Would you turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15? That song, I believe, was a wonderful introduction
to what I desire to preach on this morning. That verse, In
the beloved I went to the tree. That just absolutely It enamors
me, the thought of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. If He did it, I did it. Who He is, where He is, what
He did, I am. Isn't that wonderful? Union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's hard to use an earthly illustration,
but I heard this recently and it was very helpful to me. When
two rivers meet and become one, are they still two separate rivers,
real close together? No, they're one, aren't they?
They're one. And I am one. Every believer
is one with the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful thought. One
with Christ. I'm going to try to preach upon
this subject. I've entitled this message three
critical questions. And I ask myself, well, what
do I mean by critical? Well, I look the word up in Webster's
dictionary, and he said it means nicely exact. Skilled in criticism,
censorious, and that's not really what I was looking for. And here
was his last definition pertaining to the turning point of a disease. Someone's in critical condition,
you've heard that pertaining to the turning point of a disease. Now, the questions that I want
to ask, and they're all found in one verse of scripture. We're
going to read that in just a moment. And I want you to look for these
questions and their answers in this verse of scripture. But
here's the first critical question. What really happened in the Garden
of Eden? I know you knew what took place,
but what really happened? And the second critical question
is, What really happened? On the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What really happened? And thirdly,
what really happens in a sinner's heart when God saves that sinner? When he's going in one direction
and God turns him, what really happens in his heart? when God
saves that sinner. Now, those are three critically
important questions, aren't they? And let me also say this. These
three questions cannot be separated. To know the answer to one is
to know the answer to them all. And to miss one, you miss the
answer to them all. Now, I'd like you to read with
me 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 22, and you look for the
answers to these three critical questions in this one verse of
Scripture. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse
22. For as in Adam, all die. Even so, in Christ shall all be made alive." Now, in that verse of
Scripture, we have the answer to all three of those critical
questions. Three major events The first, the fall of our first
parents in the Garden of Eden. You know the story. What really
happened? The event of events, the hour
for which our Lord said he came into this earth, his death. What really happened? And when God does something for
somebody, what really happened? Just about everybody has their
opinion on what took place, but what does the Bible actually
teach? And I pray that this message
will be a turning point for you and for me. Wouldn't that be
something? Now, the first critical question
is what really happened in the Garden of Eden? This is so very important for
us to understand this. Somebody once said, if you're
wrong on the fall, you're wrong on it all. And that's so. It's of utmost importance that
you and I have some understanding of what took place in the garden.
Now, you know the story. It's not a myth. It's not a type. It is an actual event. God created
Adam upright. He placed him in the garden.
He gave Eve as his helpful companion. And they were given everything
their heart could desire. A life of pleasure and happiness. He gave them one commandment.
Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In
the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Now, Satan
deceived Eve. She ate of the fruit. She told
Adam about it. He ate of the fruit. And the
scripture says the eyes of them both were opened and they knew
that they were naked. Now, before this took place,
the scripture points out they were naked and they were not
ashamed. It was not an issue with them. It was not a problem.
But now something has taken place and it's altogether different.
Now, what really happened? What took place? in this event. Would you turn with me to Genesis
chapter 2? Verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the
man saying of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it. For in the day thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. Now, notice what the Lord said. He did not say if you eat of
the fruit, you shall surely die. He said, in the day you eat thereof,
you shall surely die. What took place in the Garden
of Eden when they fell? Here's my first answer. The purpose
of God was fulfilled. Did God know that they would
eat of that fruit before it took place? Well, sure He did. Could He have
prevented it? Sure He could. He's God. Did He prevent it? No. Why? Because it was His purpose. He said in the day You eat thereof,
you shall surely die. Now, when we ask the question
regarding anything, what really happened? Here's our first answer.
The will of the Lord was done. God's purpose was being fulfilled. He said in Isaiah, chapter 45,
verses six and seven, I am the Lord and there's none else. I'm God and there's none beside
me. I form the light and I create
darkness. I make peace. I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. Now somebody says, are you saying
the Lord's the author of evil? No, I didn't say that. I just
read scripture. I just read scripture. God is in absolute control and
nothing happens without his will. You know, people talk about the
directive will and the permissive will of God, kind of like one's
less at will than the other. No, he is God. And when Adam fell, it was all
a part of his glorious purpose, just like everything else is. You know, if Adam would have
never eaten of that fruit, what would we ever know about mercy?
What would we ever know about grace? What would we ever know
about forgiveness? What would we ever know about
the joy of faith in Christ? You see, God does what he does
to make himself known, and if he purposed this to happen, obviously
it was best for it to happen. God's will was done. That's the
first answer to that question. But what does it say in our text?
For as in Adam, all die. Adam died that very day spiritually. You know he didn't die physically,
but he did die spiritually. And what is death? It's the departure
of life. It's always so solemn to look
in the casket of somebody you once knew
that was alive, that you knew, that you loved, that you communed
with. And now there's nothing but a
corpse. Life has departed. It's no longer there. A dead
person can no longer perform the functions of life. They can't
hear. They can't feel. They can't smell. They can't
taste. They can't see. They are dead. Adam died spiritually. He became unable to see the beauty
of Christ. He became unable to hear the
gospel. Oh, he could hear it audibly,
but he couldn't hear it with understanding. He lacked the
ability. He lacked the ability to believe. This is the motion
of life. He lacked the ability to repent.
He lacked the ability to love. He was dead in sins. A heart
of stone. You know, the heart, the Bible
says so much about the heart. You know what the heart is? The
heart is the whole man. It's the understanding. It's
the affections. It's the will. Adam couldn't
understand the gospel now. Oh, you could. It doesn't matter
how clear and plain you make it. He lacks the ability to understand,
not with a true understanding. He has no will for Christ. He
has no affections for Christ. He's dead in sins. He cannot
do anything to save himself. What really happened in the garden?
Adam died. What hope is there for someone
who's dead to live? It's only a miracle of God that
can do that, isn't it? Adam died. What happened in the
garden? Well, the scripture says, in
Adam, all die. You and I died in him. When he
died, we died. And you and I are held personally
responsible for what? He did in Adam all die for by
one man sin entered the world and death by sin. So the death
passed upon all men in that all have sinned. When he sinned,
I sinned. When he was condemned, I was
condemned. Now, somebody may be thinking,
how could it be fair? How could it possibly be fair
for me to be held responsible for something that I didn't do?
How could God be fair to condemn me and to judge me for something
that I personally didn't do? That doesn't seem fair. OK, let's
just forget Adam right now. Let's forget your connection
with Adam. How have you done on your own? Let's say you weren't connected
with Adam. How have you done? Would it do any good at all to
not be connected? You're just as guilty. Now, see,
here's the hope. Here's the hope. If you can be
condemned for somebody else's sin, you can also be justified
because of somebody else's righteousness. So really, the only hope you
and I have is found in this. We were all condemned in Adam. In Adam all die. And this death
manifests itself in this way. All men are now, by nature, God's
enemies. And that's a solemn thing to
think about. All men by nature, I was born into this world, an
enemy of God. The scripture says in Romans
8, 7, the carnal mind, that's the fleshly mind, that's the
mind you and I are born with. We come into this world with
this. The carnal mind is enmity. It is hatred against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither, indeed, can it be. Now, that's the scriptural
description of the way I'm born into this world. And let me say
this. Don't look within yourself to
try to figure this out. Look to what God says. This is
God's testimony. And the proof of this is the
cross. The one time men were left to do what they wanted to
do and God took away the restraints and God left men to their own
will. It says, as a matter of fact,
in Luke's account, he delivered him to their will. The one time
men were left to do what they wanted to do, they put to death
the Son of God and you and I would be right there with them. Do
you believe that? If God left you to yourself, that's where
you'd be. What happened in the Garden of
Eden? God's purpose was done. Adam died. You and I died in
him. And all men became enemies of
the Lord, incapable of doing anything to save themselves. Now the next critical question,
what really happened on the cross? Now we read in Adam, all die,
even so in the same manner, just like everybody Adam represented,
died, everybody that Christ represented, all those in him are made. Whatever I am, I was made by
what Christ did on the cross. As in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive. Now what is this thing of being
in Christ? We just Heard that beautiful song, In the Beloved,
Accepted Am I? It's talking about being united
to Christ. It's talking about union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me show you an example of this in the scripture. Would
you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 7? Verse 9. And as I may so say, Levi also
who receiveth tithes paid tithes in Abraham. Now, when this was
said of Levi, was Levi born yet? No, he wasn't even born yet. But yet the Holy Spirit says
Levi paid tithes. It doesn't say he did it representatively. It said he paid them. He paid
him before he was ever born. For he was yet in the loins of
his father when Melchizedek met him. When Abraham paid those
tithes, everybody in his loins paid those tithes. It's not as
if they did it or just like they did it. No, they did it. Now in Christ, in Christ, Everybody
he represented, everybody united to him, all of the company of
God's elect in Christ shall all be made alive. Now, what took
place? It's a historical fact that Jesus
of Nazareth was betrayed unjustly, tried and nailed to a cross. And he hung there in indescribable
agony and pain. And they took him down from that
cross dead. What took place? What really
happened? Well, once again, our first answer
is the will of the Lord was done. God's purpose was fulfilled,
he's called in Revelation 13, 8, the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Do you know that the lamb slain
was? I know there's no such thing
as eternity past and eternity future. I realize that this is
weakness in language. We can't talk about eternity
without that. But, you know, before time began, what was the
subject of the eternity? The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. What will be the subject when
time is no longer? The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, and he came in time to fulfill his father's
will God's will was done. Him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. God's will was done. Listen to this scripture from
Acts chapter 13, verse 29. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of him. Do you hear that? When they had
fulfilled all that was written of him. They took him down from the tree.
What happened? Nothing more or less than the
will of God being done. Whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel
determined before to be done. But why was he there? What was
the reason? He died. Now why? Why did men
die? One answer to that question. Sin. The only reason any man
dies is because of sin. Isn't that so? Now what happened
on the cross? A real substitution took place. A real substitution took place. He took my place. He took what
I deserved. The sins of the elect literally
became His, the Scripture says, who His own self bear our sins
in His own body on the tree. I was thinking about this this
morning and it just, I don't even know what to say about it.
When the Lord said from the cross, He said, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why? Because he deserved to be
forsaken by God. My sin, the sins of all of his
people, actually became his. Literally became his. And that's why God forsook him.
The soul that sinneth shall surely die. My sin became his and he
died. Question, would God put a man
to death for something he didn't do? Can you answer that? Would God
put a man to death for something he did not do? The answer to that is no. My
sin, and this is the mystery of the gospel, my sin became
his. And that's why God forsook him.
A real substitution took place. But not only did a real substitution
take place, a real satisfaction took place. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
God proved he was satisfied by raising him from the dead. Payment
was made. The law was honored. Justice
was satisfied. And God said, I can ask no more. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. God said, I'm
satisfied with him. And everybody he did it for,
on the cross, a real satisfaction took place. And on the cross,
a real reconciliation took place. Turn with me for a moment to
Romans chapter 5. Verse 10, For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. When were we reconciled to God? when we were enemies. How were we reconciled to God? By the death of His Son. God was reconciled to everybody
Christ died for by the death of His Son. A real reconciliation
took place. How real? Turn with me to Colossians
1. Verse 20. You know, there are people here that
attend Todd's Rose Grace Church, and they can tell you, I probably
quote these scriptures almost weekly. I think I do. And, you know, they're just as
powerful and fresh and wonderful to me now as ever. Listen to
this beginning in verse 20, Colossians chapter one. And having made peace Through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto
himself by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works. Yet now has he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you? And this
is not talking about a future event. It can just as easily
read having presented you. It's in the past tense. Having
presented you, this presentation has already taken place when
he ascended back to the Father. Having presented you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Now if it says
I'm holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight, you
know what that means? That means I am. holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. You see, God can see real well.
He can see better than you and I can see. And as He sees it,
that's the way it is. And that is what was accomplished
by the Lord Jesus on the cross. In Christ shall all be made. Now, whatever I made, I was made
on the cross of Calvary. So what took place on the cross? God's will was done. A real substitution
took place. A real satisfaction took place
and a real reconciliation took place. Here's the third critical
question. What really takes place in a
sinner's heart when God saves them? Well let's read the scripture
again. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. Life from the dead. In Christ shall all be made alive. is on the way to Damascus to
have anybody who loves Christ put to death. He hated the Christ. Is there any doubt about that?
He hated the Christ. Why, he even held the coats of
the people who stoned Stephen to death. But something happened
to him. Something happened. He now loves
Christ more passionately than he never hated him. He now preached
the faith that he once labored to destroy. What happened to
Saul? What happens in a sinner's heart
when God saves him? Well, what was the answer to
my first two points? What happened in the garden?
God's will was done. What happens Or what happened
on the cross? God's will was done. Thirdly,
what happens in a sinner's heart when God saves him? God's will
is done. James 1.18 says, Of his own will
begat he us through the word of truth. God's will is done. What happens? Life from the dead. Now understand, this is not merely
light. This is not enlightenment, getting
your way of thinking and your mistaken notion straightened
out. This is life from the dead. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. A new heart, one that was not
there before. He doesn't change the old heart.
He doesn't straighten out the old way of thinking. He can just
give you proper information and proper life. No, there's a new
heart. A new heart also will I give
you. A new heart that was not there before. A new nature. Partakers, 2 Peter 1.4, of the
divine nature. Passing from death to life. life
from the dead, a resurrection from the dead, a new creation.
And now, because you have this new heart, you're reconciled
to God. You're no longer God's enemy.
You actually love God as he's revealed in his word, and you
wouldn't change him if it were in your power to do it. You love
him just as he is. You love his gospel. You love
his way of saving. You love his people. You love
everything about him. You love everything connected
with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've been given a new
heart. One that wasn't there before.
There was a time when you didn't love God. You do now. Why? Life from the dead. What happens in a sinner's heart
when God saves them? Life from the dead, evidenced
by reconciliation. You're reconciled to God. He's
reconciled to you through the death of his son, and you're
reconciled to him because of the death of his son. That's
what happens in a sinner's heart when God saves them. Life from
the dead. Now, three critical questions.
What really happened in the garden? What really happened? on Calvary's
tree and what happens in a sinner's heart when God saves him. And
they're all so interrelated, aren't they? To know the answer
to one is necessarily to know the answer to all three. And
to be wrong on one is to be wrong on all three. And oh, that God
would give us grace to truly know the answer. to these questions
that would be the turning point of our disease.