THE STORY OF GOD: THE FIRST AND SECOND ADAM
THEME: CHRIST REPAIRED THE DESTRUCTION OF ADAM’S SIN
TEXT: ROMANS 5:12-21
She stepped into the 2006 Mustang Convertible. It was her first car. And today it was her birthday. The car was her gift from her loving parents. It was her dream car. It was the car her friends would envy for weeks. As she sat down in her leather bucket seats, she could smell the sweet new car scent. She put the keys into the ignition and turned. The power gave her Goosebumps. Her parents told her to drive it off the lot; they would stay to complete the paperwork. She had her dream car, she had her parents paying for the bill, and she had everything she wanted on that day. As she drove down the road with the top down, feeling the cool wind in her hair, she knew this must have been a dream. But it was not. The first stop was to pick up her best friend. You should have seen the expression on her face when she stepped out of the house. Envy with a little, this is good for me to be seen in this car too was on her face. The girls took off down the road. They were flying through the hills, they were zipping around the corners, and no one ever expected that next corner on this back road. And she just could not handle the power as she hit the large oak tree. Fortunately, the car had airbags and seatbelts. The girls were not hurt, but the car was. It was completely destroyed. The girls just stood there silently as their parents rushed to the site. That beautiful, brand new car was completely destroyed. It was totaled by the insurance company. And the next week she ended up driving an old Oldsmobile.
This happened to Adam and Eve also. Adam and Eve was the never touched car, perfect in every way. God made this couple completely perfect. There was no bad background. There was never any foul language in the home. There were no self-parents or bad example friends. Everything about this couple was perfect. There was no hint of sin in their hearts. The only thing Adam had been freewill. No curiosity about sin. No addiction to sin. No advertisement concerning sin. He just had freewill. The best type of freewill possible. He was the perfect moral free agent. But he threw it all away. Genesis 3:1-8 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, ’You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?" And the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ’You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’" And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”
In this sin, Adam ruined the rest of humanity. He destroyed all the God intended for me. This one sin made all the difference in the world that we live in. He wrecked humanity, he wrecked this world, and wrecked you and me. If you are looking to blame someone for the problems in your life, look no further than Adam. He is your man. God wanted to have perfect fellowship, perfect harmony with his creation. But Adam had to sin. God wanted a loving relationship with his creation, but Adam sinned. God wanted man to be happy, to be fulfilled, but Adam sinned. Adam ruined everything for us in this one action.
Paul mentions this destruction in Romans 5:12-14 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” Paul is clear in his understanding of the nature of sin. It came from Adam. Adam introduced it into the world. And now all of us, every one of us is going to die because of Adam. It is his entire fault. He wrecked humanity because Adam was kicked out of the Garden of Eden and was not given access to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24 tells this account. “Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.” I never ate of that tree, I never sinned like Adam did in the Garden. But I am not given access to the tree of life. We are going to die because of Adam. And Adam is also responsible for bringing sin into this world. Now we life in a world of sin. There is sin all around us. It is every where, and it is all Adam’s fault. There is no way I can life a righteous and pure life because of the influence of sin all around me. It is every where. We grow up with selfish parents; we grow up with sinful people. There is no way that this sin is not going to affect me. No one can be righteous like Adam was. He was the perfect free agent. He had the only true choice between good and Evil, but he wrecked it for all of us.
Now we live in a sinful world because sin is everywhere. It is all around us. I cannot escape from sin. You suffer because of sin. You hurt because of sin. You die because of sin. Adam has destroyed this world. He took his perfect life and throws it away. And we have to suffer because of him. Children have cancer because of Adam. Mothers die because of Adam. Families are killed by drunk drivers because of Adam. This world is messed up all because of Adam.
Stuff like this should never happen in this world. The world is a sinful place thought. Memorial Day weekend is known for mourning the loss of loved ones but for one local family this weekend will be especially difficult. It happened here along highway 126 in Springfield. Shawn Cummings, and his wife and their four year old daughter, Jillian were killed on their way to get ice cream cones. They were hit by Kevin Kelley on May 26, 2006. Police say he had been drinking, speeding and driving recklessly. Barbara the mother-in-law and Jillian’s grandmother explains when she saw Jillian in the hospital, "Her face was backside her eyes were all swollen when I got there. After this happened I used to go to the cemetary everyday and read her a book." Shawn’s sister created a myspace memorial page to help her mourn. The families say they’ll never get over their loss. She says, "It is lonesome I feel like I really don’t have a family anymore cause I lost two of the most three of the most important people in my life," The family says they keep this site up as a reminder for others, the reality of drinking and driving. We mourn with this family because sin has entered into this world. Drunk drivers would never have been in Eden. We should have stayed in Eden. But Adam sinned.
Fortunately, the stay God that banished Adam for his sin, is the stay God that sent his son Jesus to undo what Adam did. The curse of Adam was too painful. All of us were going to follow in Adam’s footsteps and sin. We had no hope. We had no chance. But God provided a way for us to go to a place, to go back to the garden with the tree of life once again. Paul talks about this hope in two places. He says in 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 “So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” Adam bore the image of the earth. He was the image of sin and destruction. He failed God. But Christ was from heaven, representing all that which is heavenly and pure. Where Adam failed God, Christ pleased God. Adam could not remain sinless, But Christ did. Now man can have salvation from sin because of Christ’s life. Christ restored what Adam broke. Paul mentions this in Romans 5:15-21 “But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Christ entered the world and reversed the mistake of Adam. Adam’s actions brought death; Christ’s actions brought salvation and life. We can have justification because of Christ’s life. We have grace, we have mercy, we have salvation through Christ Jesus. Christ changed everything that Adam did. Adam’s action brought sin, Christ’s actions brought grace. By coming to Christ, we can be righteous. Christ’s example provides the way to salvation; Adam’s example leads the way to death. Christ repaired the damage that Adam did. Christ opened the door again to the tree of life.
I remember about 10 years ago, my father pulled an old 68 Ford Cougar home. A 68 Cougar was my father’s first car, until he twisted on a large maple tree when he was 16 years old. The car that he pulled in was rusted, old, and dirty, but for months my father worked on that old car. He painted it, ever part of it, he fixed it, and he loved that car. He restored that 68 car to perfect condition. At 16 he wrecked the car, at 40 he restored the car to it rightful condition. Adam destroyed man. Christ restored man to his rightful condition.
