THE TRUTH AND EXPERIENCE OF GOD’S SALVATION

Lesson Ten

THE TRUTH AND EXPERIENCE OF GOD’S SALVATION

Lesson Ten

X. The Result of Man’s Fall

1. The problem of death – Rom. 6:23a

A. The result of Satan’s plot to keep man from God’s life – Eph. 4:18

B. Eternal separation from God, the second death; to miss the New Jerusalem, the tree of life, and the water of life – Rev. 20:15

Burden to Impart:

Satan plotted to keep man from God’s life, and succeeded. He tempted man with knowledge (Gen. 2:4), but the result was alienation from the life of God because ignorance (Eph. 4:18) and the hardness of man’s heart (Eze. 36:26 – fallen man has a stony heart). So as a result of the fall, man’s portion became eternal separation from God, the second death and the missing of the New Jerusalem (including separation from the tree of life and separation from the river of water of life).

Memory Verse: “Being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;” (Ephesians 4:18)

Facts to Teach:

1) Satan had an evil plot: his intention is to fill the mind of man with vanity. When the mind of fallen people is filled with vanity, their understanding is darkened regarding the things of God. Thus, they are alienated, separated, from the life of God.

2) Man fell into the vanity of his mind and became darkened in his understanding. Now, in such a fallen condition man is unable to touch the life of God until he repents (has his mind turned to God) and believes in the Lord Jesus to receive God's eternal life (Acts 11:18; John 3:16).

3) Ignorance denotes not only a lack of knowledge but also an unwillingness to know. Because of the hardness of his heart, fallen man does not approve of knowing the things of God (Rom. 1:28). Therefore, his understanding is darkened so that he does not know God. The hardness of fallen man's heart is the source of the darkness in his understanding and the vanity of his mind.

4) The lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41), not for man. Since the unbelievers have followed the devil, they will share the devil's judgment (John 16:11) and will become joint partakers of the devil's eternal torment.

5) The perishing unbelievers perish because of their unbelief. Not believing in the Lord Jesus is the unique sin that causes people to perish (John 16:9). When unbelievers perish, they are eternally separated from God, and miss the New Jerusalem, the tree of life, and the river of water of life.