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Beginning with this lesson we enter into another section of the Truth Lessons. We will use twenty-four lessons to focus on the initial stage of God’s full salvation, the stage of regeneration. In this first lesson we will see the condition of man after Adam’s fall and before man receives God’s salvation. Man’s condition reveals his need for salvation.
After the fall and before receiving salvation, man’s condition before God, in himself, and under Satan’s hand is exceedingly pitiful and tragic.
The first condition of man before God is that man has sinned and is sinful (10-12, Rom. 3:23; 5:12). The sinfulness of man before God is in two aspects: positional and experiential. Positionally speaking, because men are descendants of Adam, who was the head of the human race and who represented all mankind, when Adam sinned, men were brought into a sinful position before God. Furthermore, because Adam was the forefather of mankind, out of whom came the whole human race (Acts 17:26a), he not only represented but also included the whole human race when he sinned. Therefore, when he sinned, all the descendants who would be born of him sinned together with him and in him. Through one person’s sinning, all the descendants of this one committed sin in him (cf. Heb. 7:9-10).
Men are sinful before God also from the standpoint of experience. Who has never sinned? Who has clean hands and a pure heart and has no experience of sin? No one can avoid lying, stealing, coveting, and filthy thinking. Because men are in a sinful position, they fall into sinful experiences; these sinful experiences of men prove that men are in a sinful position. Hence, whether in position or in experience, man is sinful.
Because men have sinned, they are under the judgment of God (Rom. 3:19). God is righteous, and He is the One who established the law; but men are sinful and commit sins. Therefore, according to God’s righteousness and God’s law, God must judge sinners. Hence, God’s righteousness and God’s law have subjected all the world to the judgment of God.
Today men are not only under God’s judgment, but they have been condemned already before God (John 3:18). Whether they know it or not, whether they sense it or not, men have been condemned already before God. People do not need to wait to be judged and then condemned by God. They were condemned before God long ago. When Adam sinned and was condemned by God, all men were condemned in him through his one offense (Rom. 5:18a). Today all men are already condemned sinners at the very moment of their birth.
Because men have sinned and violated God’s righteousness, they are not only condemned under God’s judgment, but they are also children of wrath (Eph. 2:3) under God’s wrath (John 3:36). People live in the lusts of their flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts; thus, they contradict God’s righteousness and daily incite God’s wrath. Today God’s wrath is waiting to explode on men like thunder ready to roar. God is waiting in order to give people the opportunity to repent and be saved. Unless men repent, eventually God’s wrath will burst forth.
The fruit of sin is death (James 1:15; Rom. 6:23a). Because men have sinned, according to the law of God’s righteousness, it is reserved for men to die once (Heb. 9:27a). That which is placed before the impenitent sinners today is simply death. If people are not willing to repent, they have no alternative but to wait for death under the wrath of God. When death comes upon men, that is the bursting forth of God’s wrath on them.
According to what God has reserved for men, all must die once and after that face judgment (Heb. 9:27). Although men have been condemned already under God’s judgment, they still must suffer judgment again after death. This judgment is to carry out God’s condemnation. God already has condemned men according to His righteousness; yet because of His love, He has not carried out His condemnation. God desires men to repent, and He also gives them the opportunity and is waiting for them to repent. If people would not repent, eventually they will enter into death and suffer God’s final judgment, which will be the judgment before the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-13).
After suffering God’s final judgment, men will suffer the penalty of eternal fire and perish in the lake of fire for eternity (John 3:16; Rev. 20:15; 21:8), where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48).
The foregoing points reveal the condition of man before God after Adam’s fall.
Through the fall of one man, Adam, the forefather of the human race, sin entered into the world (Rom. 5:12) and was passed on in man from generation to generation. Hence, men are brought forth in iniquity and are conceived in sin (Psa. 51:5). Because they are born sinners and because their nature is corrupt, people do not need to learn how to sin; rather, to sin is something inherent, something which grows out from within them. The seed of sin is in a person at his birth, and at a certain time it will grow out from within him.
Men are not only brought forth in iniquity but also constituted of sin. Through Adam’s disobedience the many were constituted sinners (Rom. 5:19). Sin became the constituent of man. Men were not created sinners, but constituted sinners. An element not created by God was injected into men and constituted them sinners. Sin is not just an outward deed, but even more an inward element in man’s constitution.
Because man is brought forth in iniquity and is constituted of sin, the imagination of his heart is evil from his youth (Gen. 8:21). Furthermore, man’s heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked, and incurable (Jer. 17:9), being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice, and full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malignity (Rom. 1:29-30). Hence, the heart is wicked to the core and hopeless. Moreover, this wickedness does not spread inward from the outside; it stems from within. People may look good on the outside, yet they are actually evil on the inside. When it becomes necessary, all the wicked things will be let out from within them (Mark 7:23).
Man is brought forth in iniquity and is constituted of sin. Furthermore, his heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Hence, nothing good dwells in his flesh (Rom. 7:18). On the contrary, it is filled with wickedness, lusts, and evil impurities that came from Satan. In the Scriptures this flesh is called particularly the body of sin (Rom. 6:6) and the body of death (Rom. 7:24). It is altogether powerless in doing good, yet it is very active in committing sins. The works of the flesh, such as fornication, uncleanness, and sensuality, as listed in Galatians 5:19-21, clearly issue from within the flesh. Who can do the good that he wills? Is it not true that to will is present with man, but to do the good is not (Rom. 7:18b)? Because nothing good dwells in man’s flesh, the good that man wills, he does not do; but the evil that he does not will, this he practices (Rom. 7:19).
Since man’s heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked, and filled with all kinds of unrighteousness and wickedness, it is naturally at enmity with God. Men are hostile toward God in their thoughts, desires, and decisions. Hence, they have become enemies of God (Col. 1:21) and sons of disobedience, walking according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit who now is operating in them (Eph. 2:2). Furthermore, because men are enemies of God, naturally they are not subject to the law of God, nor are they acceptable to God (Rom. 8:7-8). Even if they desire to be, they cannot be because they are corrupt to the core and devoid of power.
Although God’s eternal power and characteristics are invisible, they are clearly seen, being apprehended by the things made, so that men are without excuse (Rom. 1:20). However, although people can know God, they test Him, try Him, refuse to know Him, disapprove of holding Him in their knowledge, and do not glorify Him as God nor thank Him, much less worship Him. Hence, they become vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart is darkened. They even exchange God, changing the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things. They alter the truth of God into the lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:21, 23, 25, 28).
Since men disapprove of holding God in their knowledge, exchange God, and abandon God, they become lost (Luke 19:10), wandering outside, like sheep going astray (Isa. 53:6). Created by God for Himself, men came out of God and belonged to God, their Owner. But by sinning and deserting God, men have become lost and are without an owner. They are harassed and cast away, not knowing to whom they belong, and are as sheep not having a shepherd (Matt. 9:36).
Men are not only sinful and lost, but they are also dead in offenses and sins (Eph. 2:1, 5) and in the flesh (Col. 2:13a). This death, referring to the deadness of man’s spirit, has invaded and permeated man’s entire being, and it dwells in man with the law of death (Rom. 8:2b), the natural power that causes man to become weak, to wither up, and to age and die, thus bringing every part of man into decay and death. On the one hand, death disables man; on the other hand, it desensitizes man. Death causes man to become not only powerless in doing good and righteousness, but also insensitive to the shamefulness and hatefulness of sin. That is, it makes man helpless when doing good and numb when committing sins. Men are weak and impotent in doing good and righteousness. Furthermore, men can do many shameful things without feeling disgraceful, and they can do many hateful things without feeling sorrowful. Men behave like walking corpses when they sin and do evil.
Within man there is not only the law of death but also the law of sin (Rom. 8:2b), which is the inherent sinning power in him that causes him to sin spontaneously and makes him a slave of sin (John 8:34). Under the slavery and manipulation of sin, people do many things not of their own will. They desire to be free, yet they cannot be free; they struggle and endeavor, yet they cannot break away from the tyranny and slavery of sin. They do not like to commit sin or do evil, yet they cannot help it, and they desire to rid themselves of sin, yet they cannot do it.
Originally men belonged to God, but now they belong to sin; formerly they were under the ruling of God, but now they are under the ruling of sin. Sin has authority over people, making them its slaves and putting them under its tyranny. As a result, men commit sin and do the evil that they do not will (Rom. 7:14b-15). Hence, men are truly slaves of sin in the law of sin.
Men are brought forth in iniquity and are constituted of sin, their heart is deceitful above all things, and there is nothing good dwelling in their flesh. Furthermore, men are at enmity with God, have become sons of disobedience, and disapprove of holding God in their knowledge. Thus, they are lost, dead in offenses and sins, and have become slaves of sin. Hence, people live in the world today without hope (Eph. 2:12), without aim, without a destination, and not knowing the meaning of their life. Although they labor and toil all day long, covet blessing and pleasure, and seek vainglory, eventually everything is in vain and nothing is gained. It is like trying to catch a shadow and like chasing the wind. In the end men can only wait to die in sins (John 8:24), go to Hades in sorrow, and enter into eternal perdition. These are the different aspects of man’s condition in himself.
Men are not only sinful and corrupt, but they are also out of the Devil (Satan) and belong to the Devil (1 John 3:8a). As descendants of fallen Adam, men are born children of the Devil, the evil one (John 8:44; 1 John 3:10), with a life that is mingled with the Devil’s life and a nature that is mixed with Satan’s nature. People lie, sin, walk in lusts, and murder. All these are manifestations of the Devil’s life and nature, because the life and nature in men which cause them to lie, sin, walk in lusts, and murder are out of the Devil and belong to the Devil. Since men are related to the Devil in life and united with him in nature, they are therefore children of the Devil.
After the fall, men became children of the Devil and were subjected under his authority, obeying him as the ruler of the authority of the air (Eph. 2:2). Satan directs his angels to rule today in the air over the dark world (Eph. 6:12). Furthermore, he has become the evil spirit who operates in the hearts of men (Eph. 2:2). Thus, he brings people into obedience to him and makes them children of disobedience, opposers of God. All the things that men do to oppose God and all the evil things that men do are the result of Satan’s operation in men’s hearts. Hence, man not only has Satan’s life and nature but also Satan himself as such an evil spirit operating within him.
On the one hand, Satan operates in the hearts of men, causing them to do things to oppose God; on the other hand, he blinds their minds, making them unable to know God, unable to see the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4). People think that they are wise, yet little do they know that their minds are manipulated and veiled by Satan. Although they understand philosophy and science, they neither comprehend the things of God nor know the salvation of Christ. They cannot tell from where they came and to where they are going. They neither recognize the way they are on nor know the meaning of human life. They walk and live like the blind, and they are altogether in darkness.
Satan is not only the one who controls the world (1 John 5:19b) and brings men into obedience to himself, but he is also the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4) who commands people to worship him. He hides himself behind many persons, matters, and objects, especially idols, to be worshipped by men. Hence, people unconsciously worship Satan when they kneel before idols or when they worship or esteem any person, matter, or object; it is through these things that Satan veils their minds, making it impossible for them to know God. When their hearts adore such persons, matters, or objects, and their eyes esteem them, their minds are veiled and blinded by Satan.
Men are not only in obedience to Satan and veiled by Satan, but they also lie in the evil one, Satan (1 John 5:19b). After Satan has blinded the minds of men, he lords it over men, causing them to lie under his hand to be manipulated and slaughtered as he wishes. Even though people struggle to be set free, they cannot make it.
Satan has his kingdom (Matt. 12:26) and his authority. His kingdom is his authority of darkness (Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18). Fallen men are subjects in his kingdom, ruled and controlled by him under his authority of darkness. They are in a realm where there is neither light nor righteousness, but rather one that is full of darkness and unrighteousness.
The ultimate result of man’s being under the hand of Satan is that he will enter with Satan into the eternal fire prepared for Satan (Matt. 25:41); that is, he will enter into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15) to be tormented for eternity. Since men have joined Satan in sinning against God, they deserve to suffer the penalty of eternal fire with him. Because people have been following Satan to sin for their whole life, they should accompany Satan to suffer punishment for eternity. Since men are walking with Satan, they will arrive at the same destination with Satan. This is the final result and destiny of the fallen man.
As we have seen the tragic condition of man before God, in himself, and under Satan’s hand, we must see and sense how much people need God’s deliverance and salvation. Much more, we must be burdened to preach the gospel and save sinners that they may escape the destiny of perdition and may enter into God’s full salvation.
After the fall of Adam and before receiving God’s salvation, the condition of man before God, in himself, and under Satan’s hand is pitiful and tragic. Before God men have sinned and are sinful both positionally and experientially; they have fallen under God’s judgment and condemnation and have been condemned already; they are under the wrath of God and have become children of wrath; and according to God’s ordination, unless they repent, they will enter into death, suffer God’s final judgment, perish eternally in the lake of fire, and suffer the penalty of the eternal fire. In himself man is brought forth in iniquity, conceived in sin, born a sinner, corrupted in nature, and constituted of sin; his heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, there is nothing good dwelling in his flesh, and he is an enemy of God as well as a son of disobedience; he disapproves of holding God in his knowledge and does not glorify Him nor thank Him, much less worship Him; he is lost and has gone astray, is dead in offenses and sins, and is a slave of sin, controlled and manipulated by sin; and having no hope in this world, he will die in sin, go to Hades in sorrow, and enter into eternal perdition. Under the hand of Satan men are born children of the evil one, the Devil, being subjected under his authority and obeying him as the ruler of the authority of the air. Furthermore, having been blinded by Satan in their minds, men cannot see the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, and they lie under Satan’s hand, under his authority of darkness, to be slaughtered as he pleases. Eventually men will enter into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil, which is the lake of fire, to suffer torment for eternity. This is the final result and destiny of the fallen mankind. All these conditions of man reveal his need for God’s salvation.
