>>> The Fall

14.
Early in human history
our first parents listened to the intruder's voice.[1]
Rather than living by the Creator's
word of life,
they fell for Satan's lie
and sinned!
They forgot their place;
they tried to be like God.
But as sinners they feared
the nearness of God
and hid from him.

[1 Gen. 3]

15.
Apart from grace[1]
we prove each day
that we are guilty sinners.
Fallen in that first sin,
we fail to thank God,
we break his laws,
we ignore our tasks.
Looking for life without God, we find only death;
grasping for freedom outside his law,[2]
we trap ourselves in Satan's snares;
pursuing pleasure, we lose the gift of joy.

[1 Rom. 1:18-3:23; 5:12]
[2 1 John 1:8-10]

16.
When humans no longer show God's image,[1]
all creation suffers.
We abuse the creation or idolize it.[2]
We are estranged from our Creator,
from our neighbor, and from all that God has made.

[1 Rom. 1]
[2 Eph. 4:17-19]

17.
All spheres of life—[1]
marriage and family,
work and worship,
school and state,
our play and art—
bear the wounds of our rebellion.[2]
Sin is present everywhere—[3]
in pride of race,
in arrogance of nations,
in abuse of the weak and helpless,
in disregard for water, air, and soil,
in destruction of living creatures,
in slavery, deceit, terror, and war,[4]
in worship of false gods,
and frantic escape from reality.[5]
We have become victims of our own sin.

[1 Rom. 1]
[2 Ps. 14]
[3 Amos 1-2]
[4 Jer. 17:9]
[5 Isa. 28:7-8]

18.
In all our strivings[1]
to excuse
or save ourselves,
we stand condemned[2]
before the God of Truth.
But our world,
broken and scarred,[3]
still belongs to God.
He holds it together[4]
and gives us hope.

[1 Ps. 89]
[2 Rom. 1:18]
[3 Jer. 14]
[4 Rom. 5:2-5; 15:13]