If you would like to follow in
your Bibles while I bring the message today, you turn to 1
Corinthians chapter 15. I'll be reading verses 21 and
22. Now, here's my subject, Lost
in Adam, Saved in Christ. Now, this is a very important,
very vital subject, Lost in Adam, Saved in Christ. In 1 Corinthians
15, verse 21, Paul wrote, For since by man came death, by man
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Now my one
great desire in preparing this message and in bringing the message
that I'm bringing to you today is to help those who are viewing
this program with a sincere desire to know God in redeeming love
and grace. If you have a sincere desire
to know God in salvation, in redemption, in grace, in Christ,
I want you to listen very carefully to the message. If you're sincerely
asking these questions, picture what really happened in the Garden
of Eden? What happened when man sinned,
when man fell? Preacher, what really happened
at Calvary? What took place on the cross
of Calvary? What is this miracle of redemption? What happens when God justifies
and sanctifies and redeems a sinner? Now, if you're asking those questions,
I have some answers for you from the Word of God. Now, my friends,
these answers are important because ignorance will keep a man from
Christ. If a man does not know the truth
and does not know the gospel, he'll never come to saving faith
in Jesus Christ. That's right. In Romans chapter
10, Paul said, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? You need to know the things that
I'll be teaching in this message, because ignorance will keep you
from Christ. And then also, you say, well,
I read the Bible. Even reading the Scriptures,
now listen carefully, even reading the Scriptures will sometimes
not suffice the troubled soul. Because when Philip joined himself
to the chariot in which the Ethiopian eunuch was riding, He asked the
eunuch, do you understand what you're reading? And the eunuch
said, how can I understand except some man show me? And that's
why God sends apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and
teachers to teach the Word of God. If you hear from a man or
hear from God, you'll hear through a preacher. You'll hear through
someone who expounds to you the Word of God. Ignorance will keep
you from Christ. And even reading the scriptures,
unless you have an able teacher. I know the Holy Ghost is our
teacher, but God uses men. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. God sent Nathan to David. God
sent Ananias to Saul of Tarsus. And God sent Peter to Cornelius.
And you can just go on down the line. God sent Philip to the
eunuch. And God sent Paul to Lydia, to the Philippian jager.
And then Christ has been lifted up on the cross, even as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. But like Moses of
old, we must direct men to look to Christ. We must exhort men
to believe, to look to Christ, and we must tell them from the
Word of God what to believe. So my friends, if you can today
lay aside all prejudice, and I know this is very difficult,
Lay aside all prejudice and all professions of religion and all
your claims and all your assurances and all the ideas that have been
handed down through custom and tradition and superstition, and
let's just listen to the Word of God. It may be that God will
speak to us in His mercy and in His grace through His Word.
It may be. Now listen carefully to me. By man came death. By man came
the resurrection of the dead. What I'm saying is this, and
this is my title, in Adam we died, in Christ we're made alive. Very simple. There's nothing
profound about this. It's just clear, simple teaching
that you can understand if you'll listen, at least in your head.
In Adam all died, in Christ shall all be made alive. The first
man is of the earth earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. Now, that's what the Scripture
says. By man came death, that is, in Adam we die. By man also
came the resurrection. In Adam all die. In Christ we're
made alive. The first Adam is of the earth
earthy. The second Adam is the Lord from
heaven. Now, the first thing I want you
to see is this. It pleased Almighty God, and
I have His Word for this. It pleased Almighty God to begin
the human race with one man, a man whom he called Adam. The
word Adam means man or means a man taken from the red earth.
One man was the federal head of the human race. One man was
the representative of the human race. That one man God used to
begin this human race. He created one man and that man's
name was Adam. And everybody else came from
Adam. We want to trace our roots all
the way back. We trace them all the way back
to God Almighty creating a man called Adam. And the scripture
says that that man Adam was created in the image of God. He was created
holy and upright. In him the human race was perfect
and without sin. In him, the human race was holy
and upright. That's what the Scripture says.
When he stood, we stood. When he obeyed God, we obeyed
God. You say, well, how long did he
stand? How long did he obey God? I don't have the faintest idea,
nor does anyone else. The Scripture does not say. But
we do know that that one man, Adam, sinned. That one man rebelled
against God. He broke the only law that God
gave him. God made with him a covenant
of works. He said, all the trees of the garden you may eat, you
may enjoy. There's one tree in the midst
of the garden which you must not eat. You must not eat of
that tree. If you do, you die. And Adam
took that tree. He said, I will be like God. He took the fruit of that tree,
whatever it was, I do not know. But that tree, as long as it
stood untouched, was a token of man's dependence on God. And
when Adam reached to take that tree, he reached out in rebellion,
he reached out in sin, he reached out with an ambition to be like
God. And when he fell, the scripture
says he died spiritually. He didn't die physically at that
particular time. He began to die. He didn't die
physically for over 800 years. But he began to die physically,
but he died immediately spiritually, and he was expelled from the
presence of God and expelled from the garden. Adam, when he
took that forbidden fruit, went from life to death. When he ate
of the forbidden fruit, he went from holiness to evil. He went
from righteousness to ruin. The king is now a pauper. He who was rich is now poor. He who was full is now empty.
He who was holy is now unholy. That's the first thing I want
you to remember. All right. Secondly, what was
the results of that great fall? Now listen to the Scripture,
Romans 5, 12. Wherefore, by one man sin entered into the world. That was the first sin man committed. Adam committed the first sin.
And I weep, and you ought to weep as we notice the change
in that man. Here's a man created, holy, upright,
in the very image of God, with sweet fellowship and communion
with the living God, living in a perfect environment, living
in fellowship with God. And yet his heart was lifted
up with pride, he broke the law of God, he took of the forbidden
fruit, and he failed. And we find Adam falling into
fear. Adam never knew fear before.
God came walking through the cool of the garden, and he said,
Adam, where art thou? And he said, I was afraid. I
was afraid. What is this? That perfect genius
afraid? That man created in the image
of God afraid? That man who walked with God
afraid, yes, sin has visited the earth. Sin has come into
this man's heart. And now he knows fear and he
knows shame. He said, I was afraid because
I was naked. He was naked before and didn't
know it. He didn't notice it. He was so perfectly holy that
this did not matter to him, but now he's a sinner and he finds
out he's naked to his shame. And then he became a foolish
person, this wise genius who named all the animals to whom
God said, have dominion over the fowl of the air and the fish
of the sea and the beast of the forest and multiply and replenish
the earth and subdue the earth. He's foolish. He's trying to
hide from God. Here is this man going into the
bushes trying to hide from the omnipresent God. What foolish
action on his part. And then notice him putting the
blame on someone else. Notice his selfishness and his
self-righteousness. He said, the woman you gave me,
it's her fault. It's not my fault at all. It's
the woman's fault that she... But he's the head of the race.
He is the representative. He is the king. He is the one
who's responsible. He was not deceived. The woman
was deceived, but he wasn't deceived. He knew what he was doing. But
he put the blame on someone else. That's the evil of sin. And then
this man, we find him guilty. He tries to cover his nakedness
with his own works, with a fig leaf apron. All of this because
sin entered the world. Are you with me? By one man,
sin entered the world. that death and disease and darkness
of sin that the world did not know up till this time now entered
the world." Now watch this. Now it's the next line, Romans
5, 12. "...and death by sin." Sin entered the world and death
by sin. Not only spiritual death, but
death to the body. Death is something the world
had not seen up to that time. See Adam as he walks over and
picks up the first fallen bird. He'd never seen death. There
was no death to the flowers, there was no death to the trees,
there was no death in Adam, there was no death to the animal, there
was no death. And he goes over and picks up a fallen bird and
holds it in his hand. This is the result of sin. And
then he sees a deer mangled by a lion. Lions had never killed
deers before. You see, when Adam fell, his
death and his judgment and his evil passed on the whole creation.
Everything was affected by Adam's sin. And then think what a horrible
experience it was when he came there and Abel, his own son,
was lying in his own blood and the breath and life gone out
of his body. Weal and groan must have gone
up from Adam's soul to heaven. My God, what have I done? What have I done? You see, sin
entered the world by one man, one representative, one federal
head, and death, and death, and darkness, and disease, and sorrow,
and sickness, and all of these things came into the world. And
what's the next line? And so death passed upon all
men. Now here's where we come in.
You say, how was I affected by this fall? Here's where we come
in. Adam's fall was our fault. And my friends, whether you like
this or not, it's true. Whether you agree with it or
not, it's true. Adam's fall was our fault. See, Adam was our
father. We came from the loins of Adam. And you can't get a
sinless son from a sinful father. And Adam's sin was our sin. And
Adam's ruin was our ruin. And Adam's death was our death.
Listen, so death passed upon all men. By one man, sin entered
the world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men. Listen to Romans 5, 17. By one
man's offense, death reigned. Death reigns in this world. You
don't believe death reigns? You go out and walk down the
street, and you see the trees die, and you see the seasons
change, and you see people die, and you see animals die, and
you see death's all about us. Death reigns over this earth.
Romans 5.18, by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men,
to condemnation. Romans 5.19, by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. And then in I Corinthians 15.21,
in Adam, all died. Like I told you, not only death
came upon men, but death came to the whole creation as a result
of Adam's fall. And as a result of the fall of
our federal head, And our representative sin abounds in this world. Sin
abounds. Death reigns. Eternal hell awaits. As it is written, there's none
righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Have you come this far with me?
started the human race with one man whose name was Adam, created
in holiness and perfection in the image of God. But he fell. And because of his fall, because
of his sin, judgment, condemnation, and death passed upon all men.
And we're born in sin. In sin my mother conceived me.
I was shapen in iniquity. I was brought forth speaking
lies from the womb. Because our head, Adam, fell. Because he's seeing. But God.
Now here's the third thing I want you to look at. Here are the
two words that make all the difference in this awful situation. In this
chaotic mess. In this hopeless situation. Here
are the two words that make a difference. But God. But God. As you look upon man in his fallen,
ruined condition, without hope, without help, without God in
this world. But God. But God. Action from God. mercy from God. But God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love, wherewith He loved us even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace,
ye are saved. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying that the Lord God is rich in mercy. He's plenteous
in mercy. And He announced, I will be merciful. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. I will be gracious. Mercy originates
with God. Mercy comes from God. There's
nothing in us. There's nothing in us to create
or to cause God to be merciful or to cause God to show favor
to us. It originates with God. The Lord
God purposed to have a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. And the Lord God purposed to
have a people. to inhabit that new heaven and
that new earth. And so the Lord God sent another
man. He sent another man. This is
the key to my message now. He sent another man. The first
man is of the earth earthy. As in Adam all die. By man came
death. But God sent a second man, a
second Adam. In Adam all die, in Christ we're
made alive. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As we have
borne the image of the earthy, we shall bear the image of the
heavenly. And this man, whom God sent, is the man Christ Jesus. He is the God-man. And this man
took upon him, not the nature of fallen angels, but he took
on him the seed of Adam. They just took on him the seed
of Abraham. Now, we're looking here now at two atoms. In the
first atom, we die. The second atom represents a
new covenant, a new covenant, a new representative. We're looking
at two atoms. We're looking at two representatives.
We're looking at two covenants. One was the covenant of ruin,
and the other is the covenant of restoration. One is the covenant
of death, and the other is the covenant of life. One is to sin,
and the other is to perfect holiness. Read it again. Listen, Romans
5, 19. By one man, Adam, the first man, by one man's disobedience,
the many became sinners. So by the obedience of one, the
second Adam, shall many be made righteous. Listen to it again. By Adam came death. By Christ
came life. As in Adam we die, in Christ
we're made alive. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15, 47. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. As is the earthy, so are they
that are earthy. As is the heavenly, so are they
that are heavenly. And as we born the image of the
earthy, we shall bear the image of the heavenly. And this is
the good news of the gospel. The second Adam. our Lord Jesus
Christ, our new head, our federal head, our representative, who
came to restore what we lost in Adam and more. Galatians 4,
4 and 5 said, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
2 Corinthians 5, 21, God made Him to be sin for us, who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Here's the gospel in plain words, and the gospel that needs to
be preached from every pulpit in America and around the world,
and the gospel that needs to be preached over every television
station, not just saying, believe, believe, but telling men what
to believe. Telling men what happened in the garden, what
happened on the cross, what happens in a sinner's heart when God
saves it. Giving men a foundation upon which to build and a foundation
upon which to hope. And a chief cornerstone in whom
to trust. Here's the gospel in plain words.
God's a holy God. He will by no means clear the
guilty. God's law is perfect and unchangeable. It will not be compromised. God's
justice says, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. And God's
justice is unchangeable. And I, through my first representative,
through my federal head, Adam, I am a ruined creature. I am
a fallen creature. I am a sinful creature. And as
a result of my representative Adam's sin, judgment and condemnation
and death has come upon me. I am without God in this world.
I am without hope and without help. And God says your sins
have separated you and your God. And I look up and there's nothing
but darkness. And I look below me and there's
nothing but hell moving up to meet me at my coming. And I look
within me and I find an inability. I find no capacity. to seek God,
or to know God, or to love God, or to obey God. Christ said,
you will not come to me that you might have life, but God. But God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son. But God commended His love toward
us while we were yet sinners. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us, provided a ransom. And here is that ransom, and
here's what took place. Almighty God sent His Son into
this world. Jesus Christ, the second person
of the Divine Trinity, actually took upon Himself the body of
a man. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He was in the world and the Word
was made by Him and the world knew Him not. But from Genesis
3.15 to Luke 1, God promises to send that Redeemer. He said,
the seed of woman shall bruise the serpent's head. He said,
Behold, the Lord himself shall give you a sign, a virgin shall
bring forth a son, and call his name Immanuel, God with us. He says, Unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Jesus Christ became a man. He became the Lord from
heaven, the second Adam, the federal head of a new kingdom,
of a new covenant, And he was actually numbered with the transgressors. The angel said to Joseph, call
his name Jesus. Call his name Jesus, he'll save
his people from their sins. And this was fulfilling the words
of the prophet. Call his name Emmanuel, God with
us. He was the son of man. He was bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh. He took upon himself the likeness
of sinful flesh and he was born the poorest of men. He was identified
with us in all areas. He was born in a manger, born
of a woman, made under the law, and as a human being, as a man,
God in human flesh, this Jesus, this second Adam, met all the
laws of God and was tempted in all points as we are yet without
sin. He knew no sin. You see, man,
the law was given to man, and man has to keep that law. He
must keep it. And so Jesus Christ kept the
law perfectly in every jot and tittle. He said, I didn't come
to destroy, the law came to fulfill it. And as a man, he went to
the cross and bore our sins in his body on the tree. He was
wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes
we're healed. He was taken down from that cross,
dead, and buried in a tomb. as we shall someday die and be
buried in a tomb. But he arose from the grave.
And of this resurrection, Paul wrote in Hebrews 10, Then said
he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, by the which will we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Jesus Christ arose as our justifier. He arose as the receipt of God. declaring that God had accepted
all that he did and he ascended to glory and he sat down at the
right hand of God where he is our mediator. Paul said there's
one God and one mediator between God and men and that's the man
Christ Jesus. And this gospel that I'm preaching
calls for repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the record. that God
had given us eternal life and this life is in His Son, in the
second Adam. This life is in the second Adam.
Jesus Christ is our righteousness. Jesus Christ is our sin offering. Jesus Christ is our sacrifice. Jesus Christ is our justifier. Jesus Christ is our mediator. Jesus Christ is our reigning
king. And this gospel calls on your
part for faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the record. God
hath given us eternal life, and this life in his Son. And he
that hath the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not the
Son of God shall not see life, shall not see life. But the wrath
of God abideth on him." Now, John said this in closing his
book. He said, these things are written
that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and believing you might have life. through his name. What
is the message? Lost in Adam, saved in Christ,
ruined by the fowl, redeemed by the Son.