Introduction
Having previously considered the sinfulness of the state in which man fell, we now consider the misery of that state.
The Baptist Catechism, Question #22
Q. 22. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. 22. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God,¹ are under his wrath and curse,² and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever³
¹ Genesis 3:8, 10, 24
We will consider the answer to this question under five headings, each of which detail our current miseries as a result of the fall. After such considerations, I will apply the truths we have learned. Let’s begin with the first heading.
Body
Exposition
1. All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God.
Communion is the mutual sharing of good things which bring delight to those in fellowship. Communion with God is His condescending and giving of Himself to us, and our offering of ourselves to Him. Adam and Eve, before the fall, had this kind of communion with God. However, after their sin, they—and their natural offspring—lost this communion.
This loss is witnessed in Genesis 3:8. Moses records, “And [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” They had feared the Lord with a fear that a child has for their father, now they feared Him as a child fears a monster.
Sinful man is unworthy of communion with God, for Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:14 says, “What fellowship has light with darkness?” Contextually, he is talking about the idea that believers are not to enter into fellowship with unbelievers, but these words also have implications for the relationship of a holy God with sinners. That which is light will not have communion with that which is in darkness.
Amos writes in chapter 3, verse 3, “Do two walk together, unless they agreed to meet?” The anticipated answer is no. The sinner has not agreed to meet with God, nor has God agreed to meet with the sinner. Thus, they do not walk together. It is sin that separates man from God.
What Isaiah writes of God’s Old Covenant people in Isaiah 49:2 can be applied to all mankind in Adam. He writes, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”
All mankind, by their fall, lost their communion with God.
2. All mankind, by their fall, are under God’s wrath and curse.
God’s wrath and curse include both his will to punish, or His actual punishment of the guilty in proportion to the crimes committed. Man is under God’s wrath as Paul says in Ephesians 2:3, “[You] were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Paul says that believers were once under God’s wrath and that the rest of mankind presently is. Man is under God’s curse for in Adam they are under the Law as a covenant which they broke in him.
Paul elsewhere writes, “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse” (Galatians 3:1). Outside of the grace in Christ, there is only curse that comes through failing to keep the law. God’s wrath and curse are terrifying, as Nahum illustrates, “Who can stand before [God’s] indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him” (Nahum 1:6).
All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God and are under His wrath and curse. The final three headings are implications of the second. Being under the wrath and curse of God makes man liable to the following three realities.
3. All mankind, by their fall, are liable to all the miseries of this life.
Miseries of this life are those painful and harmful experiences we have in our earthly life. These miseries are both internal and external.
Internal
Let us consider first what God’s Word says of man’s internal miseries. What God says of Judah is true of all man, “Your ways and your deeds have brought [destruction] upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart.” Not only was there to be an external destruction, but also a doom that reaches the inner part of man. Man, by their fall, has also come under the spiritual dominion of the evil one.
When speaking of a believer’s previous condition, Paul says, “[You were] following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Satan is fallen man’s greatest adversary, and is elsewhere described as both the god and ruler of this world (i.e., the corrupt system that opposes God; John 12:31; 14:30; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 6:12; [Matt. 13:19; Luke 4:6; 1 John 4:4; 5:19). Satan is a tyrant who only came to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8).
Also, men by their fall, have been subjected to spiritual blindness (Romans 11:8), seared consciences (1 Timothy 4:2), vile affections (Romans 1:26), powerful delusions (2 Thessalonians 2:11), and bewildered minds (Job 27:20).
External
Now consider what God’s Word says of man’s external miseries. They are many. David writes, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked” (Psalm 32:10). They include bodily disease, as we see in the threats given to Israel if they disobey the terms of God’s covenant.
Moses writes in Deuteronomy 28:22, “The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.” They include toilsome work.
God cursed man, saying in Genesis 3:17-19, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
They include pain in childbearing. God cursed woman, saying in Genesis 3:16, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
They include interpersonal strife. Paul writes that in the state of sin, all pass their “days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another” (Titus 3:3).
All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and are so made liable to all the miseries of this life, including both internal and external miseries.
4. All mankind, by their fall, are liable to death itself.
Death is the culmination of the decay of our bodies, leading to the temporary separation of man’s body and soul.
In addition to being liable to internal and external miseries, all mankind are liable to death itself. Paul says in Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death.” In the curse given to the man quoted in the previous point, it includes the following line, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
Death spread to all through the sin of Adam (Romans 5:12). Had Adam remained obedient to the terms of the covenant, he would have earned heavenly and eternal life for him and his seed. However, through Adam’s sin and the sin that reigned over man ever since, death is terrible (1 Cor 15:56).
All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and are so made liable to the miseries of this life and to death itself.
5. All mankind, by their fall, are liable to the pains of hell forever.
Hell is the final, everlasting state and punishment of the wicked. It is “the second death” (Revelation 20:14). It is here that, as Paul says, “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
Jesus calls it “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” and that wicked humans shall join them in this “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:41, 46). Jesus also calls it an “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43).
From these passages, three truths are evident: 1) Hell is the destination of the wicked; 2) Hell is eternal; 3) Hell is awful. Some may say that eternal and infinite punishment is unusually cruel for the sins finite creatures commit in time. However, this perspective fails to see that the degree of punishment is determined by the nature of the one offended, not by that of the offending party.
God is infinite and eternal. Therefore, every sin is infinitely and eternally offensive, thereby yielding infinite and eternal punishment. Hell, as it is described in Scripture, is a perfectly just punishment for the wicked.
Transition
To summarize, we have learned that all mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of Hell for ever.
Now ponder some applications of the truths we have learned.
Applications
1. See the misery of those who are unconverted.
2. Realize the greatness of the salvation that there is in Jesus.
3. Remember that Jesus gives us strength to endure present miseries.
4. Look forward to Jesus’ final deliverance from the present miseries of this life and the one to come.
Conclusion
We have engaged with question 22 of the Baptist Catechism.
The Baptist Catechism, Question #22
Q. 22. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. 22. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God,¹ are under his wrath and curse,² and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever³
¹ Genesis 3:8, 10, 24
In the next installment, we will begin to engage with the truth that God did not leave all of mankind in the state of sin and misery.
Jimmy Johnson serves as the Senior Pastor at Vista Baptist Church of Osceola, Missouri. He is a husband and father, and a sinner saved by the awesome grace of God in Jesus Christ. He is the cohost of Covenant Podcast. He received his BA in Christian Ministry from Missouri Baptist University. He received His MDiv from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He subscribes to the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith as a faithful summary of biblical teaching. He can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
He co-founded this website to be dedicated to providing biblical, theological, confessional, and historical content that is accessible and beneficial to the Church of Jesus Christ. He contributes to the website to become more skilled as a writer, theologian, and pastor.
