To understand the significance of Christ's
redeeming sacrifice an understanding of original sin and
imperfection is essential. The bible informs us “Through one man
[Adam] sin entered into the world and death
through sin, and thus death spread to all men
because they had all sinned.” Romans
5:12. Then at 1
Corinthians 15:22 it tells us "For just as through Adam all die,
so also through Christ all will (future)
be made alive
again," Weymouth
New Testament.
Did
Adam's original sin cause in him a physical mutation
which resulted in his imperfection (sin) from which he
died? Was this passed on to his offspring and so
onto all mankind causing all to die? If so how
through Christ can they all be made alive again?
Adam when created was pristine, physically
perfect, described by God as approved and very good, (Gen 1:31)
but his morals and disposition were unproven and would
need testing. He did not have the right to
everlasting life he had the opportunity of gaining it,
something physical members of God's family received
after qualifying. Qualification required positive exercise of a
persons freewill in determining each individuals
disposition and loyalty in relation to God and his
family, or lack of it. These choices would determine
whether an individual qualified for acceptance into
God's family with the privilege of everlasting life.
The record
tells us the cells in Adam's pristine body were created
with an initial life span charge, of up to a maximum of
1,000 years. This pre set, maximum 1,000 year
charge of life, was contained within a God day, "Don't overlook the obvious here, friends.
With God, one day is as a thousand years, a thousand
years as a day" 2 Pet 3:8 (MSG).
God had the right as creator
to examine Adam's disposition toward Him by a test
of his obedience and loyalty. Would he accept
God had the right to expect loyalty and obedience
from him? Adam failed his test, chose to
ignore God and went independent. He failed to
live up to God's standard, this is the meaning in
the bible of the Greek word harmartia and
the Hebrew word chattath
translated sin.
Adam was
warned that if he did not adhere to God's commands and
laws he would die within a 1000 year day period (Gen
2:17). He died when he was 930
years old. Adam was measured against God's moral
standard, by choosing to ignore God’s command
he opposed God, falling below God's substandard,
becoming a 'sinner'. After Adam's transgression
his body didn’t change in any way from its original
condition before his act of defiance, his genetic make
up, his DNA remained the same. But he had fallen
short of God’s principal
standard of loyalty.
God did not need to pass a death sentence on
him. Adam had already been warned that opposition
would lead to death before he reached the age of 1,000.
God warned him “In
the day you eat of it you will positively die".
Or because of going independent and opposing God he
would die within 1,000 years. Adam by his own action
inflicted an eventual death sentence on himself.
God did nothing further.
Adam initially had a 1,000 year
maximum battery cell life. He had been informed
that if he
opposed God his cells would age and wear out and he
would die within 1,000 years (the DAY period).
His body was created perfectly able to maintain itself
alive for up to a maximum of 1,000 years. Beyond that it needed a cell recharge to
extend life. This recharging provision
required plugging in to the source of life which came
from God "With you is the source of
life"; Ps 36:9, "For as the Father has life in Himself,
so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself",
John 5:26 (NKJV).
God as the source of life can extend this power of life
indefinitely to human members of His family who maintain
His standards. Outside the family the life cells
run down and when flat, life goes out as it does in
animals.
By way of
illustration, a luxury electric car maker supplies the
machine with a battery already charged to run for 100
miles with the warning that it should be recharged
before a 100 miles are clocked up. This requires
plugging the car into the makers approved recharging
mechanism. Failing to do this or trying to use
some other recharging method and the car will die.
Carry out the makers instructions and the car will run
on and on.
But how did
Adam’s disloyalty result in death spreading to all
men? Adams independent action caused him to fall
short of God's set standard required for members of his
family, as sons in the Fathers image. This failing
of God's standards labelled SIN is very much
misused and misunderstood. There seems to be two
main categories of God's standards that can be
failed. We need to look at the various ways humans
can fall short of God's standards and thereby sin.
TYPES OF
SHORT FALL ( SIN ).
1. PHYSICALLY
All
physical human defects ie those crippled, blind,
diseased, ageing, etc fall
short (sin) of God’s physical standard. These are
often genetic caused by DNA degeneration. In fact
to a greater or lesser degree all humans suffer defects,
the result of 6,000 years of conglomerated inherent
degeneration (we are born in sin). Not necessarily
the individuals fault.
2. MORALLY
Personality
defects ie adulterers, fornicators, homosexuals,
thieves, drunks, extortioners, murderers, liars (1Cor 6:10),
all fall short of God's moral standards. These are
not genetically inherited, but generally self
induced. Adam's sin falls in this category.
Every human
falls short on numerous issues, self induced (sin) and
inherited deficiencies (born in sin) all humans carry a
measure of both. We all fall short; we are all
substandard.
HOW
DID ADAM INDUCE SIN INTO THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE?
How did Adam's substandard moral condition,
his 'sin', then get passed on to his offspring and the
entire human race? By opposing God he failed qualification as a member of God's
family. From this condition he could only pass on
to his human offspring the same substandard inheritance
with a maximum ageing life span of 1,000
years. Nothing up
to God's standard could be passed on from him by way of
inheritance. None of his close offspring lived
more than the 1,000 year limit, Adam lived 930 years
followed by among others Jared 962 years, Methuselah 969
years, and Noah who lived 950 years. None
could live more than the maximum 1,000 year life charge
set in their cells.
Since then,
conglomerate inherited
DNA degeneration, along with other factors has
brought the maximum life potential charge down a lot
further to its present average level of just 70
years. Devolving a long way below its maximum of
1,000 years, an indicator of just how far we miss God's
standards and how great our conglomerated sin
(imperfection) is. So long as descendants of Adams family are
alienated from God's family, no additional cell life
recharging can be obtained.
HOW DID ADAM PASS SIN ON IF NOT GENETICLY?
Looking a little more carefully at the
evidence. Adam rebelled after being won over by a spirit
opposer of God. This was done with the inducement that
by “making his own independent choices he would achieve
God like status, becoming like God and would not die”. God had said, "You
must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the
middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will
die.” The opposition said “You
will not
certainly die,” the serpent said to the
woman. “For God knows that when you eat
from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.” Gen 3:3-4
(NIV ).
This
original lie, they would 'not die but
becoming spirit creatures like God'.
All
ancient pagan religions believed this original lie and
the majority of modern ones do along with most Christian
religions today who continue to teach and believe this
lie. This lie led to the erroneous universal
belief that humans have immortal souls. They
obviously did not have immortal souls as God had warned
they would definitely die. If they had had immortal souls they could not
die.
Adam by accepting and subscribing to these
lies subjected himself to this instigator's control,
essentially making him his 'father' and subjecting the
human race to this adversaries (Satan's)
control becoming part of his family. "You
are from your father the Devil, and you wish to do
the desires of your father. That one was a
murderer when he began, and he did not stand
fast in the truth, because truth is not in him.
When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his
own disposition, because he is a liar and the
father of the lie" John
8:44
. This slanderer (diabolos) has now
become the God and ruler of this world, "the ruler of
this world will be cast out" John
12:31, "the ruler of
the world is coming, and he has no hold on me" John 14:30, "the ruler of
this world has been judged" John
16:11.
It could be reasoned
that before rebellion the first couple lived within
innocence not having experienced any guilt or shame
through failing their creator. If they remained in
harmony with the father they would never have lost this
innocent relationship and it could have been passed on
to their offspring, something none of us has ever
experienced. The new shame they experienced was
personal confirmation of wrong against their father and
brought guilt. We all now live in it constantly because
we continually fall short.
By way of example; if
having been born into a rich family I am disinherited
through my unacceptable actions and behaviour, I am then
unable to pass on to my offspring the inheritance rights
I enjoyed whilst a member of the rich family. My
inheritance has been lost to me by my actions and I
carry the guilt for it.
Another illustration, if an orphaned child was
brought into a rich household with the possibility of
being adopted at the legal age into the rich
family. He would then receive full inheritance
rights as a family member which could be passed on to
members of his own family. Should the prospective
adoptee rebel against the head of the family breaching
his rules it would be reasonable to conclude he would
not be adopted into the family. He would lose out
and so would his children. Moral deficiency (sin) made Adam substandard
and so God's required standard could not pass from him
by way of inheritance to his children.
CAN THIS LOST SITUATION BE RETRIEVED?
The question is
would God be motivated by
concern and love for the futile state of the human race
who could do nothing about their inherent
situation? If inclined how could God possibly reverse and
undo this sad condition? How could God adopt
disinherited humans back into his family? Adam's
entire negative inheritance would need to be
countermanded in order to offer the entire human race an
opportunity for each to make their own individual
choices over
loyalty without being contaminated as we are
now through inherited alienation from God's family.
Thankfully God has
shown consideration toward mankind by arranging to do
just this. He at great personal cost, provided a
replacement human father for the human race, a second
Adam one who will replace Adam, enabling adoption into
his family for all those who wish it. These
ones will then be able to continually recharge
their life batteries from their creator father. This substitute for Adam would need to break
up and roll back thousands of years of built up control
by the ruling Devil father of the human race.
This time it was a
first born spirit son of God who voluntarily transferred
by metamorphosing from spirit to human in order to
accomplish this major task “As in Adam all died so also in Christ all
shall be made alive" 1 Cor 15:22 (RHE).
By applying a
redeeming cure our whole disinherited situation can be
reversed and upgraded to God's standard.
The bible record reveals how this whole
disinherited situation will be completely reversed while
applying and adhering to God's standards.
For more information on this
cure and God's plans
for applying it, how it
effects you directly and who the first ones are to be
readopted back into God's family see ~