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| My Granddaughter Isa |
Paul Clearly States
I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live; but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me (Galatians 2:20 NKJV).
Notice how frequently Paul uses the word live. Paul is communicating something profound, “I used to be spiritually dead, but now I am alive and living with Christ.”
Let me reiterate that sin is an issue and a severe issue at that. It is so severe that God had His Son bear all of our sins. Sin was in the way of us receiving God’s love and experiencing never-ending life. So God removed sin from us so that we could have life with Him. Sin always highlights humankind’s deepest issue—death, which is separation from God!
How Did We Die?
Let’s take a look at Scripture and see if the Bible confirms that death is the deepest issue people face. When we read Genesis we discover how mankind was created:
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27 NIV). We were created in God’s image.
Now, what was God’s command to Adam? …but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:17 NIV).
God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or he would die.
So What Happens to Adam?
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it (Genesis 3:6 NIV). Adam and Eve ate the fruit and spiritually died.
Adam and Eve experienced spiritual death and separation from God. They did not experience physical death because they were still physically alive, but they were no longer in perfect communion with their heavenly Father. They were now separated from God. They no longer were in complete and faultless relationship with Him.
The first temptation Adam and Eve faced in the garden was not whether to eat the forbidden fruit or not, but to question what God had said. “Did God really say, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden” (Gen. 3:1). Once Satan got them to doubt the integrity and identity of God, it was easy to lure them into foolish actions.
When the Serpent deceived Adam and convinced him to follow his advice rather than God’s, humanity submitted to the Enemy and gave authority over to him. Humankind lost their dominion, favor, and power from God. Satan was never given authority in the earth, but we give him authority when we agree with his lies and deceit. His only tool is to lie, and he is an expert at lying. He functions and moves in deceit. That’s right, Satan is called a liar!
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44 NIV). When Adam agreed with the Serpent’s lies, he gave him control. The influence that God had given to Adam in the beginning was no longer Adam’s.
Does Spiritual Death Spread?
According to the book of Genesis, Adam had a son in his own image:
When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth (Genesis 5:3 NIV). Seth was not born in the image of God as Adam had been. Because Adam was no longer receiving spiritual life from God, Adam’s son Seth was now born in the image of Adam.
According to Romans, sin entered the world through Adam’s sin and spiritual death spread to all humanity. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12 NIV).
Notice that this verse does not tell us that sin was passed on. Nor does this verse state that we had or have a sin nature. How did Adam’s sin affect all of humanity? Death was spread! So the only question remaining is how many men did death spread to? To the entire human race! According to Ephesians we were born into this world in a sinful condition: As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1 NIV).
Notice that before Adam and Eve disobeyed God, …they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:25 NIV). Now, after eating the forbidden fruit, they knew that they were naked and they made aprons and hid themselves from God’s presence because Adam was afraid when the Lord called. Something had definitely happened to them, but it was not physical. The change was on the inside. Yes, they did die, just as God had promised; however, it was not a physical death, but rather a spiritual death (see Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13).
Not Ceasing To Exist
The biblical concept of death does not mean ceasing to exist, but rather means separation. In the Bible, physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. With the soul gone, the body ceases to function and begins to decay. Spiritual death means that a person’s spirit is separated from God. With the spirit cut off from God, a person would still be able to function physically, but could no longer directly experience or commune with God.
Adam forfeited his intimacy with God the day he ate the fruit. The lack of intimacy with God is what we were born into. We were born into this world in the image of Adam, spiritually dead. And dead people don’t need help; they need life.
The Bible tells us that everything God made was very good (see Gen. 1:31). Sin, therefore, was not a natural part of creation but an invasion from the outside. Sadly, it had a drastic effect on the entire human race.
People fear physical death, but there is one reality that people fear or will fear more than anything else…spiritual death! Although not all humanity is aware of their spiritual death, all humans must eventually come to grips with their spiritual death. Many do not even acknowledge there is a God, much less that they are separated from Him.
But, God will be true to Himself and will bring this revelation to all. Everyone has come short of God’s glory. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. (see Romans 11:14). A chief executive officer of a major corporation will have to wrestle with the reality of their spiritual death: the homeless will grapple with spiritual death, the young and old and the strong and weak must all deal with spiritual death (separation from God). No one can escape the spiritual death that has spread to the entire human race.
Adam, Where Are You?
In Genesis 3:8 God says, “Adam, where are you?” Remember this, when God asks a question He is not looking for the answer. He is making a statement! Why would an omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipresent (able to be everywhere at the same time) God ask a question? He obviously knew where Adam was. “Adam, where are you?” was God’s first statement of redemption towards the human race.
When God said “Adam, where are you?” God was revealing to Adam, “Satan lied to you; he duped you, tricked you, and you agreed with him. You were taken from me, and I am coming to get you back. You are my creation; I love you, and you will be mine again!” God has been in the process of reconciling with humanity ever since Adam fell.
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