In his book The First Chapters of Everything: How Genesis 1-4 Explains Everything, Alisdair Paine illustrates how sin and the Fall have spoilt the blessings God has given.

My parents were once out of the house, but received an alarming phone call to say that there had been a fire. They hurried home to find that some workers mending the gas main outside had caused an explosion in the house boiler. The boiler itself was a charred ruin, but the rest of the house seemed alright. Except, that is, for the smoke damage. Smoke had got round the entire place, and now everything smelled of it. On every wall you could wipe to reveal a thin, grimy film; every picture you took down left a non-smoky mark; every item of furniture smelt burnt. Everything was still there, but nothing was now the same. In a similar way, [after the Fall of Humanity in Genesis 3], God leaves us with the blessings he has given, but each one is damaged; each one has, if you like, a spoilt smell about it.

And isn't life just such a mixed experience? We book that holiday in the sun. It is beautiful, but the brochure never showed us the building site next door, the mosquitoes, the dodgy seafood platter which took the shine off the third night, or the arguments we would have. We spend the last two days of the holiday with a sense of foreboding at the pile of problems which await us on our return. We get back, and with the next pay raise buy a new computer and love the things it can do, but waste frustrating hours sorting out glitches and viruses. We love larking about with our kids, but fret when we hear how unhappy that situation at school has made one of them. We relish the fresh air walk in the park, but are weighed down because we must talk about the divorce of good friends.

Possible Preaching Angles: This illustration not only shows the damage from the Fall of Humanity; it also shows our longing and need for Christ, our Redeemer and Savior.