A creature made capable of knowing, loving, and enjoying God, and yet ignorant of him, and turned from him, or which is all one, not turned to him in the bent of its will, desire, and affections, must necessarily be in a fallen state, and perverted from the end of its creation. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
God created man good, yet man has turned to sinful devices. God made man in His own image and likeness, yet man desired to be like God in His nature, that is, man wanted to determine for himself what was good and to follow his own will. So man was created with the capability to know, love, and enjoy God. Yet when man turned to self and was then left to his own devices, man became a perverted being who was no longer loving God and living for His pleasure and glory. We now have man ignorant of God and even at enmity with God.
In the great darkness that humanity has fallen man cannot peer very far into the light in which the glory of God shines, which means fallen man that has fallen into self-absorption and self-love does not see the horrible nature of sin that he has fallen. Pride and self now control man so much that man sees all things in light of his self-centered existence. He does not see how wicked it is to live for self and serve self. He does not see how wicked it is to be ignorant of God and not love God. Man can see and does see that he is not perfect and that he does wrong things on occasion, but he does not see that his very nature itself is corrupt to its very depths.
The corruption of man’s nature is hard for man to see because man is so wrapped up in his own self-love and self-centeredness and that covered by pride that he cannot see what is wrong with himself being self-centered. Man also deceives himself and is easily deceived by the evil one always justifying self for the things that self does for self. It seems not to enter the mind and heart of man that he was created for another purpose and that not for himself but for the glory of God. As long as man is not evil in his own eyes he does not think of what he does for self as evil at all. Yet the heart that does not have as its primary love God and His glory is a heart that is wicked and has been twisted from its original creation and so all it does is a distortion of truth. The will that does not choose and love to do all for God is a will that does all for self and as such is a great idol in the presence of God. The desires of the soul that are fixed on self and for self are aligned against God and His glory. How wicked a man is that has great affections for self and yet none for God other than when man thinks that God has done something good for him.
The fall had terrible effects upon humanity and part of that fall is that human beings are blind to what has happened to them. Now man can be very religious and do all sorts of outward religious acts and yet be foremost in his own affections, desires, and will. In other words, man is now his own idol who lives for self rather than God and as such serves himself as an idol. It is not that man has just fallen a little, but man has fallen so far that he is utterly helpless and cannot return to God in his own power. Man does not just need a little help, but he needs a new heart and a new mind so that he can think upon God with desire and affection and willingly choose to be an instrument of God. Indeed man has fallen into a perverted state and only grace can change him. But man must know that the God who created man can also re-created or regenerate man according to His own pleasure. This shows that it is not true Christianity that is wrong, but instead it shows that true Christianity alone is what can turn man back and make him right.
God Loves... Himself 
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