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is this possible? Did everyone know–
ingly participate in the death of Jesus
Christ? Not at all. "And now, breth–
ren, 1 know that
you acted in igno–
rance,
just as your rulers did also"
(Acts 3: 17).
Yet how can we, in this modero
twentieth century, so far removed in
space and in time from the crucifix–
ion event, be responsible for the
murder of Jesus Christ?
As in
Adam ...
The story of Adam sheds light on
that most important question. Adam
was the first man created. He was the
prototype of the entire human race.
As Adam went so would go mankind.
Adam was the pacesetter for all who
would follow.
When God initially created Adam
and his wife Eve, He gave them
certain very explicit instructions:
"Then the Lord God took the man
and put him into. the Garden of Eden
to cultivate it and keep it. And the
Lord God commanded the man say–
ing, 'From any tree of the garden you
may eat freely; but from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil you
shall not eat, for in the day that you
eat from it you shall surely die' "
(Genesis 2: 15-16).
The command was simple and the
penalty for violating it was clear.
Adam would qualify for the death
penalty if he violated the divine
edict.
Nearly everyone is familiar with
the story of the serpent who
tempted Eve. The account is found
in Genesis 3. The serpent, actually
Satan (Revelation 12:9) using a ser–
pentine creature as a medium, beg–
uiled Eve into eating of the forbid–
den fruit. (lncidentally, the Bible
does not say it was an apple!)
Immediately they found th9mselves
with a sense of gnawing guilt. The
newly created couple bid from the
presence of God in the foliage of
the garden (Genesis 3:7-8).
God next demanded an account–
ing by the three guilty parties. First
He asked Adam (verse
9),
"Where
are you?" Not that God didn't
already know.
It
was a formal fac–
ing of the music. Adam was being
called to account first of all because
he was the primary responsible par-
8
ty. God had given the original com–
mandment directly to Adam. It was
bis duty to see that both he and the
woman kept it. Adam failed to do
his duty.
God next addressed the woman
(verse 13). She passed the buck (or
peso, or ruble, or pound, or franc) to
the serpent. God then confronted the
serpent (verses 14-15). Each was
found to be guilty. Each was cursed
in sorne way.
Cut Off from God
After the formalities of judgment
were completed, God expelled Adam
and Eve from His presence: "There–
fore 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 ..." (verses
23-24).
There is much more to this
account than meets the eye. lt is no
mere childish fable. This entire
account is a definitive statement of
man's spiritual state before bis Cre–
ator. Adam had been in communion
with God in the garden , He had
existed in a state of innocence with
God in close fellowship-they had
walked together in the lush beauty of
the garden of Eden (verse 8).
Then sin entered, and with it
death. Adam was now cut off from
God by his disobedience. He and bis
equally guilty wife were expelled
from the garden and thus from fel–
lowship with God. The idyllic rela–
tionship of Eden was ended by sin.
Now man was on bis own, cut off
from bis Creator, existing in a state
of guilt and waiting for the ultimate
penalty of eterna! death. Adam was
spiritually "lost."
Adam was the typical man.
Adam the Prototype
Adam was the father of all living–
both physically and morally. He set
the pace in the matter of sin. The
apostle Paul, writing millennia later,
said of Adam: "Therefore, just as
through one man sin entered into the
world, and death through sin, and
so
death spread to al/ men, because al/
sinned"
(Romans 5:12).
AIJ have sinned! Therefore all are
guilty of the death of Jesus Christ
who gave up His life to pay for sin.
Each of us has followed the example
of Adam. "For all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God" (Ro–
mans 3:23).
John wrote:
"If
we say that we
have no sin, we are deceiving our–
selves, and the truth is not in us ... If
we say that we have not sinned, we
make Him a liar, and His word is not
in us"
(1
John 1:8, 10).
The Word of God, the Bible, con–
victs all mankind of sin.
lf
you
believe the Bible, then you have to
believe that statement. Anyone who
denies bis own guilt before God is
calling God Himself a liar, for it is
He who accuses us of sin. Even the
ancient writer of Ecclesiastes said:
" Indeed, there is nota righteous man
on earth who continually does good
and who never sins" (Ecclesiastes
7:20).
Everyone does good from time to
time, but no one is consistently good
all of the time. (Be sure to write for
our free reprint article "Human
Nature-Did God Create It?") Each
one of us fails to live up to the divine
standard of righteousness at sorne
point. Those who say they are not
guilty of moral and spiritual failure
are themselves guilty of
se/f-righ–
teousness which is, in itself, a sin!
Once you realize that you are a
sinner, then you must also accept the
fact that you are guilty of the blood
of Jesus Christ. Your sin-even if no
one else bad ever sinned-would
have necessitated the death of Jesus
Christ. You are convicted of murder
by the Word of God!
Why so?"... Without shedding of
blood there is no forgiveness" (He–
brews 9:22).
Remember, God had told Adam
that in the day he violated the
divine command he was as good as
dead. To sin is to incur upon oneself
the penalty of death-eternal death.
And every human being who has
ever drawn breath has sinned.
Therefore all of mankind, in Adam,
is hopelessly lost. We are all on
"death row," spiritually speaking:
"For as in Adam all die ..."
(1
Corinthians 15:22). This is true
both physically and spiritually. As
was Adam, we are all mortal, phys–
ical beings. Our bodies were de–
signed to run down and termínate:
The
PLAIN TRUTH