Message by Wayne Schoonover Sr
Bible Study Time 11-6-05
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
Bible Study Time 11-6-05
Greetings folks. We do greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus and do appreciate this good opportunity to share in the fellowship of the scriptures. We would like to deal today with a most important subject concerning Adam and Christ. This is one of the subjects that is covered only by the Apostle Paul. This very cardinal doctrine is mentioned only in the writings of the Apostle Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles.
We would like to begin reading in Chapter 5 of Romans, and we are going to read verses 12 through 20. While we’re reading this, you can keep in mind that this is a portion of scripture which deals with being taken out of Adam and being put into the Lord Jesus Christ in a spiritual sense. So in Romans, Chapter 5, and verse 12 we read as follows:
Romans 5:12-20 (NIV)
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--
13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. (The one to come being Christ.)
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed (Adam’s) one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man (that would be Adam again), death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18 Consequently, just as the result of (Adam’s) one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man (Adam) the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man (Christ Jesus) the many will be made righteous.
And then, can you imagine that after this subject of being in Adam, and that bringing death, condemnation, disobedience, everything that would separate us from God, God adds another complicating factor, another heavy device of judgment, and that was the Mosaic Law. So in verse 20 it says:
20 The law was added so that the trespass (that is the sin that came by Adam) might increase. (Now this is most interesting that there should be an increase in the judgment that came as a result of Adam’s sin.) But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
That’s just like the Lord, isn’t it? Where sin abounds, God’s grace does much more abound. And no matter how hard, and dark, and black would be this condemnation, there was life provided in Jesus Christ.
And so just as sin reigned in death, so also grace reigned through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a marvelous provision we have in the person of Jesus Christ.
We start out as being in Adam. And of coarse, as far as our spiritual nature is concerned, we were dead in trespasses and sins because that’s what Adam was. We are all and were all in Adam and thus judgment, condemnation, anger and the wrath of God fell upon us heavily.
Added to that would be the commandments that were given to Moses which were put upon mankind as an addition burden. The Law pointed out those faults, but it could not remedy the problem. It simply pushed those people in Adam further and deeper into judgment and condemnation. But God who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, has given us life through the Lord Jesus Christ.
So this passage in Romans 5 speaks of our being taken from Adam and put into Christ, where there is righteousness and all of those things which pertain to life. Those things which reconcile us to God and bring us close to Him. We were once alienated by our wicked works because we were in Adam. The Law can not retrieve anyone out of Adam, and it can not put anyone into Christ. Only faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ can do that.
Well, that is the good news concerning that which we have spiritually, life being in Christ, but in the book of I Corinthians, Chapter 15, we are given a portion that deals with the resurrection of the body of those who are in Christ. God is never satisfied with partial redemption. There is an absolute total provision for our sinful condition, and there is a great and marvelous, total complete remedy for this flesh as well because flesh and blood, as we know it as humans, is unable to inherit the kingdom of God.
So in the book of I Corinthians, Chapter 15, we have a similar passage to that which is in the book of Romans, only in I Corinthians Paul deals with the life for the body, while in Romans he deals with life for the spirit.
We should mention this too that between our having life in Christ spiritually and our having resurrection life in time to come through Christ, there is a sealing by God’s spirit upon the believer. The sealing of the Holy Spirit holds us over totally, completely, with all assurance and safety from the time we get spiritual life until the time we receive a new body like the resurrected body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In I Corinthians 15:45 we read:
1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (NIV)
45 . . . "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam (that would be Christ), a life-giving spirit.
This tells us that in Adam no life for the body was provided. In Adam the body remained corruptible as a result of sin and as a result of our being in Adam both spiritually and physically. So Paul goes on to say that the first man Adam became a living being, but the last Adam a life giving spirit.
46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
Every individual born into this world begins in Adam and is therefore under the condemnation of sin, but after that comes the spiritual life for the body.
47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, (but) the second man (was the Lord) from heaven.
Here we have Adam being that man who was earthly. He was made of the dust of the earth, but because of the entrance of sin by Adam, his body was judged just like his spirit was judged. The body became corruptible flesh because of sin.
The second man was Jesus Christ who came, and He is not of the earthly but of the heavenly. Verse 48 says:
48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; (if you’re in Adam you’re simply and earthly individual and under the judgment and condemnation. So are those who are of the earth) and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
Jesus Christ was not a mere man as was Adam, but He was indeed the Lord from heaven. As the Lord from heaven, He is able to bring about a life giving fleshly body in the time of the resurrection. How grateful we should be of the complete provision God has provided through our Lord Jesus Christ.
49 And just as we have borne (and even now upon earth, we are bearing) the likeness of the earthly man (Adam, we will) bear the likeness of the man from heaven, (Jesus Christ).
We shall have a glorified body like unto that glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ. After His death and burial, He was raised from the dead and was given a glorified body. We then as believers in Him are in this very same position. Paul goes on to say:
1 Corinthians 15:50-51(NIV)
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, (that is, we will not all die in the body) but we (who are in Christ) will all be changed—
We will be given that glorified body, but here too we see that the Law enters into this aspect also. What did the Law do in verse 56?
1 Corinthians 15:56-57(NIV)
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (Even upon the body)
57 (Ah!) But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is the secret message here in the book of I Corinthians 15, that glorified message that we can have a changed body. Romans states that we have a new life in Christ. We have been taken out of Adam and put into the Lord Jesus. Now this body too is cared for by God’s full provision for us.
Well, dear listening friends, I trust that you might see the truth that life for the spirit can be found only by trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And our hope of eternal life in a glorified body, likewise is only that which comes through the resurrected Christ.
The Law can do nothing to help the spirit, and the Law can do nothing to help the flesh. The Law serves to push us further down into the muck and mire of sin, but in Christ we may be lifted up, and I trust that each of you listening right now will put your full trust, not in the Law, but in the person of Jesus Christ.
We would like to begin reading in Chapter 5 of Romans, and we are going to read verses 12 through 20. While we’re reading this, you can keep in mind that this is a portion of scripture which deals with being taken out of Adam and being put into the Lord Jesus Christ in a spiritual sense. So in Romans, Chapter 5, and verse 12 we read as follows:
Romans 5:12-20 (NIV)
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--
13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. (The one to come being Christ.)
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed (Adam’s) one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man (that would be Adam again), death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18 Consequently, just as the result of (Adam’s) one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man (Adam) the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man (Christ Jesus) the many will be made righteous.
And then, can you imagine that after this subject of being in Adam, and that bringing death, condemnation, disobedience, everything that would separate us from God, God adds another complicating factor, another heavy device of judgment, and that was the Mosaic Law. So in verse 20 it says:
20 The law was added so that the trespass (that is the sin that came by Adam) might increase. (Now this is most interesting that there should be an increase in the judgment that came as a result of Adam’s sin.) But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
That’s just like the Lord, isn’t it? Where sin abounds, God’s grace does much more abound. And no matter how hard, and dark, and black would be this condemnation, there was life provided in Jesus Christ.
And so just as sin reigned in death, so also grace reigned through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a marvelous provision we have in the person of Jesus Christ.
We start out as being in Adam. And of coarse, as far as our spiritual nature is concerned, we were dead in trespasses and sins because that’s what Adam was. We are all and were all in Adam and thus judgment, condemnation, anger and the wrath of God fell upon us heavily.
Added to that would be the commandments that were given to Moses which were put upon mankind as an addition burden. The Law pointed out those faults, but it could not remedy the problem. It simply pushed those people in Adam further and deeper into judgment and condemnation. But God who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, has given us life through the Lord Jesus Christ.
So this passage in Romans 5 speaks of our being taken from Adam and put into Christ, where there is righteousness and all of those things which pertain to life. Those things which reconcile us to God and bring us close to Him. We were once alienated by our wicked works because we were in Adam. The Law can not retrieve anyone out of Adam, and it can not put anyone into Christ. Only faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ can do that.
Well, that is the good news concerning that which we have spiritually, life being in Christ, but in the book of I Corinthians, Chapter 15, we are given a portion that deals with the resurrection of the body of those who are in Christ. God is never satisfied with partial redemption. There is an absolute total provision for our sinful condition, and there is a great and marvelous, total complete remedy for this flesh as well because flesh and blood, as we know it as humans, is unable to inherit the kingdom of God.
So in the book of I Corinthians, Chapter 15, we have a similar passage to that which is in the book of Romans, only in I Corinthians Paul deals with the life for the body, while in Romans he deals with life for the spirit.
We should mention this too that between our having life in Christ spiritually and our having resurrection life in time to come through Christ, there is a sealing by God’s spirit upon the believer. The sealing of the Holy Spirit holds us over totally, completely, with all assurance and safety from the time we get spiritual life until the time we receive a new body like the resurrected body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In I Corinthians 15:45 we read:
1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (NIV)
45 . . . "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam (that would be Christ), a life-giving spirit.
This tells us that in Adam no life for the body was provided. In Adam the body remained corruptible as a result of sin and as a result of our being in Adam both spiritually and physically. So Paul goes on to say that the first man Adam became a living being, but the last Adam a life giving spirit.
46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
Every individual born into this world begins in Adam and is therefore under the condemnation of sin, but after that comes the spiritual life for the body.
47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, (but) the second man (was the Lord) from heaven.
Here we have Adam being that man who was earthly. He was made of the dust of the earth, but because of the entrance of sin by Adam, his body was judged just like his spirit was judged. The body became corruptible flesh because of sin.
The second man was Jesus Christ who came, and He is not of the earthly but of the heavenly. Verse 48 says:
48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; (if you’re in Adam you’re simply and earthly individual and under the judgment and condemnation. So are those who are of the earth) and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
Jesus Christ was not a mere man as was Adam, but He was indeed the Lord from heaven. As the Lord from heaven, He is able to bring about a life giving fleshly body in the time of the resurrection. How grateful we should be of the complete provision God has provided through our Lord Jesus Christ.
49 And just as we have borne (and even now upon earth, we are bearing) the likeness of the earthly man (Adam, we will) bear the likeness of the man from heaven, (Jesus Christ).
We shall have a glorified body like unto that glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ. After His death and burial, He was raised from the dead and was given a glorified body. We then as believers in Him are in this very same position. Paul goes on to say:
1 Corinthians 15:50-51(NIV)
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, (that is, we will not all die in the body) but we (who are in Christ) will all be changed—
We will be given that glorified body, but here too we see that the Law enters into this aspect also. What did the Law do in verse 56?
1 Corinthians 15:56-57(NIV)
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (Even upon the body)
57 (Ah!) But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is the secret message here in the book of I Corinthians 15, that glorified message that we can have a changed body. Romans states that we have a new life in Christ. We have been taken out of Adam and put into the Lord Jesus. Now this body too is cared for by God’s full provision for us.
Well, dear listening friends, I trust that you might see the truth that life for the spirit can be found only by trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And our hope of eternal life in a glorified body, likewise is only that which comes through the resurrected Christ.
The Law can do nothing to help the spirit, and the Law can do nothing to help the flesh. The Law serves to push us further down into the muck and mire of sin, but in Christ we may be lifted up, and I trust that each of you listening right now will put your full trust, not in the Law, but in the person of Jesus Christ.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
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