The Fall
A Sermon on the Fall
Originally preached March 5, 1953
Scripture
Sermon Description
Suffering and pain surround humanity. In this sermon on the fall, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains what God’s word says about the fall and sin. Contrary to many erroneous contemporary views, sin and evil are not eternal principles, nor is sin simply the lack of good. Rather, sin and evil are the result of humanity’s willing rebellion against God. This rebellion brought sin into a perfect world. The Bible gives this story in the first chapters of Genesis in which the serpent deceived Adam and Eve and lured them into temptation. This is not simply a myth used to illustrate the human fall into sin, but it is God’s revelation of a true historical event. In their original state, people had no natural desire to sin, but sin entered from outside through the temptation of Satan. This fall did not change the essence of people, but it changed their relationship with God. Now that humanity has fallen and is estranged from the fellowship of God, all have lost their original righteousness, and their nature has been utterly corrupted. This is why humanity and the world are in such a dire need for the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon starts by examining man's original state before the Fall as described in Genesis. Man was made in God's image, in fellowship with God, happy and carefree.
- The sermon then looks at various theories that try to explain man's current fallen state like dualism, evolution, man lacking knowledge, etc. The sermon rejects these in favor of the biblical doctrine of the Fall.
- The sermon argues that Genesis 3 should be taken as literal history, not allegory or myth. It cites other biblical references that refer to Genesis 3 as history.
- The sermon then breaks down the steps of the Fall in Genesis 3: the serpent tempting Eve, Eve doubting God's word, Eve lusting after the fruit, Eve eating the fruit, and Adam also eating the fruit.
- The sermon argues that the Fall came from outside of man, not from within his nature. Man had free will to choose to obey or disobey God.
- The sermon outlines the results of the Fall like: man becoming conscious of his flesh, guilt, fear of God, spiritual death, expelled from Eden, toil and sweat, moral perversion, and physical death.
- However, the sermon notes that man did not lose all his faculties at once after the Fall. His decline was gradual. Some consequences were immediate like condemnation and loss of righteousness. But physical death and other declines happened over time.
- The sermon sums up by saying that after the Fall, man is like a ruined palace where God once dwelt. Man lost his original righteousness and fellowship with God.
Sermon Q&A
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Fall of Man: Questions and Answers
What is the biblical account of the fall of man according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the biblical account in Genesis 3 is literal history, not allegory or myth. He explains that the fall occurred when the serpent (used by Satan) approached Eve from outside, causing her to doubt God's word and love. She looked at the forbidden fruit, began to desire it, and committed a deliberate act of disobedience, with Adam following her lead. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes, "It was a refusal on the part of men to subject himself to the will of God and to have God to determine the cost of his life and his determination to settle this for himself." The temptation came from outside man, not from any inherent flaw in his constitution.
What evidence does Dr. Lloyd-Jones provide for the historicity of Genesis 3?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides several scriptural references to support the historicity of Genesis 3:
- Job 31:33: "If I covered my transgressions as Adam by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom"
- Hosea 6:7: "But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant"
- 2 Corinthians 11:3: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety"
- 1 Timothy 2:14: "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression"
He argues that dismissing Genesis 3 as allegory creates more problems than it solves, especially regarding these other scriptural passages.
What were the immediate consequences of the fall according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones's sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies these immediate consequences:
- Consciousness of flesh and bodily shame: "The moment they sin, the moment they fall, they become conscious of their flesh"
- Sense of guilt: "The moment he did that, he knew he'd done something wrong"
- Fear of God: "Instead of running to God when God calls him in the cool of the evening, he runs away from him"
- Loss of fellowship with God: "He lost his fellowship with God"
- Spiritual death: "The break of this link with God produced a spiritual death"
- Expulsion from paradise: "He was driven out of paradise, out of the garden, and not allowed to return"
- Changed relationship with nature: "By the sweat of his face he's going to earn his bread"
- Perversion of moral nature: "A perversion in his very nature which he inherited from his parents"
- Physical death: "Before, possible not to die. Now not possible not to die"
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones distinguish between what man lost and retained after the fall?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that when man fell, "he did not cease to be men." He retained his essential human qualities, including his intellectual powers, which is why he could still build cities, develop civilization, and create music after the fall. What man immediately lost was "his original righteousness, that correspondence to God." Lloyd-Jones notes the fall had legal consequences (condemnation, punishment, loss of righteousness, separation from God) that happened instantly, while physical consequences developed more gradually. Man retained his intellect, self-analysis capacity, understanding, and will, but lost his original righteousness and fellowship with God.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the core problem that led to the fall?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies ambition and the desire for a shortcut to divine knowledge as the core issues that led to the fall. He states: "It was a desire for a short road to divine knowledge... The shortcut always appeals to men. He always has a feeling that God's way is too slow and too laborious." Lloyd-Jones connects this to modern false doctrines: "I'm never tired of saying in this pulpit that the ultimate trouble with most false doctrines, and especially most false doctrines of sanctification is that they're trying to arrive at something by means of a shortcut." This desire to bypass God's ordained process, combined with doubt about God's love, led to humanity's downfall.
Why, according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, is salvation available to humans but not fallen angels?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones suggests that the difference may lie in the source of temptation. For humans, temptation came from outside through Satan using the serpent. But when Satan fell, "he fell because of something within. The temptation did not come to Satan outside himself." Lloyd-Jones proposes: "Is it possible, I wonder, that God, in his infinite grace and kindness has drawn that distinction because men were subjected to this subtlety, this beguiling, this maligned, this angelic power of this fallen angel. God has had mercy and compassion and pity upon men and has provided for him a way of salvation and has not done so in the case of the angel."
Great Biblical Doctrines
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.