Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15:22. Here are four words which reveal what happened when our father Adam sinned in the garden. These four words must be understood. They are so necessary, so vital that I think I can safely and accurately say, until these four simple words are understood there is no understanding of anything else taught in the Bible. Hear now what God the Holy Spirit teaches us and pray for grace and wisdom to understand it…
My subject tonight is Spiritual Death. When God gave his law to Adam, the sanction of the law death: Physical Death; Spiritual (Moral) Death, and Eternal Death. "The wages of sin is death!"
Proposition: As soon as Adam sinned, he and all his posterity were stripped of that immortality of body which God had given him in creation and became mortals, subject to and infested with all the corruptions of sickness, disease, and death; and a spiritual, moral death seized his being, a spiritual, moral corruption and death which is passed upon all men, generation after generation. - "In Adam all die!"Because of Adam's sin, and our sinning in him, the understanding of man is darkened. - His mind and conscience are defiled. - We are filled with inordinate affections. - Our wills, by nature, are biased toward everything that is evil. We have a natural taste and relish for sin! - Yet, until regenerated and saved by the grace of God, all the sons and daughters of Adam are to every good work lifeless and reprobate. Everyone by nature is born in a state of spiritual death, being dead in trespasses and in sins. This is the language used by the Holy Spirit to describe man's lost condition.
1 Corinthians 15:22 "In Adam all die."
Romans 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."
Ephesians 2:1-3 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: (2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."
As we were all born sinners, in a state and condition of spiritual death, we were all also born "children of wrath," under the curse of God's holy law and subject to eternal death. Eternal death is the just wage and retribution paid to sin by God. Eternal death is the wrath of God revealed against all unrighteousness. It is that which shall forever torment the children of disobedience, unless we are saved from it by the obedience and death of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam.
This eternal death is the curse which Zechariah saw in his vision, as a flying roll flying over the whole earth, by which all the wicked are cut off forever.
Zechariah 5:1-3 "Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. (2) And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. (3) Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it."
God's elect are saved from this universal curse, because (and only because) Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law and delivered us from the wrath to come. He is made of God unto us both righteousness and redemption; and we are now made righteous in him.
Tonight, I want to show you the cause and character of that sad state of spiritual death into which all men are born.
Divisions: As we consider this fact, the fact that "In Adam all die," I want to show you three things from the Word of God.
1. Spiritual death is the result of Adam's sin as our representative and substitute in the garden and our sin in him.
2. Spiritual death is a spiritual, moral corruption and defilement of human nature.
3. The only hope of salvation and deliverance from this state and condition of spiritual death is the free grace of God in Christ the last Adam.
I. SPIRITUAL DEATH IS THE RESULT OF ADAM'S SIN AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SUBSTITUTE IN THE GARDEN AND OUR SIN IN HIM.
In Romans five the Holy Spirit uses four distinct words to describe what Adam did in the garden of Eden. In verse 12, it is called "sin." In fact, in the Greek text, it is twice referred to here as "the sin." It is called "the sin" because it was the first sin and because it is the fountain of all sin. In verse 14, it is called a "transgression." The Apostle John tells us that every sin is a transgression of the law (1 John 3:14). Adam's sin, and our sin in him, was a transgression of that law which God made with Adam as our representative (Gen. 2:17). In Roma5:19, it is called "disobedience." It was an act of willful disobedience to the revealed will of God. Then, in Romans 5:15-20, the Apostle uses the word "offence" four times to describe Adam's sin, because sin is abhorrently offensive to the holy Lord God. This word, "offence," conveys the idea of a fall.
That is why we refer to Adam's sin as "The Fall." It was the offence, or the fall, by which Adam and the entire human race represented by him fell from a state of honor, integrity, righteousness, life, and happiness into a state of dishonor, sin, unrighteousness, death, and misery.
A. Though Adam's sin is represented to us as the simple act of eating that fruit which he was forbidden by God to eat, his act of sin was much more complex than many imagine.
He sinned against light and knowledge, when he was in full power to have resisted temptation. Adam's sin was the height of ingratitude to God his Maker. It was an affront to God in the highest degree.
2. It was an act of intolerable pride, an affectation, pretense, and assumption of deity, of equality with God.
3. It was an act of unparalleled selfishness by which Adam displayed a total disregard, lack of concern for, or even thought of affection or care for God, his creation, or any of the human race, with whose souls he had been entrusted!
We flinch from acknowledging it, but the fact is, all acts of sin have these three elements in them. Every act of sin is an act of willful unbelief, intolerable pride, and horrible selfishness.
B. Adam's sin included all aspects of sin.
His one transgression was a total, complete breach of God's holy law. You see, the laws of God, according to James 2:10, are so intertwined that he that "offends in one point is guilty of all." One of the old writers said, "Adam, at one clap, broke both tables of the law, and all the commandments of God."
Exodus 20:1-17 "And God spake all these words, saying, (2) I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (3) (1.) Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (4) (2.) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: (5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (6) And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (7) (3.) Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (8) (4.) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: (10) But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (12) (5.) Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (13) (6.) Thou shalt not kill. (14) (7.) Thou shalt not commit adultery. (15) (8.) Thou shalt not steal. (16) (9.) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (17) (10.) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."
Adam's one act of rebellion, sin, and disobedience was a transgression of each of the commandments.
1. He chose another God, when he followed the devil.
2. He idolized and deified his own belly. - He made his belly his God.
3. He took the name of God in vain, when he believed him not.
4. He kept not the rest and estate wherein God had set him, thus violating, breaking, and disregarding the sabbath day.
5. He dishonored his Father which was in heaven. - Therefore his days were not long in that land which the Lord his God had given him.
6. He murdered, in the most horrible massacre of all history, himself and all his posterity.
7. He committed spiritual fornication and adultery. - He went whoring after other gods.
8. He stole that (like Achan) which God had set aside not to be meddled with; and this his stealth is that which troubles all Israel, the whole world.
9. He bore witness against God when he believed not his word.
10. He coveted an evil covetousness, which cost him his life, and all his brought death upon all his family.
It is this death, this spiritual death, which is the result of Adam's sin, which Paul speaks of when he says, "In Adam all die." That is what I want to talk to you about next.
II. SPIRITUAL DEATH IS THE SPIRITUAL, MORAL CORRUPTION AND DEFILEMENT OF HUMAN NATURE.
The Word of God gives us only a very brief account of what happened to Adam after the fall. Besides, he was very quickly recovered from it by the grace of God, who brought him to life, repentance, and faith by his irresistible power, and gave him a higher, nobler standing in Christ than he had before he fell.
Immediately after the fall, God sought Adam out, called him by his grace, and promised a Savior, the Seed of the woman, by whom he and all elect sinners would be recovered from all sin.
Because these things happened so quickly after the fall, we are not informed about all the mischief, misery, and madness Adam experienced as a result of his sin, in spiritual death. However, some of the sad effects of the fall are clearly revealed in the Word of God. Here are seven things involved in the spiritual death of the human race, seven sad consequences of Adam's sin.
A. CORRUPTIONThe first sad consequence of Adam's fall upon himself and us is the utter corruption and depravity of the entire human race. As soon as he sinned, man who was made upright became unrighteous, filled with unrighteousness, and wickedness, and every abomination. Therefore, the Apostle tells us, "There is none righteous, no not one!" This corruption of nature was signified by nakedness.
Genesis 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."
This nakedness was more than a physical nakedness. They were physically naked before the fall. This is a nakedness of their souls before God, a nakedness which came upon them by their sin. This nakedness of soul is our lack of righteousness, our lack of clothing before God. The nakedness of their bodies became now an emblem of corruption and guilt before God.
As Adam immediately tried, by the works of his hands, to cover his nakedness, so every man and woman, since we became sinners, is utterly self-righteous by nature. Every sinner goes about to establish his own righteousness and refuses to submit to the righteousness of God in Christ, until God strips him of his imaginary righteousness and exposes his naked corruption.
John Gill said, "It is as natural to man to be self-righteous as to be sinful."
Yet, all that men do to attain righteousness by their own works is of no more significance than Adam's fig leaves. Nothing can cover us from the sight of Divine justice, nothing can shelter us from the stormy winds of Divine wrath, nothing can justify us in the sight of God, nothing can entitle us to eternal life, except the blood and righteousness of the Son of God.
The first consequence of sin, the first thing involved in spiritual death is corruption.
B. GUILTThe second aspect of spiritual death is, as already hinted at, guilt. It was a guilt of conscience that made Adam and Eve perceive their nakedness. Guilt is the universal consequence of sin. Guilt is not something imposed by society. Guilt is the imposition of God upon the consciences of sinners. The consciousness of guilt causes shame. It causes men and women, like Adam and Eve, to hide themselves from God. Sometimes, guilt becomes altogether intolerable. It will drive impenitent sinners to utter insanity. Yet, even that is better than having a conscience so seared that it no longer accuses and condemns for sin! That sinner whose conscience is utterly seared is reprobate and damned, even while he lives.
C. FEARA third thing involved in spiritual death, a third consequence of sin is fear, the slavish fear and dread of God. There is in every man, by nature, a fearful looking for of judgment and righteous indignation, even in the most brazen of sinners. Adam said to God, "I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."
He hid himself, but to no purpose. There is no fleeing from the presence of God. Darkness and light are the same to him. How silly it was for Adam to try to hide behind the shade of a tree from the all-seeing eye of the omniscient God! Yet this is exactly what all men try to do.
Amos 9:2-3 "Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: (3) And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them."
Even when judgment comes, men and women will still try to hide from God. When their fig leaves of self-righteousness are torn away, they will try to hide in the rocks and mountains. So utterly void of life and light is fallen man that even the great white throne judgment will do nothing to change his nature.
Matthew 7:22-23 "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Revelation 6:15-17 "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; (16) And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: (17) For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
D. IGNORANCECorruption, guilt, and fear are common traits of spiritual death. Another characteristic of spiritual death is ignorance, spiritual ignorance. The natural man does not understand anything spiritual.
Romans 3:11 "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God."
1 Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
No man by nature knows or can know God the Father, his Son Christ Jesus, or the Spirit of grace. No man knows, or can know by any natural power, the way of life, salvation, and peace. The natural man, no matter how religious and well trained, can never even see, much less enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5-7).
Spiritually speaking, all men and women are more stupid and ignorant than brute beasts. Man is like a wild ass's colt by nature in his rebellion, but far more ignorant. Even the ass knows his master's crib! Man by nature is like the ox, strongly plowing the fields of iniquity, but again more stupid. Even the ox knows his owner! Even wild birds know the time of their coming and going; but no man knows the Lord God or his ways either of grace or of judgment. Therefore, as the horse rushes to battle, so man rushes on in sin to judgment and to hell.
Job 11:12 "For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt."
Isaiah 1:3 "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider."
Jeremiah 8:6-7 "I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. (7) Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD."
E. BanishmentThe fifth thing involved in spiritual death is banishment, banishment from God, banishment from good, banishment from life!
Genesis 3:24 "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
This banishment was "an emblem of that alienation from God, from the life of God, and communion with him, which sin has produced, and which has set man at a distance from God; hence Christ suffered to bring his people near unto him; and by his blood they that were afar off were made nigh unto God."
John Gill
F. CONDEMNATIONSpiritual death, sixthly, involves condemnation. As soon as Adam and Eve became sinners they were brought under the curse and condemnation of God's holy law. Not only shall fallen man be cursed and condemned forever in hell, he is cursed and condemned even now, universally cursed. So that every thing he is and everything he does is cursed. Even the plowing of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.
Genesis 3:16-19 "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (17) And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (18) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; (19) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Deuteronomy 28:15-18 "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: (16) Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. (17) Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. (18) Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep."
In addition to all these things, corruption, guilt, fear, ignorance, banishment, and condemnation must be added…
G. INABILITY.Man's spiritual death and total depravity has brought him into a state and condition of utter and total helplessness and inability. There is nothing a man can do to change his condition. He has neither the will nor the ability to alter his condition.
There is in fallen humanity a general corruption and depravity of all the powers and faculties of the soul, which are all immersed in sin, and full of it. All the members of the body are willingly yielded as instruments of unrighteousness. There is in us all a propensity and proneness to all that is sinful, an inordinate desire after the lusts of the flesh and of fulfilling them. We all do by nature serve our lusts and pleasures. We serve our lusts as our highest pleasures by nature, because we are all by nature lovers of sinful pleasures more than lovers of God.
There is, moreover, a disinclination to all that is good, yea, an aversion to it. We all hate good and love evil. Indeed, the carnal mind is enmity against God, and all that is good.
Then, too, there is an impotency, an inability to do that which is good; hence man is represented as being without strength, having lost it, and become unable to do anything that is spiritually good. He can sin with a high hand and a willing heart; but no man can, of his own accord and by his own power…
Sin has brought man into a state of slavery to sin, Satan, and the world; this is what we commonly call the corruption and depravity of nature. This is the effect of the first sin of Adam. This is the proverbial "pandora box" from whence have sprung all spiritual maladies and bodily diseases. All the disasters, distresses, mischiefs, and calamities, that are, or have been in the world are the result of sin.
III. THE ONLY HOPE OF SALVATION AND DELIVERANCE FROM THIS STATE AND CONDITION OF SPIRITUAL DEATH IS THE FREE GRACE OF GOD IN CHRIST THE LAST ADAM.
1 Corinthians 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
As sin and death came by the doing and dying of the first representative man Adam, so righteousness and life come to God's elect by the doing and dying of the second and last representative man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam.
Psalms 69:1-4 "Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. (2) I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. (3) I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. (4) They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away."
Application:
Let me send you home with two very familiar texts of Scripture. In these two texts we see the wisdom, grace, and goodness of God in permitting the sin and fall of our father Adam, that we might be saved by the work of Christ, the last Adam.
1 Corinthians 1:30-31 "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
Colossians 2:9-10 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (10) And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:"
*