The Rise and Fall of Adam

Evangelism - Part 1

The Rise and Fall of Adam
October 20, 1996

Introduction

One of the clearest instructions in the Scriptures is that the Church is to be making disciples of all nations. We are to proclaim the gospel to all by faith knowing that it is God who will draw many into His kingdom. Ultimately in this series we want to get down to the very specific details of how evangelism occurs. However, before we embark on our mission, it is crucial that we understand the situation we are in and why evangelism is even necessary.

The Perfection of Adam

Genesis 1:26-31
^{26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."}

29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.³⁰ "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.³¹ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. NKJV

After making all of the heavenly bodies in the universe and establishing the earth and its inhabitants, the Lord creates His most noble of creations yet; Adam. There had been no other creation like him; all of the other created things were not created in the image of God. Adam also was the only part of creation that was given a job.
It is a rather curious thing to be created in the image of our Triune God. Many have debated over what this really means. It is clear though that the context of the declaration is that just as the Lord has dominion over all that He created so too man was to have dominion over all of the created things as well. In this sense we can see that man was created to look like God. There have been many who have added to this the spiritual nature of mankind, our ability to reason, our intellect, language and abilities. All of these things in one way or another differentiate us from the rest of creation and very well may be part of what it means to be created in His image.

The Rebellion of Adam

Genesis 3:6-7

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.⁷ 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 coverings. NKJV

Adam had been given the direct commandment from the Lord not to eat of this tree. By doing so he committed open rebellion against the Lord while Eve was deceived by the cunningness of the serpent. While the actions of both are the same, the implications of each action are different. Adam disobeyed the Lord and as our representative, we all disobeyed the Lord and this action brought about the death of the race.
This act of rebellion also brought a decay of everything under the dominion of Adam. Just as the head goes so too goes the subjects. The creation is subjected to decay and is longing for the redemption of the body when all things will be renewed.

The Death of Mankind

Romans 5:12-14

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. NKJV

Because of the sin of Adam, death entered the world where it did not exist once before. This death affected all of the creation because of the representative nature of Adam. This means that all who are the descendants of Adam have sinned. There is no one who carries the Adamic nature that is outside of this death.

The Depravity of Mankind

Romans 3:9-20

9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.¹⁰ As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;¹¹ There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. ¹² They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." ¹³ "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; ¹⁴ "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." ¹⁵ "Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways; ¹⁷ And the way of peace they have not known." ¹⁸ "There is no fear of God before their eyes." ¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.²⁰ Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. NKJV

1 Corinthians 2:14

14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. NKJV

When we declare the message of the Gospel to the world we are declaring it to those who are dead to spiritual things. They don’t simply evaluate and reject spiritual things, they are dead to them. They cannot evaluate spiritual things because they are foolishness to him. There is no one who is without need of the Gospel. There is no one who by nature seeks after God. God declares that all of the descendants of Adam are unfit for glory and are completely destitute.
God brought about the Law so that sin might increase. To further our condemnation and to drive us to our need for grace God revealed the Law through Moses. Either we will attempt to justify ourselves through the observance of the Law (which is impossible to do because we were born in sin) or we will cry out for the grace of God because we realize that there is no way we can commend ourselves to our holy, righteous God.

The Promise of Glory

Romans 5:15-17

15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.¹⁶ And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.¹⁷ For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) NKJV

The free gift of the righteousness of Christ is the antithesis of the condemnation of Adam in many ways. However, we see that the first Adam was a picture of the second Adam in that one man was the head of a race. God declared the Gospel to Adam and Eve and to all who followed by a progressive revelation which has culminated in a sure Word which we enjoy today. Abraham understood the Gospel, as did Moses, David, Solomon and Mary. God would provide an atonement which man could never provide. The message of the Gospel is as old as the creation. God prepared these works before the foundations of the world so that He might glorify Himself by the salvation and condemnation of many.