longer desires nor is he able to submit to God’s rules and authority. Hostility, pride and wickedness now rule in his heart, and God has become his enemy. He can no longer enjoy the presence of his Maker but constantly hides from Him. Adam and his wife never hid from God until they committed the first act of treason against God, and “they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8); they had never failed to revere the LORD God, but when their first act of rebellion occurred, instead of taking full responsibility for their wrongdoing, the man and his wife declined it and ultimately put the blame on God. For when the LORD God asked Adam, “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (v.11-13).
Enmity with God
When God made Adam and put him in the garden, “the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (v.21-23).
So, before the fall, Adam delighted in his companion and was grateful to God for the woman He had created to be with him. Because he was unstained by sin, his judgment was not clouded and there was no conceit in his heart. He had a proper view of God and himself, and he loved the things of God. But when he fell into sin, his view of God and himself was completely altered. Therefore, his first reaction was to hide from God. And when he was confronted by the Lord about his sin, instead of confessing it, Adam blamed the woman, ultimately accusing God for giving him a companion. The man said to the Lord, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate” (v.12). As if to say, if You, God, had not given me this woman, I would not have done evil. But the truth is this: Adam was fully culpable, because he freely and willfully chose to defy God’s authority; he acted in violation of the commandment of the Lord without being coerced or deceived. As written in 1 Timothy 2:14, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” Moreover, Adam failed in his role as head of the woman, a role which endowed him with the responsibility to lead, protect and care for his companion. If Adam had properly held his position as head of the woman, he could have protected his wife from the temptation of the serpent. He was with his wife when the serpent enticed her and she ate the forbidden fruit and gave some to him and he ate without any resistance.
The woman, on the other hand, not only disregarded God’s commandment, but also did not respect the leadership position of her husband; for when the serpent started talking to her, she did not judge it necessary to retreat so that her husband could lead the conversation, but chose to pursue the dialogue with the serpent. And the serpent seduced and deceived her with empty words. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6). And when she was confronted by the Lord about her sin, “The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (v.13). Like Adam, she declined her responsibility by putting the blame on the serpent, ultimately accusing the Lord – He who created the serpent. It is true that the serpent was guilty, but Eve was nonetheless responsible for her action, because she willfully defied God’s authority and disregarded His rules.
The fall turned men into enemies of God and fugitives. They now have a distorted view of God and themselves due to their moral corruption. When men were morally pure, they enjoyed the presence of God, but they now hide themselves from the face of God, because He is holy and they are not. For no man tainted by sin can stand the glorious presence of the holy God. Because of their utter depravity, men were cast away from the presence of God. For “nothing unclean [can] ever [dwell in the presence of the Lord], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false” (Revelation 21:27). Men have plunged themselves into a darkness from which they cannot save themselves. They have a propensity to do evil, are blind and helpless, dead to the things of God. Men’s hostility toward God has utterly superseded their enjoyment of fellowship with God – reverence for and delight in God has given room to contempt, fear, flight and concealment. Therefore, they will not and cannot turn to God, but conceal their wrongdoings and pride themselves on their destruction. After Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, “they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8).
Adam’s sin nature has been inherited by the entire human race. Therefore, like their forefathers before them, all the sons of men are by nature dead in their trespasses and sins, unable and unwilling to turn to God. They are characterized by conceit and do not admit their guilt nor confess to God their wrongdoings unless they are supernaturally made alive by God.
Degradation of men's relationship with one another and with other creatures on earth
The effect of the fall on men’s relationship with God is tragic. In addition, the rupture between God and men, which resulted from human rebellion, has a ripple effect on men’s relationships with one another. There is no longer intimacy, trust and admiration, but secrecy, distrust and shame – as seen in the garden. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:6-7). The reciprocal affection and admiration that existed between the man and his wife when they were pure – “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25) – was thus replaced by a feeling of shame; they both felt guilty at the sight of their nakedness when their eyes were opened and they knew evil. Shame and revulsion led them to hide their degradation from each other, and ultimately from God. Moreover, there is now enmity, hate, slander, gossip, rivalry, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, wars, constant frictions, and the like, among the sons of men. The blessedness that marked the pre-fall marriage relationship has been forfeited, and the battle of the sexes has gained the stage.
Furthermore, the fall has tremendously affected men's relationships with other creatures on earth. Man related to the creation in a very unique way before the fall; he ruled in righteousness and took perfect care of the animals and the land. For the Lord God had given him the responsibility to work and keep the land and the authority to rule over His creation. This placed man above all earthly creatures and set him apart from them. Faithful to the Lord, man lived and reigned on the earth to the glory of the Lord and rejoiced in Him. But after the fall, men became so corrupt, they fell so low that they “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). Because of their moral decay, men have turned themselves into worshipers of the creatures over which the Creator God has given them authority; they worship and serve all kinds of creatures rather than the Lord God. What a degrading shift in the position of man! He traded his dignity and identity in God with debasement.
Also, before the fall, animals, birds and sea creatures were not food for human beings, but “every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit” (Genesis 1:29). “And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, [the Lord gave] every green plant for food” (v.30). But after the fall and the flood that swept away the ancient world population, except for eight people, the Lord said to Noah and his sons, from whom the whole earth was populated after the flood, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything” (Genesis 9:3).
At first man posed no danger to other creatures on earth and they posed no danger to man. But the relationship between the two groups has changed since the Lord gave man permission to eat animals. As sovereignly decreed by the Lord, “The fear of [man] and the dread of [man is] upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. [For] into [his] hand they are delivered” (v.2). While many animal species are now endangered due to human activities, on the other hand, men are physically attacked or killed, their crops are destroyed and their homes invaded by animals. This starkly contrasts not only with how men ruled over the earth before the fall and cared for everything in it, but also with how they cohabited with animals on earth before the tragedy.
Deterioration of man’s living and working conditions
Men’s living conditions in general have also taken a serious hit as a result of sin. In the garden, men suffered neither cold nor heat, nor disease or pestilence, nor famine, nor natural disaster. But all these affections and adversities have become as common in our realm as the air we breathe since sin entered the world. People die of hunger, from virus attacks and all sorts of diseases. There are devastating windstorms, rainstorms, snowstorms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, droughts, floods and all kinds of natural disasters that constantly hit the earth and cause many casualties or affect our living conditions in one way or another. As a result of all these plight, there is always sorrow, depression, mourning, weeping and groaning. As written by Paul in Romans 8:22-23, “the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, and not only the creation, but we ourselves.”
The fall also plunged mankind into very difficult working conditions. When the Lord made man, “the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates” (Genesis 2:8-14). Apart from these four rivers that flowed in the garden, “a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground” (v.6). Which means, the garden of Eden was well watered throughout the year and extremely fruitful. And the Lord gave this beautiful garden to man to work it and keep it, a task that the man performed with great satisfaction in the days of his purity. For his working conditions were very pleasurable, extremely comfortable, exceptionally propitious, exceedingly enjoyable, and stress-free.
Sadly, because of his disobedience, the garden of Paradise was lost to man. When he ate the forbidden fruit, “The LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23-24). Thus the lushness and blessedness that man experienced in the garden ended with his expulsion from the garden. He is now exposed to scarcity, vain pursuit and drudgeries. There is no more ease, joy and satisfaction at work. Man must work hard because of the curse of the ground – “in pain [he] eats of it all the days of [his] life; thorns and thistles it [brings] forth for [him]; and [he] eats the plants of the field. By the sweat of [his] face [he] eats bread, till [he] returns to the ground, for out of it [he was] taken; for [he is] dust, and to dust [he] shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19).
4. The pervasive effect of the fall
The tragedy of the fall has a universal impact: all the sons of men, throughout all generations, have suffered its harsh consequences. No man has ever lived on earth who has not suffered the tragic effect of the fall in one way or another. Because the sinful nature of Adam has been inherited by all men, all are subjected to the curse that befell him, for all fall short of the glory of God. As it is written, “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). The implication is that no one is innocent. So lest we be mistaken about our own corrupt condition, we must not conclude that the miseries and troubles in our lives are all the result of the one sin of Adam. Romans 3:23 reads, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Isaiah 53:6a, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way.” We are all by nature puffed up with pride, haters of God and disobedient. Which is to say, we are just like our first parents, Adam and Eve. For every time we sin, we declare ourselves, and not God, worthy of honour.
So none of us is better than our first parents. Just like them, we do not comply with God’s standard. Rather, we decide what is good and what is evil according to the sinful inclination of our fallen hearts. By nature, we do not seek to honour God but to satisfy our sinful passions and lusts; the motives of our hearts do not pursue the glory of God but our own interests. We need to remind ourselves that any thought or word or action done to exalt oneself rather than God is sin. And the truth is this: in our natural state, none of our thoughts, actions and words is done for the glory of God, for our motives are evil. There is a lack of congruence between our ways and the ways of God. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). And the lack of the necessary congruence between a man's ways and those of God can only lead to his estrangement from God. In other words, man's utter depravity creates a huge chasm between him and the thrice holy God.
Our fallenness has estranged us from God and deprived us of His blessings. We now live in a sin-cursed world, with broken relationships, away from our God, away from the glory of His might, subjected to His wrath because of our rebellion. But that is not the end of the story. The fall of man did not take God by surprise, for nothing takes Him by surprise – “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose”, declares the Lord in Isaiah 46:9-10. The fall of man happened according to God’s sovereign decree and providence. Satan meant it for evil, but God meant it for good: to display His glorious grace to the created universe. Therefore, in His pronouncement against the serpent, God promised to deliver the sons of men, saying to the serpent in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
5. The reversal of the curse
God foretold the defeat of the serpent by the Seed of the woman. And the serpent Crusher is God’s own Son, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only righteous person who has ever walked upon this planet. He did not inherit the sin nature of Adam because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Thus He was fully God and fully man. He was sent by His Father some two thousand years ago to set us free from the curse of the fall. Jesus, the God-Man, came into this world “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8); God the Son left His throne on high, taking on flesh, to deliver us from our sins. “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).
Human depravity has created a huge chasm between God and the sons of men and subjected the creation to futility. Cursed is the world we live in, and separated from the Creator God are the sons of men because of sin. As Isaiah 59:2 declares, “[Our] iniquities have made a separation between [us] and [our] God, and [our] sins have hidden His face from [us] so that He does not hear.” Thus the rupture of our relationship with God is all due to sin. Sin has hidden the light of the face of God from us, plunging the entire human race into darkness. But thanks be to the LORD our God! For in eternity past, He had purposed to restore His presence to the midst of His people, He had predetermined our deliverance from the darkness, in order that we might be restored to the light. And when the fullness of time had come, God sent into the world His Son Jesus Christ, the True Light, the Light of the world, to enlighten all those overcome by darkness. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).
Whoever beholds the face of Christ the Son of God beholds the face of God (John 14:9). He is “The light [that] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). Christ is the foundation for the new relationship between God and mankind, the Mediator who brings us peace. In Him alone there is reconciliation and healing. It pleased God, according to the riches of His grace, to grant forgiveness, on the basis of the person and work of His Son, to everyone who forsakes his sins and turns to God in humble repentance. By the blood of His Son, God ransoms us from the curse and cleanses us from all our impurities. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
The Son of God came into the world and willingly delivered Himself up as a propitiation for our sins, in order to give us life in the Spirit and restore our relationship with God. On the basis of His person and work, repentant sinners receive by grace the free gift of righteousness through faith in Him and are sealed by the Holy Spirit into the family of God, being made alive by Him. They thus become a new creation in Christ Jesus, free from sin and its penalty, free from the wrath to come. They will not see the second death, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.
Having been subjected to futility as a result of human rebellion, the creation itself will be liberated from the bondage of corruption. Yes, the day is coming when this cursed world will be destroyed by fire, and with it all those who continue in their sins and reject the Son of God. “Like a robe [the Lord] will roll up [the heaven and the earth that now exist], like a garment they will be changed” (Hebrews 1:12a). The system of evil which lies in the power of the evil one will also be destroyed. 1 John 2:17 says, “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” On the great day of the Lord Almighty, He will unleash His righteous wrath upon the ungodly, that is, those who have loved their sins and rejected His grace. And after He has rid the earth of all the ungodly, He, who made heaven and earth and all that is in them and who subjected the creation to futility because of human rebellion, will make all things new; for thus says the Lord God in Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Surely, the Lord will restore all things. On that day, a new earth and a new heaven will come down out of heaven from God; “the dwelling place of God [will be] with [His saints, that is, those who have purified themselves with the blood of His Son]. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things [will] have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4). The Edenic blessedness lost as a result of the fall will be restored and God’s people will enjoy Him and His blessings forever in the new Jerusalem. “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-5). V.8, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death”; they will be thrown “into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42).
No one can reverse God's curse or cancel its effects on the sons of men. As Job 12:14 puts it, “If [God] tears down, none can rebuild; if He shuts a man in, none can open.” From the womb we are held captive by death because of sin. But we cannot deliver ourselves from this bondage. As Psalms 49:7-9 points out, “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit.” No human exertion, no amount of good work can save a person from the guilt and penalty of his sins, for it is against an infinitely holy God that they have sinned. And every sin deserves an everlasting punishment in the hell of fire. Therefore, in order to escape the pit, sinners must rely solely on the grace of the One they have offended. For He alone can open the prison door of death where He has cast them and restore them to freedom.
It was God who cursed man because of his disobedience; hence God alone can remove the curse and its effect. We can only be saved from the wrath of God by God Himself. Our deliverance from the sting of death is achieved by the work of God alone, and no one can be delivered without an atonement for his sins being made. Therefore, “By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3b), in order that we might be graciously justified through faith in His Son, on the basis of His substitutionary death on the cross. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God, the Holy One, God the Eternal, He “without [Whom] was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3), came into this world in the flesh: truly God and truly man. As the God-Man, Christ lived the perfect life that we can never live and was nailed to the cross as a substitute for all those who would believe in Him. He lived under the law of God like the rest of mankind; but unlike them, He perfectly kept all the requirements of God’s law and bore the sins of many upon His sinless flesh. “For our sake [God] made [Him] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). All those who turn away from their sins and put their trust in Jesus Christ the Son of God, are freed from the curse of sin; for Christ’s righteousness is graciously imputed to them and God treats them as righteous. As it is written, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).
If the weight of your sins still clings to you, I urge you today to lay your burden at the foot of the cross of Christ in exchange for eternal peace with God, lest you be consumed by the wrath to come because of your iniquities. Repent of your sins, for the time is near, the time of the end, the day of the great wrath of God the Almighty. I plead with you to turn to Christ now and trust in Him alone for the salvation of your soul. He alone can free you from the tragic effect of your iniquities. Come to Him without delay and He will make you heir of His Kingdom, a citizen of heaven. Christ will take you to the great city of God’s people, the new Jerusalem, away from every corruption, away from the curse of the sin, if you repent of your sins and put your trust in Him alone.
Christ alone restores that which is broken, makes the filthy clean, the profane holy, the corruptible incorruptible, the defiled pure, the reprobate a child of the Most High and the accursed a citizen of the Jerusalem of God. Come to Christ, and He will restore your soul. He who is mighty to save, rich in mercy and grace and who does not let the guilty go unpunished is calling you, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Run to Him now and do not delay. For today is the day of salvation, and the great day of the wrath of the Almighty is near.