Romans 5:12-21
THE ADAM-BOMB
Or
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
Romans 5:12-21, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one
man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all
sinned-for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there
is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned
from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by
breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the
one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of
the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result
of the one man's sin: The judgment
followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many
trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one
man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and
of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ
[Yeshua haMeschiach]. Consequently, just
as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result
of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all
men. For just as through disobedience of
the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the
one man the many will be made righteous. The
law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all
the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign
through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The Fallout Of Adam’s Sin
“This morning, let's open our Bibles to the
book of Romans. Let's open our Bibles to
Romans chapter 5, and we'll begin with the 12th verse of Romans
chapter 5. I'm going to read the whole
long paragraph from 12 to 21. I'll
explain a little bit as I go because it's a little bit involved. I've been reading it a lot for the last three
or four weeks, so it might be making more sense to me than to you if you
haven't been reading it currently. We're
going to focus in on verses 12 and verse 18 as we explain the Scripture
today. But I'll read the whole thing
now. We'll begin in verse 12, Romans
5:12-21, “Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world, and
death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned, for until
the law sin was in the world. But sin is
not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who had
not sinned in the likeness of Adam's offense, who was a type of him who was to
come. But the free gift is not like the
transgression, for if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more
did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ
abound to the many. And the gift is not
like that which came through the one who had sinned, for on the one hand the
judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the
other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in
justification. For if by the
transgression of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who
receive the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.”
-- now verse 18, “So then through one transgression” -- that's Adam's sin -- "there "resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of
righteousness” -- the life,
death and resurrection of Christ – “there resulted justification of
life to all men. For as through the one
man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience
of the one, the many will be made righteous. And the law came in that the transgression might increase, but where sin
increased, grace abounded all the more." -- as the King James says, “where sin abounded
grace did much more abound.” “And as sin
reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Nearly forty years ago a bomber carried two bombs that were detonated
and forever changed the world. The
destruction wrought by the atomic bombs that fell on the two Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrible beyond description. The atom bomb ushered the world into a time
of unprecedented fear and insecurity. Today, even though we think of peace and everything's OK, the cold war
is over, we need to understand that there's stockpiles of over sixty thousand
hydrogen bombs, giving the human race the ability to destroy the earth
seventeen times over -- through nuclear flames in one instant would burst into
a hundred million degrees-one blinding flash and everything's fried. Today, countries that are as unstable as
nitroglycerin have nuclear potential [North Korea, Iran and Pakistan and India
so far]. It's scary, and it's
unthinkable what they might do. I'm sure
that when they dropped that first atom bomb they had no idea of the far
reaching ramifications of that act. The
Bible tells us, though, that when Adam sinned, the equivalent of a spiritual atom
bomb exploded. He caused such
destruction that everything he came in contact with has been polluted by and has been experiencing the fallout of his sin. Romans 5:12 tells us that when sin came into
the world through Adam, all sinned through one man, sin entered into the
world. When Adam sinned, a spiritual
bomb went off. Theologically, we could
call it the Adam-bomb [laughter]. If you
want to write that as the heading over verse 12, it wouldn't be a bad
heading. The Adam-bomb, and that's the
title of my message today -- the Adam-bomb. When Adam sinned a spiritual explosion took place that radically altered
life on planet earth. In the text that
we're looking at today, the Bible tells us that when Adam sinned a spiritual
holocaust occurred that forever changed the world. What he did was much more destructive than
any nuclear bomb could ever be. Because
Adam has effected every human being who has ever lived, and whoever will live,
save one. Adam bombed, and you got
hit. Adam was originally created
perfect, the Bible tells us. In Genesis
1, the creation account tells us that Adam was created on the sixth day of a
literal creation week, and there Adam was created perfect and God pronounced
him very good. When Adam
was in the Garden of Eden, a literal garden that God created for him to live
in, he had one test, and only one. And
that was to obey God's command concerning one tree of the garden. God told him to not eat of the fruit of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God said “Adam, in the day that you eat of
that tree, you will surely die.” Actually, the Hebrew says “in dying you shall die.” Adam was told, ‘Look, don't eat of the fruit of
this tree. The day you eat of the fruit
of this tree you are going to die.’ One
choice. Now, those of you who don't
believe man has a choice, you have to understand that man had a choice,
the choice was not to eat of the fruit of that tree. God gave man a choice. If there wasn't a choice it would have been
stupid to say “don't eat of the fruit of this tree” -- “you're
going to do it anyway because I've predestined you to do it.” God said, ‘Don't eat of the
fruit of this tree, the day you do it you'll die.’ Well Adam did eat of it, we don't know how
long until one day his beautiful wife Eve came to him with a fruit that she had
partaken of, and she says ‘Adam, try.’ He did it knowing it was that fruit, knowing
he was disobeying God, and he sinned. And as a result of his sin, he failed the test, he bombed out, and as a
result of that he lost everything. He
brought upon himself judgment. God
called him before him and said “Adam, what have you done?” And then God judged him and God said to him, ‘Adam,
you're going to die now.’ And a
curse came upon Adam, and Adam physically began to die [i.e. the aging process
set in]. Physically he would die, that
mystical tie between his body and spirit had been broken and now some day his spirit would leave his body, it had never been
created to leave his body. But because
of sin he could no longer stay in that body, and when he died he would leave
that body and unless he experienced redemption he would go to hell. [There are varying beliefs about hell. The Hebrew word for hell is sheol, which merely means the grave, six feet under. Also there are varying beliefs about this “spirit
in man,” some teaching it is conscious at and after death, and either goes to
hell or heaven, based on an allegorical parable Jesus gave about Lazarus which
can be interpreted several different ways. Others believe the “spirit in man” -- all men -- when they die, goes to
heaven, and is not conscious upon and after death, but is merely a spirit
record of everything that human was, from fingerprints and total DNA makeup, to
that person's entire memories contained in his brain. Then if that person was born-again and a
believer in Jesus, Yeshua, he would upon Jesus' return to earth be resurrected
with his human spirit being placed in a glorified spirit body which will glow
like the very stars in the heavens. If
that person died without having received the Holy Spirit in his lifetime,
combining with his spirit, his human spirit, the spirit in man, he would be
resurrected during the great human resurrection talked of in Revelation 20:5,
11-12. Those that believe the spirit in
man remains conscious think the human spirit's of the
unsaved dead wonder aimlessly around the world, separated from God, whilst the
spirits of those that are saved go to heaven to be with God, conscious, but out
of body. Solomon in Ecclesiastes says
the dead know nothing, and that all the “spirit's in
man” go to heaven, no distinction between saved and unsaved. So you have an allegorical parable by Jesus
indicating it could be different, and Solomon's plain straight-forward teaching
that it is the other way. This is really
a fuzzy area of Scriptural interpretation where it could be either way. If Solomon is right in Ecclesiastes (which is
an inspired book contained in the OT canon), the very instant a person dies,
the very next instant he will be consciously aware of is his or her coming to
life in one of the only two major resurrections prophecied in the Bible. Some don't use Solomon's writings to determine
Biblical doctrine, but is it any more accurate to use a parable that could have
several different ways of interpreting it? That is why this is a fuzzy area in Biblical interpretation, where the
individual believer has a right to believe what he or she thinks is true. It won't effect your salvation in one tiny bit no matter which way you choose to interpret
it. And besides, we'll all find out
which interpretation is correct when Jesus, Yeshua returns. see https://unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm, editor] You're mortal. You guys are mortal, so young, so full of energy. I
was over in the San Diego area this last week, and I decided that well,
everybody else did it during Harvest, they bugie-boarded,
I'm going to bugie-board. And there was no one around that knew me to
laugh at me. So I practiced one whole
day bugie-boarding, and you know you're getting old
when you have to worry about putting 80-proof sunscreen on the top of your head
to keep from getting a third degree burn. And so here I was, all soused in a whole jar of sunscreen, and I'm out
there bugy-boarding, and I crashed a few times. Those waves flipped me over, I did
summersaults in the waves, and I'd come like a tumbleweed onto the shore. By the end of the day I was so tired that I
looked at Leslie and I said “Honey, you're gonna have to take the kids and put
'em to bed, I can't help you because I can hardly move, and I have got to go to
sleep.” And at 8 O'clock at night, I
didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning, I was dead. In fact, I thought I might die that night, I
was in so much pain. I experienced my
mortality you guys! I'm not quite over
the hill yet. Not many more years of bugie-boarding left. But I was encouraged to see a retired gentleman there bugie-boarding in the waves that are about this tall [must
have been small waves], and I thought, ‘Well, someday that will be me.’ I'll hang in there. But more than just physical death passed on
to Adam, a spiritual death passed onto him as well. Adam died immediately spiritually. Physically he began to die. Like the Lord had said, “Adam, if
you eat of the fruit of that tree, dying, you shall die.” He died immediately spiritually, and was
separated from God. And again like I
said, if it had not been for the atoning sacrifice of Christ and Adam's faith
in that, Adam would have gone to hell. Adam also experienced for the first time, because of his sin,
guilt. Can you imagine never having
experienced guilt in your whole life? Wouldn't that be a trip. I think, you know, only normal people are
guilty people. Right? But Adam experienced guilt for the first
time. He and Eve realized that they were
naked and they began to be ashamed of being around God, and they tried to hide
themselves from God. It says “Their eyes
were opened and they realized that they were naked.” Adam was ashamed and uncomfortable around
God. And maybe you come to church for
the first time, or maybe it's the second time, you don't go very often, maybe
it's on those major Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas and Halloween [laughter],
you know those Christian holidays, but other than that you're not a church
person. But somehow you're here today,
but you feel a little bit uneasy. Even
though there's no reason for you to be, you do. And I'll tell you why, it's because the Lord is here. And you've inherited something from Adam, his
discomfort around God and the things of God. So it's a result of what happened to Adam. So you're not so weird, it's pretty normal. But it's not good news, either. And Adam lost his home as a result of his
sin. Who was the first homeless person, Bible trivia fans,
who was the first homeless person? -- Adam. He got kicked out of his home. He
lost it, he went bankrupt spiritually, and God said ‘Outa
here buddy, you can't be in here, lest you eat of the tree of life and live
forever in your wretched condition. I
don't want you living forever like that, I want you to have eternal life as a
joy-filled life, but you can't stay here.’ And so he became homeless, and began to
wander, looking for a place to live. He
became bankrupt, he lost his position and his authority, he lost everything. [Now let's look at the
unseen spiritual reality which occurred the instant Adam sinned. Satan -- by default -- became the unseen
ruler of the earth, taking Adam's place. Instantly, as “prince of the power of the air” as Paul called Satan in
Ephesians, Satan began to fill the air-waves of planet earth with his attitudes
of wrath, hatred, competition, and all the other attitudes that translate out
as “the works of the flesh” which are listed in Galatians 5:19-21. As a direct result, the whole planet took on
Satan's evil attitudes as opposed to a planet of peace and well-being and
love. Earth's 6,000 years of written
history attest to this, 6,000 years of constant warfare, growing more
destructive by the century, until now mankind can destroy all life from off the
planet 17 times over. By default, the
rulership over this planet passed from Adam to Satan! This whole planet also fell under Satan's
deception. Read Revelation 12. Jesus, called in Scripture the 2nd Adam, is coming to restore the conditions that would have been over the earth
had Adam not sinned. The Millennial
Kingdom of God which Jesus, Yeshua is coming to establish is to restore the
conditions which were in the Garden of Eden, this time over the whole planet. For more on this subject see https://unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg1.htm. That is why Jesus is called “the second Adam,”
because of the work of restoration he will perform on earth. And the first thing he will do is lock Satan
and all of the demons up, shutting off Satan's evil influence and broadcast,
cf. Revelation 20:1-3, that ‘Radio tower and it’s DJ’ is going down.] He [Adam] had been lord of the world, king of
planet earth. All the animals had obeyed
him, he'd tell a huge bear ‘Come, sit down,’ and the bear would obey
him. If the waters got a little too
windy he would say to a lake, ‘Hush, hush’ and the lake would still, and the whole world
obeyed him, he was lord of the world. But as a result of his sin, the Bible tells us that Satan became the
lord of the world, the god of this world. And Jesus, if you recall, was being tempted in the wilderness there in
Matthew 4, verses 8-10, Satan told him ‘Look, if you'll just
worship me, I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world.’ And Jesus of course refused to worship him,
quoting the Scripture telling Satan ‘Look, it is written, you should
worship the Lord your God and him only.’ But Jesus didn't dispute Satan's claim to be
the god of this world. At that time
until the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Satan was in control, this was his
domain. This was his place, his pad, his
kingdom. The kingdom of darkness settled
here on planet earth. [And it still is
Satan's domain until Jesus returns, crowned as King of kings and Lord of
lords. Jesus qualified to replace Satan,
but he has not yet returned to earth to take Satan's place. Satan is what you would call a lame duck king, just waiting for the
new King to assume office. Jesus,
Yeshua's coronation ceremony is described in Daniel 7:13-14, and the time
setting is at or just before the 2nd coming, if verses 13-14 of
Daniel 7 are taken in context with verses 8-12 of Daniel 7. Satan right now since Jesus' resurrection,
has been functioning as a ‘lame duck ruler,’ but he is still on the
throne of earth, if you haven't noticed. Wars and terrorism haven't stopped, the nature of animals is not yet
peaceful as Isaiah 11 prophecies they will yet become again. So that is the direct unseen spiritual
fallout of Adam's sin-rulership of this world transferred directly over to
Satan.]
We’re All Born Into Adam
‘Well,’ you say, ‘what is all this ancient history
have to do with me?’ It has a whole lot to do with
you, because the Bible teaches that Adam was a representative man, the Bible
teaches us that he didn't just live for himself but he lived for all of
us. And that whatever Adam did it was as
if you and I had done it. Adam was a
representative. You know what a
representative is -- when we talk about voting in a Representative to go to the
House of Representatives. We know that
that person is supposed to, theoretically at least, he is supposed to vote
according to our will. And we let that
man or woman know what we want to do and they vote accordingly. Right? (Wrong, that's not the way it works in reality.) That's the way it's supposed to work,
anyway. And we can't all fit in that
room in Washington D.C. where the House of Representatives meets. Millions and millions and millions of us
can't fit in there. And so we vote one
representative who represents so many hundreds of thousands of us, or maybe
millions of us, and they go and they sit in that room voting. And they cast their vote, and millions of
arms are casting their vote with them, we're there in our representative -- in
our representative. Well the Scripture
says as a result of Adam's sin, all of us sinned. Look at verse 12, “Therefore
just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and
so” -- read it -- “death spread to all men because all sinned.” The Bible teaches that we all became sinners,
and that's why there is so much evil and corruption in the world today, it's
because the whole family of man was plunged into sin when Adam bombed. OK? [And I explained how that happened. Satan, now by default became king of the world. He immediately started to broadcast his evil
nature with all it's evil
attitudes into the air. Every man and
woman receives that “signal” into their human spirit. They start receiving that “signal” at
birth. Babies aren't born “evil.” Human nature is, by itself, neutral. But exposed long enough -- and it doesn't
take very long -- and that selfish nature of Satan enters into it. Look at what James says about where wars come
from in James 4:1-2 in the King James, “From whence
come wars and fighting's among you? Come
they not from hence, even your lusts that war in your members. Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to
have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” The minute Adam sinned, the world was filled
with the lust-filled wrathful attitude of Satan. Sin became a universal standard for man. His nature became downward, not upward, as
James shows.] Verse 12 says when one man
sinned, Adam sinned, death spread to all men because all men sinned. Well, how can that be? How can all of us sin in Adam? Well, Adam had in all of us, he was the
genetic pool for the race, all of us were in
Adam. Let this doll represent Adam, to
try to clarify how we could all be in Adam. It was just like this. Here's
Adam, he sinned. But when he sinned, we
all sinned with him because we were all in Adam. OK, see, in this one was this. And in this one was this. [He has one of those Russian porcelain dolls
that have about six other dolls inside of it.] And in this was this. And in this
one was this. OK? You got the illustration. We were all in Adam, just like all these
little dolls were in this one doll. Look
how many were in there. Let's see if I
can do that [put it back together]. I
did it. I've been watching my
toddlers. OK? So all of these folks were in Adam. All these generations of man were in Adam. But all of us were in Adam, so when he sinned
it was like all of us collectively were in him and we all sinned in Adam. OK? These [dolls] come compliments of the people who went to Russia, and
ministered in Russia. I don't know
exactly who donated these. You get the
illustration. When Adam fell, we all
fell with him. When Adam sinned, we were
all in Adam. Right? Without us having anything to do with it,
Adam caused us to be born into sin. All
he could pass on to us now as our inheritance, was spiritually dead and lost,
spiritual bankruptcy. He lost the entire
estate. And all that we inherit from him
now is sin and death. [A world of sin,
caused by the invisible broadcast of Satan's evil attitudes into the air-waves,
the atmosphere of earth. Look in
Revelation for an example of how evil demon spirits are used to bring together
whole armies. Six thousand years of
pain, broken relationships, sexual immorality, and constant warfare.] That's all we have. And the Bible teaches that every one of us
who is born into Adam's family is born in sin. It's not our sinning that makes us sinners in the eyes of God. Now listen. It's not our sinning, the individual little sins we do, or big sins we
do, that make us sinners in the eyes of God. It is our being related to Adam. It
is my being related to Adam that makes me a sinner. It's being a part of the Adam's family that
makes us so gross. OK? [laughter] Think of yourself being a part of that clan,
with Morticia and the Thing and everything else, I mean, sick. But that's about how sick it is to be born
into the “Adam's family.” You're not
born innocent and then become a sinner because of the sins you commit. [There are differing theological stands on
this one. One of those, and it is a part
of the truth, as we already saw, is that the moment Adam sinned Satan became
ruler of earth by default, and then he started the powerful broadcast of his
sinful attitudes listed in Galatians 5:19-21. Newborn babies are not born evil in the strictest sense, at the very
moment of birth their precious little attitudes are neutral -- but very quickly
they start absorbing the attitudes of selfishness and wrath into their human
spirits, the attitudes that fill the air on planet earth, coming directly from
Satan. That is the other theological
stand. One is more symbolic, yes, we
come under the big general sin of Adam and are all genetically related to Adam
and Eve. But the mechanics of how the
sinful nature perpetuates itself on this earth is explained as I have just
explained it, it comes from Satan. And
when Jesus returns, he assigns a powerful angel to lock up Satan, and by
extension, all his demons. Then the
peaceful conditions that prevailed in the Garden of Eden return to the earth,
as prophecied in Isaiah 11:6-9 (look it up and read it). Both views actually belong together,
combined. One showing our family line is
that of a sinner, so we all inherit the guilt of the family of
Adam until we are adopted into the family of Christ, Messiah. Then our lineage changes. But the mechanics of how the evil goes from,
is transferred from generation to generation is what I have just explained
here. The whole Millennial Kingdom of
God is summed up in Isaiah 11:6-9 until at the very end of the 1,000 years,
when Revelation 20:7-10 shows us Satan is released from his prison for a brief
span of time. Look at what happens when
his evil broadcasts and influence starts up again. Those that were “neutral,” just going with
the flow, but not really imbibing of the precious Holy Spirit, suddenly are
caught unawares, and are swept up in Satan's attitudes and deception.] You commit sins because you are born a sinner. This is very important [his views theological
views do not quite square with mine, due to the fact that he is using them to
totally explain evil in humans. But we
will listen to his explanation. And if
you feel his needs to be combined with mine to see what might be the true
reality, do so. Some of this stuff is
secondary doctrine which is not all that nailed down in reality, spiritual
reality that is. i.e.
God knows for sure how it is, we'll know at Jesus return when he answers all
our various doctrinal questions.] This
is very important, I know it's hard to think of this precious newborn baby
that's so sweet, look he's smiling, he's only a day old. It's hard to think that this baby is a sinner
[the other spiritual interpretation says he's not, not just yet till he's had
time to absorb Satan's wavelength filled will all those nasty attitudes of
Satan]. This baby's born a sinner. ‘Oh, no.’ Oh yes. You've been a long ways away from kids if you
don't say yes to this one [and that is merely because kids have had time to
absorb Satan's wavelength of nasty attitude signals]. I mean, tell me, who teaches, who sneaks into
your house in the middle of the night teaches your little 12 month or 18
month-old to say “No!”. Who teaches them that? [Satan's attitudes
broadcast abroad, that's who] Who
teaches them, when they get a little bit older, to lie [the father of
lies]? Are there lying classes they give
them at preschool? I don't think
so. Who teaches them to disobey you? -- to throw themselves on the floor and say “No!!!!!” It's what they inherit. It's their sinful nature they inherit through
their mothers [laughter], I think the Bible says it comes through the mothers,
doesn't it? Isn't that what the
Scripture says, something about sin? – no – “As in
Adam all.” -- that's right, it's through the
fathers. Well, it's even worse then,
it's worse than we thought, brothers, isn't it? Well, it is terrible when you see your faults coming out through your
children, it's like, ‘Oh my land! -- where did they get that?’ And you know where they get that. [Now I say, they get that from watching Daddy
and Mommy! Children are born with
totally blank minds that fill up with an amazing amount of information in their
first ten years. Their rate of
information adsorption is greater in their first ten years than for the rest of
their lives. Much of that information is
through observation -- and who is around them most? You, parents. But what's scary now, it may also be the people at day -- care
facilities while Mommy and Daddy work. The old saying is true, “The apples does fall far from the tree.”] You look at your wife and say ‘Where did she learn to do that?’ And then you say ‘Don't
answer.’ The Scripture teaches that all
of us are born into sin, that's what makes us a sinner. We're born into this family, we come from
Adam, and so all Adam can produce is a sinner, just like himself. And it has passed down from multiple
thousands of generations. We're born
sinners. We're born lost. We're born, every one of us, a child of
wrath. [Why? Satan's wavelength, his broadcast of
wrath. That's what makes us children of
wrath. Do a study on who's children Jesus said we were before our redemption, the children of Satan, the
father of lies. I believe this is in
John 6.] What the sinful
nature-Ephesians 2:1-3 says-every one is born into
sin. David says in Psalm 51
verse 5 he says “in sin did my mother conceive me.” And he didn't mean the act of conception was
a sin, what he meant was from the moment of conception on he was a sinner. You say, ‘Well, what happens if a baby
dies?’ The grace of Christ, which
we'll talk about in a moment, that covers a little baby, it covers a person
until they're able to make that decision. “Their angels do always behold the Father which is
in heaven,” and Matthew's gospel says that Jesus said “It is not the will of your
Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” So they're secure in the Lord until they're
able to reject him and make that kind of decision and exercise their
wills. And that can come at a very early
age. And I'll tell you, Leslie and I are
praying, we prayed early for our children's salvation. We prayed for our firstborn's salvation
before she was ever born, as soon as we knew Leslie was pregnant we said “Lord, save
this child at an early age.” And
when she was two and a half or three, she really accepted the Lord in her life,
and I see God's Spirit working in her, and I'll tell you, that is a blessing
Mom and Dad -- to have the Spirit on your side when you're dealing with little
ones. You need to pray that God's Spirit
will come in and help them at an early age, because you need all the help you
can get. The Scripture says “For all of
have become like one who is unclean and all our righteous deeds are like a
filthy garment, and all us wither like a leaf and our iniquities like wind take
us away” (Isaiah 64:6) Jeremiah 13:23 says, “Can the
Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? then you also
can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” The Lord says you are evil. “If you then, being evil” the Lord says in Luke 11:13. We are evil and we're born that way because
we're born in Adam's family. Jeremiah
17:9 says “The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is
desperately wicked, who can know it.” We're
all born under the curse, this is what we've inherited from Adam [and as a
direct result of his sin, Satan became ruler by default of the whole world-so
we've inherited being born into a world invisibly controlled and influenced by
Satan and all his demons-that's what we have inherited. Study the Gospels, see how many times demons
were being cast out of people by Jesus. They “knew” who he was, he caused a stir in their world, the very world
we live in.].
Some Will Say ‘It Isn’t Fair That I Come Under The Condemnation Of Adam
‘Well, this isn't fair. It isn't fair at all, I didn't eat of that
stupid piece of fruit. I wouldn't have
been that stupid to eat that fruit, I would have done better than that.’ Well, probably not. But you do have a point. You do have a point, that you weren't there,
you didn't have anything to do with it, and it's not fair. I agree. I don't think it's fair. I wasn't
there. I didn't eat of that fruit. I didn't botch this program up, so why do I
have to suffer? Well, it's true that it
isn't fair, that you had nothing to do with it, and you didn't botch it
up. And let's say it's unfair. But let's also consider verse 18, “So then as through one transgression there resulted
condemnation to all men,” -- that's not fair! Read on – “even so
through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all
men.” And
you have to also say, ‘that's not fair,’ Right? Did you die on a cross? Did you get beat up? Did you have the sin of the world put on
you? No. But you reap all the benefits from it. That's not fair. Stop asking for
what's fair, anyway, because, you know what's fair? Hell is what you deserve. I mean, even if God doesn't look at you as
being a sinner born into Adam's family, you've committed enough sins right now
to do yourself in. So you want justice? You want what's fair? Don't say that while I'm standing close to
you, I don't want to be near the lightning bolt when it falls. OK? Don't ask for what's fair, ask for grace! Grace is getting something you don't deserve. Grace! That's the only way I appeal to God anymore. Grace, Lord. You know, it's interesting to me that before David sinned, he often
prayed ‘Lord, I'm praying this, and answer me because of my
righteousness.’ ‘Answer me Lord,
because I'm such a great guy.’ But
after he sinned with that gal named Bathsheba, and knew from his whole heart,
he knew what a bug he was, a bum he was, his prayers changed in the book of
Psalms. Now it's ‘Have
mercy upon me, Oh Lord.’ ‘According to
your abundant kindness, be gracious to me.’ Hey, what's this change guys? ‘Well, ah, I know I'm a sinner, I don't
deserve anything.’ That's true, and I hope you
don't have to fall flat on your face in some big sinful way to realize that you
need the grace of God. Boy in my life
that's the way I discovered the grace of God, was that I had this sin big
time. And then I realized 'Oh man, I'm a
sinner, I need God's grace.' 'What'd you
do?' I'm not telling you what I did,
it's not important. What's important is
that I received the grace of Christ. Right? And that's what's
important for you, so you receive the grace of Christ too. It's not fair that when Adam bombed we bombed
with him, but it's also not fair that when Christ triumphed we can triumph with
him. It says that Jesus through his one
act of righteousness, verse 18, the last half, the result is justification of
life to all men. Now that doesn't mean
that all men are saved right now. That
doesn't mean that every person on earth is saved. What it means is that potentially every
person on earth could be saved. See, the Bible is full of commands that we must believe first in order to be saved. The Bible
says “For God so love the world” you know John 3:16, “that he gave his
only begotten Son, so that whoever would” -- what? – “believe in him” -- underline
that – “should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The Bible says that eternal life,
justification, God looking at me and acquitting me of my sins is dependent upon
my belief first. So the whole world
isn't saved, but the whole world could be saved-if they would believe in Jesus
Christ. Look at Romans 10, just to
underscore the fact that everybody is not saved. And there are those who teach that today
[that everybody is saved], and it's a lie, and it's a twisting of the
Scripture, don't fall for it. [There are a group of
Sabbatarian Churches of God who hold an interesting secondary belief about the
2nd resurrection back to mortal life as being an opportunity for all
the "unsaved dead" to receive salvation. To view this secondary teaching of one group
of Christians, log onto https://unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm and scroll to the very
end paragraph, where a link to this study can be found. It is a totally secondary belief of one
group, but it is interesting, and may or may not be true. Either way, it doesn't effect one's salvation
to believe or not believe that interpretation. But what Pastor Martin is saying, that the teaching that all are saved,
is a false teaching, and to be rejected. There will be a group of people who will not be saved, it is only the opportunity for salvation that is
universal. Some believe that not all the
unsaved dead have received that opportunity, and that even most in history have
not. Being a history buff myself, I am
inclined to believe that statement. We'll
know more at Jesus, Yeshua's return.] Romans
chapter 10, verse 9 tells us how to be saved. And
if you have to do this, then it surely means that not everybody is saved,
because not everybody has done this. Verse 9, read it with me, “if you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall
be saved. For with the heart man
believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting
in salvation.” So you have to believe, and you
have to confess, you have to say that belief. And you have to believe something factual, that Jesus, Yeshua died, was
buried, and rose again for you.
The Last Or 2nd Adam -- Adam Failed
In The Garden, Yeshua Won In The Garden!
So the bad news is Adam bombed, but the good
news is you can come into Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:45 says that when Jesus came, he came as a last
Adam. There was a first Adam, Adam the 1st who lived in the Garden of Eden and failed in the Garden of Eden, and there was
a last Adam-Jesus Christ -- “So also it is written, the first man Adam became a
living soul, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45) Then in verses 21 and 22 he says, “For since
by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
shall all be made alive” -- that is, all who believe in him will be made alive. [And 1 Corinthians 15 is the resurrection
chapter, all about the 1st resurrection to immortality, cross
referenced with Revelation 20:4,6. For more on the 1st resurrection
to immortality see http://www.unityinchrist.com/corinthians/cor15-16.htm .] So there's a first Adam and a last Adam. Adam failed in the Garden, Jesus,
Yeshua won in the Garden. Isn't
that interesting. Why was it the Garden of Gethsemane that there he struggled with the
will of God. He could have copped out
like Adam did. Was it coincidence he was
in a garden again? No. He is the last Adam, he's retracing every
step of Adam the 1st, and he's undoing Adam's mistakes. You ever wonder why Jesus in the boat with
the disciples, and they went into that hurricane [squall] on the lake? Remember the disciples were bailing out,
Jesus was sleeping through it, they finally woke him up -- “Lord, don't
you care that we perish?” Jesus woke up, he stood
up. And what did he say? The Greek says he said “Shhh, be still” and rebuked the wind and the waves. Well what's that in the Bible for? It's showing you that he's Lord of creation,
that the creation obeys him. Remember
reading in Luke's gospel about his temptation, those forty days Jesus was in
the wilderness? And it says “And he went
out into the wilderness with the wild beasts.” I often wondered ‘What is this wild beasts
stuff? Why add that?’ Well it's because the wild beasts didn't hurt
him. Why? Because he's Adam the last. Because he's Lord of creation. A lion came up to him, and asked for his
tummy to be rubbed, maybe, you know. Nothing to fear. Here's Adam the Last. He's in total control of his kingdom, he has
dominion over the earth. [Read Isaiah
11:6-11 where it shows that when Jesus returns, all the animals on the earth
will become like that!] Everything Adam
lost Jesus regained. It
was at a tree that Adam fell, it was at the cross, the tree,
that Jesus won. You can just look at these
things, it was the sword that kept Adam out of the Garden, it was the spear,
the weapon that went through Jesus heart and opened up the way to heaven for
us. Just think about it. All these parallels with the first Adam and
the last Adam. Adam was our
representative, in him we lost, we bombed. Christ came as a new man, a new representative of man. And he says “you can all be in
me, and you can all win in me, if you'll come into me and accept me by faith.” [And then Jesus promises
that if we come into him, he and the Father will come into us by and through
the Holy Spirit who will dwell in us, cf. John 14, combining with, joining with
our human spirits, cf. Romans 8.] Now
there's an Old Testament story that helps illustrate this [representative
principle]. We’ll look at 1st Samuel chapter 17. You have to go way to
the left in your Bible. 1st Samuel chapter 17. You'll find the
story, all of Israel was gathered on one side of a valley and all the
Philistines were gathered on the other side. 1st Samuel chapter 17, there was a valley in the
middle between them. And a strange thing
was happening. This huge guy, ten feet
tall the Bible says, was standing on the hill yelling at the Israelis on the
other side. And you get by the tone of
his voice that he's really putting them down. ‘Hey, choose for yourself a man. A man who can come and fight with
me. Come on, why should we all
fight? Why should both of our armies
fight? You chose a champion from among yourselves,
and I'll fight with him, and it will come about that whoever wins, his side
will win, whoever loses, his side will lose and will become the servants of
whoever wins. No use spilling all this
blood. No use having thousands of us die when two of us could fight.’ Well man, that sounds like a great option to me, but the only problem was there was no one
among the Israelis who could step forward and be the champion. This dude's name over here was Goliath. The Bible tells us he was over ten feet
tall. The Bible tells us that he wore
about a hundred and twenty five to a hundred and fifty pounds worth of bronze armour -- state of the art weaponry in those days. That he had a spear, the tip of which weighed
fifteen to twenty pounds. I mean,
imagine throwing that thing through the air, it could really get some power
behind it and do a lot of damage to what it hit. Couldn't it? We're even told that this dude was so big that he had his shield carried
by a separate person. His shield was so
big that another guy just carried his shield for him, all you saw was a shield
with two feet, you know. [chuckles] And he'd
BOOM his voice ‘CHOOSE
FOR YOURSELF A MAN.’ Some
of you are too young to remember the Jolly Green Giant commercials on TV, ‘Ho, Ho, Ho,’ you know. So he was laughing at
Israel, he thought they were really funny. ‘Come on, come on, choose a man. Isn't there a man in Israel?’ Day after day this went by, and
now every time he said that everybody looked at king Saul, because we're told earlier in Samuel that, one of the reasons why they
chose Saul to be their king was, well #1, he was good looking. But secondly, he was head and shoulders above
everyone else. He was taller than
everyone else in Israel. He was the giant in Israel. So the man who should have gone out to fight the giant,
the champion in Israel should have been Saul. But Saul bombed out, he failed the test, just like Adam. So now the whole nation is threatened, and
they're just stymied. It's really funny,
the headlines every day, ‘Israelis chicken out, Israelis don't
make a move, Israelis can't find a champion.’ One day this kid, the Scripture tells us that
he had to be in his early teens, named David -- he came onto the scene of
battle, sent by his father to bring some food to his brothers, and he overheard
the taunt of the giant. He overheard
Goliath's shout, he overheard Goliath defying the armies of the Living God, and
it made him mad [angry], and he says, ‘Man if somebody let
me I'd go out and I'd do that guy in!’ And of course his older brothers told him to
shut up and go home. But somebody
overheard him say that, and king Saul was so desperate
that when king Saul heard it, he said ‘Send him here.’ I mean, he's a kid, just a kid. I mean, maybe he's got a few whiskers,
nothing yet, I mean he's just a kid. And
Saul said, ‘What did you say now?’ And we pick it up in verse 31, “When the
words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and Saul sent for
him. And David said to Saul, ‘Let no
man's heart fail on account of him, Goliath. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.’ And Saul said to David, ‘You're not able to
go against this Philistine to fight with him, you're but a youth, while he's
been a warrior from his youth.’ And
David said to Saul, ‘Your servant was tending his father's sheep when a lion
and bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked
him and rescued it from his mouth. And
when he arose up again against me I seized him by his beard and struck him and
killed him. Your servant has both killed
the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of
them since he's taunted the armies of the Living God.’ And David said ‘The Lord who delivered me
from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, he will deliver me from
the hand of the Philistine.’ And Saul
said to David, ‘Go! Go! And may the Lord
be with you!’” -- (you're going to need all the help you can get, buddy.) And he thought, ‘Well, I'll help him
out.’ And he started first of all to
give him his armour. So you read the next verse, it says that Saul took off his armour, because Saul was the only one in Israel that had
bronze armour, because the Philistines had a weapons
embargo against Israel. And so he put
his bronze armour on David, and you can just see it
beginning to weigh poor David down, and David could hardly move, so he said, ‘Saul,
I don't think this is going to work, I can't even raise my hand, I can't move
my head, I don't think this is going to work.’ ‘I don't want to fight in another guy's armour. This isn't the way the Lord delivered me, it
wasn't through the armour of man. I'll just trust God.’ And it says that he took for him, verse
40, ‘He took his stick in his hand,’ I love it, really arming himself, with a
stick, ‘and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook,
put them in the shepherds bag which he had, and took his sling which was in his
hand, and he approached the Philistine.’ Now talk about a foolish thing, talk about a
stupid thing, talk about a weak thing, but you know, the Scripture says
elsewhere that God has chosen the foolish things, God has chosen the weak
things. God has chosen those things
which are not, in order to confound the wisdom of this world [1 Corinthians
1:26-29], and to show his glory. And so
David went forth and when he stepped forward, and here's Goliath, ‘Hey,
why don't you chose a MAN to come and fight with me!’ Flexing his muscles once in a while, you
know. Out comes this little shrimp,
David. Goliath is incredulous! He says, ‘What?!? I'm I a dog that you come to me with
sticks?! Little boy, before this day is
over I'm going to chop you up into little bits and feed you to the birds!’ I love David's reply, verse
45, David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with
a sword, a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of
Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you've taunted. This day the Lord will deliver you into my
hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you, and I will
give the dead bodies of the armies of the Philistines this day to the birds of
the sky and to the wild beasts of the earth -- that all the earth may know that
there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord
does not deliver by sword or by spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he
will give you into our hands.’ And
you can imagine the scene, man, the Philistines know it's a wipeout, they're
going to cream him! They know, and
they're all ready, ‘All right! All right! Go for it!’ because they know as
soon as David gets squashed, they're going to rush in and take Israel
captive. ‘Ha, ha, ha, ha’ -- they're
almost salivating they're so excited. And the Israelis, on the other hand, they're looking like ‘Oh no! Oh no’ just barely peeking through their fingers, and
they're sort of like this, you know -- ‘As soon as David gets squashed, every
man for himself! Run!!!’ So here's the Philistines, ‘Alright!’ David marches forward, and it says that
Goliath was coming down, I don't know, the earth might have even shook, you
know, as he ‘Boom! Boom!’ armour bearer running ahead of him, ‘Boom! Boom!’ -- raising that javelin,
you know, to run it through David, ‘Ahhg!’ with that sort of
horrible expression on his face. David
didn't lose any time, David ran, and he ran, and he ran (forward) and he took
his stone out, put it in the sling and began to swing his sling around and
around and around and around, and he let go! -- and with perfect aim he hit the giant right in the forehead. The giant fell. Everyone was amazed. The Philistines said ‘Oh no!’ The Israelis said ‘All right!!’ And David took the sword out of the sheath of
Goliath, he took Goliath's sword right out of his sheath, he lopped his head
off. It's interesting, the very sword
Goliath was going to use on him, that ‘sword of death,’ he took the death itself
and destroyed him who had the power of death with his own weapon. And you know what? All of Israel began to shout ‘We've
won! We've won!’ What do those chickens have to do with
anything anyway? And all those
Philistines began to shout ‘Oh no, we've lost! Get out of here, run!!’ It was
the battle of Representatives. Israel
fought and won in one man, their good shepherd, David. The Philistines lost in one man, the evil
Goliath. We lost the first battle in
Adam. When he fell and bombed, we all
bombed with him. And when the last Adam
came, he fought and won. And though we
at the cross were going ‘Oh no, what's happened to him?’ ‘Oh, what a terrible defeat!’ We see three days later the glorious victory,
and he slew him who had the power of death, that is
the Devil, with his very own weapon [i.e. death] Hebrews chapter 2 says. And Jesus, Yeshua won the victory, and now
even though I wasn't at the cross and I wasn't at the resurrection, and I
didn't have anything to do with what Jesus did, I can shout today “I've won!” The Scripture says we can say “Thanks be
unto God who gives us the victory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ we have the victory.”
Which Adams’ Family Will You Be Born Into?
And so before you today there's a
decision. There are two men, there's two
Adams. You're born into Adam's
family. You need to get out of it. That's why the Bible says you've got to be
born again [cf. John 3]. You're born
into this family, and all you inherit is death. You've got to leave this family, you've got to leave the family. And the only way you can be saved is get into
the last family Adam's family. So let's
take his name tag, this is no longer Adam the first now, this is the last Adam. And here you are, you want it, you want to be
saved, and all you've inherited from Adam the 1st was death. And you hear the Word, you believe, you know
you're a sinner, and you want to be saved. You want to have your guilt taken away. You want to get the sentence of death taken off of you. You don't want to feel homeless anymore, that
emptiness inside. You want to know
heaven [the kingdom of heaven] is your home. You want to have your guilt taken away. What do you do? Jesus said, and
these are the words of Jesus, he said if you want to see the kingdom of God you
must be born again. Because if you're
born into Adam's family you're dead. The
only way to be saved is to be born another time into Me,
into My family [Jesus, Yeshua says]. You
see that's why we talk about the ‘new birth.’ Because you've got to get out of the family you're born into and get
born into the right family. And so if
you accept Christ, you come into Christ you see. And now you're in Christ's family, a forever
family! A family that's won the victory,
you're going to heaven [for some, into the kingdom of heaven, which the book of
Revelation reveals will ultimately be established on earth]. Your sins are forgiven. You're right with God. You have a home now. Everything Adam lost Jesus, Yeshua has
regained. You can have it in
Christ. But there are two choices, two
men, they've done two works. You're born
into one, without a choice. But you can
choose to come into Christ this morning. How do I do it, Mark? I'll tell
you very easily. You believe what I've
told you. You already believe that, you
already know you're a sinner. Then you
need to ask Christ [Yeshua haMeschiach for our Jewish readers] to save
you. The Bible says whoever calls upon
the name of the Lord will be saved. This
morning you can call on Jesus, you can say ‘Lord, save me, I want to be born
again.’ The Bible says the new birth is
a mystery. It actually happens. You can't watch it. But you can see the results of it. It's like the wind. You can't watch the wind, but you can watch
what the wind does. [cf. John 3:1-8,
look it up and read it.] And the Bible
tells us that the way you get born again is like you're looking to Jesus,
Yeshua to save you. Like a man who's
drowning in the waves, and there's somebody whose reaching out to him, and you
grasp that hand, and they pull you out of the waters that you're drowning in.
That's saving faith, and if you're able to do that today, then I want you to
pray a prayer with me. That's the way
you call on God's name. You pray. Prayer is just a fancy name for talking to
God. You say, ‘I've never talked
to God before.’ That's OK, you can pray words
that I pray. It's kosher, God thinks
that's OK. You don't know what to pray. Then just pray a prayer with me. There's nothing holy, sacred or miraculous in
the words. But there is in your faith. There is in the Savior who's drawing near to
you right now. Jesus says ‘Behold
I stand at the door and knock. And if
anyone will hear my voice and open the door, I'll come into him and I'll be his
friend forever.’ Do you want that
relationship with Jesus? Maybe you're a
Christian and you don't know if you've been born again. Jesus didn't say ‘You must be a Presbyterian, you
must become a Roman Catholic, you must become a
Baptist.’ He says ‘You
must be born again.’ He doesn't care about your
label. He didn't say ‘You must be
confirmed.’ He didn't say ‘You must be
baptized.’ I tell you, without the new
birth, confirmation is nothing. It's
just confirming you in your sin. Without
the new birth baptism is just getting wet. [There are some Sabbatarian Churches of God who follow the early book of
Acts format for accepting Jesus into their lives, by repenting of their sins
(i.e. making a turn-around) and then being baptized, accompanied by the laying
on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit. This method, ancient as it is, is Biblical. It goes back to the 1st century
church, as recorded in the book of Acts. But those of us in these Sabbatarian Churches of God were also aware
that God was calling us to conversion, drawing us, as evidenced by our coming
into a very strong understanding of Scripture not held by those in the
world. The enmity the world has for the
things of God was vanishing from our lives. Obedience by way of the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, bringing
spiritual transformation was evident in baptized believers as well. So accepting Jesus via this method also was
(and is acceptable) for those members of the Sabbatarian Churches of God, see https://unityinchrist.com/baptism/What%20is%20Baptism.htm] Without the new birth Communion
is nothing but bread and juice [or wine]. You see, before any of those things, you must be born again, the new
birth is what saves you. Jesus said it,
he knows. You want to see the kingdom of
heaven? You want to be sure you're going
to heaven [into the kingdom of heaven]? You must be born again. Do you
want to ask God to save you? Do you want
to ask Jesus to come into your life? Do
you want to ask him to be your Savior and to birth you into his family? If this is what you want to do, then I want
you to pray with me right now. Let's bow
our heads. Let's close our eyes. In Jesus Christ you can win today. In Adam you've bombed. But in Christ you can win. It's the most important moment in somebody's
life, right now. It's not a coincidence
you've come. Truly God brought you here
for a reason. Maybe you've wondered all
your life ‘What is this new birth stuff all about?’ ‘What is this born again stuff all about?’ Now you understand. Maybe you've been a Christian all your life
and never understood what the new birth was all about and now you do. And maybe you know as a Christian, you've
been a Christian in name, but you haven't been born again. If you want to call on the name of the Lord,
then let's do it right now. You can pray
with me, and I guarantee that if you pray this prayer from your heart, Jesus
Christ will save you. You will be born
again, you will come into the kingdom of God, heaven [or the kingdom of God,
wherever it ends up being] will be your home [when you die]. Pray with me. You don't have to pray loudly now. You don't have to draw attention to yourself. But you have to pray loud enough so that you
know what you're saying. OK, pray with
me right now. “Lord, I know that I'm a
sinner. And I believe what you've said
today in your Word. I know I need a
Saviour, and I want you to be my Saviour. Please, accept me just as I am. Please forgive my sins. Please
Lord, wash me, make me clean. I want to
be born again. Save me Jesus
(Yeshua). I believe you died for
me. I believe you rose from the dead for
me. And I believe that you won for me. I leave my old family, I leave Adam's family
Lord right now, and I enter into you by faith. I accept you as my Saviour, in Jesus
(Yeshua's) name, Amen.”” [This is a
transcript of a connective expository sermon on Romans 5:12-21, given by Pastor
J. Mark Martin of Calvary Community Church, P.O. Box 39607, Phoenix,
Arizona 85069.]
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