1. Systematic Theology II The Doctrine of Man
The Fall of Man

2. Review The Origin of Man The Nature of Man The Image of God in Man
Man was created supernaturally by God on the sixth day of creation. Man was made as male and female and charged to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it.
The Nature of Man
Man is made up of body, soul, and spirit. It is his spirit that enables him to communicate with his Creator, something that separates him from the animal kingdom.
The Image of God in Man
Gen 1:27 says man was made in God’s image, enabling him to have a personal relationship with God. Though that image has been marred by the Fall, it still exists in every human being.
The Original State of Man
Man was originally made without sin and disposed to obedience, but he failed when he was tested by Satan.

3. The Test The Nature of the Test The Purpose of the Test
Genesis 2: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."
The result of eating or not eating from the tree would be an experiential knowledge of discerning between good and evil.
The Purpose of the Test
Through obedience, Adam and Eve’s holy nature (disposition to obedience) would be turned into holy character, which comes only by experience.
Before the Fall, Adam and Eve were able not to sin;
after the Fall, they were not able not to sin.
The Time of the Test
The Bible does not tell us the time of the test. We know it was before Adam and Eve had any children, and was probably only days or weeks after Creation.

4. The Temptation The Method of Temptation The Means of the Temptation
Satan’s method was multi-faceted:
It involved a serpent as his mouthpiece, the craftiest of all the animals (Gen 3:1a).
It involved creating doubt by distortion (Gen 3:1b).
It involved an outright denial of God’s warning: “You surely will not die” (Gen 3:4).
The Means of the Temptation
Satan’s means were three-fold (Gen 3:6) and mirror the same tactics he used Jesus’ temptation.
He appealed to Eve’s physical appetite (“good for food”; cf. Matt 4:3).
He appealed to Eve’s aesthetic appreciation (“a delight to the eyes’; cf. Matt 4:8).
He appealed to Eve’s presumptuousness and pride (“desirable to make one wise”; cf. Matt 4:6).
Satan continues to use the same means (1 John 2:16).
The Means for Resisting the Temptation
Adam and Eve had several advantageous means to resist:
Lavish evidence of God’s abundant goodness and love;
Sinless, holy natures and morally unclouded minds;
Experience of one-on-one fellowship with God.
A talking serpent should have been a warning sign!

5. The Effects of the Fall On Adam and Eve
They experienced spiritual death immediately and began to die physically.
They were expelled from the garden (Gen 3:22-24) and were prevented access to the Tree of Life.
They experienced a change in their relationship with each other (Gen 3:16b).
“Apparently, the natural headship that Adam had over Eve gave way to tension between them, resulting from (a) the woman’s new tendency toward independence and freedom from her husband’s headship and (b) the man’s new tendency toward authoritarian leadership” (McCune, p. 40).
Eve experienced another significant change: Genesis 3:16a To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth (literally, “and your conception”), In pain you shall bring forth children”
McCune also says that Adam and Eve lost their dominion ability over all creation (p. 40), but I don’t agree with this.

6. The Effects of the Fall On the Serpent On the Human Race On Creation
The serpent also experienced a significant change, being transformed from an apparently upright creature to one that crawls on its belly.
On the Human Race
With the fall of Adam and Eve, sin, condemnation, and death entered into the human race and was passed down to all the descendants of Adam (Rom 5:16, 18).
On Creation
“The animal kingdom was cursed with carnivorous instincts. The ground was cursed with thistles and thorns (Gen 3:17-18). And, the entire creation was cursed, being made subject to the “slavery of corruption” (Rom 8:19-22).

7. The Definition of Sin and The Origin and Nature of Sin
Next Week:
The Definition of Sin
and
The Origin and Nature of Sin