Let us turn to God's Word again
and we turn to that portion that we were reading in Paul's first
epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 15. And our text is found here
at verses 22 and 23. In 1 Corinthians 15, 22 and 23 For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own
order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's
at his coming. I want us to take up the theme
then of the believer's life in the Lord Jesus Christ. For as
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive but every
man in his own order Christ the firstfruits afterward they that
are Christ at his coming and here we have that mention of
the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and now his own resurrection
from the dead is the guarantee that there will be a general
resurrection that in that last day he will truly come and gather
to himself all those for whom he has shed his precious blood. Well this morning as we come
to consider These two verses for our text, I want to divide
what I'm going to say into two basic parts. First of all, to
speak of that death that is in Adam, and then secondly, the
life that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all then, we
see how the Apostle speaks of what we have inherited from our
first father, from Adam. For even as in Adam, all die. Adam, of course, as we know,
is an historic person, and he is the father of the race. All descend from Adam. and there as he stands at the
head of the human race he is also a figure of him that was
to come and whereas sin came in and by Adam so salvation has
come in and by him of whom Adam was but a type. And surely here
in this particular chapter we see how the apostle makes it
plain that Adam is a type, a type of the Lord Jesus. Look at the
language that we have In verse 45, it is written, the first
man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made
a quickening spirit. Who is the one that's referred
to as the last Adam? It's Christ. Again, at verse
47, the first man is of the earth, earthen. The second man is the
Lord from heaven. And again in that portion that
we read in the fifth chapter of Romans we're told quite specifically
there at verse 14 that Adam is a figure of him that was to come. These two men then, Adam at the
head of the race and the Lord Jesus Christ who is revealed
as the head of that body which is called the church, those whom
he has come to redeem. Each of them stand then before
us as public figures. When we consider Adam we see
that it was in and through him that sin entered into the world. We read those words again in
that fifth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, for that all have
sinned. There in verse 12, if we read
with the margin, it literally says, in whom all have sinned. It indicates then that Adam is
the head, the representative head, and when Adam sinned, when
Adam fell and transgressed the commandment of God, so all who
were in his loins sinned in him. Again, there in that same chapter
at verse 19, by one man's disobedience, it says, many were made sinners. Adam's actions in the Garden
of Eden, they're not to be understood in terms of his headship. He
stands there as the representative of all that would subsequently
flow from his loins, and all sinned in him. He received that
specific commandment from God concerning the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. Thou shalt not eat of it, says
God, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die. And how we have to recognize
that that death that has come because of Adam is a threefold
death. It is a physical death, It is
a spiritual death and but for the grace of God it must be an
eternal death. First of all we see quite clearly
that it was physical. Death has come as a consequence
of Adam's fall. And all who are born into this
world will also have to come to that solemn hour when they
must die. To every thing there is a season. We're told a time to every purpose
under heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die. And all our
times are in the hands of God. God knows all things. God has appointed all things.
And then it comes down to the very detail of our lives here
upon the earth. Everything about is subject to
his sovereign goodwill and pleasure. And what happens at that hour
of death? Well, we're told again there
in that remarkable book of Ecclesiastes, then shall the dust return to
the earth as it was, and the Spirit to God who guided it. There's no such thing as soul
sleep. when the body is separated from
the soul. So the body is laid into the
ground and returns to dust as it was. God had made Adam's body
out of the dust of the earth, but the spirit of that soul that
God had breathed into his nostrils and made him a living soul, that
spirit must return unto God who guided it. It is appointed unto
men, says the Apostle, once to die, and then cometh the judgment. These are scriptures, I'm sure,
that we're all very familiar with. the solemn truth of a physical
death that has come as a consequence of Adam's fall into sin. And again there in Ecclesiastes
11 and verse 3, in the place where the tree falls, there it
shall burn. Or what we are when we come to
die, that will then be our eternal state. There is a physical death,
And that is the consequence of Adam's transgression. In the
day that thou eatest thereof, God said, thou shalt surely die. Now, we know that Adam didn't
physically die on the day of his transgression. In fact, Adam
lived, we're told, 930 years. There in Genesis 5-5. he lived 930 years from his creation and so it is obvious that that
death that came upon him there in the garden of Eden that death
which was an immediate death was not a physical death that
would come later there was the seed of death in his body but
you know the reading that we have in the margin there in Genesis
2.17 it doesn't say Surely they shall die. In the margin it says,
dying, they shall die. There's a repetition. And the
translators rightly have brought it out as an emphasis. God is
speaking clearly of the certainty of death. But when we look at
the detail in the literal wording as we have it in the original,
dying, they shall die. Oh yes, he was dying physically.
But there was an immediate death that came into his soul. He died
spiritually. As soon as he transgressed, he
was dead in his trespass and in his sin. And we see what that
entailed. It meant that there was a separation
from God. There was an alienation. And
we see it in the way in which Adam and Eve conduct themselves
when the Lord God appears again in the garden. There in verse
8 of Genesis 3, they heard the voice of the Lord God walking
in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife
hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees
of the garden. And the Lord God called unto
Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? Now why in which God
was unaware as to where Adam was. There is no hiding from
God. His presence is everywhere. He is the omnipresent God. What is God doing here? He's
exposing to the man just what has occurred now. Oh, he has
sinned and there is that sense of separation. No more is he
in fellowship with God. God comes, God speaks, but Adam
and Eve, they seek to conceal themselves. And then at the end
of that chapter, very solemnly we see how God himself sends
them forth from the garden. or they're excluded now from
that paradise. No more will they enjoy that
fellowship with God. Therefore the Lord God sent him
forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence
he was taken. So he drove out the man and he
placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims and the flaming
sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of
life. Here is spiritual death. What is that spiritual death?
It's separation from God. It's alienation. Your iniquities
have separated between you and your God. And your sins have
hid his face from you. And this is the way in which
all are born into this world. What does David say in Psalm
51? Behold I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother consume." Even though one might have gracious
parents, grace does not come down through the blood. No, the
grace of God we know is a sovereign grace. all are born dead in trespasses
and in sins. And how the Apostle spells that
out so plainly when he writes there in the opening verses of
the Epistle to the Ephesians, reminding these Prince of the
Gentile sinners who have been saved by the grace of God, you
hath he quickened, he says, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this
world. according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Here is man's natural state,
the child of disobedience, the child of wrath. And remember
how Paul goes on to remind these Gentile converts what they once
were. All that to remember from whence
they have come. There in verse 17 of chapter
4, this I say therefore and testify in the Lord, that she henceforth
walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life
of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the
blindness of their hearts, ill-being, past feeling. have given themselves
over unto lasciviousness to work all on cleanness with greediness. Or the language that the Apostle
employs when he is describing what we are in our spiritual
condition before God as we're born into this world. The soul
is dead. Dead in trespasses and in sin. And that spiritual death was
immediate to Adam. He died as he transgressed. In the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die. The spiritual death was there
immediate. There is a physical death, there
is a spiritual death, and thirdly, there is an eternal death. Our judgment will come upon all
men to condemnation, except they be found in Him who is referred
to as the last Adam." Judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Think of the words of the Lord
Jesus Himself in the course of His ministry. Fear not them,
He says, which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell. That is God, that is the great
work of judgment, the great work of condemnation, that is what's
referred to as the second death. And we have it there in the book
of the Revelation, the language of Revelation 21.8, John says,
the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars
shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone, which is the second death." That second death, that is the
eternal death, the confirmation of what God had said to Adam
there in the garden, in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die. But as there is nothing but death
in Adam, oh thank God that here we also read of Christ, the last
Adam. And in Christ there is life.
Look at the language of the text, as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order
Christ the firstfruits afterward they that are Christ's at his
coming. Now there is some reference here
to the general resurrection that is the resurrection of all both
believer and unbeliever in that great last day. Look at the language again in
verse 23, "...every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits.
Afterward they that are Christ's at his coming, then cometh the
end." The Apostle speaks of that resurrection
of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. There is to
be a general physical resurrection at the end of time. And The resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ is the guarantor that there will be
such a general resurrection. Christ is referred to here as
the First Roots. There in the middle of verse
23. And remember how the Apostle in his preaching at Athens speaks
of that day that was to come, that great day of judgment, how
God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness,
he says, by that man whom he has ordained, whereof he hath
given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead, says Paul, in Acts 17 verse 31. He has given an assurance to
all men that there will be a general resurrection in that He has raised
the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. This is a man that He has
ordained to be the Great Judge. And again, we have the language
of Christ in the course of His own earthly ministry speaking
of these things there in John chapter 5 What does he say? Verse 22, The
Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the
Son. Oh, He is to return in power
and glory, and He is to sit as that One who will judge the living
and the dead. And so he says there, verse 28
of John 5, Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the
which all that are in the grave shall hear His voice, and shall
come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of
life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of
damnation." The Lord Jesus Christ is that
one. This is the man to whom God hath committed the final
judgment. We're to recognize here that
Adam and Christ are two distinct federal heads, as I've already
said. All have sinned in Adam. All
have died in Adam. There will be a general resurrection
at the end of time, and that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. But
there's something more peculiar here with regard to the headship
of the Lord Jesus Christ. because Christ is that one who
is the head of the body of the church. The fullness of Him that
filleth all in all. But see again how Paul so clearly
speaks of these two men. In God's sight it appears that
there are just two men. The first man Adam was made a
living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Now
be it he that was not first He was not first which is spiritual,
but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the earth, earthen. The second man is the
Lord from heaven. And the great question we have
to put to ourselves is, which of these two men are we finding
this morning? If in God's sight there are just
the two men, the first Adam and the last Adam, which of the two
are we to be found in? Now by nature, as I've sought
to say, by nature we are all of course in the first man. We all descend from Adam. He
is the father of the race and cannot be avoided. But are we
those who, by the grace of God, are found in the last Adam? How can we know? Well, what is
the evidence of the grace of God? The evidence of the grace
of God is faith, surely it is. Paul says, by grace are you saved
through faith. and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. It is faith that is the evidence
of Christ. Are we those whose faith centers
only in the Lord Jesus Christ? Paul opens this remarkable 15th
chapter in 1st Corinthians by speaking of that gospel which
he had preached amongst them. I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein
ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what
I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in thine." Go on
with those who believe these things. And he goes on then to
speak of how that Gospel centers in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ and all that great work that He accomplished I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received now that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was
buried and that He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures it's all according to the Word of God but he concerns
the dying of the Lord Jesus, he concerns also the rising from
the dead of the Lord Jesus. These are the things believed. Those who have that grace of
God in their hearts, they're looking to Him who is a living
Savior, the only Savior, the only name under heaven given
amongst men whereby we must be saved, that name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Are we those who have that true
faith, that saving faith? It must come. And from whence
does it come? We cannot produce it of ourselves. It is the gift of God. It comes
by the gracious working of God, by the sovereign operation of
the Spirit in the soul of the sinner. It is that spiritual life that is communicated by the Holy
Ghost. That's why it's spiritual. And
we see it so evidently time and time again
here in the Word of God. All that gracious working of
the Spirit Himself. as many as were ordained to eternal
life, it says. They believed. It was the sovereign
appointment of God, it was the sovereign operation of God. They hear the voice of the Lord
Jesus, and hearing that voice they follow Him. And He gives
unto them eternal life and they never perish. No man is able to pluck them
out of the Father's hand who gave them to him. Nor are we
those friends who possess that new life, that spiritual life,
that is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It's strange,
isn't it, when we begin to examine ourselves and look to ourselves
concerning these things, wanting to know whether or not we do
possess that life of God in our souls. How paradoxical it is. Because when we first have that
new life communicated to us, we're made to feel what we are
as sinners. That's the mystery of it all.
When that life comes, we feel our deadness. We feel our complete
and utter inability. What can we do? Why some are
almost driven to despair. Look at the language that Moses
employs there in Psalm 90, Thou turnest man to destruction. That's
what God does, He brings that man to the end of himself. He
destroys all his hope, all his confidence, all his trust in
himself. Thou turnest man to destruction.
And sayest, Return ye children of men. And we often sing the
words of the hymn writer nor can he expect to be perfectly
saved till he finds himself absolutely lost it's when we're lost in self
it's when we feel what we are in Adam as in Adam all die even
so in Christ shall all be made alive." It's when we're brought
to see what our true natural condition is, as those who are
the children of Adam. And we see that there's nothing
but destruction in Adam, but there's nothing but salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lost in Adam, saved in Christ. And how the Lord, in the course
of his own ministry, deals with people in this fashion. He tells
the Jews quite plainly, they that are whole have no need of
the physician, but they that are sick. Who did the Lord come
to save? Not the righteous. He came to
save sinners. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God, but how the Lord is there distinguishing
between sinners. although all are sinners in God's
sight, there are but few so in their own. This is how the Lord
comes. He doesn't come to call those
self-righteous Pharisees. They have no need of salvation.
They feel nothing of their condition. Here we see that that life that
comes in Paradoxically, it initially brings to us nothing but a sense
of our deadness and our alienation from God. We feel that we're
utterly lost, and none can save us. But then, in His mercy, that's
what the Lord does. He comes to save. He comes to
save. The amazing thing is, when we
consider the cost of that salvation, that was wrought by the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why? It cost him his own life. Although there is nothing but
life in the Lord Jesus Christ, in Christ shall all be made alive. Although there's nothing but
life there in the Lord, what did it cost? In order that sinners
might come to partake of that life. why it cost him his own
life. In order to give life to others,
he must suffer that death that we spoke of, that eternal death,
that would have been the lot, the portion of his people. It
had to come into the very soul of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
had to know that awful separation When he makes that great cry
upon the cross, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? He
who knew no sin had to be made sin for his people, that they
might know the righteousness of God in their own souls. What
does the Lord say in the course of his preaching? Verily, verily,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, he divides
us alone. But if he dies, it bringeth forth
much fruit. That's the figure that the Lord
uses with regards to himself. He is that corn of wheat. Or
the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ. The various names that
he takes to himself, he is the corn of wheat that must fall
into the ground and die. And as he dies, he brings forth
an abundant fruit. Christ hath once suffered for
sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God, says Peter.
Christ has died in order to bring the sinner to God. He hath once suffered for sins.
And here, what do we read in the text, as in Adam all die,
Even so, in Christ shall all be made alive, that every man
in his own order cries the first ruins. Afterward they that are
Christ's at his coming." Now, observe here how all it says
is to be in order. All must be in order. There is an order of time. Christ himself is the firstfruits.
There's a reference surely here to what we have in Leviticus
23, where they were to take the sheaf of the firstfruits and
to wave it before the Lord. And that sheaf of the firstfruits
was the guarantee that there would in time be that full harvest. And as I've said, the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ is an assurance and a pledge that there
will be a general resurrection in the last day. But that resurrection
of the Lord Jesus is not only a pledge of a general physical
resurrection, but also Christ's resurrection is a pledge of regeneration,
a pledge of the new birth coming into the soul of sinners. Look
at the language that we have in John chapter 6. There in John 6 and verse 39, this is the Father's will which
hath sent me that of all which hath given me I should lose nothing
but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is
the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life. And I
will raise him up at the last day." There are two things here
that the Lord speaks of. Yes, He speaks of the last day
and the general resurrection, but He also speaks of those that
believe on him, and have everlasting life. Here he is speaking of
how his own resurrection from the dead is the guarantor that
there will be those who are born again of the Spirit, those to
whom that new life, that spiritual life, is to be communicated. Again he says there in John 14,
19, because I live Ye shall live also, even those
who are dead in trespasses and sins. Thy dead men shall live. Together with my dead body shall
they arise." He says back in Isaiah 26. His own resurrection from the dead
is here in Scripture associated not just with that general resurrection,
but also that communication of spiritual life, which is evidenced
in saving faith, that comes into the souls of those who are the
election of grace. Remember Ephesians 1, the exceeding
greatness of His power, to us who do believe according to the
working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when
He raised Him from the dead. All that power that was there
when the Father raised the Son from the dead is the same power
that comes into the soul of the sinner when he is born again. And the evidence of that new
birth is His saving faith. There can be no saving faith
without the new birth. says Paul, who were dead in trespasses
and in sins, but the order all the order, it's first Christ
it is the work of Christ and Christ's resurrection, the firstfruits
the firstfruits of them that slept but then also besides an
order of time we also see here an order of type He goes on later in the chapter
to mention that more specifically, verse 37. That which thou sowest,
thou sowest not that body which shall be, but their grain. It may chance of wheat or of
some other grain, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased
Him, and to every seed his own body. to every seed, God says, His
own body. Now, the Apostle is using a figure,
of course, from nature. He's speaking of the husbandman,
the arable farmer who sows his seed
and then looks for the growth of the crop and then in due time
the harvest. Now, if he sows wheat, he does
not expect to gather in a harvest of barley. That's obviously impossible. You sow wheat, you
gather in wheat. Well, so too, spiritually. That's the point of what's being
said in these verses. That which thou sowest, thou
sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. It may chance
of wheat or some other grain, but God giveth it a body, as
it hath pleased him. And to every seed his own body. Now what does Paul say elsewhere? Look at what he has to say when
he writes to the Galatians. concerning these things here
in Galatians 6 Galatians 6,7 be not deceived
God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth how shall he reap
for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption
but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life
everlasting you sow to the flesh You reap of the flesh, you reap
corruption. You sow to the Spirit, you reap
of the Spirit, you reap life everlasting. And Paul quite solemnly
says, don't be deceived in this. Don't be deceived in these things.
What is the point of all this? Well, surely here we see what
a man is when he dies is what that man will be in the resurrection. If a man dies a believer, he will be raised a believer. If
he dies a non-believer, he'll be raised a non-believer. There
is no work nor device in the grave, we're told, in Ecclesiastes. No work nor device in the grave. The Romish doctrine of purgatory,
it's a lie. It flies in the face of the Word
of God, there's no second chances after this life. How solemn it
is, in the place where the tree falleth. There shall it be, again
says the wise man in Ecclesiastes. And then when we come to the
very end of Scripture, The language of Revelation 22, He that is
unjust, let him be unjust too. He that is filthy, let him be filthy
still. He that is righteous, let him
be righteous still. He that is holy, let him be holy
still. There is an order of type, you
see. What we are in this life is what we will be. in that life
that is yet to come after the general resurrection. There's
no avoiding these things. These are solemn matters, but
matters that lie before us so clearly on the page of Holy Scripture. The two Adams. The first Adam,
the last Adam. The two men. The first of the
earth, earthen. the second, the Lord from heaven. And so the great question with
us must be, which of these two men are we in? Or by nature,
yes, as we've said, we're all in Adam. But are we those who
by the grace of God are found in the Lord Jesus Christ? And
we have that life. that life that is communicated
by the Holy Spirit, that great work of regeneration, the sinner
born again, born from above, born by the Spirit of God. As
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But
every man in his own order cries the firstfruits. Afterwards,
they that are Christ's at his coming, then cometh the end. Oh the Lord, be pleased to bless
His Word to us. Let us conclude our worship as
we sing the hymn number 89, the tune is St. Catherine 793, When
Adam by transgression fell, And conscious fled his maker's
face Linked in clandestine league with Hell He ruined all his future
race The seeds of evil once brought in Increased and filled the world
with sin But lo, the second Adam came The serpent's subtle head
to bruise He cancels his malicious claim And disappoints his devilish
views Ransoms poor prisoners with his blood And brings the
sinner back to God. The hymn number 89.