Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Body

General Composition

Three parts

Spirit

Soul

Body

Man’s State before the Fall

Our Knowledge

Genesis 2:19-20 “19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.”

Adam was able to name every living creature in all of God’s creation

Names were more than simply tags, but always referred to one’s character and destiny in ancient times

This infers Adam had some insight into the nature and relative purpose of each kind of animal

Genesis 1:28 “28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Adam was given the awesome task of taking charge of God’s earth

This would have given Adam incredible insight into the inner workings of every aspect of creation

Atmospheric phenomena

Interactions between kinds

Mineral deposit and other natural resource placement and usage

Geological phenomena

Our Moral State

Genesis 1:31 “31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

Ephesians 4:24 “24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

Adam was created in such a manner that he was a partaker of God’s holiness and righteousness

Quite more than merely being created in a state of innocence

More, he was created in a state of holiness and righteousness

Genesis 3:8-9 “8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”

Sin had not yet separated us from a Holy and Righteous God

We were in close to God in proximity and in relationship

Our Psychological State

Adam seems to have been created with several drives, or impulses

Self-Preservation (or a fear of death) - Genesis 3:3 “3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”

Hunger (or a desire to eat) - Genesis 1:29 “29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”

Procreation - Genesis 1:28 “28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Also Genesis 2:24 “24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

The desire for Ownership - Genesis 2:15 “15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

The desire to Dominate - Genesis 1:28 “28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Understand in its original context, this is a good thing and part of God’s plan for mankind

Presently we have the tendency to abuse this to our hurt due to our fallen natures

Consequently this innately good desire must always be controlled by the Spirit of God in us

Our Social State

Genesis 2:18 “18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”

Man is a social creature

Adam had continual fellowship with God in the garden

When God gave him Eve, he had continual fellowship with her as well

When Adam sinned he became alienated from a Holy God, and it drove a wedge of suspicion between Adam and Eve as well

Genesis 3:12 “12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”

Our Occupational State

Genesis 2:15 “15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

Even in a state of perfection, idleness was not tolerated

It turns out Adam was not only a zoologist, but he was also a horticulturist.

The garden was given to them by God, but its beauty, and harnessing the garden’s productivity, would only come through the work of Adam.

Creative occupation is God’s original intent for us, and absolutely essential if we are to experience fulfillment.

Work became “toil” only after the fall

Our Physical State

Genesis 2:16-17 “16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Adam was created with the potential of immortality

Death was always a possibility, but only if he disobeyed the commandment of God

While in obedience to God he was physically perfect

No genetic errors

No diseases

No injuries

No lapses of memory

No fatigue

No blemishes or unsightly markings of any kind

Perfectly beautiful

Genesis 3:24 “24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

After the fall, death was no longer just a possibility, but an absolute certainty.

This lasted until the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, came and removed the sting of death.

To Sum up

Adam was created in God’s image, Holy and Righteous

He was placed in an ideal environment with a fulfilling occupation.

He was provided Divine companionship and marital bliss.

As long as he obeyed God, he was immortal.

And yet, despite all these blessings and benefits, he decided he could do it better!

Have you ever thought the grass is greener over there, only to discover you had it really good where you were?

He lost … EVERYTHING!!!

Not just for him, but for the entire human race.

The Fall of Man

This is at the heart of the gospel message, that God loved us so much He was willing to suffer on a cross in our place to purchase us back and to rescue us from our fallen state.

We believe that man was created in the image of God, before Whom he walked in holiness and purity, but that by voluntary disobedience and transgression, he fell from the Eden of purity and innocence to the depths of sin and iniquity, and that in consequence of this, all mankind are sinners sold unto Satan, sinners not by constraint but by choice, shapen in iniquity and utterly void by nature of that holiness required by the law of God, positively inclined to evil, guilty and without excuse, justly deserving the condemnation of a just and holy God.

— Foursquare Declaration of Faith

Although Adam was placed in a perfect environment and was given everything he would ever need, he rebelled.

The question just has to be asked, “If God knew Adam would disobey Him, then why would He set all this up in the first place?”

Man’s Probation

Its Purpose

Man was created in God’s image

We have intelligence, emotion and will

We are also free moral agents

God’s desire is that we will choose to obey Him, but to do that, we need an alternative choice

Genesis 2:16-17 “16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

The garden in this sense becomes a place of probation, a place of testing

This test was based on a clear commandment; the law of God containing two parts:

The Positive - consisting of glorious and eternal provision

The Negative - consisting of a clear prohibition

If Adam and Eve were created with holy natures, how could they sin?

The difference between holy natures and holy characters