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first death that people die. The
wages of s in is an eterna! death.
"For as in Adam all die, even so
in Christ shall all be made alive"–
that's the good, bad , and indiffer–
ent- all people-sinncrs and saved
alike. (See Revelation 20:5, first
sentence.) The first death is not the
ultimate penalty of sin! The final
penalty of si n is the second death
(Rev. 20:6), from which there will
never be a resurrection- it is eter–
na) punishment. Death is that pun–
ishment, forevcr-eternally.
We were born from our parents,
and so on back to Adam who was
created mortal - formed of the
dust-composed of flesh and blood.
1n Adam-as long as we are bis
children- born of him- we all die
this first death. But in Christ, alJ
who are not in the first resurrection
will be made alive by another resur–
rection to mortal life in which they
will have their first calling from
God to understand his truth and
come to know the way to eternal
life (compare Revelation 20:5, 12
and I Corinthians 15:40 with Luke
11 :31-32 and Ezekiel 16:55).
In Christ we can be born again
and have immortal life so that we
never can die. That comes through
the first resurrection.
Notice Romans 5: 12- " Where–
fore, as by one man si n entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men, for that
all have sinned"- the real death
penalty- the second death- passes
on you, because you have sinned–
because all have sinned, and
NOT
BECAUSE
of Adam's sin.
Notice, sin entered this world by
one man- sin is the transgression of
God's spiritual law. Adam was a
mortal- flesh and blood- human.
Jf
he had been perfect, he would not
have si nned . He had the senses of
sight, of hearing, tasting, smelling,
and feeling. God had put those
senses in him. God talked to him–
preached a sermon to him- told him
that the wages of sin would be death.
lf he obeyed God and resisted Satan,
if he partook of the tree o f life, sym–
bolizing the Hol y Spirit of God , and
fulfilled God 's law, then he could
have had the gift of eternallife.
But Adam rejected that. Adam
sinned. He never received the pre–
cious gift of eterna! life. He was
driven out of thc garden of Eden
30
test he received it, and so this firs t
death passed upon all men.
Here's where this first death carne
from; but the penalty of sin-eterna!
death-did not come because of
Adam's sin. That penalty is passed
upon all men because that all have
sinned-because we have sinned, not
merely because of Adam's sin.
We Br i ng t he Penal ty on Ourselves
No, it says in plain language that the
death penalty for sin has passed upon
all men because that all have sinned.
The death penalty is passed upon
you; it is passed upon everyone of us
because we have sinned- because
we have lived the wrong way and
have not turned to God. The Scrip–
ture does not say that the penalty of
Adam's sin is eterna! death for you
and for me- but the penalty for your
sin, of my sin, of our sins, is death!
But God so loved tbis world that he
gave his only begotten son, Jesus
Christ, that whosoever believes on
him should not perish, but should
have the gift of everlasting life (John
3: 16) .
The way is to repent- to repent
of s in- and acknowledge Jesus
Chris t as personal savior. Then the
promise is, we shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. And then, if we
grow in grace and in knowledge-if
we overcome, overcome the world,
overcome ourselves and our own
natures, if we endure until the
end - then we shall be made
immortal- we shall be born into
the very family of God at last.
Oh, what a great wonderful and
all-wise purpose God has in making
man as he did. How we will praise
him for it when finally we under–
stand!
o
Your
Awesom.e
Future
How
Religion DeceivesYou
N
o religion has revealed it- religion has, in
fact, kept it from you! The most important
dimension in knowledge concerns a stupendous
human potential. But that
message, brought to earth by
Jesus Christ, was suppressed
in
the frrst century. Our booklet
offers the truth. You may
have a free copy by mailing
the envelope or writing our
office nearest you.