Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

A friend of mine is a very lovely young Christian woman. She is blind. Her blindness resulted from a slight error on the part of a doctor who was caring for her at birth. Slight, we say. Well, it was technically slight, but it had overwhelming implications for Debbie. In most of our own lives, you’ve probably discovered that the small factors are very significant. It might even be said that there are no such things as small things, unimportant things. An engineer knows this when he’s building, planning to build a bridge. He knows that the mixture of the concrete that it’s used in that edifice of the bridge must be an exact mixture. If he misses it slightly, there will be tensions in that bridge, and it won’t be able to stand up under the weight.

A pharmacist knows, as he is mixing the various drugs and prescriptions, that he cannot make a slight error lest the medicine that he give, which is intended to heal, would actually hurt. Well, we know that in engineering and medicine that it is very important that great care be given to slight, small things. And yet, when we come to theology, when we come to our Christian life, when we come to the doctrines, to the teachings of scripture, something happens and many Christians become fuzzy. And we begin to think that it really doesn’t matter what I believe about a particular event or a particular story out of God’s word. And we seem at times to accept imprecision in our understanding of God’s word. You realize back in the year 325 AD, there was a council called Nicaea.

Today we have the Nicene creed that came out of that great council. Did you know that in that council, the debate which was the focus of the great theologians of the day, the great Christians, the debate focused one letter of one word. And that letter in the Greek was an iota, the smallest of all letters. And yet at that council in Nicaea, what hung in the balance was the understanding of the deity of Jesus Christ. And once they decided which was the proper letter that would give the perfect intonation and definition to the life of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, then they declared their findings. We find that hard to understand today. I mean, they spent a lot of time discussing one letter of one word, and people really got upset about it. That’s right.

There was a time when precision in understanding the Bible was that great. I remember having, several years ago, crossed the Mississippi river, and then we journeyed across the great plains of the Midwest. And there, looking across those plains, was the majestic Rocky Mountains. And as we began to take the highway that went up into those great mountains, along the slopes at the base of the Rockies, you’d see evergreen trees and beautiful aspens. And as you would continue still higher in those Rockies, there was tall grass. No more trees, until finally you would reach the summit, some 10,000, 12,000ft. And there, no trees grew, very little grass. And at the summit, there, underneath your feet, rock boulder mixed with some dirt and soil. Most people, as they stand looking out over those great Rocky Mountains, they say, what a view.

I’ve never seen anything like this. But when you are at the summit of the Rocky Mountains, running the length all the way, splitting the nation in two, are signs, and it says, you are now standing on the great divide, meaning that all of the water that from that line flows to the east, all of that water will descend into the Atlantic Ocean. And from that line of the great divide, all of the water that goes to the west will flow into the Pacific Ocean. The Bible has one chapter that is the great divide. Everything before that chapter was one side of this line. Everything following faces the consequence of crossing that divide. The chapter I speak of is Genesis, chapter three. It is referred to as the fall.

It is, in fact, the great divide of scripture, because we read in previous chapters that Adam and Eve were brought into a world that had everything as perfect. And so they cared for a garden, they gave names to animals, and in that world, they spoke to God face to face. And in that world, the lion lay down with the sheep. There was no war, there was no separation of God from his creation. And in this state, Adam never lived in a slum. As a matter of fact, Adam and eve never were children. They were brought into the world, complete as a man and a woman. Adam, as a young boy, never read a dirty book, he never went to a dirty film, he never heard the jokes that children tell. He was never influenced by his peers.

He never was seduced into taking of drugs. None of that ever happened to Adam, because Adam was brought into a perfect world. And so Adam and eve, living in that world, had a perfect environment. Now, one of the problems that modern day psychology has with the story of Adam and eve is the problem that they lived in perfection. And there was no influence environmentally that influenced them, except the voice of a serpent. Now, God gave to Adam and eve simply one commandment. They could do as they liked in that garden, but they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And so God takes Adam, who becomes for you and for me our federal head, our representative. Depending upon the direction of Adam, depends the direction of mankind.

And he becomes for all of mankind our federal head, our representative. And Adam had the opportunity totally obey the Lord. And he did for a period of time. But then the Lord drew a great divide. He said to Adam and to eve, you are not to eat of this fruit. Now, if you eat of it, there will come death. Now, some look at the sin of Adam and eve, and they say, well, it was sexual immorality. Well, there’s nothing to suggest that from the text. What was the sin that Adam and eve committed? It was the sin of disobedience. They disobeyed one command, one small command. It certainly must have seemed ever so slight, perhaps inconsequential. But the result was that they stepped across the divide. And Adam, in effect, was saying to God, I’m my own boss.

God, I know how to direct my life. I really don’t believe God that you intend good for me. I believe God that if you let me do as I please, everything will turn out much better. I know you gave me just this one command, but in this case, I am sure that you are mistaken. And the scripture tells us that the attack by Satan was an attack to say, you shall be like God. And so ever since Adam’s fall, mankind has been saying, we too will have nothing to do with this God. We know what’s better for ourselves. We know how to be our own sovereign, how to direct our own lives. And God, we will take care of it ourselves. Well, as Satan approaches, we find that his attack is very subtle.

The first thing that Satan does is he throws a question about the word of the Lord. He throws in doubt. He says to Eve, the first words that are recorded in scripture, spoken by Satan. When he says, hath, God said. Now, Eve knew exactly what God had said. But the attack of Satan is to question what God has said. And so even today that sin continues. The Bible is continually attacked from this corner and that corner. How many times have you been in a situation where someone asks you, do you really believe in Adam and Eve? Do you really believe that Noah built an ark? Do you really believe that Jonah was swallowed by a whale? You don’t believe that, do you? Why to believe something like that would be foolish. In the first words of sin, Satan hath God said.

And so the professor stands in front of us and we are intimidated as he would ask, do you really believe that? Do you really believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, that he was resurrected? Well, the woman, having heard the attack of Satan, then does what is very interesting. She repeats what God has declared, but she also adds to it. Listen. Eve’s response. God said, we could eat of the other trees, but of this tree we should not eat. And she was correct. God said that they should not eat. But, she adds, neither should we touch it. God had never declared that they should not touch it. He simply declared that they should not eat of it.

And so the addition to God’s word brings complications to the life of Adam and Eve, until finally Satan is able to directly attack them and to countermand God’s declaration when he says, ye shall not die. And so Adam stands at this great divide, and Adam determines that he will eat of this fruit. And with that first bite of the fruit, Adam falls and eve falls, and the entire human race fell. The Puritans, when they were teaching their children ABCs, taught a in Adam’s fall, we sinned all. And like the doctor who only made a slight error, Adam could say, I obeyed in every area. All I did was take one bite of a piece of fruit. And that single act of disobedience brought into the world an overwhelming consequence for mankind.

And so sin came into the world in a way that had never been known before. And from that great divide of the sin of Adam, there on the ground for the first time, are the drops of water of the sin of Adam. And all of that resulting sin begins to accumulate on the ground, until finally we look at the next generation and we find that the son of Adam and Eve, Cain, becomes a murderer, a liar. And mixed with the water of the sin of Adam is mixed the sin and continued sin of mankind, until finally, within a few generations, we read that the earth was filled with violence, and the wickedness of man was great on the earth. And this little slight sin begins high in the mountains, unnoticed by most.

But it begins to gather with other waters the other sins that are committed, the sins of overt disobedience to the word of God, along with the sins that are covert, that are quiet until finally there flows a stream over that great divide where no fish swims. And in that stream of sin no plants grow. There is only a spiritual stench that comes from this sin, that once it had crossed the great divide and this great fall had occurred, all of mankind, we are told, would be inflicted with the results of the sin of Adam. And so the waters gather in some polluted swamp. The scriptures teach that all of mankind drink from those waters. We have no trouble seeing the derelict in the bowery as he would drink from that brackish water or the drug addict or the pornographer.

And we would look and we would say, look, as they drink from that swamp. The scripture also declares that sophisticated executive also drinks from those waters. And women in high heels drink from those waters. Children and workmen, you and I have drunk from that swamp. That is why Paul would say, we have all sinned, and we all have fallen short of the glory of God. It matters not what utensil you use to drink. There are some who, like dogs, lap at this water in the swamp. There are others who are more sophisticated, and they would only take it from a ladle. There are some who are so refined that they will only drink their swamp water from a china cup. But the truth of scripture is, it does not matter with what cup we drink, but we all have drunk from

And the consequence of the sin of Adam has been a consequence that has overwhelmed mankind ever since. And what was the consequence of that fall? Well, we read in verse seven that the eyes of both Adam and Eve were opened. And for the first time, they knew that they were naked. So Adam and Eve realized their. And they realized their shame. Because at that great divide God placed into the heart of men and women a conscience that for the first time was activated. So that as we would disobey God, that conscience light would go off. It’s just like that red oil light on the front of your dashboard. And that light comes on, and the wise person says, I better stand my car because there’s something very wrong in the engine.

The fool looks at that red light and says, I hate those red lights. This is such a bother. And what does he do? He reaches up underneath the dashboard and he pulls out the wire and he says, there, everything’s better. I feel so much better. My guilt has been taken care of. And so many of our attempts in psychology at times is simply an attempt to disconnect that red light. That tells us that something is wrong. But also, we learned that there was the consequence that Adam and Eve, once they had crossed this great divide, they sewed for themselves fig leaves to cover up their nakedness. Now, rather than confess their sin, they attempted to conceal their sin in front of God and in front of others and from themselves, which is exactly what mankind has been doing ever since the fall.

And that’s why one of the great dangers of the church is that we would come to the church dressed up in our carefully woven aprons, covering up our hearts, covering up the truth that is inside of us. And so there are some today who hide. They hide within the church. Some hide behind supposed morality. Some hide behind their good deeds, hoping that this will cover up their sin. And they wear these spiritual aprons, hoping to disguise and cover themselves from God and from others. But God, who is walking in the cool of that day, we are told to ask the question, where are you? And having crossed this great divide, Adam and Eve, rather than confess to God their sin, what they did was excuse themselves. And so Adam said, it’s that wife of mine.

And that wife of his said, it was that Satan, that serpent of yours. And so man became very good from that moment of the fall of pointing the finger, of finding excuses for our behavior. And so today, we don’t confess our sins. Instead, we find excuses for our sin. And so the alcoholic has a disease. The criminal is a product of our environment. The homosexual is just living out a preference. The adulterer is living out his church choice. The abortionist is free to choose. And it goes on and on as we find for ourselves an excuse for our behavior. And man does what seems right in his own eyes. Well, Adam’s sin, I’m sure, seemed ever so slight. But once he crossed that great divide, mankind was never again to be the same.

Because with that crossing into the great new land, that land of swamps and brackish water and sin, into that land was death. And God said that in the day that you eat of this tree, you shall surely die. Now, Adam did not physically die when he committed this sin. He lived many years later, but upon that day, he spiritually died. Yet we live in a day that is filled with attempts in various disciplines to fix the fallenness of man. There are many people today who don’t even believe that man has fallen. They don’t believe that there was any great consequence in Adam. As a matter of fact, there are many who don’t even believe that Adam exists. Well, how do you fix, then, the brokenness that we see in mankind all around us? Well, someone has devised this statement. I’m okay. You’re okay.

We’re all okay. You think you’re broken? No, you’re not broken at all. They’re broken. Where? We look at the work of Carl Rogers. Carl Rogers, who some say will be seen as having the greatest influence on the 20th century of any man. And yet I think that there are many Christians who don’t even know much about Carl Rogers. Carl Rogers was the founder of the encounter movement, that movement that says, let’s sit around together and discuss our problems. And as we would talk in a supportive, positive meeting, that good things happen. Why? Because Carl Rogers believes this. He believes that the individual, you and me, are a missile, and that inside of us is an internal guidance system. And that internal guidance system is directed to do good.

And so he believes that all we have to do is let mankind go in that direction naturally, and things will be very well. But Carl Rogers also says that on occasion, our missile is slightly misguided and something has happened to our internal guidance system and we need it fixed. And who can fix it? A therapist. He will tinker with your id and he will straighten you out so that you can fly straight. We live in a world that is filled with attempts by man to answer what everyone sees in front of our eyes, the brokenness of men and women. And yet, as we would try to fix that brokenness, seldom, if ever, except from the church, is ever declared that we have been broken spiritually.

And that the only way we can be fixed spiritually is to find our relationship with our maker, with God, who sent his son Jesus Christ. And it is interesting in verse 21 that we find that the solution that was brought about for the fallenness of Adam and Eve was that God clothed them. It was God who took the skins of animals, and he covered the nakedness of man. And God has been doing that ever since. For once, mankind crossed that great divide. The only way that man would be saved is by faith. Faith in Jesus Christ. Faith that when Christ died on the cross, he died for the sin of Adam and the sin of all mankind that would follow. And just as in one man, Adam, we have all sinned.

The scripture declares so too, in one man, Jesus Christ, shall there be forgiveness. There was an event in our history. Our families don’t talk much about it. Our grandparents don’t sit down and say, I want to tell you about our first parents. I want to tell you about Adam and Eve. I want to tell you what happened on that day when they ate of the fruit. Because it scares us that we can be that broken, that apart from Jesus Christ, we will remain broken and fallen. And that Jesus Christ came into the world to take that which was broken and twisted and smashed the image of God that had been placed in Adam and in Eve. But that image which had been so distorted because of this fall, God reaches down and he takes that which is broken, physically, spiritually, emotionally.

He takes that which is broken, and he makes it new. Jesus Christ came into the world to fix you and me. You and me who spiritually have fallen a great distance. And because of the sin of Adam, we too are dead. Spiritually, we will die physically and apart from Jesus Christ. We will not be restored. The message of the scripture is, Christ came to restore us to that image of God that would bring honour and glory to him. Let us pray. Our God and our father, we admit that we in so many ways have been broken. And Father, we ask that as we come before you, that we would know that there is healing for our brokenness in Jesus Christ. And by faith you will take us who are broken and you will make us whole.

We thank you for Christ and his work on the cross for his blessed resurrection. We thank you that Jesus came to make right that which Adam had made wrong. Help us to give you thanks. Help us to go from this place knowing that as we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, that we are whole, that you have spiritually restored us to the end that Christ might be honoured. We pray. Amen.

Thank you for listening to Affirm Foundation presented by Princeton Ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post Office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. That’s Princeton Ministries post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. The Lord bless you and Doctor Smith looks forward to hearing from you.