The Fallen State Of Humanity

The Fallen State Of Humanity

Is This The Life God Intended For Us?

Within the first three chapters of Genesis, we find the creation of the universe, the creation of Adam and Eve, and the rebellion that caused the Great Fall. Make no mistake about it, there is more to this life than many realize and surely this life is not the life God intended for us—we are living in the fallen state of humanity.

Before The Fall

When God formed Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden they were the perfect creation of God, created in His image and likeness. Their lives in the garden were different from ours in many ways. For example, God was there walking in the garden and speaking in an audible voice with Adam and Eve. Also, there was no sin or need for clothing. The garden was likely the perfect temperature, and being naked was not a moral issue as it is today. There was no sickness, disease, or death, and all the animals were friendly. God brought all the animals to Adam and told him to name each one and we know that at least one could speak, the serpent. Eve and the serpent would spend time debating God’s character, which ultimately turned out to be a really bad idea. Eve was eventually deceived by Satan and Adam deliberately rejected God and chose to be with Eve instead of God. Adam and Eve’s rebellion changed everything for them and all their descendants who would be born in the fallen state of humanity.

The Fallen State

Today, in the fallen state, if my wife and I strolled naked through our garden, we would be arrested, handcuffed, hauled off to jail, and charged with indecent exposure. We would most likely be subjected to a psychological examination. Clearly, the effects of the fall have corrupted our minds, hearts, morals, and how we process life on earth. However, at the same time, we possess many good attributes. We are loving, kind, generous, honest, good, decent, and loyal to name a few. Nevertheless, we are flawed and can flip the evil switch in a heartbeat from good to evil—howbeit the self-righteous will take issue with this. We can be honest and dishonest, loyal and disloyal, good and evil. I am not talking about the unregenerate sinner alone, but the saved born-again believer also. We must never forget that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) and this we do daily! Our righteous standing with God is not a result of our good behavior, but a gift from God purchased with the precious holy body and blood of our Lord Jesus.

 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Contrary to what some may think, we have not received all that God has for us yet. The full redemption and restoration of a fallen humanity are yet to come. Certainly, through God’s great love and Christ’s sacrificial atoning death, we have gained access in to God’s grace, however, the full experiential phase of our salvation remains until we exit this life and enter His presence. Until then we have been given the promise of good things to come by His Holy Spirit who dwells in every born-again believer.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Eph. 1:13-14)

According to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:35-58), the experiential completion of redemption involves the death of our natural body and the resurrection of a glorified body. Our corrupt, perishable, and natural bodies are raised incorruptible, imperishable, and as spiritual bodies. Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 5:6-8,  to be absent from our bodies puts us in God’s presence, and in Philippians 1:23-24 he speaks of his desire to be freed from his earthly body and be with Christ. However, when Christ returns there will be a resurrection from the grave of a new spiritual body that supernaturally reunites with our spirit and soul that is with the Lord and returns with the Lord to experience this mysterious reunion. As for those who are still living on earth their fleshly bodies will be transformed into spiritual bodies and caught up in the air with the resurrected dead in Christ.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he speaks briefly about this mysterious process of a believer’s complete transformation into the new life that awaits all born-again believers who remain in Christ. It is obvious from the passage that the Corinthians were delving into all kinds of speculation as to how the mysterious transformation would take place. We should understand that these things that are written cannot be fully analyzed through our natural and human minds to the point that we grasp a detailed understanding. On the contrary, these spiritual realities must be accepted by faith and confidence in God alone in that He will perform what He has promised. It is not necessary that we are anyone fully understand the exact and detailed process, but only that we will receive a new spiritual body in which we will live in the presence of the Lord for eternity. Our brief time here on earth in the fallen state will pass away and the glorious life that God has prepared for us is rapidly approaching. While there are several schools of thought as to how all this will play out, it matters not what you believe about it. God will execute His plan regardless of what your understanding might be.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶ How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. ⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[g] bear the image of the heavenly man. ⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—  ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[h] ⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”[i]  ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:36-58)

A Better Life Ahead

Our life on earth is brief and all paths lead to death’s door where we will either enter the eternal presence of God or be bound to eternal damnation for rejecting God and His plan to rescue us from the consequences of sin. The young, old, rich, poor, nobodies, and somebodies must all face the end of this life. Afterward, there is another world, another dimension, a spiritual reality, another life that transcends this natural world we now live in. It is a life reserved for all who love God and turn to Him in true repentance. Our present earthly life is not the life God intended for us, there is a better life ahead that far exceeds our natural comprehension.

The Scriptures teach us (Mat. 7:13-14) that most people living in this fallen state will reject true repentance. Their love and desires will be towards the forbidden path of destruction while viewing the narrow path that leads to eternal life as a path for the kooky, goofy, and unintelligent. If they only knew the truth and how much God loves them and desires to forgive and redeem them from the fallen state they would run to God and find His arms open wide to embrace them with His eternal love. If they only understood that Christ did not come to condemn us (John 3:17) but to rescue us from the fallen state and restore us to a new life in Him; a life filled with love, joy, peace, mercy, grace, and forgiveness.

Everyone living in the fallen state is either part of the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of Christ. When I look back upon the time I once lived in the dominion of darkness and far from the kingdom of Christ, tears of joy flow down my face and thanksgiving and praise rises up on the inside for having been rescued from the darkness and destruction of the fallen state.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

If you are not in Christ today, I pray that God’s Holy Spirit speaks to your heart and causes you to turn to Him today!  In Jesus name, Amen.

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