Be sure to read last week’s post if you haven’t – Image is Everything. This is in follow-up to How to Minister like Jesus starting with the purpose and nature of man – which is what Image is Everything is about. Now we are going to take a look at the effects of The Fall. This will lead us forward in understanding how to minister like Jesus.
Review
The first step in being able to Minister like Jesus is having a personal relationship with Him, and reflecting that in Word, Deed, and with power. I will call “with power” the Holy Spirit.
EFFECTS OF THE FALL
And to know what it is we need to do to minister like Jesus it’s important to understand what it is Jesus came to do. So let’s talk about the effects of the fall.
Sin Separated Us
Our relationship with God was broken by sin. God and sin cannot co-exist together, thus sin separates us from God.
Isaiah 59:2 NIV
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Romans 6:23a NIV
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So our sin has caused a spiritual death (separation from God).
A Shattered Image
We were created in His image. Primarily speaking that is our hidden person of the heart. Our inner man or person. Our spirit man. That image is shattered now. It’s like looking at yourself in a broken mirror. You can’t get a clear image of what you really look like any longer.
And even worse, since it is created in us to reproduce, now a shattered image is being reproduced. No wonder there are so many different views of God, of life, of love, of anything. Because people are looking at a reproduced shattered image.
Death, Bondage, and Decay
The above line sounds like something from a horror movie. Well, it kind of is. That is what separation from life, from God, from all that God is, leaves us with. The law of sin and death entered our realm and locked us into what this shattered image created. And then we try to blame God? “God, why have you done this to us…to me?”
I need to interject some Good News here though I wanted to save it for later. It’s in this scripture:
Romans 8:2 NIV
…because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Satan’s Rule
God, in His infinite wisdom and with boundaries, gave Satan rule over the world and the people in it. We can equate this all in all to what we call World(ly) Thinking. Things not inline with God’s Word.
Ephesians 2:2 AMP
…in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God].
Let me emphasize that he doesn’t completely rule the world. When the Bible says Satan has power over the world, we must remember that God has given him domain over unbelievers only. Believers are no longer under the rule of Satan.
Colosians 1:13 AMP
For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
But let me also emphasize that there are believers who are ignorant of the truth in many areas. With this, they accept worldly thinking over the Word of God in many ways and areas of life. They’ve been programmed.
So there are destructive forces out there at work against us in many and various forms from the flesh and the world. And then combine that with what the devil throws at us and it can be quite a battle.
Sickness
The last area or effect I will briefly mention that came from the fall of man(kind) is sickness. As you know, that didn’t exist before sin. Adam and Eve lived in the presence of God totally absent from sin or sickness. In God’s presence, sickness does not and cannot exist.
Think of our ability to reproduce – like producing like. Humans reproducing humans. And humans reproducing ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ Think about how ‘bad’ is being reproduced down generational lines, through friendships, and in a society. So whether it’s wholeness and success, or whether it is sickness and poverty, it can and will be reproduced.
Wrap-Up
So the Effects of The Fall are this.
- Sin broke our relationship with God;
- Our image of God was shattered;
- Death and decay of life were set in motion;
- Satan was given rule over the world;
- Sickness set in and has become prevalent.
- I will cover this area in more detail in next week’s post.
Challenge of the Week
Consider the fall of mankind. What area of your life affects you or causes you to struggle the most? What area do you feel you could learn more about? Spend extra time this week considering God’s Word and point of view in the area most concerning for you. Find life in God’s word. Find life in Christ. So be it!
