morning, three critical questions. Now, if you attend here regularly,
you've probably noticed that I prefer expositional preaching. That means preaching and teaching
through a book of the Bible. For instance, in Sunday school,
we're going through First Peter right now. Generally speaking,
on Sunday mornings we've been going through the book of John,
Sunday evenings through 1 Corinthians, and Wednesday evenings we've
been going through the book of Genesis. And I believe that's the way
we should preach and teach. That way we cover all that God
says in His Word. I love expositional preaching.
But oftentimes I also feel impressed to bring a message on something
else, and this is one of those times. Now, what precipitated
this message was a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a
man about regeneration, which simply means rebirth, being born
again. And he was telling me what he
believed took place in regeneration. And I thought, what does the
Bible teach? Isn't that always the only issue?
What does the Bible teach? Not what does so-and-so believe,
or not even what do I believe, but what does the Bible actually
teach? And that jogged my memory of
a message that I heard Brother Mahan preach. It's been anywhere
between 25 and 30 years ago. It was that long. And I remember
the title of the message, and I remember the outline. It was
a great message, but I don't remember anything he said. But
I do remember the outline. And the title, the message was
entitled three things the modern day religionist does not know. And here was his outline. Here
are the three things that he said the modern day religionist
does not know what really happened in the garden. And secondly,
what really happened. On the cross. And thirdly, what
really happens In a sinner's heart, when God saves that individual,
what actually takes place? Now, I'm going to use his outline. I've used it several times before,
and you know, it just keeps getting bigger to me. But I've decided
to change the title of the message to three critical questions. And then I asked myself the question,
well, why are you entitling it three critical questions? What
in the world do you mean by critical? And I knew what I wanted to say,
but I didn't know how to get it out. So I went to Mr. Webster
and looked up the definition of critical, what critical means. And here's what Mr. Webster said.
He said critical means nicely exact, skilled in criticism. And you know, I thought, that's
not really what I'm looking for. But then the fourth definition
helped me out. He said, critical means pertaining
to the turning point of a disease. I thought, that's what I'm wanting
to say. Pertaining to the turning point of a disease. If we learn,
if you and I learn what the Bible actually teaches regarding these
three It's really one subject revealed in three different ways.
These are so interrelated that you can't be wrong on one and
right on the other two. Or you can't be right on one
and wrong. They all go together. They go
together. And if you and I can understand,
spiritually understand, that God teaches us what really happened
in the garden. What really happened on the cross. And what really happens in a
sinner's heart when God saves them, it will be a turning point
for our disease. And I pray that God will cause
this to be a turning point for you and I. Now, just about everybody
has their opinion on what took place in these three great events,
the event of Adam and Eve in the garden when they ate the
fruit in the fall that took place. Everybody's got their opinion
about that. Some even might think, well, it's a myth or just typical
language, and others think it actually happened. But what took
place? What actually took place when
Adam ate of that fruit? What actually took place when
Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, the man Christ Jesus, was nailed
to a cross and died. What took place out of that?
And what actually takes place? What happens in a sinner's heart
when God saves that man? A man is going in a certain direction,
a woman is going in a certain direction, and God stops them,
and He turns them around, and they're going in another direction
all of a sudden. What is it that happens? What takes place in
a sinner's heart when God saves them? Now, do you know that all
three of these questions are answered in that verse of Scripture
that I just read? For as in Adam, all die. And that's what happens in the
garden. That's what happened in the garden. In Adam, all die. Even so, in the same manner,
just like everybody Adam represented died, even so, in the same manner,
in Christ, all shall be made. Now here's what happens on the
cross. Everybody he died for is made
to be something they were not. That's what happened on the cross
when he died. Everybody he died for was made. They were made
to be something they were not. And what happens in a sinner's
heart when God saves them? Where as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. It is life from the dead. It is a spiritual resurrection. Now, the first critical question
we're going to consider is what really happened in the Garden
of Eden. And you know what? We believe
here will determine what we believe about everything else. Did you
know that? You know, you've heard this saying, if you're wrong
on the fall, what's the rest of it? You're wrong on it all. And you know, that's so. What
you really believe, what I really believe will be determined by
what we really believe took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam
ate of that fruit. Now, you know the story. God
created Adam upright. He gave him Eve as his wife and
he placed him in the Garden of Eden with everything his heart
could desire. A life of pleasure and happiness. And the scripture says regarding
them before they ate of the fruit, it says they were naked and they
were not ashamed. He gave them one commandment.
Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In
the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. And you know
what took place? Eve was deceived by Satan. She ate of the fruit. She told
Adam about it. He ate it, and the scripture
says the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked. Now, they were naked before this,
but it was not an issue. It is now. Now, what really happened,
what took place in this event? Now, would you turn to Genesis
chapter 2? 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 that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt
surely die." Now what happened in the garden? Well, here's the
first thing I see. God's will and God's purpose
was done. He said, in the day you eat thereof,
you will die. He didn't say, if you eat, you'll
die. He said, in the day you do, you'll
die. Question. Did God know before
Adam and Eve ate of the fruit that they would do it? Of course. Could he have prevented it? Of course, he's God. Did he prevent
it? No. Why didn't he prevent it? Because it was his purpose not
to. God is God. It would not have happened if
he had willed for it not to have happened, but he willed it to
happen. It was all part of his purpose.
Does that take away from their responsibility? Not at all. Not
in the least. What they did was wicked. What
they did was evil. But it was God's will and purpose
being done. You see, if there had been no
fault, what would we ever know of forgiveness? What would we ever know of grace? What would we ever know of the
mercy of God in Christ Jesus? What would we ever know of the
preciousness of being saved by the blood of Jesus Christ? We
wouldn't know anything about it, would we? Now, I don't pretend
to understand all God's purpose in anything He does. I mean,
I don't. But I know that when this fall took place, He said,
in the day you eat there, not if it happens. He said, when
it does, know this, you'll surely die. So the first thing that
happened in the fall was God's purpose. Listen to this scripture
from Isaiah chapter 45. As a matter of fact, I want you
to turn here, Isaiah 45. Verse 5, I am the Lord, Isaiah chapter
45, verse 5, I am the Lord and there's none else. There is no
God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there's none beside me. I'm the Lord and there's
none else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things."
What does that mean? Exactly what it says. He's God. What happened in the garden?
Adam died that very day spiritually. He said, in the day you eat thereof,
you shall surely die. What is death? Well, it's the
departure of life. A dead person cannot perform
the functions of life. Adam cannot. He lacks the ability
because he's dead. He cannot perform the functions
of spiritual life. You know, it takes life to believe
God. It takes life to love God. It takes life to repent of my
sin. It takes life to walk with Jesus
Christ and have fellowship with Him. It takes life. Adam lost
life. He became dead. What can a dead
man do? He can't perform the functions
of life. He can't feel. He can't see. He can't hear.
He can't smell. He can't taste. He's dead. and a dead man. This is what
happened to Adam spiritually. He became spiritually dead. He
became completely unable to understand, to see, to smell the savor of
Christ, to hear His voice, to believe the gospel. He became
completely unable. That's what death is. It's spiritual
inability. He can't believe. He can't repent. He cannot love. You know, the idea of free will is completely
ludicrous, isn't it? Would you go to a graveyard,
a man lying in a coffin six feet under, completely dead, and say,
if you'll just take the first step, God will save you. You'd say, nobody would do that.
That's plum stupid. You're right. It is. It is. What's
the difference between believing that man has a free will? He
can just decide to live if he wants to live. It does not work
that way. Adam became spiritually dead. And you know, there's a big difference
between breaking every bone in your body in a fall and dying,
isn't there? If you fall, and break every bone in your body,
there's some hope that somehow it'll all get better. It'll give
it time and it can get things, give it the right medical treatment
and so on. But if you're dead, the only
hope there is, is a miracle of God. Now, you know somebody's
dead. The only way they'll live is
if God performs a miracle. Adam died. And you know what
the evidence of that death is? Now remember what Adam did, he
did as a representative man. You and I are, we count in this. I mean, it has an effect on us.
The scripture says in Adam, all die. He did what he did as a
representative, and that means you and I died in him. When he
sinned, we sinned. When he died, we died. Romans
5, 12 says, For by one man sin entered the world, and death
by sin. So death passed upon all men
in that all have sinned. Do you realize that when Adam
ate of that fruit, You did? You did it! What he did, he did
as a representative. And let me say this, somebody
is thinking, somebody's bound to be thinking, how can it possibly
be fair for me to be charged with something and need to be
held responsible for something that I didn't do? And I understand
that objection. I understand it very well. But
let's forget what Adam did. Just forget about Adam altogether.
How have you stood on your own? Have you done any better? If
you didn't have anything to do with Adam, still on your own,
so it's not going to do you any good to not have any participation
in what Adam did, but still the scripture teaches that when Adam
fell, you and I fell. He did what he did as a representative
man, and this death manifests itself in the way all men are
now by nature. All men now, as a result of Adam's
fall, and listen to me very carefully, and I don't want to say this
glibly or flippantly. I hope I say this with whatever
attitude I'm supposed to have when I say it. But we inherited his nature. When he died, we became spiritually
dead. And in that sinful nature of
Adam, Adam now became a hater of God. And you and I are born
into this world actually hating God to this point. If it were in our power, we'd
kill Him. If we could, if it were in our
power, we'd put Him out of business. Now that's what spiritual death
is. You're children. are born into
this world the same way you're born. Hating the living God. Now how would, you that have
children, what would you think of somebody, if there was somebody
in this room that you knew that if they could get by with it,
they'd kill your kid. What would you think of that
person? Something to think about, isn't it? But that's what, let
me turn to Romans 8, let me Show you this from the Scriptures. Verse six. For to be carnally or fleshly
minded is all it means, the way the natural man thinks. Carnal
doesn't simply mean somebody who's desiring sins of the flesh.
It's just the way we are by nature. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because
the carnal mind. The fleshly mind is enmity, and
that word enmity means hatred. It's hatred against God. It's
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, so then
they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Now, please understand
this. Our problem goes much deeper
than sinful habits and addictions. It's that we would kill God if
it were in our power. That's God's problem with you
and I. Problem? Is that the right way
to say it? I don't think so. That's what God's got against
you and I. You and I. And the proof is what? What happened
the one time holiness walked upon this earth? What did we
do? We nailed Him to a tree and put
Him to death. The Scripture says Jesus was
delivered to their will. And that's what happened in the
Garden of Eden. God's purpose was done. Man became spiritually dead and
man became God's enemy. That's what took place. Second
question. Next critical question. What
really took place on the cross? And Adam all died. That's what
took place in the garden. What really took place on the
cross? Well, that text we just read
from 1 Corinthians 15, 22 says this. For as in Adam all die,
even so in the same manner in Christ shall all be made. In Christ on the cross. You're
made to be. what you were not. You're made
something. You're made to be what you were
not. Now, it is a historical fact
that Jesus of Nazareth was betrayed unjustly, tried and nailed to
a cross. And there he suffered agony that
is just impossible to describe. Oh, the sufferings of the Lord
on the cross. Now, what took place on the cross?
He was nailed to a cross and they did take him down. Then
what took place? Well, I'm going to begin answering
this question by answering it the same way I did the other
one. You know what took place? God's will was done. God's purpose
was done. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God You have taken and with wicked
hands have crucified and slain. The scripture says in Acts 13,
And when they had fulfilled all which was written of him, they
took him down. But God raised him from the dead.
I want you to turn with me to Acts chapter 4. Remember, Christ is called the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Verse 26, Acts chapter 4, the
kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together
against the Lord and against his Christ for of a truth against
thy holy child Jesus whom thou has anointed both Herod and Pontius
Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered
together for to do. whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel
determined before to be done." What happened when the Lord Jesus
Christ died on Calvary Street? God's will, God's purpose was
done. But why was He there? What was the reason? What happened? Let me give you three or four
things. There he is nailed to the cross. What is taking place?
Why is he there? Here's the first thing that took
place. A real substitution took place. A real substitution took place. He took my place. He suffered what I personally
deserve. The sins of God's elect literally
became His, who His own self bear our sins in His own body
on the tree. Why did He cry, My God, My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me? Why did He cry that? There's
only one answer to that question, because God forsook him. That's
why he cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The
scripture says the soul that sinneth shall surely die. My sin became his and he died. God would not put a man to death
for something he didn't do, would he? My sin became his. A real substitution took place. But not only did a real substitution
take place, a real satisfaction took place. He shall see, Isaiah
said in Isaiah chapter 53, he shall see the travail, the agony
of his soul, the sufferings of his soul. He, God the Father,
shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. You know why hell is eternal?
Because no mere man can ever satisfy the justice of God against
sin. Sin is an infinite, infinite
evil. He did. He satisfied all the
claims of God's law, all the demands of the broken law, all
the claims of God's justice. He satisfied God. God accepted what He did. He accepted everybody He did
it for. And that was proved when He raised
Him from the dead. A real satisfaction took place. You know, God's satisfied with
what Christ did. He's completely, plumb satisfied. And you know
what? I am too. Are you? I really am. I find satisfaction
in God's satisfaction. God is satisfied with what He
did. A real satisfaction took place. And a real reconciliation took
place. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Romans 5? A real substitution, a real satisfaction,
God satisfied with what he did, and a real reconciliation took
place. Look in verse 10 of Romans chapter 5. For if when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God, by the death of his son."
Now, do you hear what that's saying? The death of Christ reconciled
God to me. His reason for anger is taken
away. There is no reason for anger.
He is reconciled. Turn to Colossians chapter Verse 20. And having made peace. Here's
what he did. Colossians 1 verse 20. And having
made peace with 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 have he reconciled. in the body of His flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. Now that's the power of His reconciliation. Because of His death on the cross
right now, everybody He died for, everybody who believes is
holy, unblameable and unreprovable in the very sight of God. Now
that's reconciliation. God has no reason to be angry. Well, that's just wonderful. He did what he did as a representative
man, just as in Adam, everybody Adam represented died. Even so,
in the same manner in Christ, everybody he represented is made. I am made holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable. I am made perfect before God. God is reconciled to me. That's what happened on the cross.
God's will was done. A real substitution took place.
A real satisfaction took place. And there's a real reconciliation. God is reconciled. to everybody
Christ died for. Now, here's the third question.
What really takes place in a sinner's heart when God saves that sinner? Well, our text says in Christ
shall all be made alive. And this is what happens when
God saves somebody. Life. Life. Remember, Adam died. He lost
the ability to perform the functions of life. When Christ saves somebody,
life is given. Now, what I thought about when
I thought about this is Saul of Tarsus. This is a perfect
illustration. Saul of Tarsus is on the way
to Damascus. To have anybody who loves Christ
put to death. He hated Jesus Christ. Is there any question about that?
Saul of Tarsus wanted anybody who loved Christ to be put to
death. You remember, he held the coats of the folks who were
stoning Stephen because Stephen was a preacher of the gospel
and they stoned him and he was participating in that. He actually
held the coats of the people who put him to death. He hated
Jesus Christ. But something happened to him. He now loves Jesus Christ more
passionately than he hated him. You know, they said concerning
Saul, he now preaches the faith which he once labored to destroy. Oh, how he hated the doctrine
of Christ. Now, he loves the doctrine of
Christ. He now is a willing disciple
of Christ. He follows him because he wants
to. He gladly denies himself. takes up his cross daily and
follows him. He sees such beauty. He sees
such glory in Christ that he's now willing to be kind of done
by all men, to be hated by everybody, to be mistreated in every imaginable
way to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's no sacrifice
to him. He's gone through a radical, radical transformation. He's
different. What? Only one way to describe this. Life from the dead. He was dead. God said, Live! And he lived. Of his own will,
beget he us through the Word of truth. I mean, he lived. He
now becomes a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. What happened? Well, we first got to begin where
we began with the other two points. What happened? Here's the first
thing that happened when here's the first thing that happens
when a sinner is given life and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here's the first thing that happens. God's will is being done. Just
like the other two points. God's will is being done. Listen
to Scripture. James 1 18. Of his own will begat,
birthed, gave life, he to us through the word of truth. It's the will of God being done. Turn with me to Acts chapter
nine for just a moment. Now, you remember the story.
The Lord told Ananias to go after Paul Let's pick up reading in
verse 13, And Ananias answered, Lord, I
have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to
thy saints of Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from
the chief priest to bind all that call on thy name. But the
Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto
me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children
of Israel. I will show him how great things
he must suffer for my name's sake. So we see Paul's conversion
and every other believing sinner's conversion, it's attributed to
the will of God. That's what takes place. What
happens? Life from the dead. Now, this is not merely light.
Getting your wrong thinking and mistaken notions straightened
out. This is life from the dead. And you hath He quickened. You hath He birthed. You hath
He given life to who were dead in trespasses and sins. It's
called a resurrection from the dead, a passing from death to
life, a new creation. You can now do what once was
utterly impossible for you to do. You can now believe. You now trust Jesus Christ. You
now come to Him for all things. This is the motion of life. It's
life that does this, not death. Death can't do it. Life does
this. You now live before God. It's
a spiritual resurrection. It's not just thinking differently
or having my doctrine change. Oh, yeah, it changes. No doubt
about it. But how come? Life. Life. from the dead. Now, what is the evidence? You are no longer God's enemy. You have been reconciled to God. Yes, He was reconciled to you
in the death of His Son, but you are now reconciled to God. You're no longer God's enemy.
You love God as He is revealed in His Word. You love the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You love His way of saving sinners. You've been reconciled to God. What happens to a sinner when
God saves him? God's will is done. There's a
spiritual resurrection that takes place. Life is given. And it's
evidenced by reconciliation. You're no longer God's enemy.
You love the Lord God. You love the Lord Jesus Christ.
You love God, the Holy Spirit. You love his way of saving. You
love his salvation. Like Abraham, you're the friend
of God. Not only God's friend, God's
child birthed by him. That's what takes place in a
sinner's heart when God saves him. Now, here are these three
critical questions. What really happened in the Garden
of Eden? What really happened on Calvary's
tree when Jesus Christ the Lord died? And what really happens
in a sinner's heart when God saves him? And all three of these
questions are so interrelated that you can't be wrong on one
without being wrong on them all. And you can't be right on one
without being right on them all, can you? They all go together. Oh, that God would give us grace
to know the answer to these questions Not just to get our information
correct, but that it might be a turning point from our disease. Oh, that God
will make this a turning point to you and I. Let's pray together.