Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #16

Q:Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?
A:The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.
Romans 5:12: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned...

There's a few theological ideas being taught in this week's question. Big ideas. The first is the idea of "Federal Headship". Simply stated, Adam represented all of mankind in the garden. He was the human race's representative in the Covenant of Works, and when he fell, all of humanity fell with him. It's hard to get our minds around it, and even see the "fairness" in it. How can we be held responsible for a sin that we didn't commit? How can Adam's sin damn us?

And that leads to the second theological idea that is being expressed here, the doctrine of "Original Sin". God did not create us with a "sin nature". Rather, our nature became perverted by sin when Adam fell. Us, being the "ordinary generations" that descended from Adam, that is, all mankind, now shares in Adam's perverted nature. Our nature has now been perverted and twisted by sin. And these two theological concepts are woven together. We are fallen because Adam fell, and when he fell I was with him because Adam was my representative in the Garden. And while I may claim that its not fair, that I wasn't the one who sinned, I didn't ask for Adam to be my representative, I have certainly not done anything to help my case before God, as I sin a million times in a million ways day after day. I really have nothing to back any kind of claim that in the Garden, I might have done differently than Adam. 

I wish I could go on to talk about the good news that is coming! For as you know, God has provided a second Adam, Jesus Christ, who would keep the covenant of works for us. Any notion of fairness falls away when we think about how we are now declared righteous because of Christ's perfect obedience to the law, as he acted as our "Federal Head". But if I write about that glorious truth right now, it will leave me with nothing to write about when I come to that section in the catechism!

For now, let me leave you with a song by Reformed Hip Hop artist, Shai Linne. The song is entitled, "In Adam All Die". He does a wonderful job at summarizing federal headship, original sin, and the hope that we have in, as he put it, "Adam number two":
 

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 15

Q: What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
A: The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit. 
Genesis 3:6: So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 

Why was it bad for Adam and Eve to eat the fruit? First let's say why it was not bad to eat the fruit. It was not bad because the fruit itself was somehow bad. We know that all of God's creation was good. God himself, upon looking at his work, said it was good. The fruit had no evil in and of itself. It wasn't vile, it wasn't poisonous, in fact there probably wasn't anything distinct about this fruit at all. One commentator said you could have walked by this tree and its fruit a hundred times without ever noticing it. 

This command wasn't given as a means of protecting Adam and Eve from evil, or from keeping them from becoming wise, rather, the command was given, as John Calvin puts it, as a "trial of man's obedience". The big deal here, what made Adam and Eve's decision to eat the fruit so bad, was because in doing so they were intentionally and outrightly rebelling against the law of God. Augustine said that the root of this sin was pride, the worship of ourselves. Why does he say this? Because ultimately, by breaking the law of God, Adam and Eve were saying that their wants, their desires, their will took primacy over the will of God. It is as if they said, "We know what God's will is, we know obedience to his will is important, but we know what our will wants, and it is more important to serve our will." They elevated themselves to a position above God himself, and each and every time we sin, we rebel, we break the law of God, we are doing the exact same thing. We are worshiping ourselves, desiring to glorify ourselves and fulfill our own wants and desires rather than glorifying God and desiring to serve his will. 

 

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 14

Q: What is sin? 
A: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
1 John 3:4: Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

I could try to expand upon this idea some more to truly show the gravity of sin and the offense that sin is to a perfectly holy and just God, but why try to say something that others have said better? I heard this quote from John Piper a few years ago, and it is by far one of the most startling statements of what sin truly is:

"What is sin? The glory of God not honored.
The holiness of God not reverenced.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought. 
The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of God not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected.
The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized.
The person of God not loved.
That is sin."

You can hear his entire sermon, "What is Sin? The Root of All Sinning" here:
 

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #13

Q: Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
A: Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.
2 Corinthians 11:3: But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Redemptive history can really be broken down and viewed under four major headings of historical events. We already looked at the first major historical event in redemptive history, Creation. Creation was described by God himself as being "very good". Now we move on to the second major historical event, the Fall. It is hard to underestimate the impact of this event. First, when Adam and Eve exercised their own free will and sinned against God, it brought about an end to the covenant of life. Adam and Eve, having originally been created to enjoy eternal life, would now have to die. The covenant was broken and the penalty would have to be paid. There was no mediator to take the curse for Adam. It would have to fall on man directly. Secondly, harmony was lost. The garden was a place of great peace and harmony. Some theologians have rightly used the word "shalom" to describe the estate of the garden prior to the Fall. There was harmony between God and man, as they enjoyed fellowship together. There was harmony between man and his wife in their marriage relationship. There was harmony between man and the creation as man had dominion over all the creatures. All of this was lost when Adam and Eve sinned and fell from their original condition. Perfect fellowship between them and God was gone. Harmony between Adam and Eve as husband and wife was gone. And of course, harmony between man and the created world was gone. There was no more "shalom" to be found.

The effects of this moment in history continue to this day. Mankind still rebels against God, and there is no peace between God and man. Mankind is constantly at war with each other, not only in the marriage relationship, but in every relationship. Mankind and the created world are constantly at war with one another, as man constantly damages the natural world around us, and the natural world unleashes havoc against man. Everything that is wrong and disastrous about this world can be traced back to this single moment in history. And while we know that God does not leave man or his creation without hope, that God would act in unspeakable ways to show us his grace and mercy, we are not quite there yet in our study of the catechism. For now, we must reflect upon the seemingly hopeless state that our first parents left the entire creation in, and know that whenever we look at the world around us, or even examine ourselves in an honest light, all the injustice, pain, suffering, sin, and evil can be traced back to this single moment in history. This single moment when God's creation was transformed from being "very good" to being utterly ruined.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #12

Q: What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created? 
A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death. 
Genesis 2:16-17: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

This week's blog will really be to prepare you for what is coming in the next several weeks as we move into a very critical portion of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. But here in this week's question, we find ourselves looking at a unique point in redemptive history. This is the one point in the history of creation where mankind has a real chance at eternal life based upon his perfect obedience to the law of God. Some have called this covenant that God establishes with Adam the "covenant of works". We must remember that whether we call the covenant the "covenant of life" or the "covenant of works", eternal life in the Garden was just as much an act of God's love towards his people as it is now. God certainly didn't owe Adam and Eve the blessing of eternal life. However, in an act of love for his image bearers, God willingly entered into this covenant of life, promising Adam the blessings of eternal life if he remained obedient to his word. 

There are a few things worth noting here about this covenant, things that will prepare you for the next several questions in the catechism. First, this covenant is indeed an act of providence. The Westminster Larger Catechism does a good job expanding upon this idea in question 20: "The providence of God toward man in the estate in which he was created, was the placing him in paradise, appointing him to dress it, giving him liberty to eat of the fruit of the earth; putting the creatures under his dominion, and ordaining marriage for his help; affording him communion with himself; instituting the Sabbath; entering into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience, of which the tree of life was a pledge; and forbidding to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death." This covenant falls under last week's catechism. It is part of God's most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. 

Second, the major distinction of the covenant of life is that there is no mediator between God and Adam. If the covenant is to be kept, Adam must be the one to keep it. If the covenant is broken, Adam is the one who must suffer the curse. Keep this distinction in mind as we move along in our study of the catechism over the next several weeks. This distinction plays a major role in how we view the fall of man and sin, and in how we view and understand the covenant of grace and Christ's work on our behalf.