Are You in Adam or in Christ? - What Went Wrong ?

AWhat Went Wrong?......... Adam Did Not Obey God

He chose to believe some information from another source and he put the very thing inside of him that the Lord warned him would kill him. The story is found in Genesis 3, and it is often called “the Fall”. I will paraphrase the account here, but you can read it for yourself in the Bible any time. The Lord told Adam, along with his other instructions that he could eat of ANY tree in the garden EXCEPT the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil”. The warning was that on the day he ate that fruit, he would die. Now, death is separation from God because God is life. Gen. 2 talks about how Adam and the Lord would walk in the cool of the day and talk. There was a personal and intimate relationship going on here. This goes against our natural thinking, we think of God as being far away, judgmental, ready to strike us at any moment for an error or blunder. We are afraid of God. But that is not how it was at the beginning, remember Adam was specifically built to be like God – in God’s class – in His image – representing and doing His work.

We must understand also that everything on the earth was not functioning in the will and purpose of the Lord. The serpent was already in the garden when Adam was placed there. Adam’s work was to “dress it and keep it” which means to bring it under control and keep it fenced in. The serpent was a created being; Adam was commissioned to rule over all life as the Lord’s appointed man. The serpent challenged God’s character- “Hath God said…” and the serpent lied about what God said – “… you must not eat of ANY tree in the garden?” And then the serpent spoke as if his word had authority over the warning God gave concerning death. ‘Surely, you shall not die…”

But Adam did die.

Adam had an opportunity to exercise his God-given authority right there. Here was this created being that Adam was to over-see, correct, and bring under the control of the Lord, but he chose instead to believe the lie and reject God. Furthermore, that fruit he ate was poisonous. Man was not designed for this particular knowledge, that is “the knowledge of good and evil,” he was designed to run things on earth, to keep and to dress… Man was designed to eat of the tree of life. This tree was available to Adam right up until the time he took of the other tree. It was only after the poisoning that the tree of life was separated from man. Genesis 3:22 says, “ the man has now become like one of us” (meaning Elohim, the three-in one God). By this willful act of rebellion and mistrust, man became more like God and less like man was designed to be. Because this fruit went into him, it polluted his whole nature. Man became defiled, while God was holy. Adam’s body was alive, his soul was alive, he could think and act and have children, but his spirit was no longer connected with the Spirit of God. His spirit was dead. On that day his spirit died. Adam lived 930 years, and then he died. (Genesis 5:5). Think of that!

Adam was like the branch of a tree that is cut off from the trunk, but there was so much residual power and life in his body and mind that it took 930 years for his body to finally give out. But here is the bigger problem, the same pollution and mixture that killed Adam was passed on to his sons and daughters. Sin had now entered the world through the very being created to guard, control, and protect it. We might look at this as a “genetic” disorder, but it is more accurately described as a “nature” disorder. While the defiled nature of man prevented him from fulfilling his purpose, the commission and plan of God did not change. God is love. Love never fails. In the presence of His enemies God prepares a table and covenant of reconciliation between man and God, and man WILL fulfill his original purpose.

We need to understand this principle: We are not viewed, as sinners by God because we do things that are sinful.

We sin because we are born with the sin nature (the poisoning of Adam) already in us.

In John 3, Jesus tells a Pharisee named Nicodemus, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (NIV) Some translations read “born from above”. What He is saying here is that we have no ability to perceive and understand what God’s rule is, how it operates, what its purpose is, or any thing until a new form of life is birthed in us. "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." NIV If your Spirit is not alive, you have nothing that can perceive things in the realm of God.

John 3:5-8."I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit NIV

So this is the marvelous plan of God, the solution to this seemingly insurmountable problem that Adam introduced into the world. We have all people being born alive in the flesh, but still born (that is dead or separated) in the Spirit. What is needed is ANOTHER birth process that can be made available to everyone whereby their spirits can be brought to Life. That is the same as saying “brought to God”, because God is Life. God is Spirit. The Life is in the Spirit (God). When we are WITH God, walking and talking with Him, we can learn how He wants this ruling and reigning over the earth to work out.

First we must be “Born again” and then we see.

This is important –Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV

We can get into this thinking that, well Adam did this thing, and we have inherited this “problem” from him so it is not MY fault that I am spiritually separated from God, and if God really loves me and wants to have relationship with me, why doesn’t HE just fix things and it’ll be OK? I do nothing, and God takes care of this sin thing. Well guess what, that is exactly What He has done. God has opened the door of reconciliation, and new birth: “nature exchange” if YOU WILL. The provision is here, but YOU are the one who must make the move to access this provision. There is only one way, no choice, but the way is always open.

You can read about it in Romans!

Rom 5:6-19 When we were utterly helpless, with no way of escape, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners who had no use for him. 7 Even if we were good, we really wouldn't expect anyone to die for us, though, of course, that might be barely possible. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since by his blood he did all this for us as sinners, how much more will he do for us now that he has declared us not guilty? Now he will save us from all of God's wrath to come. 10 And since, when we were his enemies, we were brought back to God by the death of his Son, what blessings he must have for us now that we are his friends and he is living within us! 11 Now we rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God-all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in dying for our sins-making us friends of God. 12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned. 13[We know that it was Adam's sin that caused this] because although, of course, people were sinning from the time of Adam until Moses, God did not in those days judge them guilty of death for breaking his laws-because he had not yet given his laws to them nor told them what he wanted them to do. 14 So when their bodies died it was not for their own sins since they themselves had never disobeyed God's special law against eating the forbidden fruit, as Adam had. What a contrast between Adam and Christ who was yet to come! 15 And what a difference between man's sin and God's forgiveness! For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this one man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God's mercy. 16 Adam's one sin brought the penalty of death to many, while Christ freely takes away many sins and gives glorious life instead. 17 The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to be king over all, but all who will take God's gift of forgiveness and acquittal are kings of life because of this one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Yes, Adam's sin brought punishment to all, but Christ's righteousness makes men right with God, so that they can live. 19 Adam caused many to be sinners because he disobeyed God, and Christ caused many to be made acceptable to God because he obeyed. TLB

1 Cor 15:45 45 The Scriptures tell us that the first man, Adam, was given a natural, human body but Christ is more than that, for he was life-giving Spirit. TLB

I’ll repeat that- Christ is MORE than Adam (Adamic nature); He is a LIFE giving SPIRIT (God is Spirit).