Exposition by Max A Forsythe
Question 19:
Q: What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
A: All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.
Thomas Watson would show us that the implications of this question is twofold. First, because of our hereditary original sin, we are born without communion with God. Second, without the blessing of the new birth in Christ, mankind is left under the power of Satan with all the dangers related to his wicked rule. To these two points this morning, I would like to add a third and that point is found in our New Testament lesson this morning, where we see how gracious is our God in reestablishing the lost communion through the second birth.
First, let us consider what was lost in Adam's fall from grace. In that fall he and we lost the close communion and daily personal relationship with the God of heaven. Adam was visibly put out from his Father's paradise and banished from God's immediate presence. Every generation since Adam, has been born apart from God's paradise and many, if not the majority are left in that fallen sinful condition to live a life without hope in this life and an eternity separate from our Creator God. Far too many in our generation today would say to this preaching: so what! Their spiritual blindness is like that of a person who is born blind, never having seen the light of day. Yes, a friend or family member may tell them what they are missing, but without the experience, they cannot fathom what the world looks like!
Some months ago, I saw most of a television movie where the lead character was a person born blind, who had grown to adulthood, was earning a living, had married and was raising a child. Suddenly, there was the medical possibility of gaining eyesight with further risks of loosing it once again. The character decided that he wanted to see, even if only for a few hours or days. And so the operation was completed and for a few days he was able to see his wife, their children and the world around him. Then the light began to fade as he slowly returned to his natural condition. I do not know how the story finally came out, because like a lot of television any more, I miss the last third, and wake up to a loud advertisement much later in the evening!
If you are a Christian, you can well understand spiritually the experience of that character. Of course we do not benefit from a complete spiritual transformation in this life. Paul does describe our spiritual state as seeing things through a glass darkly, and until the second coming and our restoration to paradise we live day to day much as the character in our story, grateful for what little spiritual sight we have been given. Of course, unlike the character in our story, we do not have to worry about loosing the spiritual grace that has been given to us, even though we have to work hard to understand what we see and appreciate the deepness of the darkness that hovers in the background always reminding us of where we could have remained.
This brings us to Watson's second point from question nineteen, concerning the dangerous life of the world which surrounds us. Watson describes the fallen life which is "under the power of Satan". Outside of paradise and Christ's Kingdom the wicked are heirs of God's wrath, subject to all the miseries of this life and exposed to terrors of hell and damnation forever. We see in Watson's phrasing the same that are made evident in the catechism itself. And these wrathful curses are only echoed from Scripture itself. In Ephesians 2: 2 we realize that Satan has certain powers which are not finally sovereign, but still of some effect, particularly in those who are disobedient to the God of heaven.
Recently, one of the news shows exposed a couple of women in Texas who had lead otherwise normal lives. Yet, by the persuasive powers of some hypothetical agent, they had gone on a rampage of deceit and theft. They ended up ruining their lives and those of their families as well. Certainly, one of the middle aged ladies exhibited traces of schizophrenia, but there was no excuse for her "educated" friend and her extended family who all got pulled into a legal mess from which no one came out with any credit to their character.
You see, no sooner than Satan tempts, the worldly crowd obey, they follow their fallen passions, desires and instincts collectively and singly and thereby prove Satan's rebellious reign in this world. Even as honest, hard working people are affected and afflicted by the self-serving policies being touted from Washington, so too are we and the worldly taunted, tainted and afflicted by the persuasions of the Devil and all his minions!
We of all people should understand the plight of the worldly, because we too were once by nature heirs of wrath. In our experience we now know that the love of God makes every bitter experience sweet. The opposite is true at long last for the worldly crowd in this life, the cures of God makes every sweet thing bitter. To appreciate this all you have to do is consider the sordid sexuality of the worldly crowd. One of the most popular textbooks of the last generation was entitled The Joy of Sex. For all the liberal training that our young people have received in the sense of that title, you can be utterly astounded at the rampant misery which necessitates large and expensive doses of continued counseling. But the counseling doesn't help. That precious relational gift of God that is to be reserved for husband and wife, has become a bitter curse of broken and failed relationships which haunts the post-christian era!
Further, the breakups conjured up by a free wheeling libido, encouraged by the devilish nature of the "spirit of this world" (Satan), has caused countless cases of parent, spouse and child neglect or abuse which haunts generation x and those yet to come. However, we have to appreciate that the people who suffer from these things have received only what they deserve. Satan tempts and they follow with nary a thought of doing otherwise. This is why the dangers of public spending are so great and why doing away with the welfare state is so terribly difficult. People are addicted to their sins and enjoy the public rewards being conferred because of their addiction.
Until at long last the present "kingdom" of Satan evaporates in bankruptcy it will be well nigh impossible to set things right. Given the last two Republican campaigns for the White House, I wonder if the candidates really want to be in the office when the whole welfare edifice finally collapses? I just don't think recent candidates have much hope in restoring a sensible, restrained government especially when countered by an opposition that promises increased spending for every nuance of the public appetite.
Isn't this the way in Satan's world? The pious promises of a better life by reapportioning wealth and skills given by God to some and not to all, must eventually fail because the God who gives the intellectual and physical means for labor, wealth and intelligence would be left out of the equation.
When I was in college, my favorite professor was Dr Louise Hastings. I have never heard before or since such a strident voice against feminist and ethnic programs. She shocked her literature classes one year by stressing repeatedly that all of mankind were actually equal in only two places: before a court of law and at the judgment throne of God. In every other place and in every other respect inequalities abounded and divided people according to the gifts and talents that a gracious God had allowed for each and every creature.
And this thought brings us to our last point for the day. To some, God gives the gift of grace and others are left to go their own merry way to eat and drink before they die apart from the God of heaven to spend their eternity apart from Him and His grace which they have never wanted of their own free will. Look at verse four to see what God has caused to happen in our lives: "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved." Such a kindness, Paul would have us understand is beyond our ability to desire or claim. See verses eight and nine: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast".
Now, what are we to do with this grace? How are we to react to the Great News of our salvation? After all, we have been delivered from the miseries and destiny of the worldly crowd around us! How can we respond to the greatest gift revealed to the elect of every tribe and nation? While our appropriate response appears simple, the lifelong spiritual struggles to which we are called is daunting indeed. We know full well, that we cannot earn our way into heaven. God has already accomplished that for us through Jesus Christ. As we close today, let us look at the exhortation in verse ten. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Someone once looked up a dictionary definition of Calvinist. It must have been an old dictionary because the definition they found was this: Calvinists were people who knowing they were saved by grace alone worked diligently throughout life as if their very salvation depended upon their works. We would know that definition by the regular encouragement of Scripture to show forth to the world around us the fact of grace in our lives while we earnestly labor to reflect the greater glory of our Father in heaven who has set us apart to do His will. May He so encourage us and use us today and always.
Resources Used:
Green, James B. A Harmony of the Westminster Presbyterian Standards.
Hodge, A.A. The Confession of Faith.
(PCA) The Confession of Faith: The Shorter Catechism.
Watson, Thomas. A Body of Divinity, 10 Commandments & Lord's
Prayer
Williamson, G.I. The Westminster Confession of Faith.
Places Preached:
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Box 132049 -- Columbus, OH 43213-8049
WSC019 22 Sept 96
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