Preaching and Dogmatics

This is an edited version of my den Dulk Lectures given at Westminster Seminary California in April, 2021. The content of the lecture has been edited for publication here.

Lecture One — Preaching and Apologetics

Preaching and Dogmatics

In this, my second lecture, I will discuss and emphasize the importance of teaching our congregations sound doctrine as the basis for making proper application. It is important to note at the outset that a sermon ought not be a doctrinal lecture. But given the concerns raised in my previous lecture, a little bit of doctrinal lecturing in our sermons might be in order–especially when we consider the number of times the Bible itself speaks of the importance of proper doctrine as a corrective to error, ignorance, and apathy, and repeatedly warns us about false teachers.

The question before us is simply this: “how do we communicate doctrine–the deep truths of the faith–while making such doctrine applicable to daily life?” Yes, I know that people want to cut out the doctrine and get right to the application–it is a common lament. But part of the mess we are in is that far too often, and far too readily, churches have caved in to what is actually an unreasonable demand. These concerns typically come from Sheilaists, Moralistic Therapeutic Deists, adherents of American Civil Religion, and Critical and Social Justice Theorists described in my previous lecture.

Our question is also especially relevant in light of our previous lecture in which we discussed the necessity of preaching apologetically–which I define as acknowledging that the Christian faith is a truth claim grounded in specific historical events, all of which culminate in the person and work of Jesus Christ–his incarnation, death, and resurrection. One of the peculiarities of Christianity is that its main doctrines are also historical facts. B. B. Warfield pointed out the obvious when he declared, “the resurrection of Christ is the fundamental fact of Christianity.”[1] The same holds true for Christ’s cross, his ascension, and a host of other factual occurrences which are loaded with doctrinal significance. Like the resurrection, these doctrines are tied to history (they occurred) but also become fundamental doctrines. If God did and said these things recorded in the Bible, then Christianity is true and its claims upon those things we believe and its commands as to how we are to act stand–despite the objections those who want to get right to the acting part, bypassing or down-playing the importance of what must be believed in order to act properly.

The New Testament Repeatedly Warns About False Doctrine and False Teachers

It should not come as a surprise that our work as ministers will be conducted under difficult circumstances. Throughout the New Testament we are warned in no uncertain terms of opposition to the Christian faith and its central doctrines in part, because it requires the hearer to trust someone other than themselves (Jesus) to save them from the wrath of God (if there even is such a thing). So we will begin our time surveying the various warnings in the New Testament about serious challenges raised by false doctrine and unbelief, then we will spend the balance of our time identifying some of the over-arching doctrinal categories necessary to equip our hearers to resist the challenges associated with our age.

The warnings about false doctrine given in the New Testament center around the ignorance of, confusion about, or opposition to specific Christian doctrines and teaching. As he faces death in a Roman jail, Paul’s lasts words to Timothy, leaves his associate with both a warning and an exhortation. In 2 Timothy 3:12-17, Paul tells Timothy,

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Paul’s point is that the nature of Scripture as “god-breathed” (i.e., having its origin in the will of God) establishes the Bible as the source of all Christian doctrine, the basis of our practice, and the sole standard by which all Christian proclamation and conduct is to be evaluated. Paul warns Timothy about seventeen vices which will characterize the people of the age in which he must live and minister (2 Timothy 3:1-5):

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

The need to preach doctrinally (and therefore “dogmatically”) arises directly from a series of warnings given us by Jesus, Paul, and John. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus warns his disciples that doctrinal disputes will be part and parcel of the mission of the church he is founding. When Jesus takes his disciples up on to the Mount of Olives before his last evening with them, Jesus warns the twelve that they will encounter a number of false prophets (men making specious claims about themselves which deny the claims Jesus has made about himself). Furthermore, the disciples will be arrested and persecuted because of the contents of their preaching (Matthew 24:9-14; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-19). The difficulties associated with the narrow way of Christianity means that where will be plenty of incentives to broaden the path to lessen the offense.

Jesus goes on to warn the twelve of false Christs, telling his disciples in Matthew 24:4-5, “see that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.” The issue here is false doctrine–specifically false claims by others to fulfill that messianic office which Jesus was then fulfilling. Paul repeatedly warns Christians in his letters of Judaizers (i.e., the Book of Galatians), proto-gnosticism (Colossians), those who teach that resurrection has already occurred (2 Timothy 2:17-18), that those who die before Christ returns miss out on the resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13 ff), or even that the day of the Lord has already come to pass (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3). All of these warnings reflect a particular historical context unique to the apostolic era. But the manner in which they are given clearly extends to the church’s on-going mission until our Lord returns again.

The Apostle John warns the churches that the last days were already at hand because the spirit of Antichrist was already at work in the churches. In 1 John 2:18-19, he warns “children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” In verse 22, John defines Antichrist with precision. “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.”

In 1 John 4:2-3, he adds, “by this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” Before going on to note in 2 John 7, “for many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

Even from this brief survey, it is apparent that sound doctrine is not only essential to the Christian life, but sound doctrine will be challenged wherever the gospel is preached. So, with these exhortations and warnings in mind, we take up the big picture “categories” revealed to us in the word of God. Having such systematic categories in mind, helps us understand properly and then proclaim Christian doctrine in a systematic way–whether in Lectio-Continua expository preaching or in textual-topical sermons. The categories we ought always keep before us are, “creation, fall, redemption, re-creation.” But behind these categories is the God who created all things and ordained all that transpires in the world which he has made. So we begin at the beginning . . .

In the Beginning–God

The Bible opens with a remarkable statement in Genesis 1:1– “In the Beginning, God . . .” This simple assertion is packed with meaning. Some of the most fundamental truths of the Christian faith are found in this short declaration, and it is important to give them due consideration when we preach. This passage tells us that before anything was created, God already was. In fact, God always was, without beginning or end. Since God alone is uncreated, we speak of him as eternal. God exists before time itself, and is not bound by the succession of moments (time) as are we.

As the creation account unfolds in the subsequent verses of Genesis 1, we learn that the eternal God creates all things. Whatever now exists, exists only because God created it. There is no such thing as eternal matter. There is no eternal realm of mental forms (or ideas) as Plato led us to believe. There is no eternal convulsing of matter–ever expanding, ever contracting–as taught in much of contemporary science. There is only the eternal God who created all things, and who already was in the beginning. This indicates that nothing exists apart from the will of God, and all created things (the heavens and earth, humans as well as angels) are necessarily contingent, and depend upon God for their existence.

Unlike his creatures who are bound by both time and space, God has no such limitations. Because God is unlike us in this most fundamental way, he must be distinct from that which he has created, and can in no sense be dependent upon created things. God has no needs, as do we. God has no parts, as we do. Although he is personal, he does not have the kind of passions or emotions that we do as creatures. This is the God who gives orders to the sun and the stars, who gives life to inanimate matter (as when he made Adam from the dust of the earth – Genesis 2:7), and who is Lord over death. This God utterly transcends his creatures.

This “otherness” of God–the distance between God and his creatures–is known as the Creator-creature distinction. This distinction is one of the most fundamental points of Christian theology, and must be clear to us before we can meaningfully talk about any other aspects of the Christian faith.

The Triune God

It is common to hear people claim that Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship the same God. Not true. Unlike those who worship Allah, or those Jews who claim to worship the God of Abraham, Christians worship the true and living God, who reveals himself in three persons as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It has been said that the Holy Trinity is Christianity’s most distinctive doctrine. Although in many ways the doctrine of the Trinity is beyond our comprehension, we believe this doctrine because this is how God reveals himself to us in his word, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are the one true God.

The doctrine of the Trinity is a difficult topic to discuss, because it stretches the limits of human language and logic. Despite the difficulties this doctrine presents to us, we must believe, confess, and proclaim that God is triune, because this is how God reveals himself to us in his word. The three persons of the Godhead are revealed as equal in divinity, glory, and majesty. Each of the three persons are expressly called “God” in the New Testament. And to each of them is assigned the same divine attributes, as well as the same glory and majesty which are ascribed to the other persons of the Trinity.

The Scriptures are absolutely clear that there is only one God. In Deuteronomy 6:4, Moses declares “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” In Isaiah 44:6, we read “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” This same assertion is found throughout the New Testament, even though we learn of three distinct persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, Paul writes, “there is no God but one. For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many `gods’ and many `lords’—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” Elsewhere James writes, “you believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19). The Scriptures are crystal clear, there is but one God.

Yet the Bible plainly teaches that although there is one God, he is revealed in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three persons of the Godhead are mentioned together throughout the New Testament. When Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist, the Father declares, “this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” even as the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus as a dove (Matthew 3:16-17). In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands his disciples to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The mission of the church is to go into the world and make disciples by baptizing them in the name (singular) of the three persons of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

In his benediction in his second Corinthian letter, Paul blesses his readers in the names of the Triune God (2 Corinthians 13:14). “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” In John 14:26, Jesus informs the disciples that “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things.” As God in human flesh (cf. John 1:14), Jesus mentions both the Holy Spirit and the Father as equals.

Another line of evidence for the Trinity in the Bible is that the same divine attributes, glory, and majesty are assigned to each of the three persons of the Godhead. The Scriptures teach that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are eternal. According to Isaiah, God says, “I am the first and the last,” (Isaiah 44:6) and Paul adds that God is “eternal,” (Romans 16:26) that is, without beginning or end. John records the Son saying, “I am the first and the last,” (Revelation 22:13) and Micah notes that his “coming and going are from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). In Hebrews we read of the Holy Spirit as “the eternal Spirit” (Hebrews 9:14). Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are eternal, without beginning or end.

The Scriptures also speak of the fact that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, created all things. Paul states, “God who created all things” (Ephesians 3:9), while the Psalmist declares “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his” (Psalm 100). Yet, in John's gospel we read of the Son, “all things were made through [Jesus], and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). In Colossians 1:15-17, Paul writes that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” In Job, we read of the Holy Spirit, for “the Spirit of the LORD has made me.” In Genesis 1:1 we read that at creation “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are said to have created all things. What we can say of the Father, we can say of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

As we see from this brief summary of the biblical evidence, this is why we must affirm and proclaim that there is one God who exists in three distinct persons–Father, Son and, Holy Spirit, who are equal in glory, majesty and power. This is how God reveals himself in his word and those who sit under our preaching should come away with a sense of the importance of this whenever these matters are raised in the text upon which we are preaching.

God’s Attributes

While much can be known about God from creation (God is eternal, all-powerful, and good, cf. Romans 1:20), whatever we learn about God through nature (general revelation), will always be limited by the very nature of revelation through finite created things. Such revelation is inevitably corrupted by human sinfulness (Romans 1:21-25). Therefore, whatever sinful people learn about God through nature will be grossly distorted, and ironically, ends up serving as the basis for all forms of false religion and idolatry–a theme developed by the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:18-32. John Calvin was absolutely right when he spoke of the minds of sinful men and women as “idol factories” (Institutes, I.11.8).

Since sinful human curiosity often leads finite men and women to speculate about God’s hidden essence, it is important to remind ourselves that God condescends to reveal himself to us in his word (i.e., Scripture), in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ. In the word of God, we find a number of divine “attributes” (or perfections) ascribed to God. So, rather than speculate about God’s hidden essence, we must worship and serve the God who reveals himself to us through his word.

Christian theologians have long struggled to explain how it is that certain of these divine perfections belong to God alone, while others are also ascribed to humanity since we are created in God’s image. The former attributes are most often identified as “incommunicable” attributes because these particular attributes cannot be “communicated” by God to his creatures, precisely because we are finite creatures. The latter are called “communicable” attributes because they are in fact communicated to humanity, though in finite measure due to creaturely limitations, and only by analogy. As we take up these divine attributes, we must keep in mind that these are perfections which God alone possesses in all their fullness, and they reveal a great deal to us about God’s divine being.

When we speak of God’s incommunicable attributes we may think of things such as divine simplicity (God is an infinite spirit and not the sum of different parts–cf. John 4:24). Because God is “simple,” his attributes can be said to be identical with his being. God is also self-existent (aseity). He is in no sense dependent upon anything outside himself for his existence, his glory, or his purposes. We can also speak of God as “eternal.” He alone is without beginning nor end. God now is. God always was. God forever will be.

One way Christians have spoken of a number of these attributes is to use the “way of negation.” That is, since we are finite and sinful creatures who depend upon God’s revelation of himself to truly know anything about him, it is much easier (and safer) for us to say what God is not, rather than struggle to state what an infinite and eternal God truly “is.” These are attributes with which every Christian is familiar.

God is said to be “immortal,” because he, unlike us, is not “mortal.” This is but another way to say that God is eternal. He does not live or die as we do–he is life itself. We may also speak of God as “invisible” because he (unlike us) is pure spirit and not visible to the human eye. But this also means that God fills all creation with his perfections. We speak of God as “immutable” because he does not change–as to his essence, or as to his purposes. And then we may speak of God as “impassable.” Unlike his creatures, God is independent from the world he has made, and his divine essence is not subject to external influences (like suffering or passions), although the persons of the Godhead are indeed affected by the actions of his creatures. Take, for example, the fact that we know that God loves us because his Son Jesus suffered and died for our sins (1 John 4:10).

The so-called communicable attributes are important to mention as well. These perfections include those attributes which begin with the prefix “omni” to distinguish the way in which we as creatures possess these attributes from the absolute fullness in which God possesses them. These include omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, as well as other attributes designated without the “omni” prefix, such as goodness, love, mercy, holiness, righteousness, and jealousy.

Although our knowledge is finite and limited (because we are finite and limited creatures), God is said to be omniscient–he knows all things. Although we exercise creaturely power and freedom, God alone is properly said to be all-powerful and therefore sovereign over all things. Although we occupy both time and space, God transcends all such spatial and temporal limitations. He alone is omnipresent. Men and women can demonstrate goodness, love, mercy, etc., as a reflection of being created in the image of God, who possesses these same attributes without limits or measure, unlike the way these attributes are manifest in us.

Since this is how God has revealed himself to us in his word, it is vital that we not speculate about these divine perfections (and aim to get our congregations not to speculate about these things), nor attempt to ignore them when they expose our creaturely limitations. Rather, we worship and adore the God who reveals himself through such wonderful perfections.

Creation

As C. S. Lewis is quoted as saying, “God likes matter. He invented it.” Although people can easily overlook this important theological connection, the Christian doctrine of God demands a corresponding Christian doctrine of creation. There are three important elements to consider when reflecting upon how Christians should understand the created order, including things seen and unseen.

First, Scripture affirms that God created all things. Nothing which now exists, exists apart from the fact that God created it. All created things, therefore, owe their existence to God’s eternal decree that particular things do exist. The second distinct feature of a Christian doctrine of creation is that since God created all things, God is therefore distinct from all created things and beings. This is apparent from the very opening declaration of the Bible–“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Creation is not part of God (pantheism), nor is creation within the being of God (panentheism). This fact alone sets Christianity apart from a number of religions–especially those of the East, or those with a dualistic heritage located in Greek philosophy—both of which are widely embraced in America these days. The third aspect to consider is that having created all things, God pronounced them “good,” a refrain which is repeated throughout the seven days of creation of Genesis 1. These three facts not only frame a distinctive Christian doctrine of creation, they stand in opposition to a great deal of contemporary opinion to the contrary.

When God created all things, he created them from nothing (ex nihilo) through the sheer power of his creative word (Hebrews 11:3). The creation account reminds us over and over again that “God said” and it was so (Genesis 1). From the sun, moon, and stars, to the sea, land, and sky, to the various creatures which fill these created realms, all things were created by God who spoke them into existence. “All things” include those things we can see (i.e., the visible world in which we live), as well as those things we cannot see (i.e., the angels and the invisible world). Although the invisible world cannot be seen, it nevertheless is real, and it too has been created by God and filled by spiritual creatures who do his bidding (i.e., the angels).

The Christian doctrine of creation precludes the notion that God formed our universe out of eternal matter, or that there was there a realm of eternal and ideal forms in which matter participates as an indication of its inherent deficiency and inadequacy when compared to the spiritual world above (i.e., Plato). Rather, the Christian doctrine of creation insists that before all things came into being, God was, completely free and independent from his creation. Here, too, there are important ramifications of a Christian view of creation. There are no eternal human souls, nor do we pre-exist our birth. We are not “divine” in any sense. Yet in the creation account, God pronounces his divine benediction upon Adam, the first man, who was created from the dust of the earth and then given the breath of life by God himself (Genesis 2:7).

It is important to keep in mind the fact that when we speak of God creating all things, we are referring to the Triune God, not just the Father. Scripture assigns the act of creation to all three persons of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Although scripture frequently speaks of the Father creating all things (i.e., Genesis 1:1; Nehemiah 9:5-6, Psalm 33:6), the Son and Holy Spirit are also mentioned in connection with the creation of all things. In the prologue to John’s Gospel (John 1:1-14), John affirms that the Son (Jesus) created all things (John 1:3). So does the Apostle Paul (Colossians 1:16), as does the author of the Book of Hebrews (1:2). And then in the creation account, we read, “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” It is the Triune God who creates all things.

Keeping these things in mind will help us avoid some of the pitfalls of the pagan thinking around us. The Christian doctrine of creation (things visible and invisible) reminds us the Creator is to be distinguished from all things created, and that the common dualism between spirit and matter is fatally flawed. Matter is not inherently evil nor flawed simply because it is material. The creation account is crystal clear that when God created all things from nothing, he pronounced them “good.” And although the world groans under our feet because of humanity’s collective rebellion against God (Romans 8:18-24), let us not forget, that at the end of the age when our Lord returns, he will indeed renew all things which he has created, including the heavens and the earth (2 Peter 3:1-13).

God likes matter. He not only invented it, he will renew the heavens and earth and make them fit for our eternal home.

Divine Image-Bearers

With the language of the eighth Psalm clearly in mind (“you have made [man] a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor” v. 5), Reformed theologian Cornelius Van Til once declared that Adam was created to be like God in every way in which a creature can be like God. These words sound rather shocking when we first hear them. And yet as Van Til goes on to point out, because Adam is a creature, he will never be divine. Adam will always be a creature. Therefore, Christians cannot talk about the creation of humanity without first being clear about the fact that God is distinct from his creation, and cannot be identified either with the world around us or its creatures.

That said, the biblical account tells us that Adam was created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26), which indicates that Adam is neither divine, nor the product of some unspecified primordial process. Adam was created by a direct act of God in which Adam’s body was created by God from the dust of the earth, while his soul was created when God breathed life into the first man (Genesis 2:7). The divine image extends to Eve as well (Genesis 2:4-24). To be human then, is to be male or female and to bear God’s image in both body and soul, which exist as a unity of both spiritual (the soul) and material (the body) elements. To be a divine image bearer is to be an ectype (copy) of which God is archetype (original).

Because all men and women are divine image-bearers we are truly like God, and we possess all of the so-called communicable attributes of God–albeit in creaturely form and measure. This is what constitutes us as “human” beings, distinct from and superior in moral and rational capabilities to the animal kingdom. In fact, the creation of Adam and Eve marks the high point of the creation account (Genesis 1:28-31), as God pronounced the first man Adam to be “very good.”

The ramifications of the fact that we are divine image bearers are multifaceted and profound. First, the creation reveals that Adam is both the biological and federal head of the human race. To put it another way, Adam was the first human being, and all humans are his biological descendants. This speaks directly to the question of the unity of the race (despite our different skin colors and physical appearances), and to the equality of persons before God. Second, as the biological head of our race, Adam represented the entire human race before God during the period of probation in Eden when Adam was commanded not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam was assigned the role of acting for and on behalf of all those who are his descendants. What Adam did in Eden, he did on our behalf, as our representative. This fact alone implies a number of additional considerations, including the fact that Adam was created in righteousness, holiness, and possessed true knowledge of God (cf. Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10), which means that Adam, as created, was righteous before God. Adam was not merely innocent before God, but holy and upright, possessing the natural ability to obey all of God’s commands and to fulfill the cultural mandate (Genesis 1:28).

The spiritual nature of Adam (as seen, for example, in the fact that the soul lives on after the death of the body) further reflects this element of human nature. Our souls are invisible, indivisible, and immortal. In addition, we are created as rational beings with great intellectual abilities, as well as the moral ability to determine right from wrong (Romans 2:12-16). This also indicates that all men and women are capable of receiving the revelation that God gives through the created order (general revelation) and through his word (special revelation). Reformed theologians have long argued that our bodies are fit “organs” of the soul. And it is especially through the body-soul unity that these communicable attributes are manifest.

As the divine image-bearer possessing such original righteousness, holiness, and knowledge, Adam was given dominion over all of creation as God’s vice-regent. Not only did God make all things good, he assigned his unique divine image-bearer the role of ruling over the world and all of its creatures. Adam was given all the plants and animals for food, and was assigned the task of naming the animals over which he was given dominion (Genesis 2:19). It is because Adam was a divine image-bearer that he was fit and equipped for this task.

This is what the Psalmist means when he says that man is but a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5). The creation of Adam was the high point of all of God’s creative activities, not an after-thought. As the divine-image bearer, Adam is to rule and subdue the earth in the name of his creator. He possesses true righteousness, holiness, and knowledge, and his task is to build the temple garden of God on earth in Eden. And he is fit for the task in every way.

The Fall of Adam

Most Americans operate on the sincere but completely misguided assumption that deep down inside people are basically good. When we compare ourselves to others, we might be able to measure up pretty well. Sure, there are some who we might begrudgingly admit are better people than we are, but we still do pretty well in most of our self-comparison tests against others.

The problem with assuming that people are basically good is that it completely ignores the fact that ours is a fallen race, under the just condemnation from God, awaiting the sentence of death and eternal punishment. The reality is that God is not going to compare me to someone else, who is a fallen sinner like I am. Instead, God will measure me against the standard of his law, which is holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12). And when God measures me using the standard of his law, it will soon become clear that like everyone else descended from Adam, I cannot meet God’s standard of perfection. I am a sinner. I am under the sentence of death. How did this happen?

This immediately raises the question of fairness—something ministers will need to address in their preaching. Is it fair for God to judge me against a standard I cannot possibly meet? The answer would be “no,” if we were to look at this question in a vacuum without any biblical context. The Bible teaches that Adam was not only the first human (from whom all humans are biologically descended), but that Adam was created holy and without sin. Adam was placed in Eden under the covenant of works with its condition, “do this (not eat from the forbidden tree) and live,” or “eat from the tree and die.” Adam chose the latter, bringing down the covenant curse of death upon the entire human race. People often agree with Ben Franklin’s famous adage that the only two things in life which are inevitable are death and taxes, both of which I might add, stem from human sin. Yet, the fact remains, death is not natural to the human race. Death is the consequence of the fall of Adam.

When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God immediately pronounced the covenant curse upon him.

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.

Work became toil. Fruitful fields were filled with weeds and thistles. Child-bearing became labor. And even worse, Adam now faced the sentence of death. And so do we.

Because Adam acted for us and in our place (by serving as our representative in Eden), we are as guilty before God for Adam’s act of rebellion as if we had been in Eden, personally rebelling against God as did our first father. The guilt of Adam’s sin was imputed or reckoned to us (Romans 5:12, 18-19). Not only did the fall of Adam render us guilty before God, we have all inherited a sinful nature from Adam, and it is from that sinful nature that our own particular acts of sin spring forth (Romans 7:5). We sin because we want to sin. In fact, we like to sin. This is a far cry from the notion that we are all basically good people who occasionally sin. Rather we are sinful people, whose sinful propensities are restrained by the grace of a merciful God.

The Bible teaches that we are sinful by nature and by choice, and that we are not now, and never have been, innocent before God (Psalm 51:5; 58:3). As Paul recounts in Ephesians 2:1-3, we are dead in sin and by nature children of wrath. In Ephesians 4:17-19, Paul speaks of the effects of Adam’s fall upon us in the following terms. “You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” The consequences of Adam’s fall are grave. Our thinking is futile, we are darkened in our understanding, we are alienated from God, and we seek to gratify our sinful nature rather than seek to please God.

And all of this stems from Adam’s act of rebellion in Eden. As the Puritans so aptly put it, “in Adam’s fall, sinned we all.” Because Adam sinned, we are born with a sinful nature, already under the sentence of death, and unable to do anything to save ourselves.

This is the consequence of Adam’s fall.

Redemption–God’s Eternal Purpose Worked Out in Time and in Space

At the very heart of Christian preaching we find the doctrine of the Incarnation–Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity and the eternal son of God took to himself a true human nature for the purpose of saving us from our sins. It is this doctrine which marks Christianity off as a supernatural religion, grounded in specific truth claims–i.e., God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:18)–and which aims not for the moral improvement, enlightenment, or personal benefit of its adherents, but for the salvation of all those sinners whom God has chosen to save in Jesus Christ.

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the proof that God keeps his promises. This event is the key turning point in what is truly the greatest story ever told. At the dawn of human history, God placed Adam in Eden and commanded him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But Adam ate from the forbidden tree, plunging the entire human race into sin and death. But even as God was pronouncing the curse upon Adam, Eve, and the serpent (cf. Genesis 3), God promised to rescue Adam from his sin through the seed of the woman–that is, through a biological descendant from Eve who will redeem God’s people from their sin (Genesis 3:15). It will take a second Adam–one who obeys the covenant of works which Adam broke and who alone can redeem us from the guilt and power of sin–to undo the consequences brought upon us by the first Adam. And this brings us to the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the person in whom God fulfills his promises and who is our Immanuel (God with us). The Word must become flesh if any of us are to be saved from the havoc wrought upon us by the first Adam (cf. John 1:17). There is no other way.

The Old Testament is filled with various messianic prophecies (these make great sermons), in which God’s promise to redeem his people are set forth with an amazing specificity. In fact, there are some sixty-one major messianic prophecies regarding the coming of Jesus Christ found throughout the Old Testament, all of which are explicitly fulfilled by the coming of Jesus Christ in human flesh as detailed throughout New Testament. We have already seen that God’s promise to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15 is fulfilled when Jesus dies upon the cross. Jesus not only crushes Satan, but suffers for his people to bring about their redemption. As but one additional illustration of God’s redemptive promises being fulfilled in Christ, in Isaiah 7:14 we find this amazing prophecy: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The coming one is not only supernaturally conceived, he will be God in human flesh. This is why the Old Testament perspective on redemption is one of longing, anticipation, expectation, and hope.

When we come to the New Testament era, we immediately discover that something very dramatic and completely beyond all human expectation is taking place. In Matthew’s gospel, we find the historical record of the fulfillment of a number of these ancient messianic prophecies. In Matthew 1:18-23, we read these words (which are great to preach upon):

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, `Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: `Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).”

In the supernatural conception and birth of Jesus Christ, God fulfills his promise to Adam to send the seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent. But the birth of Jesus Christ also fulfills the promise God made to Abraham, to bless the world through one of his biological descendants (Genesis 22:15-18). This explains why the gospel of Matthew opens with a genealogical record, which traces our Lord’s ancestry back to Abraham through the line of Judah and the house of David. God keeps his promises, and our Lord’s genealogy chart is the proof.

Why did God send his eternal son, and what does this mean for us? While the mechanics of the Incarnation largely remain a mystery–in fact, Paul speaks of the incarnation in 1 Timothy 3:16 as such, “great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: [Jesus] was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory”–the fact of the incarnation is beyond question. That Jesus is fully man and fully God is clearly taught in Holy Scripture. In Philippians 2:6-8, Paul says of Jesus, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus is God in human flesh, he has two natures (one human, one divine), yet he is one person.

In the Incarnation, God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. That the Word became flesh to save us from our sins is the very heart of Christianity. Our congregations need to hear this frequently from various texts.

The Second Coming of Christ

The biblical account of the redemption of our fallen race takes many twists and turns throughout the course of redemptive history. But the story comes to a glorious resolution when we come to the final chapter of the story. There is indeed coming a day when all injustices will be made right, all human suffering will cease, and when every tear will be wiped from our eyes. The great hope of the New Testament for the future is that one day our blessed Lord Jesus will suddenly return from heaven to earth to raise the dead, judge all men and women, and renew the heavens and earth by removing every hint and trace of human sin. In Revelation 21:3-4, John reminds us that the Lord’s return is the culmination of God’s gracious covenant promise: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, `Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. 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 have passed away.” This is that glorious day for which every believer longs–the day of Christ’s return.

Yet for those who know not Christ, the Lord’s return is a day to be feared. It will be the most terrible day imaginable. In Revelation 6:15-17, John describes this day in terms of the manifestation of God’s wrath: “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, `Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Those who are not Christ’s, who are not washed in the blood of the Lamb, nor clothed with his righteousness, will face the full fury of God’s wrath on the day of judgment.

The Bible teaches that when Jesus returns at the end of the age, three distinct yet related events occur simultaneously. The first event is the resurrection of the dead (Daniel 12:1-4; Isaiah 25:6-9)–including both those who will live forever blessed in the presence of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 1 Corinthians 15:12-58), and those who will enter into eternal judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:6, 8-9; Revelation 20:11-14). The second event is closely related to the resurrection of the dead, and this is the final judgment of believers and unbelievers alike (Matthew 13:36-43; 25:31-46). The third event is the creation of a new heaven and earth (Romans 8:21; 2 Peter 3:10).

The Old Testament prophets foretold that human history would come to an end with a universal resurrection of the dead. In Daniel 12:2, the prophet declares, “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Isaiah speaks of this day in terms of a great messianic feast (Isaiah 25:6-9). God “will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth.” With these texts in the background, Paul informs the Corinthians of the nature and the hope of the resurrection of the body (1 Corinthians 15:50-55).

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: `Death is swallowed up in victory.’ `O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’”

That the final judgment occurs at the time when Jesus returns is clear from a number of texts. In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes that

When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).

In Matthew 13:39b-43, when explaining the parable of the weeds, Jesus declares,

The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Judgment occurs when the dead are raised at that time when our Lord returns.

But there is another dramatic event which occurs at this time as well. In 2 Peter 3, we read,

Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, `Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

According to the apostle Peter, when Jesus returns the natural order will be radically changed, and all traces of the stain of human sin will be purged from the earth. The dead are raised, all are judged, and creation is renewed.

Therefore, when Jesus returns on the last day, he raises the dead, judges the world, and makes all things new–three distinct but related events all of which occur at the same time. This is why the apostolic church comforted one another with this benediction, “Maranatha” (“our Lord come”–1 Corinthians 16:22) as well as with our Lord’s own comforting words of promise to his people, “look up, your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

The New Heavens and Earth

When people speak of heaven, they often use images of their favorite places (i.e., the beach, or Yosemite), or they describe some sort of disembodied existence where their immortal soul will finally be set free from the limitations imposed upon it by the human body. I’ve heard many people who should know better speak of heaven in terms of pearly gates (manned by St. Peter himself) and streets of gold, where daily existence is supposedly centered upon the pleasurable activities (usually the favorite hobby or activity) the departed enjoyed while still on earth. Sadly, none of these images accurately reflect the biblical teaching regarding heaven.

To remedy this sad state of affairs, whenever we speak of heaven we need to carefully distinguish between the intermediate state (which deals with the question of where, exactly, the soul goes when we die) and the eternal state (which speaks to the nature of human existence after the resurrection of the body at the end of the age).

As for the intermediate state, the question “where do we go when we die?” was answered indirectly by Paul, when, in his second Corinthian letter he wrote “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). To the church in Philippi, Paul wrote that “my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philppians 1:23). Jesus told the repentant thief on the cross, “truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). And then, the author of Hebrews describes the church as, “the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23). Where do believers go when we die? We immediately enter into the presence of the Lord at the moment of death.

As for the related question about the intermediate state, “what is it like for those who have died in Christ, and then entered into the presence of the Lord?” the only description given us is that found in Revelation 4-7. We are told by John that there is one seated on the throne (the Lord God Almighty–Revelation 4:8), surrounded by the twenty-four elders (Revelation 4:4), the four living creatures (4:6 ff), the Lamb who had been slain is also present (Revelation 5:6 ff.), there are myriads of angels (Revelation 5:11 ff.), the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 7:4 ff.), and then, finally, there is that great multitude of the redeemed (Revelation 7:9), a multitude so vast they cannot be counted, and who are presently crying out in unison (v. 10), “salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Of this multitude it is said, “they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” When believers die, we enter into the presence of the Lord, awaiting the resurrection of our bodies at the end of the age. Those who have died in Christ currently behold these glorious mysteries described in these remarkable chapters of Revelation.

When it comes to the eternal state and the resurrection of our bodies, there are several important things to consider. As recounted in Luke 20:27-33, Jesus was asked a trick question about the resurrection by the Sadducees. If a man was married and then died, and each of his six brothers married the man’s widow as required in the law, and then each of the six brothers died, who would be married to the woman in the resurrection, since she had been married to all seven brothers? Our Lord’s answer to this question tells us a great deal about the eternal state after the resurrection.

The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him (Luke 20:34-40).

According to Jesus, we are raised bodily from the dead at the end of the age, but after the resurrection life is completely transformed beyond ordinary sexual and family relationships we know in this life. We are said to be equal to angels and described as children of the resurrection.

When someone in the Thessalonian church was confused about this matter, Paul explained what happens to those already in heaven before the throne when Jesus returns (as depicted in Revelation 4-7). The apostle writes,

but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Therefore, those saints depicted before the throne will receive their resurrection bodies when Christ returns.

Finally, when we consider the eternal state, we need to keep in mind that heaven is not disembodied existence in a mythical place. In Revelation 21:9-27, John is given a vision of our eternal home–a new heaven and earth where the saints of God dwell in resurrected bodies. Yes, the heavenly city has streets of gold and is filled with precious gems–a way to describe the New Jerusalem’s unspeakable glory by analogy to earthly beauty and wealth. But what really matters in John’s description is that Christ’s church, that bride which he has redeemed, is present with the Savior in her midst. John writes “‘come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb’” (Revelation 21:9). And then John sees something quite remarkable.

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth swill bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 21:22-27).

The great panorama of redemptive history has taken us from creation, to the fall of our race, to the redemption which is ours in Christ. But the story ends with a magnificent glimpse of that glory which lies ahead. So let us long for that day, and as we do, look to Jesus “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Sound doctrine should make up the content of much of our preaching. People perish for a lack of knowledge, and while a sermon is not a lecture on sound doctrine, sound doctrine should be taught and conveyed whenever we find it in the biblical text.

Next time, we’ll switch from focus upon dogmatics to redemptive history—from ordo salutis, to historia salutis.

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[1] Warfield, “The Risen Christ,” in Person and Work of Christ, 543.