The title of the message this
morning is the two Adams. The two Adams. Look at 1 Corinthians
15 verse 45. Now as you know the Apostle Paul
in this chapter is speaking of the resurrection of the dead.
Those who die in Christ. This physical death. And he is
speaking of that resurrection of the dead. In connection with
the resurrection of Christ. Because the basis, the assurance,
the guarantee of the resurrection of the dead, those who die in
the faith, those who die in Christ, the basis, the guarantee of that
is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And he makes the point, we dealt
with it in our first hour, that the If the dead rise not, then
Christ is not risen. In other words, to deny the resurrection
of the dead in Christ is to deny the resurrection of Christ, which
is to deny Christ himself. You can't pick and choose in
this issue of the gospel of how God saves sinners, the gospel
of the glorious person of Jesus Christ, who is God in human flesh,
the gospel, the good news of what he accomplished on Calvary
through his death, which resulted in his resurrection because he
satisfied the justice of God and established righteousness,
which demands life. Righteousness cannot end in death. Sin ends in death. The wages
of sin is death. Death reigns because of sin. But where righteousness is established,
where righteousness is imputed or charged, accounted, there
must be life. Now that's Paul's whole argument
in 1 Corinthians 15 up to this point. And he makes it so clear. I mean, every way that you can
approach that subject, he comes at it. And he seals us up. This is the glory of it. He seals
us up as sinners saved by grace to the person and work of Christ.
And we have no hope other than what Christ himself accomplished
in Calvary. Our hope is not in us. And thank
God it's not. Because that would be a vain
hope. But it's in Christ. Well, then he begins to talk
about the resurrected body. Now, I'm not going to talk about
that this morning. There's a lot to say about that. One of the
chapters in the book on what is salvation in that series has
to do with the glorified realm of salvation. And I do a lot
from this chapter on what the Bible teaches about what we'll
be like when we're glorified. And I can tell you right off
that it will not satisfy all our curiosity. The Bible won't,
but it'll give us some information in the Bible. But in the middle
of describing the glorified body, he brings us back to how this
whole issue of salvation, eternal life, glorification comes about. And look at verse 45, he says,
And so it is written, that's the word of God, the first man
Adam was made a living sow. The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. So he begins with the first man
Adam, and you know that's talking about Adam, the creation of God,
created in the Garden of Eden. It's written in Genesis chapter
2. That's what he's referring to, Genesis chapter 2 and verse
7. Adam was created and made a living soul. God created Adam
out of the ground and he breathed the breath of life in Adam. And
he was made a living soul. He was brought into existence
by God. Now Adam was a representative. And this is important. This is
one of the things that Paul is dealing with here. We know what
a representative is. We have representatives in our
government. We elect a person to be the representative
of a certain district or state, and they go to Washington or
go to Atlanta, and they're supposed to represent us. They don't always
do that, but that's the concept anyway. Well, Adam, the first
man here, is or was the representative of the whole human family. In fact, we'll be going back
to this passage here in just a moment, but in Romans chapter
5 and verse 12 it says, wherefore as by one man, that's Adam, sin
entered into the world. And death by sin. Remember God
told him in Genesis 2, in the day that you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. Adam disobeyed God. He sinned. And not only brought himself
under death, under the sentence of death, and under the process
of death, you know, literally in Genesis 2 there it says, dying
thou shalt die. That means, somebody said, well,
Adam didn't die immediately. Well, the process of physical
death began. You know, someone said that the
moment you're born, you start dying in essence. And that's
where this body is dead because of sin. That's why we grow old. That's why we get sick. All of
that's the consequence of sin. It's not, thank God, it's not
the condemnation of sin because those who are in Christ, there's
no condemnation, but this body is dead because of sin. So sin
entered the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, it says. Now, notice that in Romans 5,
12, it doesn't say the possibility of death, or the possibility
of sin, after you make your first choice. It says, death passed
upon all men. And then it says, for that all
have sinned. The better translation of that
from the original is simply for all sinned. Now, how did we sin? How did I sin back in the Garden
of Eden? Through Adam, my representative. You say, well, somebody said,
told me one time, said, well, I don't like Adam being my representative.
I just soon stand on my own. Well, first of all, that wasn't
up to you. God didn't ask you for your opinion.
He didn't ask for a vote. This is God's sovereign will
and purpose. And he did it. And secondly,
and here's the kicker, to think that you would have done or I
would have done any better than Adam is the height of human pride. Because we wouldn't have. Adam
was created righteous, but it was a human righteousness. That
means it was changeable. That's why the gospel is the
revelation of the righteousness of God, not man. So, I believe I brought this
out last week. You take the best man, Adam,
put him in the best environment, and there's still no salvation
there. Salvation is of the Lord. So
there's Adam. He's the representative of the
whole human family. He fell, so we fell into sin
and death by his disobedience. He brought the whole human race
into sin and death. Now we were represented by the
first man, Adam, and we bear his image, which is the image
of fallen, sinful human nature. That's why the scripture says
that we're all born dead in trespasses and sin. That's the way it is. That's fallen human nature. and we cannot rise above that.
Now we can get religious, we can turn over a new leaf, we
can get to the point where we win friends and influence people,
but we cannot cure sin. We cannot produce righteousness
or holiness. The best, the best we can do,
the best man in the best environment couldn't do it, we can't do it.
That's why the Bible says, I believe it's in Psalm 50, it says that
man at his best state is altogether what? Vanity. Now, you say, well,
that's an insult to the human race. No, that's just the reality.
That's the diagnosis of the disease. And the problem is, man can find
no cure, no remedy. That has to come from God. But
this Adam, in verse 45, this man was made a living soul. That
describes his physical life, our physical life. Though we're
born in Adam and spiritually dead, we are physically alive.
You're breathing. You're hearing. Now, unless you
are born again, Your hearing is spiritually dead, but physically
you can hear what I'm saying. I often tell people, you talk
about, somebody said, well, if you're not born again, you can't
even hear what I'm saying. Well, think back in Acts chapter
7 when Stephen was preaching in Jerusalem. You know what? They heard what Stephen said.
They heard exactly what he was saying. What did they do? They
picked up stones to kill him. They hated what he said. Now,
that's spiritual death. You can hear what I'm saying,
but you won't like it, you won't believe it. You'll ignore it
or you'll turn an indifferent ear to it. But here it is now,
the first man Adam. Now in verse 45 he says, the
last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Now that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Quickening means life-giving. That's what it means. And you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, Ephesians
2.1. Christ is called the last Adam. He's a quickening spirit. Christ
is the representative of God's people. They're called in the
Bible, God's elect people. God's chosen. Somebody said,
when our election is just for the Jews, well then why did Paul
address the Gentile churches as elect? Because he did. God's people, Christ called them
his sheep. In John chapter 10, he said,
my sheep hear my voice. I know them, they know me. They
follow me. They won't follow another. They're
called his church. Church literally means called
out ones. Those who are called out of the
world and into the kingdom and family of God. That's what a
church is. And we could go through the scripture
and we could talk about other identification. They're believers.
They're the saints. You see, a saint is not a person
who has reached some super height of spirituality above other believers
and is therefore canonized by some man in Rome. No, a saint, the word comes from
sanctified, which means set apart. A saint is one who is set apart
by God for salvation. A saint is a sinner saved by
the grace of God. He's one who's washed clean from
all of his sins in the blood of Christ. He's one who stands
before God in Christ righteousness imputed for all justification.
That's what a saint is. Now there are times, a lot of
times, that we don't act like saints, but if we're in Christ,
that's what we are. Saints. And we could go on with
that. But Christ is the representative. So we've got two representatives
here. who represented the whole human race who fell in Adam into
sin and death. And then Christ, who represents
his people, God's chosen. And that gives us, you know,
you think about this, you know, I always tell people, you know,
when you think about the gospel, think about its truths, its principles,
representation, God, deals with the human race through a representative,
either Adam, the first Adam, or the last Adam, Christ. Now
when it comes to Christ and the good news of the gospel, here's
the good news though. Not only did Christ represent
his people, his sheep, his church, God's elect. Not only did he
represent, but he actually substituted himself in their place. In fact,
we could say it this way, representation, that's a gospel principle. Substitution
is a gospel principle. You see, your representatives
in Atlanta or in Washington, they may represent you, but they
are not substitutes for you. They don't take your place. If
you get charged with a crime, they're not gonna come in and
say, well, charge it to me. But Christ actually substituted
himself for his people. He stood in our place. And the
scripture is, I mean, that's the whole scripture speaks of
it. From Genesis chapter three on, the death of an animal that
God slew. And he made coats of skin for
Adam and Eve. That's substitution there. And
then the whole sacrificial system of the old covenant. You know,
even before the old covenant, Sinai was instituted. You remember
what Abraham did before he called on the Lord? He built an altar.
He brought a sacrifice. That's substitution. I need somebody
to take my place before God and do for me what I cannot do for
myself. That's what I need. That's the
only way salvation is going to come about. So Christ is the
substitute for his people. All the blood of animals shed
on altars. That was a type and a picture
of the substitutionary world. That's why he's called the Lamb
of God. The Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Worthy is the Lamb, we say. John
the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God which beareth away
the sin of the world. God's people out of every tribe,
kindred, tongue, and nation. So he stands in our place. Now
here's the next question. How can Christ, the Son of God,
God in human flesh, take the place of a sinner and die justly
for that sinner's sins? How can he do that? How could
God punish his son for my sins and still be just in doing so?
You see, if you get punished for somebody else's sins in the
courts of our land, that would be an injustice, wouldn't it?
Well, how can God do that? In fact, the scripture tells
us plainly that God cannot pervert justice. God cannot, God cannot
justify the wicked. He cannot do it. And he cannot
condemn the righteous. So how could he do that to his
holy, harmless, undefiled son who never knew sin, who never
did sin, who was never tainted with sin or contaminated with
sin? Christ who knew no sin. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians
5.21, he was made sin. How was he made sin? He didn't
commit any sin. I have, you have. We were born
in sin. In fact, without Christ, we're
really nothing but sin in the eyes of God. without Christ. Yet he was made sin. For us it
says. Christ who knew no sin. Now how
could that happen? Well that brings the third gospel
principle. Representation, substitution,
and that's why the doctrine of imputation is so important. Imputation. What does that mean? Impute.
It means to charge. It means to account. laid to
the account of. Somebody said years ago, said
in order to save a sinner from sin, there had to be one that
met three qualifications. Number one, he had to be appointed
by God. Why is that? Because God is the
supreme judge of all things. He's the supreme sovereign of
all things. Had to be appointed by God. Secondly,
he had to be willing to do what it takes. He had to be willing
to fulfill the conditions. Number three, he had to be able. Had to be able to do it. Now
who meets all three qualifications? Who was appointed by God before
the foundation of the world to be the surety of God's people? Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Nobody else was appointed. Buddha wasn't appointed. Muhammad
was not appointed to do that. The son of God was appointed
to do that. Secondly, is he willing? Well,
he said he is, said he was. In fact, John chapter 13, I believe
it's verse one, it said, he loved his own, his own people to the
end. Now, the end there is the finishing
of the work. It's the same word he used in
John 19, 30 when it said, it is finished. In other words,
he loved his people so much, he was willing to do the work,
to do what it took to save us. And then third, is he able? Well,
the Bible says he's able to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by him. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. Jesus Christ, the son
of God incarnate, is the only one who's appointed, who's willing,
who's able. What did it take for him to do
that? Sin had to be charged to him.
He, in the covenant of grace, essentially said, put their debt
on my account. That's how he was made sin. The
debt of my sins was charged to his account, and he willingly
took it. And what did he have to do? He
had to become incarnate. He had to walk in a human body
without sin, God-man, and he had to go to the cross and die
as my substitute for my sins charged to him. And in return,
what do I get? I get His righteousness charged
to me. That's righteousness imputed.
Now how was all that accomplished? Through His death to satisfy
the justice of God. Now that's how the last Adam
was made a quickening spirit. He satisfied the justice of God. He paid my sin debt in full by
the price of His what? His blood were redeemed. He bought
and paid for His people. And he'll have them. There'll
be no one in hell for whom Christ died, my friend. Read the Bible.
The scripture doesn't teach that. If there's anybody in hell for
whom he died, then let me ask you, what saves you? You say,
well, my faith. Oh, no. Your faith is a struggle. Even the faith that God gives
us, we still have a struggle. It's called the warfare of the
flesh and the spirit. We still have to fight doubts,
we have to fight uncertainties, we complain. You know complaining
is unbelief, did you know that? You never complain, do you? Scripture
says complaining is unbelief. You see, Christ died for all
the sins of all his people. He satisfied justice. That's
what that big word in the New Testament that's used three times
and in other forms in the New Testament called propitiation
means. It means satisfaction. God is satisfied with the death
of his son unto righteousness for his people. We stand before
God in the last Adam, we who believe in him. And then look
at verse 46. He says, Howbeit that was not
first which is spiritual, but that which is natural and afterward
that which is spiritual. Now what he's talking about there
is in time. in time as God, now in God's
purpose it's all eternal, but in time as God worked out these
things and created these things, the first Adam who fell, that
man in the Garden of Eden, he came first. That's why he's called
the first Adam, the first in time. Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, was before him As God, absolutely considered, in fact, in beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
But as God-man, who came to earth to redeem his people in the fullness
of the time, Paul said, he came thousands of years later, after
the first Adam. So he's called the last Adam.
And you notice here he's not called the second Adam. Because
there's only two Adams, the first and the last. There's no third
Adam. There's only two representatives. Now he's called the second man.
There are a lot of men. But he's the only one who counts
for our salvation. So Adam, in the garden, came
first in time. And then Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, was conceived in the womb of the Virgin, by the Holy
Spirit, born in Bethlehem, grew in wisdom and stature, and then
appeared on the scene in his public ministry and began to
do his great work on earth to fulfill all righteousness, which
is what he told them, Matthew 3. And he went to the cross. He was obedient unto death, even
unto the death of the cross. And he's the spiritual. Everything
connected with the first Adam is fleshly, physical, dead. Everything. But everything that's
connected with the last Adam is eternal, spiritual, righteousness,
and life. And so look at verse 47. He says,
the first man is of the earth earthy. You know, a lot of times
in the book of Revelation, you'll see that word earth or earthly
referring only to unbelievers. It's almost like if you would
translate it literally, it would be earth dwellers. You know what
an earth dweller is? It's a person without Christ
who has no hope outside this earth. Connected to this earth
to this world remember what Christ told his disciples you're in
the world, but you're not what you're not of the world Your
citizenship in Christ is where not on this world, but in heaven
the heavenly Jerusalem He told his disciples in John 16 33 he
said in the world you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer
I've overcome the world You see, we're here on this earth,
but we're not earth dwellers. That's why we're told not to
live like this world is our home. That's why Abraham was looking
for a city whose builder and maker was not man, but God. One,
he wasn't looking for a piece of real estate in Palestine.
Actually, read it. Read it in Hebrews 11, 12. Abraham,
his goal was not to get into the Holy Land. which doesn't
exist. Abraham's goal was to get to
Christ. And Jesus Christ said in John
chapter eight, he said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he
saw it and he was glad. So we're here, but we're here
not in order, not to be earth dwellers who are so connected
to this world and live in this world as if this is it, eat,
drink, and be merry, we read that earlier. But we're to live
in this world as lights, witnesses. To what? The glory of God in
Christ. That doesn't mean that we're
better than other people, because by nature we're no better than
anybody. Sinners lost in their sins, sinners saved by the grace
of God. Paul said, by the grace of God
I am one. If I'm saved, it has nothing
to do with me being better than anybody. If I'm saved, it has
nothing... I'll put it to you this way.
This may be a shock to you. If I'm saved, it has nothing
to do with my preaching. My preaching doesn't save me.
The Christ I preach to you saved me. You understand? Does that
make sense to you? I'm saved by the grace of God.
I'm kept by the grace of God. And I'll enter glory. by the
grace of God. And that means I didn't earn
any of it and I don't deserve any of it. That's what I mean. Seriously. My righteousness before
God is not of me or from me or even in me. It's in Christ. Yes, I've been born again by
the Spirit. This last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. That means he gave me life that
I didn't have before. I don't know exactly when I was
born again. I don't believe that's important.
I know people who will say, well, if you can't tell me your spiritual
birth, no. I know there was a time that
I struggled in opposition to the message of God's grace. And
I opted then for the free will of man. That's what I was in.
And I struggled against the preaching of the righteousness of God in
Christ. His righteousness imputed, not only that I didn't care for
it, I never even heard of it. But I struggled against it. And I remember there was a time
when I began to search. You know how my Bible searching
began, my Bible study really began? I mean, I grew up in religion
like most of you, remembering Bible verses and all that stuff,
trying to be religious. I mean, I walked down an aisle
when I was, I think I was 12, 14, I don't remember, and got
dunked in water because I remember coming out of the water and I
said to myself, man, I'm glad that's over. I really did, because I knew
everybody wanted me to do that. I didn't know what I was doing.
I had no idea. I knew I didn't want to go to hell. They'd shown
us that film, The Burning Hell, and that scared the hell out
of me. That's what people do. They get
these kids. I'm going to tell you something.
It's just a modified form of Catholicism, baptizing babies.
Get them down the aisle and get a profession out of them and
then boom, that's it. And anytime anybody asks them
in their years of life, what about their salvation, they always
go back to that time, well, I did this, I got baptized. That's
not Christianity according to this book. And I'm not saying
these things just to be mean or unkind to people. I don't
want to do that, but I want people to see what salvation really
is. But I can remember, listen, I
can remember when there was a time that I began to search the scripture.
But you know what I was doing when I first really began to
really study the scripture? I was trying to prove a true
gospel preacher wrong. That was my goal. My mother was
going to that church and she was listening to him and I didn't
like him. Didn't like what he said, that's what it was. And
I told her, I said, I don't believe the Bible teaches that. And I
just started jumping into the scriptures to prove him wrong.
And what happened was I was proven wrong. I told my mother, I said,
well, you're right, the Bible does say that, I guess I just
don't believe the Bible. But then one day, and I don't
know what day, sometime the point that the Lord brought me to see
how he can be just and justify the ungodly, that's the quickening
spirit. Christ gives life. Now, Christ
does a great, miraculous work within his people in the new
birth. You must be born again. But let me tell you something,
even that is not our righteousness before God. That's totally, exclusively
what Christ accomplished on Calvary. Will you be saved without being
born again? Absolutely not. You must be born again. But you
must be born again, not in order to make yourself righteous. You
must be born again in order to look to Christ for all righteousness. You see the difference? Well, there's verse 47. The first
man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. You see, that's where salvation's got to come from.
The Lord from heaven. Can't come from you. Can't come
from me. Let me just read a few verses
over here in Romans chapter 5, verse 12. He says, wherefore, as by one
man's sin entered into the world, that's the first Adam. Death
by sin, so death passed upon all men for that all sin. For
until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed.
There's that word. Sin is not charged. when there
is no law. What he's saying there is that
this thing didn't start at Mount Sinai. It started before Mount
Sinai. The reason God brought the Israelites
to get the Hebrew children actually together at Sinai and made that
covenant with them was mainly to bring the Messiah through
that nation according to the flesh. But there were other reasons.
But you know a lot of people they talk like it all began with
Moses. No, he says from Adam. From Adam to Moses, look at verse
14. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that
was to come. In other words, Adam brought the whole human
race into sin and death, but death reigned from Adam to Moses
even over those who didn't sin as Adam did in the garden. They
died. You know, I hear these people
talking about when you get saved, then you're sinlessly perfect
in yourself. Well, I can tell you something
about those people. They're not going to get old,
they're not going to get sick, and they're not going to die.
Now, you know better than that, don't you? We all get sick, we all die. Some of us grow old and die.
That's a consequence of sin. Again, it's not the condemnation
of sin. If we're in Christ, we're not
condemned. We have a righteousness that answers the demands of his
law and justice in him. But he says, they had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure
of him that was to come. There's a sense in which the
first Adam is a type and a picture of the last Adam. The first Adam
was the representative of a people, the whole human family. The last
Adam is the representative of God's elect, the church. The first Adam fell into sin
and brought the whole human family into sin and death. The last
Adam, he went under the wrath of his father for the sins of
his people imputed. He died, was buried, but he arose
the third day. He brought life. He's the quickening
spirit. Look at verse 15. But not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. What he's saying there is that
what we lost in Adam All right? We gain back in Christ, but much
more. Much more. For if through the
offense of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God and
the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, the last
Adam, hath abounded unto many. And not as it were by one that
sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation. God judged the world. in Adam
condemned according to the covenant of works, but the free gift is
of many offenses unto justification." How many sins? If you're forgiven
by God, how many sins are you forgiven of? You say, well, I
hope you're thinking like I'm thinking. I couldn't even imagine
to begin to get started on that number. How many sins? All I know is what he says down
there in Verse 20, where sin abounded, overflowed me like
a flood, grace did much more abound. So verse 17, he says,
for if one by one man's offense, death reigned by one, much more
they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. That's what we get in Christ.
The gift of righteousness shall reign upon in life by one Jesus
Christ. So therefore, as by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men the condemnation, that's
all whom Adam represented. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men under justification of
life. That's all whom Christ represented. Who are they? They
come to justification of life. Because they're justified before
God in Christ, they are born again by the Spirit. Verse 19,
for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. There it is. Now why did God give the law
of Moses then, if that's the case? If I can't be saved by
my works, or you can't be saved by your works, or the Jews couldn't
be saved by their works, why did God give the law? Well, look
at it, verse 20. Moreover, the law entered that the offense
might have been. The law was like a mirror that
exposed the sinfulness of man and the impossibility of salvation
and righteousness based on his works. For by deeds of law shall
no flesh be justified in God's sight, for by the law is the
knowledge of sin. But where sin abounded, well
did that leave us without any hope? No, look, where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Well, what is this grace? Verse
21, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. That's the gospel. All right.
Okay. Winston, you come and lead us.