Let Us Consider The Estate of Adam

Even though I included a link to the following post in the comment section of "Can't Worship Someone You Don't Know and Love," after re-reading it a second time, I wanted to give it a blogpost of its own.

It was originally written and contributed back in August of 2005 by SaltnLight444 at my Talkwisdom message board.

I will add the Scripture verses just below the paragraphs where they are referenced in the original post. This will make it easier to refer to, rather than going to a Bible to read them.

I think that this is an excellent essay that truly explains original sin, why we sin personally, and how original sin was imputed to all men. It also explains how Christ's sacrifice is imputed to the believer in order to be reconciled back to God.

Comments, questions and opinions are welcomed.

Christine

P.S. Each Bible verse below is the KJV. If you wish to read the Scriptures in a different version, simply click on the link to the Blue Letter Bible website, click on the "V" (for "version") box on the left, and 12 additional Bible versions of the verse will appear.

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Let Us Consider The Estate of Adam



ADAM BEFORE THE FALL:

The Bible introduces, in words of peculiar simplicity, the first man and the woman whom God provided to be his helpmeet. Both were originally joined making one flesh and in Divine consideration this unit became the union we know as marriage today. Neither man or woman is complete coming together with one of the same sex. It's like having two left feet. Each are meant to balance one another.

Both Adam and Eve sinned and fell but not before becoming accustomed to the situation in which they were placed, and to have experienced fellowship with God.

It is said that man as created, like all the works of God, was "very good"; that is, they were well pleasing to the Creator. This implies no more than that they were innocent, which is a negative term and suggests that they had not committed sin. Holiness, which is the primary attribute of God, is a positive term and indicates that He is incapable of sinning. In other words, they had the capability to sin but had not whereas, God has not the capacity to sin due to His Holiness.

Just as with Angels, the creature, whether it be angel or man, is by the divine plan in creation made with the ability to sin. Go to read about Satan if you want to know about angels who sinned.(Eze 28:15; Isa 14:12-14). Sin was recommended by Satan and adopted by man (Gen 3:4-7)

Eze 28:15
Thou [wast] perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Isa 14:12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Isa 14:13
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Isa 14:14
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Gen 3:4
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Gen 3:5
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Gen 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Gen 3:7
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons

ADAM AFTER THE FALL

By sinning, the first man lost his blessed estate as he was created and became subject to certain far-reaching changes:

Subject to both spiritual and physical death.(Gen 2:17) Adam and Eve passed immediately into spiritual death, which means separation from God. In due time they also suffered the penalty of physical death, which means the separation of the soul from the body.

Gen 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

All of creation itself was changed by the sin of man. Briars and thorns were introduced, labor and sorrow were added, and the enjoyment of Eden was withdrawn.


THE EFFECT OF ADAM'S FALL UPON THE RACE:

In contemplating the effect upon the race of Adam's sin, we are confronted with the doctrine of "Imputation," which is one of the most profound doctrines in the Scriptures. It is an advantage to consider this doctrine in general before any particular form of the imputation of sin is studied.

Three imputations are set forth in the Scriptures:
(1) The sin of Adam is imputed to his posterity (Rom 5:12-14);
(2) the sin of man is imputed to Christ (2Co 5:21); and,
(3) the righteousness of God is imputed to those who believe (Gen 15:6; Psa 32:2; Rom 3:22; 4:3, 8:21-25; 2Co 5:21; Phm 1:17, 18).

Rom 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Rom 5:13
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Rom 5:14
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

2Cr 5:21
For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Gen 15:6
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Psa 32:2
Blessed [is] the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit [there is] no guile.

Rom 3:22
Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Rom 4:3
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.


Rom 8:21
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Rom 8:22
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Rom 8:23
And not only [they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [to wit], the redemption of our body.

Rom 8:24
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Rom 8:25
But if we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for [it].

Phm 1:17
If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.

Phm 1:18
If he hath wronged thee, or oweth [thee] ought, put that on mine account;

What great love is seen in the following for fallen men between God and the incarnation of God in Jesus the Christ. Jesus did not sin. He chose to die on the cross and accept the punishment of our sin for our sin. Jesus has given us His righteousness, which includes moral rightness and right relationship with God.

It is obvious that there was a judicial transfer of the sin of man to Christ the Sin-Bearer. Jehovah hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:5; Joh 1:29; 1Pe 2:24; 3:18).

Isa 53:5
But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.


Jhn 1:19
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?


1Pe 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

1Pe 3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

So, in like manner, there is a judicial transfer of the righteousness of God to the believer (2Co 5:21); for there could be no other grounds of justification or acceptance with God. This imputation belongs to the new relationship within the New Creation. Being joined to the Lord by the baptism with the Spirit (1Co 6:17; 12:13; 2Co 5:17; Gal 3:27), and vitally related to Christ as a member in His body (Eph 5:30), it follows that every virtue of Christ is extended to those who have become an organic part of Him. The believer is "in Christ" and thus partakes of all that Christ is.

2Cr 5:21
For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

1Cr 6:17
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

1Cr 12:13
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

2Cr 5:17
Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Gal 3:27
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.


Eph 5:30
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

In like manner, the facts of the old creation are actually transferred to those who by natural generation are "in Adam." They become possessed of the Adamic nature and themselves are said to have sinned in him. This is as real in constituting a sufficient ground for divine judgment as the imputation of the righteousness of God in Christ is a sufficient ground for justification, and the result is the divine judgment upon the race whether they have sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression or not. Though men contend, as they do, that they are not responsible for Adam's sin, the divine revelation stands that because of the far-reaching effect of representation through the federal headship, Adam's one initial sin is immediately and directly imputed to each member of the race with the unvarying sentence of death resting upon all (Rom 5:12-14). Likewise by the fall of Adam the effect of the one initial sin is transmuted in the form of a sin nature mediately, or by inheritance, from father to son throughout all generations. The effect of the fall is universal; so, also, the offer of divine grace.

Rom 5:12
¶
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Rom 5:13
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Rom 5:14
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Men do not now fall by their first sin; they are born fallen sons of Adam. They do not become sinful by sinning, but they sin because by nature they are sinful. No child needs to be taught to sin, but every child must be encouraged to be good.

It should be observed that, though the fall of Adam rests upon the race, there is evident divine provision for innocent infants and all who are irresponsible.

The holy judgments of God must rest upon all men out of Christ, (1) because of imputed sin, (2) because of an inherited sin nature, (3) because they are under sin, and (4) because of their own personal sins. Though these holy judgments of God cannot be diminished, the sinner may be saved from them through Christ. This is the good news of the gospel.

The penalty resting on the old creation is (1) physical death, which is separation of the soul from the body; (2) spiritual death, which (like Adam's) is the present estate of the lost and is the separation of the soul from God (Eph 2:1; 4:18, 19); and (3) the second death, which is the eternal separation of the soul from God and banishment from His presence forever (Rev 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8)

Rev 2:11
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.


Rev 20:6
Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.


Rev 20:14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.


Rev 21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.


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Matthew 19:4-5 "Haven't you read,"
at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,''For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?

HT: Blogger SaltnLight444

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(Jesus Speaking):

Mat 19:4
And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made* them at the beginning 'made them male and female,'*

Mat 19:5
"and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?*

Mat 19:6
"So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

Footnotes:
19:4
NU-Text reads created. • Genesis 1:27; 5:2
19:5
Genesis 2:24