Part 3 - The Fall and the Restoration
The Rebellion of Man's Strength
A fourth aspect of the fall relates to man's strength. This is ability,
might, and power. Strength is the means that accomplishes a task. It is that
which elevates man and places him in his standing. The standing that Adam
and Eve had before God was His doing. It was God's strength that created,
formed, and established mankind in a relationship with God.
It was also God's strength that gave man a limited strength to serve the
will of God. God "took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and
keep it" (Gen. 2:15). Adam had a charge from Yahweh, and to him strength
was given to be a steward.
Self-made
When the heart of man rebelled against God, man used his strength in a
rebellious way that rejected the work of God. Rather than accept themselves
as being the work of God, and accept that place that God established them
in, Adam and Eve used their strength to try to make themselves into
something that God was not a part of. They sought to elevate
themselves by their own doing. They tried in their own effort to make
themselves better persons.
The exercise of man's strength in rebellion is seen in Eve's action,
where she "took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her,
and he ate" (Gen. 3:6). Rather than using their strength to tend the garden
as established by God, they used it to do that which was contrary to God's
will.
Self-righteous
One of the marks of the fall is self-righteousness in man. This is the
use of man's strength to try and establish himself in a good standing before
God and man. But God does not recognize self-righteousness. Righteousness is
of God, and God's place for man is the place of cleaving to Him where the
righteousness of God can flow to and through him. Any other place that man
would be in is a place of separation from the righteousness of God. An
establishment and standing apart from God is a rebellion of strength and is
a place of unrighteousness.
The pitiful attempt of the exercise of Adam and Eve's own strength in
establishing themselves became immediately obvious, for "they knew that they were naked; and
they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings" (Gen. 3:7).
Their attempt to establish their own standing continued after their
separation from God, and manifested itself in their self-righteous attempt
to cover themselves. But God rejected this demonstration of the strength of
man to be self-righteous. Further on the account states, "Also for Adam and
his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them" (Gen. 3:21). In
this God points to a future work of His, where His strength will bring
righteousness and reestablish mankind in a right standing before Him.
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