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Did the Fall Affect the Animals and Plants?

One of our readers has sent us a question about the fall and its effects on the so-called 'brute creation.' He asks: 'In what way did the fall of the human race affect the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom?' A very interesting question.

The question is answered first in Genesis 3. There we learn that God cursed the very ground for man's sake. And Genesis 3 tells us, too, what that means. It is because of that curse that such things as thorns and thistles grow. Roses have thorns and we have to weed our gardens because of the fall!

We also learn from Genesis 3, though indirectly (vs. 21), that death came into the whole created order through man's sin and not just upon man himself. Indeed, all the unpleasant things in the creation, all around us that can hurt or destroy, all that make life toilsome and troublesome, are the result of the fall (Gen. 3:17-19).

The reason the curse came not only upon man but upon the creation is that man was the king and head of the creation under God. So his sin affected all that was under his rule - the whole earthly creation - in the same way that any ruler's sin affects those who are under him (II Sam. 24, Prov. 29:2, 4).

We see, then, what a grievous thing sin is and what evil it brings! It affects not only the sinner himself, but everything around him and everything that is part of his life. Our own sad experience should teach us that.

Romans 8:19-22 gives even more light on this matter. The earthly creation, according to Romans 8:20, is subject to vanity (emptiness, purposelessness), that is, it no longer, under man's dominion, serves the purpose for which it was created as it should. So too, it is in bondage to corruption (vs. 21). Like man himself, death has a stranglehold on the creation, so that it is full of death everywhere.

Thus the creation, as it were, groans and travails in pain. Paul speaks as though the creation were a living creature to show us and how greatly it is affected by man's sin. That groaning is heard in the earthquakes, floods and other catastrophes which we endure here. Can you not hear it?

The curse upon the creation is not, however, the fault of the creation. That is what verse 20 means when it says, 'not willingly.' Man as the king of the earthly creation is at fault. Yet even in that, God has His purpose, for He subjected the creation to vanity, but IN HOPE. So the hope of deliverance is heard clearly in the groaning of the creation. God causes it to be heard there as a testimony to His people.

Romans 8 makes it clear also that the curse was not (Gen. 8:21) and will not be fully removed from the creation until 'the glorious liberty of the children of God' comes. That, as we know, will only be in the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth. Until then the creation will continue to groan and travail in the bondage of corruption.

But when the glorious liberty of the children of God comes, then the creation shall be delivered and shall have a part in that glory! That is the message of Romans 8:19-22. There will be a new heavens and a NEW EARTH.

Only then will such promises as those of Isaiah 11 be fulfilled. Only then will the wolf lie down with the lamb and only then will they no longer hurt and destroy. Only then will the whole earth be full of the knowledge of the Lord. It cannot be otherwise until sin itself is destroyed. Rev. Ronald Hanko


(Calvin comments on I Tim. 2:4): "The other texts adduced are not declarative of the Lord's determination respecting all men in his secret counsel: they only proclaim that pardon is ready for all sinners who sincerely seek it (Ps.145:9). For if they obstinately insist on its being said that God is merciful to all, I will oppose to them, what is elsewhere asserted, that 'our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased' (Ps. 115:3). This text, then, must be explained in a manner consistent with another, where God says, 'I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy' (Ex. 33:19). He who makes a selection of objects for the exercise of his mercy, does not import that mercy to all. But as it clearly appears that Paul is there speaking, not of individuals, but orders of men, I shall forbear any further argument...."

(Calvin's Institutes, Book III, Chap. 24, XVI)

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Additional Info

  • Volume: 5
  • Issue: 16
Hanko, Ronald

Rev. Ronald Hanko (Wife: Nancy)

Ordained: November 1979

Pastorates: Wyckoff, NJ - 1979; Trinity, Houston, TX - 1986; Missionary to N.Ireland - 1993; Lynden, WA - 2002; Emeritus October 15, 2017

Website: www.lyndenprc.org/sermons/

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    13823 Clear Lake Rd.
  • City
    Medical Lake
  • State or Province
    WA
  • Zip Code
    99022
  • Country
    United States
  • Mobile
    360-527-6633

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