OUR GREAT SALVATION (6)/ THE DOCTRINE OF SIN/ DEAD IN ADAM, ALIVE IN CHRIST

Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached a sermon titled ‘The doctrine of sin’. Her text was taken from the Book of Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Sam 17.

WHAT IS SIN?

Sin is not a popular topic these days. Many pastors avoid preaching about sin because they feel it is a ‘negative subject’. But the Bible talks much about sin. We need to know what sin is so that we can repent and understand salvation. If you are ignorant of sin, you will never understand God’s holiness, His Love, His mercy, and His grace.  Sin is defined as intentional transgression of the God’s Law or rebellion against God. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 Jn 3:4). In the Bible, the word ‘sin’ appears more than 400 times. The Bible considers sin a very serious problem. Many different types of sin are mentioned, so the total count would be even higher. These are some other words relating to sin: iniquity, condemnation, guilt, crime, unrighteousness, error, evil, wickedness, and disobedience. The Bible states that everyone has sinned (Rom 3:23), that the punishment for sin is death (Ezekiel 18:20; Rom 6:23) and that all sin can be forgiven only by faith in Christ crucified and resurrected. Sin is also defined as ‘missing the mark and coming short of the Glory of God’. Sin separates man from God. God is holy and He hates sin. Because God is a Person, sin is personal. Sin is not just like breaking the speed limit and receiving a ticket from the police. Sin is betrayal of love, breaking God’s heart. Doctrine is important because it influences behavior. Truth is always visible in deeds. The doctrine of sin says that man broke God’s law. Sin is the evil in man. It manifests in evil deeds, but sin is the root of many sins. ‘I am not a sinner because I commit sins. I commit sins because I am a sinner’

THE ORIGINAL SIN AND THE FALL OF MAN

Over the centuries, many wise men and philosophers have tried to explain why man is the way he is, evil, selfish, and wicked. Also, they tried to know why all men die. To them, this is a mystery. It is only the Bible that reveals the truth about it. The story of the creation and the fall of man is found in the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis. Therefore, these chapters are extremely important in understanding how the first man called Adam fell into sin and how his fall affected all humanity. The people who believe in the evolution theory, do not believe that Adam was only one man. They believe that many monkeys became many men. Therefore, they reject the doctrine of original sin and fall of man. The racists also reject this doctrine because they do not believe that we all, black and white, came from only one man.

To understand the original sin read the Book of Genesis, chapters 2 and 3. God created Adam and Eve. They were innocent and perfect. They had an intimate relationship with God. They were happy. God placed them in the Garden of Eden. They were there to take care of the Garden and to work in it. Work was a pleasure. There was no sickness, no old age, and no death. God told them that they can eat from every tree in the Garden, including the tree of life. He commanded them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This prohibition was because God wanted man to continue to depend on Him for knowledge of life as they continue their fellowship. The second reason was because man needs to remember that God created him, and he must humbly submit to God in all things. At the time God created man, the devil was already a sinful being. He was thrown down from heaven, together with some of the angels who rebelled. The devil, using a snake, tempted Eve to break God’s law. The reason why he initially tempted Eve and not Adam it is because she seems to be an easier victim. She was not the one who received God’s Law directly. She depended on Adam to explain to her what God has said. Also, she was not the head of the family. Therefore, she had a lesser sense of responsibility for her actions. The devil hoped that Adam, because of his love for his wife, will share in her sin. He succeeded. The devil deceived Eve by giving her false hopes. He told her that by breaking God’s law she will not die, as God said it. Eve was tempted by pride and doubt. She became ungrateful to God for His provision for them. She wanted more… She wanted to become ‘like God’, giving commands and not submitting to any other being. She chose to eat the forbidden fruit. She gave some to Adam who ate it too. That moment in time, by breaking God’s Law, sin entered Adam. Death entered with sin. It affected him and all his descendants, including us. This is God’s Word: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).

What are the consequences of the original sin? Man was created in the image of God, holy, righteous, wise, and loving. Thru sin, man lost these wonderful qualities. The image was destroyed. He became totally wicked, evil, completely incapable to know God or do any good spiritual thing. He became spiritually blind, spiritually dead. This total depravity of sin manifested as shame, running from God, and a guilty conscience.

Adam and Eve lost their place in the Garden, and the opportunity to eat from the tree of life. Spiritually, Adam died the day he sinned. Physically, he died 930 years later (Genesis 5:5). God’s Word was fulfilled! Death proved the devil to be a liar and God’s Word to be true!

These are some scriptures revealing the pride and sin of Lucifer in heaven: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit” (Is 14:12-15). “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. “By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; Therefore, I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones” (Ezekiel 28:15, 16). “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8)

THE UNPARDONABLE SIN

Jesus said: “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt 12:31, 32). The unpardonable sin is a sin committed by a religious unbeliever. This is a sin that cannot be forgiven by God. God does not grant repentance to the sinner. It is a sin or a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The sinner consciously and willfully rejects and slanders the Holy Spirit. He knows the truth about God’s Word. He is not ignorant about the work of the Holy Spirit. He knows the truth about the Grace of our Lord Jesus. His conscience convicts him of sin. Despite all these, he attributes the work of God to the devil. The sin becomes unpardonable, not because the Blood of Jesus is not strong enough to atone for it, but the sinner cuts himself off from any possibility of repentance and faith to salvation. It leads to total hardness of heart. It is a personal choice to go to hell. It is a form of spiritual suicidal stubbornness. This is a warning: don’t take God’s name in vain! Don’t grieve or quench the Holy Spirit! Be quick to repent!

SIN UNTO DEATH

Sin unto death is committed by a backsliding child of God who becomes rebellious against God’s Word. The Holy Spirit warns him to stop sinning. If he refuses, God may take His child home to heaven thru untimely death. Prayer and intercession for such a one may not work. “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death” (1 John 5:16, 17). Taking the Holy Communion in an unworthy manner may lead to weakness, sickness, or untimely death too (1 Cor 11:27-32).

ATTRIBUTES OF SIN

*Sin is a specific type of moral evil for which man is held directly responsible. Sin includes guilt and moral pollution. Every man is born with a guilty conscience and with a corrupt nature. Because God hates and condemns sin, man deserves to die and go to hell.

*Sin is absolute. There is no neutral ground between evil and righteousness. Man is either justified or he is condemned by God. For example, Jesus says that there are only two options: you either confess Him or you deny Him before men. “Therefore, whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matt 10:32, 33).  He also says: “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (Luke 11:23).

James says that obedience to the Law of God must be total. There is no mercy for partial obedience. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). This is a point of practical application: Dear child of God, do not marry, do not become intimate friends with people who are not born again. They may be from the same family or tribe with you, they may work in the same office, they may attend the same church. But there is no connection between you and them, between light and darkness. For example, an unequally yoked marriage will always be troubled because of complete spiritual misunderstanding (2 Cor 6:14-16).

*Sin is always an offense against God and His Law (written in the Bible or on men’s consciences). “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel” (Rom 2:12-16). A man may steal from his neighbor or may commit adultery with another man’s wife. These are sins against other men. But sin as a principle is always in the singular: ‘sin’ and not ‘sins’ Sins are products of sin. Sin breaks God’s Law and His heart. 

*Sin dwells in ‘the heart’, which is the central organ of the soul. From the heart, sin affects and corrupts all the other organs: the mind, the will, the whole body. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jer 17:9, 10). “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (PV 4:23). The ‘issues of life’ means the very source of life, of your thinking. Jesus said: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man” (Mt 15:19, 20).

DEATH IN ADAM AND LIFE IN CHRIST

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.). Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:12-21)

Let us study this important scripture: Two times we read the words ‘death reigned’ (verses 14 and 17). In verse 12 we read ‘death spread to all men’. The word ‘spread’ means to pass thru, to pierce thru like an arrow. Death is the poisoned thread that passes thru all men’s hearts and unites them in sin. In verse 21 we read ‘sin reigned in death’. These are terrible words. What do we see? Because of sin death is now king over all men. Sin is universal. Death is universal. Rich and poor, young, or old, all must die. About 60 million people die every year; two die ever second. The main two causes of death are these: ischemic heart disease (‘heart attack’) and Stroke. The heart and the brain are the two main organs that first succumb to death. “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27). The word ‘appointment’ means something that is stored and kept waiting for men in the future. Death is an appointment with God. The primary principle in this scripture is that one man’s deed affects many. For better or for worst, deeds have consequences. No man lives or dies alone. Adam’s sin brought death to many. Christ’s obedience made many righteous. How can this be? Christ is compared with Adam. Sin entered humanity thru one man, Adam. In the same way, righteousness entered humanity thru one man, Christ. The word ‘one’ appears 11 times in this passage.  The word ‘reigned’ is used 5 times: Death reigned, death reigned, reign in life, sin reigned in death, grace might reign. Adam had a kingdom where sin and death reigned. Christ has a Kingdom where eternal Life and Grace reign. The phrase ‘much more’ is used 3 times. The words ‘free gifts’ appear 3 times. Salvation is by Grace alone, in Christ alone. It is a ‘free gift’ because Christ paid it all! What man lost in Adam, is gained in Christ, and so ‘much more’. Adam never had the righteousness of Christ. He had his own righteousness. When he sinned, he lost his own robe of righteousness. In Christ, we receive the righteousness of Christ that is much more than Adam ever had. This gift is by grace and can never be lost! Glory!

THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ADAM AND CHRIST

Adam is ‘a type of Him (Christ) who was to come’ (Romans 5:14).

1-Each one, Adam and Christ, was appointed by God to be the head, and the representative of his people. They did not appoint themselves. God did! Adam was not only the natural ‘father’ of all people, but God appointed him as the ‘federal head’ or representative of all people. Both Adam and Christ were ‘ambassadors’ for their people. In His work with men, God always deals with their representatives.

2-Each one is the head of a covenant made with God. God made a covenant with Adam. It was a covenant of ‘works’. Adam could work and enjoy life in the Garden. But this happiness was conditional. Adam could eat from every tree except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If Adam breaks this law, he will die, himself and his descendants. Obedience to God’s Law was the condition for life and happiness.

God made a similar covenant with His Son. God the Father told God the Son that if He is obedient as a Man to His Law to the end of His life on earth, if He takes the sins of His people on Himself and dies for them, then the men shall be set free and declared just in God’s sight. They shall become His people and He shall be their God.

3-Each one, Adam and Christ, pass the result of their life’s work on their descendants. Whatever they do, their descendants will share in it! 

PRINCIPLES OF ONE MAN’S DEEDS AFFECTING HIS DESCENDANTS

1-SIN ENTERED THE WORLD THROUGH ONE MAN

The name Adam means ‘mankind’. When Adam sinned, ‘mankind’ sinned. “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Cor 15:21, 22). In Adam, because of sin, ‘all die’. Adam is not the generator of sin. The devil is the originator. Adam learned how to sin from the devil. Because the devil hated God, he attacked Adam who was God’s best creation on earth. The devil ‘advertised’ sin and foolishly, Adam ‘bought’ it. In any other way, Adam was ‘like God’, reigning on the earth. But Adam was not satisfied. He disobeyed God. Like a virus, when Adam sinned, ‘sin entered the world’. Immediately the sin damaged man. It affected his body, soul, and spirit. All Adam’s descendants were in his loins, and they became affected by the same sin.

THE SIN OF ACHAN

God sees all humanity as a unit, and not just as many isolated people. One man’s sin affects many. For example, in Joshua 7 you see the sad story of Achan. When Achan sinned, God commanded the Israelites to stone Achan and his family to death. You see that one man’s sin affected his whole family and even the whole nation. The children of Israel attacked Ai. God did not protect them. They lost the battle. God considers Achan’s sin not as a personal sin, but as the nation’s sin. Thirty-six men who were not involved in Achan’s sin died because of Achan. God told Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you” (Josh 7:10-12). Achan stole God’s property! The gold was to be kept for God in the treasury. God did not blame only Achan, but the whole nation of Israel. “He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house” (PV 15:27). God tells Joshua to stop crying and praying. He should find the sinner and kill him the next day. Achan had the whole night to repent of his sin, but he refused. The next day he was discovered. He confessed his sin, but it was too late. The sentence of death came upon Achan and all his children and his property. Many are horrified at this. Why did they kill his children too? It is possible that they were accomplices to their father. You can see that sin spreads from one man to many others. But one thing is sure, God is merciful, but we should never take His mercy for granted. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31).  

LEVI PAYS TITHES THRU ABRAHAM

Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked God to spare the city if there are ten righteous men there. God agreed. “Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten” (Gen 18:32). You can see that ten righteous people can represent a city for good. In the same way, a bad man like Achan, can affect the nation for bad. We are told that Levi, who was yet unborn, paid his tithe thru Abraham. “Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him” (Heb 7:9, 10). Abraham won the battle against the kings. He meets a holy priest called Melchizedek who stands for Jesus. Abraham pays tithes to him. We are told here that Levi, who was Abraham’s great grandson, and was still unborn, now found in the loins of Abraham, he paid tithes to Melchizedek. Later, Levi is appointed by God to be a priest. He will collect the tithes from the children of Israel. But here, he pays tithe thru Abraham, to Melchizedek, a type of Christ! In the same way, when Adam sinned, we who were in his loins, we sinned in Adam.

2-DEATH ENTERED THE WORLD THROUGH SIN

God commanded Adam: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:16, 17). When Adam disobeyed God’s command, he sinned. Death entered him and his descendants. Death is a foreigner. Death is an enemy. Death is not natural to man who was created in the image of God. God did not create a man who will die. Death is a punishment God gave because of sin! Hell was never made for men. Our Lord said to the unbelievers: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41). If Adam did not sin, he could have gone to heaven like Enoch and Elijah who did not die on earth. Sin is the poison that entered Adam’s heart. Death is the result. Sin and death can never be separated. You die not because you commit sins (adultery, stealing, etc). These are the fruits of sin! You die because the original sin from Adam has produced death in you. That is why babies die. They inherited the sin and death of Adam. We are born to sin and die. This is the tragedy of sin.

Temptation to sin may come from the world, but sin does not come from outside. Sin lives in the heart and it is expressed thru words and actions. These words defile, corrupt, and kill the man. Death is first spiritual, then physical. Sin and death separate the sinner from God. It is an eternal separation from God. “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Is 59:2). This eternal separation caused by sin and spiritual death can only be ‘bridged’ thru the Blood of Christ. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:1, 2). All men are born spiritually dead. We can describe spiritual death as a useless mind, no understanding of life, ignorance, blind hearts, no love, no peace. “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph 4:17, 18). The sinner is alive to sin, to the world, and to the devil. He knows nothing about God. He hates God and His Word.

THREE TYPES OF DEATH: SPIRITUAL, PHYSICAL, AND THE SECOND DEATH

There are three types of death: spiritual, physical, and the second death. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, became Man to live and die as a Substitute for sinners. Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ who died for him, that one is saved. Anyone who refuses to believe in the Cross, dies as a sinner and goes to hell. Thru His death, Christ set us free from the power and bondage of sin and death. “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb 2:14, 15). Because the devil deceived Adam to disobey God, to sin, he is now the master of men. He holds men in slavery thru the fear of death. Men fear physical death but are ignorant of the spiritual death, which is by far, more dangerous. Thru faith in Christ, the believer has conquered the spiritual death. Death is separation from God. But the believer is one with Christ. Nothing can ever separate them. Therefore, he does not fear physical death, which is ‘gain’ to him.  Lastly, there is ‘the second death’. This is the eternal death in hell. When an unbeliever dies, from spiritual death he translates to the second death in hell. Our Lord says: “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev 21:6-8). All this tragedy happened because of one man! He was not deceived as Eve. He sinned willfully, fully understanding the consequences of sin and death that will come upon him and his descendants. “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1Tim 2:14).  Oh, Adam!!!

3-DEATH SPREAD TO ALL MEN BECAUSE ALL MEN SINNED

This doctrine is difficult to understand. It says that we die not only because we inherited sin from Adam, but also because of our personal sins. God says that in the loins of Adam, we too sinned. God hold us responsible for our personal sins. When a baby is born, he is born rebellious. You do not teach a baby to be stubborn. You teach him how to obey. King David said: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps 51:5). He also says: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear, which will not heed the voice of charmers, Charming ever so skillfully” (Ps 58:3-5). Experience proves that all men are born desiring to commit sin. God searches the heart, and He knows!

Jesus was born in the womb of the virgin Mary, by the Power of the Holy Spirit. He was not born thru the contribution of Joseph’s sperm. This was to avoid man’s sinful heritage. He did not die because He sinned. He was sinless. He died as a holy, perfect, pure Substitute on behalf of sinful men who believe in Him. These are difficult doctrines, but we accept them by faith in the Word of God! By faith we believe that we sinned in Adam. By faith we also believe that we died to sin thru Christ, when we were buried and rose again in Him! “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor 15:21-23).

CHRIST THE SAVIOR OF MEN WHO BELIEVE

God could have killed Adam and Eve immediately after they committed sin. But He did not. He allowed millions of sinners to be born on earth, live and die and go to hell. Why? Because this was His plan from the beginning. In the midst of this tragedy of sin and death, the glory of His Son was revealed. This is the Gospel of our salvation. Jesus died and rose again for me and for you! Our salvation is a miracle. It is a Great Salvation indeed! Blood was shed for the oil of joy to run down on our heads. “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Heb 9:27, 28). God reveals this mystery of salvation and redemption of sinners thru the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s manifold wisdom is revealed to men thru the preaching of God’s Word in the Church. “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him” (Eph 3:8-12). Let us never forget: This One Man, Jesus Christ, thru one Work, His death and resurrection, has saved all men from sin and death! Glory!

The angels are stronger than men. They worship God always crying ‘Holy, Holy, Holy!’. But there is a part of God’s character that they do not know. They do not understand God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, longsuffering, and love the way we do. We alone can praise God for His Forgiveness, Grace, and Mercy! When the angels sinned, they received no mercy. There were immediately judged. That is why the good angels desire to know about God’s Grace given to men (1 Peter 1:12). We are teaching angels about King Grace! Is that not wonderful? Adam’ sin affected all men. Christ, the Second Adam came, and by His obedience unto death, He affected all humanity for good, and forever. God is calling men from darkness to light, from sin to righteousness, from death to life! Will you come to Jesus? Will you believe the Word of God?

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

In the story of David defeating the Giant Goliath, you see the authority of the leader, the representative of the people. His victory is the victory for all his people. His defeat, his death, means slavery for all his people. The Goliath stands for Adam. David stands for Christ. King Saul was supposed to lead Israel in the battle, but he was afraid to die. Jonathan, his son, could have represented his father, as the heir to the throne, but he too was afraid to die. The Shepherd boy David stood and killed the Giant. At that moment, all the Philistines became the slaves of Israel. Also, King Saul Jonathan and all Israel, in theory, became the servants of David. They were to submit to him as their new king. That is why King Saul tried to kill David. Like King Herod killed all the babies because of baby Jesus, so King Saul tried to kill David. He failed because God was with David and not with him.

Goliath represented the Philistines. David represented the Israelites. Whoever loses, his people will become slaves to the other. This is an example of David, a type of Christ, and a federal representative of the people of Israel. King Saul and his son Jonathan were afraid to go forward to fight the giant called Goliath (1 Sam 17:4-11). That battle is the eternal battle between Christ and the devil. Goliath despised David for being just a youth. He cursed David by his Philisties gods. David won the battle before any arrow was shut. He won it by the Word of God. He said to the giant: “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands” (1 Sam 17:45-47).  

What is the practical application? Sin is rebellion against God. Therefore, rebellion is always punished by God. We are to submit to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We are also to submit to the delegated authority in the church. This submission is our protection and blessing. Waling in submission under your pastors and leaders, is a proof that you are dead to sin and alive to God. Finally, dear Child of God, please remember and be encouraged: David always wins against all Goliaths of the world! Jesus is Lord! Worship the Lord!