In this message we continue our study of the second fall of man. As we have seen in previous messages, in the first fall man ate something wrong. According to our human concept, this was not very serious. When I was a young Christian, I tried to argue with God, asking what was wrong with eating a piece of fruit. I met other Christians who held the same concept. However, if we proceed from Genesis 3 to Genesis 4, we shall see the evil things that issued out of that small seed.
The seed that entered into man in Genesis 3 is called sin by Paul in Romans 7. In Romans 7:19-20 Paul says, "For the good which I will, I do not; but the evil I do not will, this I practice. But if what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that do it but sin that dwells in me." Although most Christians know that Galatians 2:20 says that it is no longer I but Christ who lives in me, not very many pay attention to Romans 7:20 which says that it is no longer I but sin that dwells in me. By Galatians 2:20 we can see that the Christ dwelling in us is a person. Christ, the very embodiment of God, dwells in us as a person. In the same principle, we can say that the sin which dwells in us must also be a living person. I have no doubt that sin is the embodiment of Satan. Christ is the embodiment of God dwelling in our spirit, and sin is the embodiment of Satan dwelling in our flesh. Satan, the evil one, has injected himself into our nature. This occurred in Genesis 3, but the issue of this injection appears in fallen man in Genesis 4.
This evil seed first expressed itself in a religious way, in the way of worshipping God. Can you imagine that the seed of Satan indwelling fallen man would cause him to worship God? Yet, as we have seen, this seed in Cain did cause him to worship God, not according to God's way or according to God's revelation, but according to his concept which was the concept of a fallen man. What is the concept of a fallen man? It is the expression of Satan in man. Never forget the incident recorded in Matthew 16:20-23 in which Peter expressed his concern for the Lord. Peter did not realize that Satan was present in his concept, but the Lord recognized it and called Peter "Satan." Thus, the concept of a fallen man is simply the expression of the indwelling Satan.