OPEN: Believe it or not, I’ve been told that in S. Dakota there was a town called Paradise… and it was named by two residents. Adam and Eve.
Most people remember the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis. They sinned, they ate of the fruit God commanded them not to eat, and they lost their paradise, and they lost their relationship with God… and they began to die.
Most people believe that it was Eve’s fault that this happened, but when we get to the New Testament, Eve gets a pass and Adam’s the fall guy. In II Timothy 2:14 we’re told that Eve was deceived… but Adam wasn’t. That implies that Adam apparently knew what he was doing.
Now I don’t know what Adam was thinking, but the point is - Adam gets the blame. Romans 5:12 tells us “sin came into the world through one man” NOT through one man and one woman, but one man. Adam!
I Corinthians 15:21-22 says “Since death came through a man (ADAM), the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man (JESUS). For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
Life and Death. Christ brought life… Adam brought death.
Now, what’s interesting is that in I Corinthians 15 (which is a chapter dedicated to explaining the resurrection of Jesus (and of us) from the dead Adam seems to be a central part of the story. It’s like Adam is critical to the gospel.
And I got to thinking… WHY? Why would Adam be so critical to our understanding of the Gospel story. Why would Adam have anything to do with Jesus dying for us and then rising from the dead?
And the more I thought about that, the more I realized just how important Adam was
1st – The story about Adam … explains why God cares. It explains why God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. In Job 7:17 (Job asks God) “What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention?” And in Psalm 8:4 David asks basically the same question: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”
SO… why would God care? Why would He pay any attention to us? Why would we matter to Him? I mean we’re not that significant; we’re not that impressive; we’re not even that nice to be around a lot of times. So… why would God care? Well, it all goes back to Adam.
Genesis 1 tells us that God created the world in 7 days. And about the 5th and 6th days God started creating living things - Sea creatures, birds, beasts of the field, and He simply SPOKE and they appeared.
But then… God created Adam. God down in the mud and got His hands dirty. “The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Genesis 2:7
God created Adam to be different than any other creation He’d made. Genesis 1:27 says “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him” In WHOSE image??? IN GOD’S IMAGE.
And that is the answer to the question of: “What is man that God is mindful of us?” He’s mindful of us because we’re made in His image.
ILLUS: At my home I have a dog. His name is Maddux (he’s a BIG dog – 90 lbs. or so). He’s not the smartest dog in the world… but I like him. I buy him food and treats. I take him to vet when he’s sick. And it makes me feel good when he curls up at my feet. I think I’m kind of Alpha dog for him.
But Maddux is not made in my image.
Now I also have my Grandson Benjamin living with me. He’s the son of my daughter. You could say (and I’m going to for the sake of this illustration) that Benjamin is “made in my image” - he’s directly related to me.
• Now, once in a while Benjamin wants to get on my back and do a horsey-ride. So, I’ll put him on my back, hum the tune of the Lone Ranger and off we go down the hallway a few times till one of us gets tired (OK… I get tired). We have a great time! I do that because Benjamin is “made in my image.” But I’m gonna tell you, I’m not gonna carry that dog around the house. I like the dog well enough, but he’s not made in my image… he’s a dog.
• And if Benjamin is hungry I’ll ask him what he wants to eat – if he wants a Hot dog or an Apple or something I’ll try to get it for him. Because I love him. But I never ask that dog what he wants to eat…. I just put his food in a bowl. If he doesn’t like it, that’s too bad. While I like Maddux – he’s not made in my image. But I LOVE Benjamin – he’s made in my image.
• And, once in awhile I’ll take Benjamin down to DQ and buy him some Ice Cream. But I ain’t buying no ice cream for that dog. I like Maddux… but I love my grandson. Benjamin is made in my image… Maddux is not!
And that’s one of the reasons Adam is so pivotal to the Gospel story. The creation of Adam explains why God cares so much for us. We are made in the image of God! Even with all our flaws and sins, God loves us. Ephesians 2:3-5 tells us we “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.”
But why did He love us? We were by nature children of wrath. Why did He bother to send His Son to change our lives? Answer: because we are descended from Adam… we’re made in God’s image.
The 2nd reason why Adam is so important to the gospel of Jesus Christ is this: Adam had free will! Adam was given the gift to CHOOSE whether he’d obey God… or not. Now, of course, Adam chose poorly, and that’s why the world is in the mess it’s in, but the Bible repeatedly drives home the understanding - YOU HAVE A CHOICE. You are not trapped into being who you are. You have the FREE WILL to be able to change your destiny.
But I’ve learned that there are people out there who don’t believe that. I’ve learned that not everybody believes we have Free Will.
ILLUS: Years ago, I wanted to go to Bible College… but my brother and dad suggested I should go to Purdue for a couple of years first. Since Dad was paying the freight, I went to Purdue. And I liked it, it was a great experience. But while I was there, I decided I should take classes that would prepare me for Bible College, so the first class I decided to take psychology. I had a great teacher, a very nice woman, but something bothered me about what I was being taught. Even the teacher noticed I wasn’t comfortable. But what was it that troubled me? It became obvious (at least in that Psych class) was that people were viewed as machines. If you pushed the right buttons, pulled the right levers, people would do what they were programmed to do. NO FREE WILL… NO REAL CHOICES. We could be manipulated.
Why did that disturb me? Because I’d read the story about Adam. Nothing - and no one - manipulated Adam. Now, granted, Adam was tempted, but he had the choice. Granted, he made the wrong choice, but he had free will to decide. HIS decision was NOT pre-determined.
So the 2nd term I took a class in Sociology at Purdue… and THAT class disturbed me. The big illustration in the class was Pavlov’s Dog. A scientist named Pavlov showed dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly rung at the same time that they were given food. Eventually, all he had to was ring the bell (no food offered) and the dog would slobber. The point of that sociology lesson? We’re animals and we can be manipulated, just like that dog was. And since we’re animals we have NO FREE WILL… NO REAL CHOICES.
But I’d read the story about Adam, and it tells me in the book of Genesis that we’re not animals. We’ve been made in the image of God. We have a choice. We can decide our fate. And no matter how messed up your life is now, if you admit you’ve sinned, God can fix you.
ILLUS: I remember hearing the story about a woman who was talking to psychiatrist. She told him how unhappy she was with her life and then she said … she hoped her suffering was all her own fault. The psychiatrist was shocked: “Why on earth would you want this to be YOUR fault?” She responded: If it was her fault she could do something about it. She couldn’t change everything in life, but she could change herself. (Jordan Peterson in a video at PragerU “Don’t Blame Others. Fix Yourself.”)
You can change your life. You just have to decide that that’s what you WANT to do. But you have to want to change. And you have the Free Will to make that choice to make that change. That’s what the story of Adam teaches us.
But now… there’s one last part of Adam’s story we need to understand. Adam wanted to fix what he'd damaged, but he personally couldn't get it done. I mean, he WANTED to fix it… and he TRIED to fix it. But he just couldn't undo the damage of what he'd broken. Genesis 3:6-7 tells us that “(Eve) took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”
Their sin made them self-conscious. Now, they’d been naked BEFORE they’d sinned… but now it seemed immoral. Their nakedness was a mark of their immorality and they were ashamed. So they tried covering themselves with a garment of leaves.
Now, I’ve seen lots of different leaves in my lifetime, but I have yet to see a garment made of leaves that could keep out a good stiff breeze. And the Bible tells us that no matter how much we do to “cover our sin” - no matter how many good deeds you do, no matter how nice you are, or how much money you give away - none of that stuff can cover our past. God sees right through it.
And so, when God came to visit, Adam & Eve realized that their hand-made clothing was inadequate. So… THEY HID! The clothing they had made DIDN’T cover their nakedness. So God made them clothes that would cover their sin. “The LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21
Garments of skins? Where would you get garments of skins? Well, from dead animals. Something had to die to cover the sins of Adam and Eve. This was the first sacrifice recorded in Scripture. It was a sacrifice made by God Himself. And Adam & Eve were clothed with God’s SACRIFICE!
That was the first recorded sacrifice for sins. Do you know what the last sacrifice in Scripture was? It was when Jesus’ death on the cross, and God made that sacrifice as well.
But how does God cover our nakedness in the sacrifice of Christ? That answer is found in Galatians 3:27 “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have CLOTHED yourselves with Christ.” When we were buried in the waters of baptism we were literally wrapped in Jesus. His righteousness covers us like a garment. And that – of course – was the genius of God’s design, for when we go down into the waters of baptism we are literally wrapped in the waters, enveloped as in a garment.
CLOSE: One last thought.
Adam DIED! The sin that he’d committed literally cost him his life. The only thing Adam gave us was the inheritance of death.
But Jesus isn’t dead.
ILLUS: A man was walking down the street when he saw a beautiful Easter display in the window. It showed Jesus on the cross and he was transfixed by its beauty. Then he noticed a little boy next to him. He patted the boy on the head and asked “What’s this all about?” And as little boys will do, the boy was excited to be able to tell what he’d learned “Doncha know? That man is Jesus – and the woman crying, that’s His mother. And those are the Roman soldiers… they killed him.” The man smiled and walked away… but then he heard the boy running after him. “Mister, mister! I forgot to tell you something. He didn’t stay dead!”
Jesus isn’t dead… He didn’t stay in the grave. And because He’s NOT dead in the grave… we’re not dead in our sins.
I Corinthians 15 perfectly describes the contrast between the death through Adam and new life Jesus: “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
For this perishable body (Adam’s gift) must put on the imperishable (Christ’s gift), and this mortal body (from Adam) must put on immortality (from Christ). When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
