WEBVTT 00:00:06.509 --> 00:00:13.150 with me to the book of Romans. Today we are beginning 00:00:13.150 --> 00:00:17.250 a look at the last half of the chapter, a chapter 00:00:17.250 --> 00:00:21.469 that deals with our justification, first its 00:00:21.469 --> 00:00:26.530 blessings and now its basis. How is it that the 00:00:26.530 --> 00:00:29.489 death of the Lord Jesus Christ could be for all 00:00:29.489 --> 00:00:34.740 men? Why is it that he does not have to die for 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:39.020 each person individually? The answer to that 00:00:39.020 --> 00:00:42.079 question is found in these verses that we're 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:44.039 going to read today. We're going to focus on 00:00:44.039 --> 00:00:47.479 verse 12, but to set the stage for it, let me 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:50.700 read verses 12 through 21. You follow along, 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:55.880 please, in your copy of the Word of God. Therefore, 00:00:55.979 --> 00:00:58.899 justice through one man, sin entered into the 00:00:58.899 --> 00:01:02.939 world, and death through sin. So death spread 00:01:02.939 --> 00:01:07.620 to all men, because all sinned. For until the 00:01:07.620 --> 00:01:10.959 law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:15.840 where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.540 from Adam until Moses, even over those who had 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:22.099 not sinned in the likeness of Adam's offense, 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:27.760 who is a type of him who was to come. But the 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:31.000 free gift is not like the transgression. For 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:34.120 if by the transgression of the one the many died, 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.840 much more did the grace of God and the gift by 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:41.640 the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:46.000 to the many. And the gift is not like that which 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:49.760 came through the one who sinned. For on the one 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:52.799 hand, the judgment arose from one transgression 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:56.959 resulting in condemnation. But on the other hand, 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:00.390 the free gift arose from many transgressions, 00:02:00.390 --> 00:02:05.269 resulting in justification. For if by the transgression 00:02:05.269 --> 00:02:09.770 of the one death reigned through the one, much 00:02:09.770 --> 00:02:12.469 more those who receive the abundance of grace 00:02:12.469 --> 00:02:16.469 and the gift of righteousness will reign in life 00:02:16.469 --> 00:02:21.650 through the one Jesus Christ. So then, as through 00:02:21.650 --> 00:02:24.530 one transgression there resulted condemnation 00:02:24.530 --> 00:02:28.490 to all men, Even so, through one act of righteousness, 00:02:28.889 --> 00:02:31.710 there resulted justification of life to all men. 00:02:33.129 --> 00:02:36.449 For as through the one man's disobedience the 00:02:36.449 --> 00:02:39.750 many were made sinners, even so through the obedience 00:02:39.750 --> 00:02:42.090 of the one the many would be made righteous. 00:02:42.990 --> 00:02:46.069 And the law came in that the transgression might 00:02:46.069 --> 00:02:50.789 increase. But where sin increased, grace abounded 00:02:50.789 --> 00:02:55.750 all the more. That as sin reigned in death, even 00:02:55.750 --> 00:02:59.750 so grace might reign through righteousness to 00:02:59.750 --> 00:03:05.150 eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The 00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:07.490 purpose of these verses that we've read is to 00:03:07.490 --> 00:03:14.129 show the solidarity of the human race, to contrast 00:03:14.129 --> 00:03:18.750 the first Adam with Jesus Christ, who is called 00:03:18.750 --> 00:03:21.129 elsewhere in the New Testament the last Adam. 00:03:22.250 --> 00:03:27.810 to reveal that through Adam's sin, we all sinned. 00:03:28.810 --> 00:03:32.129 And that through Christ's obedient sacrifice 00:03:32.129 --> 00:03:37.270 at Calvary, all are potentially made righteous. 00:03:39.610 --> 00:03:44.349 Verse 12 says, just as through one man sin entered 00:03:44.349 --> 00:03:49.849 into the world, who is that one man? Adam, right. 00:03:50.889 --> 00:03:56.330 and death through sin, so death spread to all 00:03:56.330 --> 00:04:01.409 men because all sinned in Adam. Those last two 00:04:01.409 --> 00:04:03.830 words I inserted because that's the meaning of 00:04:03.830 --> 00:04:12.069 it. All sinned in Adam. The argument of this 00:04:12.069 --> 00:04:15.289 paragraph rests upon an important principle. 00:04:15.349 --> 00:04:20.009 It is the principle of headship. What that means 00:04:20.009 --> 00:04:25.410 is that Adam, by virtue of his creation, was 00:04:25.410 --> 00:04:29.790 the head of the human race. He was the first 00:04:29.790 --> 00:04:35.610 man, and when he sinned, all of us who have descended 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:41.490 from him sinned in him. We were literally in 00:04:41.490 --> 00:04:48.350 his body when he sinned. Now the theological 00:04:48.350 --> 00:04:54.129 significance of our text is destroyed if it could 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:58.310 be proved that Adam was not a literal man, the 00:04:58.310 --> 00:05:03.050 special creation of God. It is popular in some 00:05:03.050 --> 00:05:05.610 circles these days to think of Adam as a myth 00:05:05.610 --> 00:05:11.829 or legend, or as only a symbol that should be 00:05:11.829 --> 00:05:14.589 interpreted allegorically to see the moral behind 00:05:14.589 --> 00:05:20.620 Adam. If that be the case, then the principle 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:26.620 of his representing all men in his sin is undermined. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:31.259 And this passage of the word of God is nonsense. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.439 Therefore, before we get to the real thrust of 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:38.980 what Paul is saying in these verses 12 through 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:42.759 21, I'd like for us to consider today what the 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:46.899 Bible says about the historicity of Adam. That 00:05:46.899 --> 00:05:50.420 is, he was a historical figure. That he literally 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:55.300 was created, he lived, and he died. This deals 00:05:55.300 --> 00:05:58.600 with the matter of origins and creation. And 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.879 I recognize that there are those who feel that 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:05.500 that is a subject for scientists and not theologians. 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:10.839 However, I agree with the logic of Dr. Alfred 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:15.339 Rawinkle, a Lutheran theologian. As he writes 00:06:15.339 --> 00:06:18.920 in his preface to the book The Wonders of Creation, 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:24.019 a magnificent book, he says, All who examine 00:06:24.019 --> 00:06:26.939 the work of creation in this manner of necessity 00:06:26.939 --> 00:06:31.079 must enter the field which the scientist commonly 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:35.779 claims for his own exclusive domain. And because 00:06:35.779 --> 00:06:39.180 of that, for many this will eliminate me as competent 00:06:39.180 --> 00:06:43.870 to discuss this subject. I am a theologian and 00:06:43.870 --> 00:06:46.990 not a professional scientist, and for many it 00:06:46.990 --> 00:06:49.329 is taken for granted that what a theologian, 00:06:49.329 --> 00:06:52.449 and especially a fundamental theologian, has 00:06:52.449 --> 00:06:57.129 to say on this subject is inconsequential. Dr. 00:06:57.189 --> 00:07:00.209 Ray Winkle goes on to say, In reply to these 00:07:00.209 --> 00:07:03.350 objections, I would like to say that the problem 00:07:03.350 --> 00:07:06.930 concerning the origin of the universe is beyond 00:07:06.930 --> 00:07:11.029 the possibility of human observation and experimentation. 00:07:12.519 --> 00:07:17.160 and therefore outside the scope of science. This 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:19.500 knowledge can be attained only through revelation 00:07:19.500 --> 00:07:23.959 and accepted by faith. The question of creation 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:27.040 is therefore a question of theology and not of 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:32.699 science. Our society today has been mesmerized. 00:07:34.579 --> 00:07:37.360 The intellectual establishment has been led like 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:41.899 a blind animal with a ring in its nose by pseudoscientists, 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:50.279 who claim that evolution is a proven fact. This 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:55.759 hypnosis has affected philosophers, scientists, 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:00.220 educators, and theologians by the thousands, 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:05.000 who have adopted this unproven, unscientific 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.339 theory as a basis for their thinking, writing, 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:14.230 and teaching. A few of them have attempted a 00:08:14.230 --> 00:08:20.430 compromise with the Bible by conjuring up a concept 00:08:20.430 --> 00:08:26.269 called theistic evolution, which says, in essence, 00:08:26.389 --> 00:08:30.189 though it takes a number of forms, that God is 00:08:30.189 --> 00:08:33.309 the originator, God is the creator, but he chose 00:08:33.309 --> 00:08:40.389 to produce man by the process of evolution. While 00:08:40.389 --> 00:08:44.649 intellectually tempting to some, it is theological 00:08:44.649 --> 00:08:49.690 suicide to accept that, and it destroys the authority 00:08:49.690 --> 00:08:55.509 and trustworthiness of God and the Bible. Those 00:08:55.509 --> 00:08:58.929 are some broad statements. But I affirm to you 00:08:58.929 --> 00:09:02.850 that if evolution is true, and if Adam was not 00:09:02.850 --> 00:09:05.549 in fact a special creation and the first man, 00:09:05.750 --> 00:09:09.519 representing all mankind, And the passage that 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.639 we're going to study in the next week or so is 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:18.840 absolutely without meaning. My basic proposition 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:24.899 is that God created man in his own image. If 00:09:24.899 --> 00:09:26.879 you will take the outline from your worship folder, 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:30.659 you'll find that statement broken down into three 00:09:30.659 --> 00:09:37.460 parts. The God created. God created man. And 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:42.340 God created man in his image. Let's think about 00:09:42.340 --> 00:09:44.840 the first part of that statement, that God created, 00:09:45.059 --> 00:09:47.039 and to do that, I'd like for you to turn with 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:57.500 me to Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. The Bible begins 00:09:57.500 --> 00:10:03.740 with a simple yet profound statement that simply 00:10:03.740 --> 00:10:10.779 says, in the beginning, God created the heavens 00:10:10.779 --> 00:10:15.039 and the earth. There is no argument for the existence 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:20.120 of God that is merely assumed. And it says that 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:25.100 in that which characterized the beginning, that 00:10:25.100 --> 00:10:30.360 God created the heavens and the earth. There 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:33.779 are three gaps which no evolutionist has ever 00:10:33.779 --> 00:10:40.149 bridged, or will be able to bridge. The first 00:10:40.149 --> 00:10:43.549 gap is the gap between nothing and something. 00:10:44.809 --> 00:10:50.009 It's the problem of origins. The theory of evolution 00:10:50.009 --> 00:10:52.870 cannot bridge that gap as to where something 00:10:52.870 --> 00:11:00.450 began. The origin of matter. A second gap that 00:11:00.450 --> 00:11:02.950 an evolutionist cannot bridge is that between 00:11:02.950 --> 00:11:10.159 inanimate matter and living matter. That is the 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:16.600 mystery of life. The spark of life, where did 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:20.879 it come from? And how do we explain by that theory, 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:30.100 or by any theory, how life began? A third gap 00:11:30.100 --> 00:11:36.200 is that of the one that exists between animals 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:41.019 and man. The third evolution has not been able 00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:45.320 to bridge that gap. It involves the uniqueness 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:48.019 of man. He is different than animals. And though 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:52.299 there are animals that are intelligent, and there 00:11:52.299 --> 00:11:57.500 are animals that have a structure similar to 00:11:57.500 --> 00:12:02.889 that of mankind's, there is a wide gap. that 00:12:02.889 --> 00:12:07.350 exists between the animal kingdom and mankind. 00:12:08.090 --> 00:12:10.830 And that gap has not been bridged by the theory 00:12:10.830 --> 00:12:14.210 of evolution. It's fun to look at the pictures 00:12:14.210 --> 00:12:16.490 that somebody thought up that supposedly bridges 00:12:16.490 --> 00:12:20.230 the gap, but we must remember that those pictures 00:12:20.230 --> 00:12:24.190 are just the imagination of a man. Those structures, 00:12:24.289 --> 00:12:27.730 in fossil form or any other form, have never 00:12:27.730 --> 00:12:29.450 been discovered. You would almost think that 00:12:29.450 --> 00:12:32.519 a cave had been discovered somewhere. Some guy 00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:35.379 a long time ago drew all those pictures so that 00:12:35.379 --> 00:12:37.259 we today would know how everybody looked back 00:12:37.259 --> 00:12:41.139 in those days. It was simply the imagination 00:12:41.139 --> 00:12:45.200 of an artist constructing what the theory of 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:48.620 evolution thinks is the bridge between man and 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:51.620 animal. That's never been proven scientifically. 00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:56.519 The Bible, however, clearly and simply bridges 00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:59.970 all three of these gaps. It does not do it in 00:12:59.970 --> 00:13:02.049 a scientific way. It simply makes statements 00:13:02.049 --> 00:13:05.990 of revelation. One must accept what the Bible 00:13:05.990 --> 00:13:08.669 says by faith, just as one must accept the theory 00:13:08.669 --> 00:13:12.169 of evolution by faith. The scientific evidence 00:13:12.169 --> 00:13:15.789 can be used to prove, quote, unquote, both theories. 00:13:16.850 --> 00:13:20.590 I am convinced, as a creationist, that the evidence 00:13:20.590 --> 00:13:25.450 clearly points toward the fact, I will call it, 00:13:25.490 --> 00:13:29.029 of creation. But that's not our main subject 00:13:29.029 --> 00:13:32.289 today. If you're interested in that subject, 00:13:32.389 --> 00:13:33.990 I would encourage you to get a tape that we have 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:37.429 available in our bookstore on the matter of creation, 00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:40.350 which was delivered here this last summer by 00:13:40.350 --> 00:13:46.289 Ron Carlson. And you will be, I think, impressed 00:13:46.289 --> 00:13:50.450 with the details that this 20th century apologist 00:13:50.450 --> 00:13:53.830 for the Christian faith brings to bear upon this 00:13:53.830 --> 00:13:57.840 subject. But let me just show you. quickly how 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:00.600 the Bible bridges these three gaps that have 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:02.980 not been bridged by the theory of evolution. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:05.639 What about the gap between nothing and matter? 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:10.259 Well, the Bible simply says that God spoke and 00:14:10.259 --> 00:14:15.360 matter suddenly existed. And as Hebrews 11 .3 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:20.580 says, we take that by faith. The Hebrew word 00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:25.200 for create In Genesis chapter 1 is a word that 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:30.039 means to create something out of nothing. There 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:33.919 are other words for create that have to do with 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:38.120 taking what exists and reforming it. But God 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:42.000 clearly says, it could not be more clear, that 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.679 in the beginning he created the heavens and the 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:49.509 earth out of nothing. And he explains later here 00:14:49.509 --> 00:14:52.210 that it was accomplished by the act of his will. 00:14:54.889 --> 00:14:58.370 What about the bridge between inanimate, non 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:03.210 -living matter and that matter which lives? Well, 00:15:03.269 --> 00:15:06.190 again, in this chapter, Genesis chapter 1, we 00:15:06.190 --> 00:15:10.429 have that bridge crossed. God spoke and that 00:15:10.429 --> 00:15:14.860 which is alive came to be in verse 20. God said, 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:18.259 Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:20.740 and let birds fly above the earth in the open 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:24.379 expanse of the heavens. And God created the great 00:15:24.379 --> 00:15:27.159 sea monsters and every living creature that moves, 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:30.879 with which the waters swarmed after their kind, 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:34.960 and every winged bird after its kind. And God 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:37.399 saw that it was good and blessed them, saying, 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:39.940 Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters 00:15:39.940 --> 00:15:43.049 of the seas. And let the birds multiply on the 00:15:43.049 --> 00:15:46.409 earth. And on that fifth day, God bridged that 00:15:46.409 --> 00:15:49.250 gap between that which did not live and that 00:15:49.250 --> 00:15:54.750 which is said to be animate. And then the third 00:15:54.750 --> 00:15:58.669 gap, that between the animal kingdom and humankind. 00:16:00.429 --> 00:16:03.730 Again, Genesis chapter 1 bridges that gap. In 00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:08.769 verse 26, God said, Let us make man in our image 00:16:08.769 --> 00:16:12.269 according to our likeness. And let them rule 00:16:12.269 --> 00:16:14.649 over the fish of the sea and over the birds of 00:16:14.649 --> 00:16:16.909 the sky and over the cattle and over all the 00:16:16.909 --> 00:16:20.190 earth and over every creeping thing that creeps 00:16:20.190 --> 00:16:24.389 on the earth. And God created man in his own 00:16:24.389 --> 00:16:28.990 image. In the image of God, he created him. Male 00:16:28.990 --> 00:16:33.870 and female, he created them. So how is that gap 00:16:33.870 --> 00:16:41.139 bridged between the animals and man? special 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:46.779 act of God fashioning man in his image. Now, 00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:51.220 when did this occur? That's not a matter primarily 00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:54.519 related to what we're talking about today. There 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:58.139 are equally godly men on different positions 00:16:58.139 --> 00:17:02.080 regarding the timing of all of this. I would 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:05.700 simply say that there is no reason that I have 00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:08.819 discovered in my reading to think that it has 00:17:08.819 --> 00:17:13.200 to be more than a few thousand years ago. In 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:15.460 fact, it seems to me that those arguments that 00:17:15.460 --> 00:17:21.619 are positioning themselves for long ages are 00:17:21.619 --> 00:17:25.240 based upon man's observations and conclusions 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:28.859 out of attempt to compromise with scientific 00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:32.880 theories. And we must remember that man's observations 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:38.579 and conclusions are limited. by his finite intellect. 00:17:40.299 --> 00:17:43.359 And therefore we need not worry about compromising 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:46.200 the eternal and changing word of God with what 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:51.599 man thinks at any given point. Is this an obscurantist 00:17:51.599 --> 00:18:00.779 position? Is this fundamentalist ignorance? Is 00:18:00.779 --> 00:18:03.240 this intellectual suicide, as some people say? 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:06.980 I would affirm to you that everything that I've 00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:10.000 said thus far in the message is compatible with 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.680 the true scientific facts that we have. It must 00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:16.779 be admitted that as one approaches the facts, 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.279 whatever his position, he approaches it with 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:24.559 bias. The facts that we have point well to the 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:29.099 theory or the fact of creation that God created. 00:18:30.569 --> 00:18:32.710 But let me pass from that to a more specific 00:18:32.710 --> 00:18:37.549 subject, that God created man. In Genesis chapter 00:18:37.549 --> 00:18:47.470 2 and verse 7, it says, Then the Lord God formed 00:18:47.470 --> 00:18:52.289 man of dust from the ground, and breathed into 00:18:52.289 --> 00:18:55.849 his nostrils the breath of life, and man became 00:18:55.849 --> 00:18:59.980 a living being. There are those who say, oh, 00:19:00.019 --> 00:19:02.059 you're a creationist. Well, which account do 00:19:02.059 --> 00:19:05.279 you believe? The account in chapter 1 or the 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:09.339 account in chapter 2? And my response to that 00:19:09.339 --> 00:19:15.980 is yes. I believe both accounts because, in fact, 00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:18.519 what we have here are supplemental accounts. 00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:22.680 In chapter 1, there is the broad stroke of what 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:25.140 God did. In chapter 2, he goes back to fill in 00:19:25.140 --> 00:19:28.640 the details. Chapter 2 very simply supplements 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.980 what is said in chapter 1. There is no contradiction 00:19:32.980 --> 00:19:36.440 between the two, as some scholars seem to suppose. 00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:40.779 Furthermore, the language here clearly indicates 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:44.960 that Adam was not the result of a long process 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:50.220 of upward progression in the species. He is not 00:19:50.220 --> 00:19:54.559 the result of natural selection or the survival 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:58.819 of the fittest. but rather it simply states that 00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:04.119 he was made by a special act of creation. God 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:09.420 took simple elements of his creation. He calls 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:14.019 it dust. And out of those simple elements, he 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:20.000 fashioned a body. And then God breathed into 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.849 the nostrils of that body. The breath of life, 00:20:25.069 --> 00:20:30.690 and it says man became a living being. God did 00:20:30.690 --> 00:20:32.849 not do that with any of the animals. He spoke 00:20:32.849 --> 00:20:36.170 and they simply were. But man is distinct. He 00:20:36.170 --> 00:20:40.450 is unique. God breathed into man his own breath 00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:48.589 or spirit, same Hebrew word, of life. God created 00:20:48.589 --> 00:20:52.420 man. And let's complete the sentence by saying 00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:56.180 God created man in his image, his own image. 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:58.799 That doesn't mean that God has a body and he 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:03.079 looks like you and me. What it means is that 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:08.279 just as God is a triunity, so man is a trinity. 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:14.720 He is a tripart being of body, soul, and spirit. 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:21.140 The body is his world conscious part. By which 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:24.180 he relates to his environment. And he has senses 00:21:24.180 --> 00:21:26.960 that God has built into the healthy body of sight 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.859 and taste and touch and so on. So he can relate 00:21:29.859 --> 00:21:34.339 to the world around him. The soul is his self 00:21:34.339 --> 00:21:39.720 -conscious aspect. It's that part of us that 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:45.660 is aware of what's going on. The intellect. The 00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:55.019 will. The emotions. The ego. And the spirit is 00:21:55.019 --> 00:21:58.119 that God -conscious part of man by which man 00:21:58.119 --> 00:22:01.880 is able to relate to the personal creator and 00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:06.839 worship him. That's part of what it means, at 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:09.420 least, when it says that man is created in God's 00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:13.740 image. A tree is not created in God's image. 00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:18.319 Created by God, but not in God's image. It has 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:21.880 a body. But it doesn't have a soul or spirit. 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:27.019 A dog is created by God, but a dog isn't created 00:22:27.019 --> 00:22:32.420 in God's image. A dog has a body. And the Bible 00:22:32.420 --> 00:22:36.140 says it has a soul. That is, it has a certain 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:41.539 sense of its own existence. A dog can learn tricks 00:22:41.539 --> 00:22:47.920 and unlearn them. It can obey and disobey. But 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:52.920 all of that is built into its soulish part. An 00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:55.319 animal dies. The body is still there, but the 00:22:55.319 --> 00:23:00.180 animal is dead. Part of the animal is gone. That's 00:23:00.180 --> 00:23:07.000 its soulish aspect. Man, however, has a body, 00:23:07.019 --> 00:23:13.200 a soul, on a higher plane than even an animal, 00:23:13.339 --> 00:23:20.650 and a spirit. the very core of his being. When 00:23:20.650 --> 00:23:25.289 a man dies, his body is left. That's the material 00:23:25.289 --> 00:23:29.170 part. But the immaterial, the soul and the spirit, 00:23:29.410 --> 00:23:35.349 which are mysteriously united, by which the Bible 00:23:35.349 --> 00:23:39.589 does distinguish, that immaterial part of him 00:23:39.589 --> 00:23:43.789 leaves the body. That's what death is. I had 00:23:43.789 --> 00:23:48.599 a funeral Friday. And as some of the folks came 00:23:48.599 --> 00:23:52.019 in, they said, that doesn't look like him. I've 00:23:52.019 --> 00:23:54.400 rarely heard anybody say it does look like the 00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:57.299 one we knew. And why is that? Because when the 00:23:57.299 --> 00:24:01.559 immaterial part leaves the body, it changes in 00:24:01.559 --> 00:24:04.160 its appearance even a little bit, because life 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:10.039 is no longer there. It's the same body, but something 00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:13.119 is missing, and that something is the soul, spirit, 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:18.819 the immaterial part. Man is not a spirit because 00:24:18.819 --> 00:24:20.960 he has a body, but he has a part of him that 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:25.500 is spiritual. Adam, the first man and the representative 00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:29.559 of all of us, was created body, soul, and spirit 00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:34.900 like God, and he was innocent. He was given authority 00:24:34.900 --> 00:24:38.099 to reign over God's creation, as verse 28 of 00:24:38.099 --> 00:24:41.890 Genesis 1 says, God blessed them. And God said 00:24:41.890 --> 00:24:44.569 to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the 00:24:44.569 --> 00:24:49.390 earth and subdue it and rule. God wanted man 00:24:49.390 --> 00:24:52.349 to rule and to reign over his creation. Man was 00:24:52.349 --> 00:24:55.289 set up with a kingdom to reign over. He was the 00:24:55.289 --> 00:25:01.549 masterpiece of God's earthly creation. This basic 00:25:01.549 --> 00:25:05.750 proposition that Adam existed, that he was body, 00:25:05.829 --> 00:25:10.349 soul, and spirit, that he was a special, created 00:25:10.349 --> 00:25:16.809 being of God is not an option for us to believe. 00:25:18.490 --> 00:25:23.690 It is essential and basic, I submit, to the Christian 00:25:23.690 --> 00:25:28.450 message. Let me give you three things that it's 00:25:28.450 --> 00:25:35.349 essential to. The historicity of Adam, that he 00:25:35.349 --> 00:25:40.180 actually lived was created and lived and died, 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:46.799 as God has said in Genesis 1 and 2 and 3, is 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:49.579 essential, number one, to the humanity of Jesus 00:25:49.579 --> 00:25:54.740 Christ. Now those who doubt the historicity of 00:25:54.740 --> 00:25:58.160 Adam may not be thinking clearly regarding the 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:01.660 ramifications of that teaching. Because you see, 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:04.339 it touches the very humanity of Jesus Christ. 00:26:05.230 --> 00:26:07.289 Let me prove that by turning you to Luke chapter 00:26:07.289 --> 00:26:15.049 3. We have Luke's genealogical record of the 00:26:15.049 --> 00:26:22.829 Lord Jesus Christ. In his genealogy, Luke traces 00:26:22.829 --> 00:26:30.769 the Lord Jesus' genealogy through Mary, most 00:26:30.769 --> 00:26:35.359 Bible scholars seem to believe. through the ancestry 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:41.079 all the way back to Adam, verse 38. We're going 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:43.960 to skip all those long lists of names and go 00:26:43.960 --> 00:26:47.019 to verse 38, the conclusion of the list, and 00:26:47.019 --> 00:26:51.240 he says, the son of Enoch, the son of Seth, the 00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:57.119 son of Adam, the son of God. You see, the humanity 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:00.700 of our Lord Jesus Christ is traced back through 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:07.460 history to Adam. If Adam is a myth, or just a 00:27:07.460 --> 00:27:12.140 symbol to be interpreted allegorically, then 00:27:12.140 --> 00:27:15.680 how does that relate to the actual humanity of 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:20.339 Jesus Christ? If Adam is a myth, then what does 00:27:20.339 --> 00:27:27.420 that make Jesus? Related to a myth? Or is the 00:27:27.420 --> 00:27:29.420 Bible not accurate when it says what it says 00:27:29.420 --> 00:27:34.900 in Luke 3 .38? You see, whether Adam lived or 00:27:34.900 --> 00:27:37.720 not touches the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:27:39.500 --> 00:27:43.359 One cannot doubt that Adam lived without in some 00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:45.519 way having to deal then with whether Jesus really 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:49.000 lived and was he really human. Or is the Bible 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:56.819 erroneous? And then this aspect or this fact 00:27:56.819 --> 00:28:00.160 rather of the historicity of Adam relates also 00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:05.640 to the honesty. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:09.700 chapter 19 deals with the sticky subject of divorce. 00:28:12.660 --> 00:28:15.440 I'm going to select just one verse out of the 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:18.400 context without doing damage to it, just to show 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:21.279 you one of Jesus' statements as he teaches about 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:27.279 divorce. In Matthew 19 verse 4, in response to 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:30.920 some Pharisees who were testing him, He answered 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:35.440 and said, Have you not read that he who created 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:41.299 them from the beginning made them male and female? 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:46.180 What is Jesus saying here? He is saying that 00:28:46.180 --> 00:28:48.660 the creation took place and that God created 00:28:48.660 --> 00:28:54.339 them male and female. In other words, he is underscoring 00:28:54.339 --> 00:28:59.690 the accuracy of the account of Genesis. It is 00:28:59.690 --> 00:29:02.150 interesting that the Lord Jesus Christ went out 00:29:02.150 --> 00:29:06.609 of his way to underscore and affirm the actual 00:29:06.609 --> 00:29:10.910 historical veracity of most of those things that 00:29:10.910 --> 00:29:16.849 modern -day scholars doubt. The historicity of 00:29:16.849 --> 00:29:22.049 Adam, the fall of man into sin, the worldwide 00:29:22.049 --> 00:29:27.150 flood, the scattering of the nations, the Tower 00:29:27.150 --> 00:29:34.190 of Babel. Jonah and his experience. The Lord 00:29:34.190 --> 00:29:37.430 Jesus Christ went out of his way to affirm that 00:29:37.430 --> 00:29:41.210 these things were true. So when a person begins 00:29:41.210 --> 00:29:46.890 to doubt those things, he is placing doubt concerning 00:29:46.890 --> 00:29:49.730 the honesty and the truthfulness of the Lord 00:29:49.730 --> 00:29:53.349 Jesus Christ. Jesus said, haven't you read that 00:29:53.349 --> 00:29:56.329 in the beginning God created them, male and female? 00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:05.920 And this fact of the historicity of Adam also 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:10.059 affects the accuracy of other New Testament writers. 00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:15.759 The Apostle Paul, for example, in Romans 5, makes 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:20.880 no sense whatsoever if Adam did not live. How 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:23.220 can we relate Adam as the head of the human race 00:30:23.220 --> 00:30:29.730 if in fact he's a symbol or myth? Paul is ridiculous 00:30:29.730 --> 00:30:34.109 in that point if Adam did not live. Let me show 00:30:34.109 --> 00:30:37.230 you another passage where Paul relates to Adam. 00:30:37.369 --> 00:30:42.450 And the passage is based upon what he says concerning 00:30:42.450 --> 00:30:49.049 Adam and Eve in 1 Timothy chapter 2. Some of 00:30:49.049 --> 00:30:54.190 you love this text. He deals here with the public 00:30:54.190 --> 00:30:56.470 worship of the church and particularly to the 00:30:56.470 --> 00:31:00.480 role of men and women. in relation to the public 00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:05.380 assembly of the believers. Is this just to be 00:31:05.380 --> 00:31:07.880 culturally written out of the Word of God? Absolutely 00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:11.720 not. There are things in the New Testament that 00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:16.220 are cultural, but always, listen, always below 00:31:16.220 --> 00:31:19.019 that there is a basic principle that does not 00:31:19.019 --> 00:31:22.900 change with the change of cultures. And we see 00:31:22.900 --> 00:31:26.349 that, for example, right here. He's talking about 00:31:26.349 --> 00:31:30.170 the men are to pray, lifting up their holy hands, 00:31:30.470 --> 00:31:34.869 pure motives. He talks about women being modest 00:31:34.869 --> 00:31:39.170 in their dress, in their appearance, that they're 00:31:39.170 --> 00:31:42.410 to receive instruction with submissiveness, not 00:31:42.410 --> 00:31:44.430 to allow women to teach or exercise authority 00:31:44.430 --> 00:31:47.630 over men, but to remain quiet. He's talking here 00:31:47.630 --> 00:31:51.269 about the public assembly of the church. There 00:31:51.269 --> 00:31:53.529 are people who take these things out of context. 00:31:54.119 --> 00:31:57.079 and extremes in both directions. It's not my 00:31:57.079 --> 00:31:59.380 purpose to talk about that specifically today, 00:31:59.619 --> 00:32:02.680 but to simply show you that he's saying some 00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:04.579 things here to the church, and then he says the 00:32:04.579 --> 00:32:08.720 reason for it in verse 13. For it was Adam who 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:14.900 was first created, and then Eve. And so he's 00:32:14.900 --> 00:32:16.740 saying the reason I give you these instructions 00:32:16.740 --> 00:32:19.460 is because Adam was first created and then Eve. 00:32:20.660 --> 00:32:24.309 And that's why you should do these things. Now, 00:32:24.349 --> 00:32:26.930 is Paul inaccurate in saying that Adam was created 00:32:26.930 --> 00:32:30.509 and then Eve? Then why should we obey his commands 00:32:30.509 --> 00:32:32.809 here? You see how it begins to crumble and fall 00:32:32.809 --> 00:32:36.529 apart once we begin to doubt something like this 00:32:36.529 --> 00:32:42.809 in the Word of God? God created man in his own 00:32:42.809 --> 00:32:47.430 image. To deny that and to deny the historicity 00:32:47.430 --> 00:32:50.269 of Adam is to impugn the integrity of the Bible 00:32:50.269 --> 00:32:54.319 and the God of the Bible. It is a very serious 00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:58.859 step away from orthodox Christianity. And I don't 00:32:58.859 --> 00:33:01.380 care where one might hear it, in the classroom 00:33:01.380 --> 00:33:04.319 or in the pulpit or in a personal conversation. 00:33:05.380 --> 00:33:10.140 It is nonetheless a small, but perhaps not so 00:33:10.140 --> 00:33:14.420 small, first step toward false teaching. Now 00:33:14.420 --> 00:33:16.619 let's go back to Romans chapter 5 and look at 00:33:16.619 --> 00:33:23.220 verse 12 again. And with the background that 00:33:23.220 --> 00:33:26.160 we've tried to paint, let's see what the apostle 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:32.740 says. Therefore, just as through one man sin 00:33:32.740 --> 00:33:36.480 entered into the world, and death through sin, 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:42.839 so death spread to all men, because all sinned. 00:33:43.099 --> 00:33:46.980 And again I say, it means all sinned in Adam. 00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:51.440 Now what happened to Adam and to us? What is 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:56.420 this talk here about sin? You will recall that 00:33:56.420 --> 00:34:01.980 God established a test for man's faith, dependence, 00:34:02.359 --> 00:34:08.440 and obedience. God said, you may eat of all of 00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:12.500 the trees of the garden, but of the tree of the 00:34:12.500 --> 00:34:15.619 knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat 00:34:15.619 --> 00:34:21.409 of it, lest you surely die. You see, God wanted 00:34:21.409 --> 00:34:26.429 man to know good and evil by revelation and by 00:34:26.429 --> 00:34:34.449 faith, not by personal experience. You know the 00:34:34.449 --> 00:34:39.489 record. Eve was deceived, but Adam chose in rebellion 00:34:39.489 --> 00:34:47.750 to eat the fruit. That test, that tree, its fruit 00:34:47.750 --> 00:34:51.369 symbolized man's creaturehood and his dependence 00:34:51.369 --> 00:34:58.170 upon God. Man rejected that when he ate of the 00:34:58.170 --> 00:35:03.050 fruit. And when God said, you shall surely die, 00:35:03.230 --> 00:35:06.730 he reiterated when he said to Adam, you are made 00:35:06.730 --> 00:35:12.789 of dust, and to dust you shall return. And then 00:35:12.789 --> 00:35:15.650 in Genesis chapter 5, you have the record. Adam 00:35:15.650 --> 00:35:17.769 lived so many years, and he begot Seth, and he 00:35:17.769 --> 00:35:21.989 lived so many other years, and he died. And then 00:35:21.989 --> 00:35:24.050 Seth's record. He lived so many years, he begot, 00:35:24.070 --> 00:35:27.550 he lived, and he died. And you trace it right 00:35:27.550 --> 00:35:29.590 through Genesis chapter 5, which some people 00:35:29.590 --> 00:35:33.070 call the Bible's obituary. And time after time 00:35:33.070 --> 00:35:37.769 it says he died. He died. He died. Why? Because 00:35:37.769 --> 00:35:45.019 of Adam's sin. Listen to this. People die not 00:35:45.019 --> 00:35:50.079 because of personal sin, but because of Adam's 00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:54.840 sin. That is what is said here. That's part of 00:35:54.840 --> 00:35:56.460 the argument and we'll get to it more fully next 00:35:56.460 --> 00:36:03.320 week. Why do babies die? What sin has a baby 00:36:03.320 --> 00:36:07.900 committed that he should die? A baby is innocent 00:36:07.900 --> 00:36:12.849 of transgression, of breaking the law. Unable 00:36:12.849 --> 00:36:18.110 to comprehend it. And yet babies die. Why? Because 00:36:18.110 --> 00:36:22.389 of Adam's sin. Death is passed down from generation 00:36:22.389 --> 00:36:25.489 to generation because of what Adam did. Not in 00:36:25.489 --> 00:36:27.969 his second act of disobedience, or his fifth, 00:36:28.010 --> 00:36:30.769 or his tenth, but because of that first act of 00:36:30.769 --> 00:36:34.510 disobedience. In declaring his independence from 00:36:34.510 --> 00:36:41.440 God. Why is it that mentally, Handicapped people 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:47.360 die because of Adam's sin. And you say, well, 00:36:47.460 --> 00:36:50.860 that dirty guy, Adam. And you begin to blame 00:36:50.860 --> 00:36:52.659 it all on him. But folks, let me tell you something. 00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:56.260 If every one of us was put into the Garden of 00:36:56.260 --> 00:36:59.980 Eden and given the same test, every one of us 00:36:59.980 --> 00:37:05.579 would make the same choice that Adam did. Sin 00:37:05.579 --> 00:37:10.260 is a condition. It is also a choice. People act 00:37:10.260 --> 00:37:17.079 sinfully because they are sinners. If a man were 00:37:17.079 --> 00:37:21.019 only an evolved animal, then he could not be 00:37:21.019 --> 00:37:23.780 held morally responsible or accountable for his 00:37:23.780 --> 00:37:28.099 sin. Animals are not held accountable to God 00:37:28.099 --> 00:37:36.659 because they disobeyed. Mankind is. Every man 00:37:36.659 --> 00:37:44.130 is. Death passed upon all men, for all have sinned 00:37:44.130 --> 00:37:49.949 in Adam. Today, if you've never trusted Jesus 00:37:49.949 --> 00:37:54.230 Christ as your Savior, you are still in death 00:37:54.230 --> 00:38:00.190 and in Adam. Your need is to be born out of that 00:38:00.190 --> 00:38:05.369 family by the new birth, by trusting Jesus Christ 00:38:05.369 --> 00:38:10.219 and being born into the family of God. eternal 00:38:10.219 --> 00:38:16.340 life. Has that happened to you? You say, well, 00:38:16.380 --> 00:38:20.000 I'm working toward it. Then I feel sorry for 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:22.380 you because you'll never get there if you're 00:38:22.380 --> 00:38:26.360 working for it. If you've been with us very long 00:38:26.360 --> 00:38:28.500 in Romans, you know that it's not by works that 00:38:28.500 --> 00:38:32.300 we're saved, but it's by God's grace alone. All 00:38:32.300 --> 00:38:35.239 we can do is reach out and by faith receive God's 00:38:35.239 --> 00:38:39.300 gift of righteousness and eternal life. which 00:38:39.300 --> 00:38:42.000 he's provided for us through Jesus Christ's death 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:46.219 and resurrection. You see, Jesus Christ was preserved 00:38:46.219 --> 00:38:50.239 from Adam's sin. That's why the virgin birth 00:38:50.239 --> 00:38:53.119 of the Lord Jesus Christ is so doctrinally fundamental 00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:58.880 and essential. He did not inherit sin from Adam 00:38:58.880 --> 00:39:03.599 because there was no male seed as a part of his 00:39:03.599 --> 00:39:11.570 conception. And the Holy Spirit, Protected. That 00:39:11.570 --> 00:39:17.289 embryo. Within Mary's womb. So that Mary's sin. 00:39:17.929 --> 00:39:23.590 Was not passed on. To Christ. When he was born 00:39:23.590 --> 00:39:29.190 he was called that holy one. And he was. No sin. 00:39:30.469 --> 00:39:35.550 Fully human. But without sin. And it was as a 00:39:35.550 --> 00:39:40.250 man. and as God, that he went to the cross and 00:39:40.250 --> 00:39:43.630 died in your place and mine, and provided for 00:39:43.630 --> 00:39:48.349 us to be saved from our sin and our death. If 00:39:48.349 --> 00:39:50.090 you've never trusted him, I hope you'll do it 00:39:50.090 --> 00:39:54.570 today. Most of us here, though, have done that, 00:39:54.710 --> 00:39:59.329 I would think. I'd like to close with a couple 00:39:59.329 --> 00:40:01.969 of applications that strike us as well as those 00:40:01.969 --> 00:40:05.389 who may be here without Christ. Regarding sin, 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:10.860 First of all, sin bears tragic consequences. 00:40:12.780 --> 00:40:17.920 Sin is a destroyer. Look at what it did to God's 00:40:17.920 --> 00:40:20.699 creation, which again and again God saw it was 00:40:20.699 --> 00:40:25.300 good. It's good. It's good. And God rested on 00:40:25.300 --> 00:40:28.500 this seventh day because those six days of creation 00:40:28.500 --> 00:40:32.840 were perfect. And yet sin entered into that creation 00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:38.110 and destroyed it. Man who was created to reign 00:40:38.110 --> 00:40:44.989 over his own kingdom lost his rule. He began 00:40:44.989 --> 00:40:51.250 to die. Civilization began to fall apart as evil 00:40:51.250 --> 00:40:55.130 took deeper and deeper root in man. Sin destroys. 00:40:56.570 --> 00:41:01.289 It not only destroys in a historical sense, it 00:41:01.289 --> 00:41:05.969 destroys still today in a personal sense. There 00:41:05.969 --> 00:41:07.869 are some Christians who have the idea that they 00:41:07.869 --> 00:41:14.010 can play around with sin and live in it and not 00:41:14.010 --> 00:41:17.349 be hurt by it. How tragically wrong that is. 00:41:18.469 --> 00:41:22.789 Sin destroys. It destroys your peace with God, 00:41:22.889 --> 00:41:29.269 your peace of God. It destroys your joy. Sin 00:41:29.269 --> 00:41:31.590 will rob you of your reward when you stand before 00:41:31.590 --> 00:41:35.449 Christ. It will cause you to waste life. It will 00:41:35.449 --> 00:41:37.989 cause you to miss life's most fulfilling moments 00:41:37.989 --> 00:41:43.289 in the will of God. Sin destroys. And there are 00:41:43.289 --> 00:41:46.530 some of you here today playing with it. You think 00:41:46.530 --> 00:41:51.289 it's fun and it's pleasurable. And you are ignorant 00:41:51.289 --> 00:41:54.289 of the fact that it's like a cancer. It's eating 00:41:54.289 --> 00:41:58.849 away at your inner man. I pray, God, that you 00:41:58.849 --> 00:42:01.429 will come to Jesus Christ in repentance and confession 00:42:01.429 --> 00:42:05.460 today. So that that sin can be cleansed from 00:42:05.460 --> 00:42:07.760 your life and forgiven and God can begin a healing 00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:14.599 work to make you whole. Then a second lesson 00:42:14.599 --> 00:42:18.139 that we learn from our text today is that sin 00:42:18.139 --> 00:42:21.980 affects others. There's not a one of us who lives 00:42:21.980 --> 00:42:27.539 to himself only. When we sin, we affect those 00:42:27.539 --> 00:42:34.599 around us. We affect our roommates. our fellow 00:42:34.599 --> 00:42:39.699 students, our families, our church, so that we're 00:42:39.699 --> 00:42:41.980 not only destroying ourselves, we're destroying 00:42:41.980 --> 00:42:46.139 people around us. Don't you think that that bitterness 00:42:46.139 --> 00:42:48.280 and that anger that you harbor in your heart 00:42:48.280 --> 00:42:51.619 is not dragging others down? You just honestly 00:42:51.619 --> 00:42:55.400 look around you and see the deterioration in 00:42:55.400 --> 00:42:58.320 others because of the kind of attitudes that 00:42:58.320 --> 00:43:02.019 you're harboring within. Sin affects others. 00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:05.840 I don't think this was ever more graphically 00:43:05.840 --> 00:43:07.940 illustrated to me than in something that happened 00:43:07.940 --> 00:43:15.340 several years ago. A young boy, I don't know 00:43:15.340 --> 00:43:20.480 how old he was, but just a little tight, was 00:43:20.480 --> 00:43:23.699 given up by his parents. They didn't want him 00:43:23.699 --> 00:43:25.519 anymore. He was in the way, so they rejected 00:43:25.519 --> 00:43:30.880 him. There was a family that brought him into 00:43:30.880 --> 00:43:35.409 their home. and cared for him. And I'm sure they 00:43:35.409 --> 00:43:39.590 did their best to try to raise him, but that 00:43:39.590 --> 00:43:42.909 little boy never got over that rejection, that 00:43:42.909 --> 00:43:45.469 terrible sin his parents committed against him 00:43:45.469 --> 00:43:53.869 of not loving him. As he grew to be pre -teen 00:43:53.869 --> 00:43:57.570 and early teen, he got involved in rock music 00:43:57.570 --> 00:44:03.690 and in drugs. And finally, in the worship of 00:44:03.690 --> 00:44:13.730 Satan. One evening he went into his room. He 00:44:13.730 --> 00:44:18.170 turned on his psychedelic lights, turned up his 00:44:18.170 --> 00:44:24.710 rock music, opened the Satanic Bible, which he 00:44:24.710 --> 00:44:30.530 had a copy of, apparently read from it. Put a 00:44:30.530 --> 00:44:33.210 shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. 00:44:35.050 --> 00:44:39.429 I was called for his funeral. I'd never met him 00:44:39.429 --> 00:44:45.170 or the family before. They needed somebody. So 00:44:45.170 --> 00:44:48.090 I went down, and there in the funeral home was 00:44:48.090 --> 00:44:52.610 this 18 -year -old boy, senior in high school, 00:44:52.809 --> 00:44:58.369 lying on a casket in death. wearing blue jeans 00:44:58.369 --> 00:45:02.070 and a black leather jacket. Across his chest 00:45:02.070 --> 00:45:10.489 and his hands was his guitar. There wasn't a 00:45:10.489 --> 00:45:15.469 lot of hope in that situation. As people tried 00:45:15.469 --> 00:45:17.730 to blame God, I had a good time blaming the devil 00:45:17.730 --> 00:45:24.170 and sin for the whole mess. Then we got out to 00:45:24.170 --> 00:45:28.840 the cemetery. And the casket was left there by 00:45:28.840 --> 00:45:31.980 itself after the committal. I can still remember 00:45:31.980 --> 00:45:37.639 that metallic blue casket. We were walking away 00:45:37.639 --> 00:45:41.280 back to the cars, and suddenly out from the crowd 00:45:41.280 --> 00:45:46.460 ran a woman. It was the mother that had rejected 00:45:46.460 --> 00:45:53.019 him 15 or so years before. She ran to the casket, 00:45:53.139 --> 00:45:57.909 put her arms around it, and beat on it, calling 00:45:57.909 --> 00:46:02.590 out his name. And I thought to myself, dear lady, 00:46:02.710 --> 00:46:05.849 don't you know that it's a few years too late.