When the Lord created Adam from
the dust of the ground, he breathed into him, and Adam became a living
soul. The Lord then planted a garden
in Eden, and put the man therein to dress and keep it. He was
surrounded with the bounty of God's creation and was privileged
to enjoy the beauty of that garden and to commune with the Lord
in His mortal state. At this point he had no knowledge
of death and as yet had not tasted of the bitterness of death's
curse. He was created to fulfill the exact purpose for which the
Lord made him, and he would in no wise do anything other than
act according to the nature which was given him. He was neither
the master of his fate nor the captain of his soul. His times
were in the hands of his Creator. The Lord forbade him to eat of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and decreed his
demise when he said, In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou
shalt surely die. True to his corruptible nature,
he did knowingly eat of that fruit which the serpent had beguiled
Eve into partaking of and presenting to Adam. Thus, in the eating
of that fruit in direct disobedience to God's commandment, he did
plunge himself and all of his future posterity into and under
the curse of death, which is by sin. Though it was Eve who
in her deception offered it to him, he was in the transgression
as he gladly partook of it and could blame no one but himself
as he fulfilled the decree which God had made. Man in this state
of fallen nature has always sought out an excuse for his sin, and
it is impossible for him to recognize his own utter corruption before
God apart from the enlightenment of the Spirit of God, whom the
Lord has sent to reprove, that is, convince, the world of sin
and of righteousness and of judgment. In his fallen natural state,
man is convinced that he can approach unto God and even find
favor with Him by either abstaining from acts of sin or by some activity
which he has designed to demonstrate his righteousness unto the Lord.
He does not comprehend the utter contempt which the Lord has for
all of the deeds which are performed in the power of human flesh,
nor can he grasp the fact that death does reign in his mortal
body because of sin. It is this reigning power of
sin which forever separates him from the presence of a holy God,
who is of purer eyes than to behold sin. Man surmises that
sin is what he does, rather than understanding that sin is what
he is. Because of this blindness, he
is often mired in various schemes and varieties of religions, superstitions,
vain babblings, and science falsely so-called, which hold out hope
to him that he might yet improve himself and escape the curse
of death. This is the exact same reason
that many pursue the lusts of the flesh, blindly thinking that
such will offer them some reprieve from their own mortality and
open up vistas of pleasure and satisfaction which will fulfill
this quest. Yet all of these pursuits are
completely vain and ultimately leave them in the exact same
condition that they were in from the beginning, under the inescapable
curse of death by sin. One cannot paint a bleaker picture
than the reality of this condition. It cannot be exaggerated. Thus
arise those who would tell men that they just need to think
positively, dwell upon happy thoughts, and not listen to the
naysayers, which is how they would characterize those who
declare the truth as it is set forth in the Bible. These same
blind guides would also seek to inform men that the faith
with which God is pleased is that which they are able to produce
by a decision of their own free will. They would declare to their
hearers a message which can neither heal their hurt, mollify their
wounds, nor provide a remedy for this death by sin which they
have inherited from Adam. The Lord Jesus Christ has come
into the world to cancel sin, thus removing the curse of death
for all those for whom He has come to save. He gives to them
eternal life and they shall never perish. Thus we see sinners saved
and Christ glorified. They mourn for their sin, but
rejoice in Him who has delivered them from certain death. He is
indeed the death of death. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at 4the4 at windstream.net.