Now, if you will take your Bibles,
turn with me to Genesis chapter 1, and I want to try to talk to
you for the next little bit from verses 24 through 31, through
the end of the chapter. The sixth day, that's what these
verses are about, the sixth day of creation. And on this day, He created both
man and beast. I've never really considered
that before. Both man and beast. And as I develop the message
tonight, I want you to remember what I'm telling you right now.
I believe the reason why He made man and the beast on the same
day is to show you the glory of what He gave to a man, and
how far apart man is set in the purpose of God, and by the glory
of God, and by the grace of God, how far apart man is set from
the beast. And what actually separates him
from the beast is what God gave him, what God gave him in creation. And when he lost what the Lord
gave him, he became not much better than the beast. And this
number 6, I told you this on the third day. The third day,
the number 3 is in relation to resurrection. And every time
you go through the Scripture and you see that number, it's
going to continue to mean that all the way through the Scripture.
And even so with the sixth day. The sixth day, 6 is the number
of man. And I know today, if you turn
your radio on and listen to these prophetic preachers, I didn't
say that they were pathetic, although they are. I said prophetic. They're on there talking prophecy
and preaching about prophecy. And in their preaching of prophecy,
you're going to hear them refer to, from time to time, the mark
of the beast. The mark of the beast. And that
number is 666. Man, man, man. That's what they're talking about.
That's the mark of the beast. He's man, fallen man. And I suppose if we were to carefully
consider all the things that are written here in this book,
it just continues to get bigger to me. It doesn't get any smaller,
it just gets bigger. And the more you look into these
subjects, these subjects This is the testimony of God. And
when you consider the testimony of God, these things are eternal
that He talks about. They're spiritual things. And
they grow in size. And I don't care how smart you
are, and I don't care how mature you are, and how long you've
been studying the Bible, when you open these things up and
begin to consider these subjects, they get big. And they grow. And I suppose you could write
volumes, you could write books, and some men have. Just on each
day of creation, you could write a book. You could write a book
on these things. There's just so much in them.
But I just want to point out a few things that ought to catch
our eyes and spark an interest in our hearts, and then we can
ask God to allow us to see into the depths of them. There are three things I want
to call your attention to tonight as we go through these verses.
Very simple things. When, and how, and what. That's what I want you to ask
yourself about this creation of God. Now let me just read
through these verses before I forget about it and get into the message.
In verse 24 of Genesis chapter 1, And God said, let the earth
bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping
thing and beast of the earth after his kind, and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle
after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth
after his kind. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness,
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth. So God created man in his own
image. In the image of God created he
him. Male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God
said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have
given you every herb-bearing seed which is upon the face of
all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of the
tree yielding seed to you, it shall be for meat. And to every
beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything
that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life, I have
given every green herb for meat, and it was so. And God saw everything
that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening
and the morning were the sixth day." Now I want us to look at
the order in which these appearances take place, how God brings him
to Him, and what God makes this man to be, and so on. Now, first of all,
let's think about this. When did God make man? I want you to think about that
for a while. I glanced at that this morning when I was preparing
this message, And I thought about it and it didn't seem too significant
to me. And I passed over it and went
on and then I come back to it. I come back to it and I started
to consider these things. And it might seem like a very
unimportant question until you remember that God's declaring
the end from the beginning. This is not a science book. The book of Genesis was not just
preserved for us and incorporated in all these prophecies of Christ
just to tell us where we came from. He's declaring something
here in the making of a man. He's declaring something here
when He raised that body out of those waters. He's declaring
something when He put life in that sea and life in the air,
life on that body. He's declaring something. And
I'll tell you what He's declaring. He said, I am God. He said, I
declare the end from the beginning. That's what He's declaring. He's
declaring that work, that eternal work, which He is designed to
do, that work of redemption, that work of restoration, that
work whereby He manifests the glory of His name. And the order
of creation has a lot to do with the order of the new creation.
This order in the old creation has a lot to do with it. It's
a very clear picture once you get into it and begin to consider
it. And I found this of particular interest to me as I looked at
these things in the light of the work of the second Adam.
Now just listen to me for just a minute. When God brought Adam
into the world, when He brought Adam into the
world, and gave him a mind to comprehend and a heart to manifest
passions, love. Gave him that ability to love. Gave him his passions. Gave him
that mind to be able to understand. Unlike any other creature, I
can take a book and read it and comprehend what it says. Now you might have a dog that
will stand and look at it, but he can't understand it. He might
look like he does, but he don't understand it. God gave man the
special ability to understand, to perceive. He created man in
his own image. In the image of God created he
him. He gave him the ability to perceive
and to understand things. And when he did that, When He
did that, He brought him into this world, He gave him a mind
to comprehend and a heart to manifest passion and eyes to
perceive His glory. He was awakened to a finished
work. Do you ever think about that?
When God brought man into this world, when He opened his eyes
for the first time and looked, what did he see? Everything in
its place. Huh? Everything in its place. He didn't have to invent something
to eat, it was already there. He didn't have to worry about
something evolving in the water, it was full of life. He didn't have to worry about
preservation. God already provided those things
by which he would be preserved. He was awakened, awakened new
into creation to a finished work. It's all done. It's all done. Can you see the new creation
in that? Boy, I can. That man that God comes to, who
did and trespasses and sins and sends his gospel, crosses that
man's path with a preacher who tells him the truth. God gives
him that special ability to be able to perceive, to comprehend.
Adam came into this world, opened those eyes and perceived what
he saw. Perceived what he saw. And it
says, and he walked with God in the cool of the day. I can
just imagine from what communion that I've had with the Spirit
of God, how this man with no hindrance, no sin, no sin. Somebody said the best man who
ever walked the face of this earth was just ashes compared
to that first man. He had no sin. No sin. I'll tell you why we're ignorant.
We're full of sin. That's why we're so ignorant.
But you take the best man, and he's nothing. He's just ashes
compared to Adam. I'm telling you, this was a brilliant
man, and he walked with God, and God told him what the sea
was about. He told him what the clouds was
about. He told him what the fish in
the sea was about. He communicated with God. God
didn't teach him science. God taught him what he was going
to manifest. God taught him something about
himself. And he communed with God. He
walked in fellowship with God. He opened up and the Lord showed
him these things. It's finished. It's finished. Here, you can have this to eat.
Only one tree in all of creation. And that was just set there for
one reason. To show Adam who God was. I'm
God. You're man. Now you can have
all this other. It's done. It's yours. Eat it. It's free. Free. But you can't have this. You can't have this. Adam opened his eyes to paradise. When God opens a believer's eyes,
He opens his eyes to a finished work. He opens his eyes to the
work of Christ, a justification already accomplished, a righteousness
already wrought out, an inheritance already laid up, an intercessor
already seated in glory. He opens his eyes and what does
he see? He sees a finished work. It's
all done. It's all done. When he awakened Adam and brought
him into this world, he didn't say, go work, go do. He said,
here it is. Here it is. It's yours. It's
yours. And gave him authority over it,
John. Set him as a ruler over all the works of his hands. All
the animals, all the trees. All the gardens, all the grass,
everything out there, all the oceans, everything. All under
His dominion. All under His dominion. He opened
His eyes to paradise. He didn't want for water. There
was a river of crystal clear water ran right through that
garden. Right through that garden. All
He had to do was drink. He did not want for food because
the earth was covered with it. Fruit trees and herbs and grain
for his bread. He was awakened to a finished
work that needed nothing from him apart from enjoyment and
rejoicing. That's what he told him. Here
it is. Here it is. If I didn't have anything else
to convince me that this world didn't know the gospel, this
would. They're constant telling folks
to do, do, do, do, do. You do this and God will do that.
That's not what he told Adam. He said, here it is. Here it
is. And that's what he tells the
believer in Christ. It's yours. It's yours. He said, because we are heirs. This is the Apostle Paul speaking
to the Galatians. He said, because we are heirs. How did we get to be heirs? God
made us heirs. He didn't say, having become
an heir by something we did. He didn't
say, if you do this, you can be an heir, and God will do this.
He said, because you are an heir. God has sent forth His Spirit
into your heart, crying, Abba, Father. An inheritance. Think about it.
An inheritance. Already prepared. Already finished. Nothing depended on Him. Nothing
in creation depended on a man. Nothing. It was done. Finished. And He brought man
into it and He said, here it is. It's yours. It's yours. Oh, think about it. That new man is awakened to the
finished work of Christ, the law already honored. I'll tell you, if there's one
thing that used to weigh on my heart heavy, it was my inability
to keep the law. And I'd go and listen, looking
for mercy and looking for grace, looking for a word from God.
And they'd read that awful, terrible scripture, Cursed is everyone
who continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. Cursed! Cursed! Cursed! And that's all
you can find under that law. That's all you can find when
you look to yourself to keep that law, when you look to yourself
to make that righteousness, to make yourself acceptable to God.
That's all you're going to find. Cursed is everyone who continueth
not in what? All things. All things. And I
tell you this, if you're depending on something you do for righteousness,
you need to go back in those books of Leviticus and learn
what that law is. You need to go get you a high
priest. You need to get you an ark. You need to get you a mercy
seat. You need to get you a blood sacrifice. You need to get a veil and hang
it up there. You need to get a lot of things.
You need to read that law and see what that law entails. You're
going to have to keep all the sanitary law and all the moral
law and all the ceremonial law. You're going to have to keep
the whole outfit. You're going to have to do it continually
without break. From the cradle to the grave.
And if you don't, curse art thou. That's what Scripture says. If
you continue not, in all things written in the book of the law,
to do it. But this man, this man, the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world and from his infancy all the way to the cross,
kept that law in every jot and tittle. Three times he went to
Jerusalem to keep the Passover. He was circumcised the eighth
day according to the law. He kept that law in every jot
and tittle. And he not only kept that law
and had a righteousness for himself, but he kept that law as a representative,
and he actually exalted that law, is what the Scripture said,
and made it honorable. He put that law in a life that
no man has ever seen it put in before. He did. And it's finished. That work of righteousness is
finished. I don't walk in this world. Paul said, the life that I now
live in the flesh, this walk that I walk here, I walk by the
faith of the Son of God. That word is faithfulness of
the Son of God. That's my righteousness. That's
my walk, His righteousness. I walk by faith in Him. The just
shall live by faith. That's what the Scripture says.
They shall live by faith. In fact, he said it's obvious
that no flesh is going to be justified by the law because
the Scripture said the just shall live by faith. A justification
and a righteousness already wrought out, already finished. The sinners
have wakened to see it. How does he awaken? God creates
him. He creates him. Isn't that exactly what happens
in the new creation? Huh? We're nothing but a bunch
of dust. And I'm going to show you that
here in a minute. God uses means. And He does things
in the creation of Adam that's not even associated with any
of the other things that He created. All the other things He created,
it just said, and God said, and there was. until he comes to
a man. And then there's a consultation. I don't know if you ever noticed
that. Did you notice that when I read through it a while ago?
He said, let us make man. There was a consultation between
the triune Godhead over this creation of a man, over this
manifestation of a man. And they said, let us make him
in our image. Well, he didn't say that about
anything else either, did he? But he did about a man. He did
about a man. Because God's greatest work is
going to be done in a man. When was a man made? When his
inheritance was all ready to be received. Alright, here's
the second question about man. How did God make him? Well, God brought him to be through
a consultation. And this consultation, let me
give you a better term, easier to understand, a covenant. God
covenanted with Himself in the making of Adam. He covenanted
with Himself. And He said, let us make man
in our image, in the image of the Father, in the image of the
Son, and in the image of the Holy Spirit. Now, there's a reason
for the appearance of a man on the earth, and it's far beyond
his own happiness and his own well-being. Churches today minister
to men. Their ministry is altogether
concerning men. When you read your Bible, you'll
find out in doing some study that man is not the main focal
point of God. God is the main focal point of
God. Everything God does, He does
for His own glory. Even if God were to manifest
something to you, you couldn't understand what it would be. And in order for you to understand
what it is, He has to It entails all of the history of man, all
of creation, and the creation of a man, and man's fall, and
man's redemption, and all these things. In order for God to manifest
even in picture to you what He is, and His character, and His
name, in order for God to manifest those things to you requires
everything that God has done from the beginning to present
and on into future yet. I'm telling you, I've been studying
this thing, I guess we call it theology, the study of God, for
a long, long time. And I know very little about
God. I know a few things. But I'm honest with you. He told
Nicodemus, this man was a master theologian in Israel, and he
told him, he said, I just mentioned something to you in earthly terms
and you fell apart. What would you do if I talked
to you in heavenly terms? What would you do? You couldn't
understand anything. But in order for this man that
God gave understanding and God-given intellect and a heart, feelings,
all those types of things, He made this man in His image in
order that this man can understand something about Him. He learned
something about God. If you'll read carefully Paul's
message on Mars Hill in Acts chapter 17, He tells them there,
well let me just read it for you. Turn with me over to Acts
chapter 17. We've got time to look at this. Acts the 17th chapter. Paul goes to Athens, Greece.
He gets invited down here to Mars Hill to preach to this bunch
of philosophers. And he tells them up there in
verse 24, he said, God that made the world and all things therein,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands. Neither is he worshipped with
men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to
all life and breath and all things, and is made of one blood all
nations of men, for to dwell on all the faces of the earth,
hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of
their habitation. that they should seek the Lord,
if happily they might feel after Him and find Him, though He be
not far from every one of us. For in Him we live and move and
have our being. A certain also of your own poets
have said, We are His offspring." That's what I wanted you to say.
We are His offspring. God created us in His image. For as much then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is
like gold, silver, stone, graven by art of man's device. We ought
not to think those things. Can you see what I'm trying to
tell you? God has created man in such a fashion that man has
the ability to perceive who God is in His original state. He
had a mind to perceive, eyes to see, ears to hear. He walked
with God. He was a spiritual being. He
was able to communicate with God, walk with God. The image of God. And that appearance on this earth
is far beyond his own happiness, far beyond his own well-being.
There's a reason for his actions and circumstances and gifts bestowed
far beyond just the show of affection and honor to a man. God loves
you. Christ died for you. Smile. God
loves you. You see all them things on bumper
stickers. It's got nothing to do with that. Has to do with
God manifesting His glory. He's going to manifest His glory.
How's He going to do it? He's going to create a man. He's
going to give him the ability to perceive who He is. And He
created man in His own image, not in bodily form. Although
there is something about that form and fashions of a man and
the habits of a man and the thing that God has guided man to and
led man to in His providence that does picture things like
marriage and different things that we get involved in. But
primarily here He is talking about His character and attitude
and being. No other created thing is is said to have a consultation
of God concerning it. No other thing created did He
say, let us make. There was no consultation. His being is purposed of God
to manifest the glory of His name. Adam stands as a creature
with a mind to perceive and a heart to experience passion, and he
has a will with certain limitations. Adam
stood in the likeness of God. I don't know how much he knew
about God. We're told he walked with God in the cool of the day.
We're told God gave him restrictions and laws. He gave him certain
things. I don't know how much about God
he knew. But Adam stood on this earth accountable to God, responsible,
now listen to me, for the life and character and name of God
that was manifested in him. This thing ain't about an apple.
The fall of Adam is not about plucking a fruit. It's not about
eating a fruit. It's not about forbidding fruit.
This thing about the fall of Adam, Adam was accountable because
of who he was. God set this man on this earth
in his image. That responsibility, that accountability
was to manifest that image of God for which he was created.
When Adam disobeyed God, he ruined the image. He purposely just
trodden underfoot what God had given him, the greatest glory
of all. He stood, John, as a man and
manifested God in himself with limitations. You see, he couldn't
manifest mercy because he hadn't fallen. He couldn't manifest
grace because he already had everything there was. He couldn't manifest justice
because no laws had been broken. There was a lot about God he
couldn't manifest. Adam in himself in this garden
of paradise couldn't do everything God set him there to do. But
God did entrust to him that image of himself that he put within
him. And when Adam fell, that's what Adam threw out the window.
Now Eve was deceived. Adam was not. Read your New Testament.
He wasn't deceived. He did what he did full well
knowing what he did. And what he did was to just take
and he just took it like that and threw it on the floor. That's
what he did. That which God had entrusted
to him. He threw it on the floor. He
gave it away. Huh? That's what Adam lost in
the garden. That's why I tell you and why
the Scriptures tell you that you don't know God. You don't
know God. You can't know God because man
don't manifest God anymore. He threw it away. He gave it
away in the garden when he fell. All have sinned and done what?
What was the end of their sin? He said in Romans 5 that all
have sinned and done what? Come short of the glory of God. Now there's the fall of Adam. He lost that image. He lost that
ability to perceive that image or to give that image or to show
that image. He's a fallen man. He's a fallen
creature. He's a cursed creature. How can
this imperfect creature now manifest that glory of God? He can't do
it. He can't do it. And then that's where the real
glory comes in. God set him in a slippery place
on purpose. God made him accountable and
made him responsible and put him out here on purpose because
this man could never manifest the whole name of God. He couldn't
do it. A man will do it, but not this
man. Not this man. But the Lord Jesus
Christ came. And as Adam represented all men,
he was a federal head. He was a representative of all
men. Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ
was a federal head and representative of those given to him of the
Father. And when he came into this world
and accomplished this work that he accomplished, what he did
was to restore that image of God, that glory of God, past
restoration, past anything Adam could ever have done. Because
in Christ, he manifests the mercy of God, and the grace of God,
and the love of God. He goes way past Adam. What Adam
could not do. The only way that he could do
it is to allow this man to fall and redeem him from the fall.
Can you see that? That's the glory of the new creation.
That's the glory of the new creation. All things are accomplished in
Christ. He is prophesied of. He comes
in the fullness of time. He accomplishes justification.
He accomplishes righteousness. He accomplishes sanctification. He accomplishes all the work.
All the work is done. And He ascends up and sits at
the right hand of God where He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. And God sends His gospel and
awakens sinners by a new creation. Ain't that what He says? A new creation. Turn with me to Colossians. The
book of Colossians. Let me show you something over
here. I think it's Colossians chapter 3. Yeah, look here. Colossians chapter
3 verse 9. Well, let's begin in verse 8. But now you also put off all
these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing
that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. You see, this thing about gospel
knowledge has to do with this name that was manifested in Adam
way back yonder in the beginning, but carried further. In Jesus
Christ, the whole name of God is manifested, the whole image
of God. When he talks about Him coming
and God speaking through him in Hebrews chapter 1, he calls
Him the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of
His person. That's what he calls it. And
in this new creation, what Paul says is we put on this new man. It's not just in a name. It's
not accepting Jesus as your personal Savior. It's looking into Jesus
and seeing that name. You see what I'm saying? What
was lost in Adam was the name. You can look at all the Adams,
from Adam down through time, you don't see the name. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. They don't see
that glory. They don't see that name. Well,
yeah, Paul said, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
will be saved, but how are you going to call on Him in whom
you have not believed? And how are you going to believe
in Him of whom you have not heard? How are you going to call on
a name that you don't know? Well, how do I see it? How do I know it? In Christ. In Christ. In Christ, that whole
name is manifested. That whole name of God. His justice
and His holiness and His righteousness and His compassion and His kindness
and His long-suffering. And you can just go on and on
and on. Everything that has to do with God is manifested in
the person and work of Christ. And in that new creation, here's
what Paul said, we put on that new man. We put on that new man. I put off the old man with his
deeds and we put on that new man which is renewed in knowledge. That's what happens. You hear
the gospel and you're renewed in knowledge. The Holy Spirit
teaches you who this man is, what this was all about, what
this coming of Christ is all about. Can you see that? That old creation, here he stands,
awakened to a finished work. given all these faculties for
him to be able to walk with God. There ain't no fish walk with
God. The moose and the deer didn't walk with God, but Adam did,
because Adam was made in His image, and he had a character
and a mind and a heart, and he had feelings, and God communicated
with him as He was. But now, after the fall, we're
renewed in knowledge of Him who created us in His own image. And I tell you this, man is immortal.
In that sense, he was made in the image of God. He's immortal,
but he has a soul that doesn't die. You go out here and die,
and somebody sticks you in a casket, that body's dead, but that soul
ain't dead. Why ain't it dead? Because when
God formed man, He took him from the dust of the ground and He
formed him with His hands. He didn't just speak a man into
existence. He took the dust and He formed
him like the potter would a vessel on the wheel, Paul said. Out
of that same lump, He made one vessel under honor and another
under dishonor. He took and He formed man with
His own hand and He breathed in his nostrils, it says in chapter
2 of Genesis. He breathed in his nostrils the
breath of life. What kind of breath? That's the
breath of God. And I'm telling you, that soul
ain't going to die. That soul is eternally responsible
for that name. That's what it's responsible
for. That name. That name. And I tell you, there's
no way for you to manifest that name except by faith in Christ. I look to Christ and I see that
name restored in honor. Raised up and exalted. And I'm
renewed in knowledge. Now I see what this thing is
all about. It's about Him. It's about Him. God said He raised
Him up. He said He made Himself of no
reputation. He took on Him the form of the
servant, was made in the likeness of man, and become obedient even
unto death, even to the death of the cross. Wherefore, God
hath also highly exalted Him and given Him a what? A name. Above every name. Huh? That's where, there's that name,
up here. Up here. You gonna call on that
name, you gonna call on Him. You gonna call on Him. And you
stand down here and holler Jesus till you die and they put you
in the box. Ain't gonna make a bitty difference. Until you
learn who this, who His name, what's His name, what's His name,
and how you gonna hear without preaching. You hear anybody else
around here preaching this? I don't know of anybody. And
I've been listening and been looking now for about eight months.
Y'all been here longer than I have. You hear anybody up here talking
about this name? You got anybody out there that
you've been listening to here lately that's talking about God's
name being offended, His justice being offended, His righteousness
being offended, and then being restored and satisfied and justified
in Christ? Have you been hearing anybody
preach that? Man is responsible and he is
immortal. And I tell you that immortal
soul is going to stand before God responsible just like Adam
was responsible for that name. We are responsible for that name.
And we look to Christ. Our eyes are awakened by a new
birth to a finished work. And that work is all finished
in that man, in that man. And I, in that new birth, Winston,
am given the ability to perceive and to understand. Now I'll tell
you this, you can go over and sit down and take your Bible,
sit down there, just go in somebody's home that you know, somebody
you work with, maybe one of your children, and you sit down there
and open that book, and you start telling them these things, and
they're just going to stand and look at you like you're nuts. But I tell
you, when that gospel comes in power and the Holy Spirit of
God enters into that heart and gives that man the ability, just
like He did Adam, to see and perceive, then he communes with
God. Then he can walk with God. Then
he can open this book and this book begins to make sense. Turn
with me to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I just
want to read you a few verses here. I'm talking to you tonight
about Adam, and I'm also talking to you about the second Adam.
I just want you to see that I'm not losing my mind that this
is actually the theme of Scripture. Look at this here in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. In verse 44, the last half of
verse 44, he says, there is a natural body and there is a spiritual
body. And so it is written, the first
man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. Howbeit that was not first which
is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that
which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth
earthy, the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy,
such are they also that are earthy. As is the heavenly, such are
they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."
We're going to bear that image. We're going to bear that image.
There's a first Adam and there's a second Adam. And the glory
of God is purposed in that second Adam. But to even begin to seek
what the second Adam does, you have to begin to understand at
least a little bit about what the first Adam lost in the garden.
You know, how many pictures do you see on TV and in magazines
and that type of thing making a light Showing these fig leaf
aprons on these two and eating an apple. It doesn't say anything
about an apple. It says the fruit of the tree of good and evil.
Whatever that was. Whatever that was. But it wasn't
about the fruit. It was about what he did. It
was about that name entrusted to him. Honor. You can't imagine what kind of
honor was bestowed on Adam when God created him in his own image. and entrusted that name, one
creature in all the earth, just one. He filled the sea with fish. He filled the land with beast.
He filled the air with fowl. He had one creature, one man,
stood in the image of God. And he couldn't maintain it.
Now let me tell you something, and I'll close with this. Men and women talking about keeping
this and doing that and keeping on, keeping on and holding on
and all this kind of foolishness. Let me tell you something. This
man was a perfect man in a perfect environment, was altogether inclined
to do good. God made him upright and holy. He had the image of God in him. He walked and communicated with
God. He didn't know sin. He didn't
know anything about it. And this man could not maintain the glory
of that name. He couldn't do it. How are you
going to do it? You can't. You're an imperfect
man. You're a fallen man. You're altogether
inclined to sin, not holiness. You no longer bear the image
of God. You bear the image of the beast. You're a man, a fallen
man. We're in an imperfect world.
We're in a world that the God of this world influences and
reigns over men, takes them captive at their will, the Scripture
says. And yet, we're going to maintain that character? We're
going to restore the glory of that name? Ain't going to happen.
Ain't going to happen. I'm telling you, this thing of
salvation is altogether the work of Christ, and that's what he's
demonstrating here. By God's own hand, He forms a
man. And Paul tells us in Romans chapter
9 what that's all about. He of the same lump, the same
lump. God makes a vessel unto honor,
one unto dishonor. You're already fallen. You've
already lost that name. You're already sitting on death
row. We don't have any rights. We've done forfeited all of our
rights. You know, go down here to prison, they don't ask them
what they want to eat. They get what they give them.
They eat where they tell them to eat. They dress the way they
tell them to dress. They don't have any rights. We
forfeited our rights. But God, God, all things are
of God who has reconciled us unto Himself. And in that reconciliation,
He awakens a man by a new creation. and gives him the faculties and
the heart and the passion to understand and see and rejoice
in a finished work. Oh my, how we ought to be thankful
to God for what He's done. Our Father, we pray that You'll
take these words and use them for Thy name's honor and glory.
We ask it for Christ's sake. Amen.