In the last two lessons we saw how sin came into the world. First, Satan rebelled against God and set up a kingdom opposed to God. Then Adam, when he was tempted, also rebelled against God.

Satan said, I will, and set his will against God's will. Then Adam said in his heart, "I will" and set his will against the will of God.

Adam's sin affected each part of his being—spirit, soul, and body. Adam's spirit was cut off from God's life. His soul was affected by sin. His body became subject to physical death because "the wages of sin is death."

In this lesson we are going to see the awful consequences of Adam's sin upon the human race. We will see MAN'S COMPLETE RUIN IN SIN.

Why should we worry about Adam and what happened to him? The reason is this: Adam was the head of the human race. Adam was different from all other men in that he was the first man—the source of the entire human race. Since Adam was the head of the human family, what happened to him affected the whole human family, and it affected you and me. God did not create millions of people to populate the earth. He created only one man Adam. From this one man came all human life. Thus God sees the whole human race as being IN ADAM.

How did we get into Adam? By birth! All who are born into the human family are IN ADAM.

What does it mean to be in Adam?

To be in Adam means to share in all that Adam was and all that he did. Certain things are true of every person in Adam. Here are five of them:

Now we are going to consider each of these five things and see how they came about.

Adam's Sin Separated Men from the Life of God.

Sin separates from God. When Adam sinned, he was cut off from the life of God. To be separated from the life of God is to be spiritually dead.

"…in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Genesis 2:17

Adam's sin resulted in spiritual death, not only for himself, but also for the entire human race. All men became separated from the life of God. Why? Because all men are IN ADAM.

Adam's Sin Brought the Human Race into the Kingdom of Darkness.

When Adam rebelled against God, he took sides with Satan, the first rebel. He came into the kingdom of darkness, of which Satan is ruler. Thus Adam came under the power of Satan.

Since Adam was the head of the human race, he took the whole human race into the kingdom of darkness.

Adam's Sin Resulted in a Race of Sinners.

As created by God, Adam was a God-centered man. He loved God and wanted to do God's will. God was king upon the throne of his heart.

After Adam sinned, a change took place in his heart. Instead of loving God and wanting to do His will, Adam now loved himself and wanted to do his own will. God no longer reigned as king in his heart. Instead, Self was upon the throne of his heart. Adam now had a sinful nature.

Adam passed his sinful, self-centered nature on to his children. The Bible says that Adam had a son "in his own likeness, after his image." Adam himself had been created in the image of God, but he produced a son in his own sinful image.

In Lesson 4, we saw Cain's rebellion against God when he refused to worship God in the way which God had appointed. He wanted to worship God in his own way. Later on Cain manifested his sinful nature in murdering his own brother.

But the effects of Adam's sin did not stop with his own children. Adam was the head of the entire human family, and he passed his sinful nature on to the whole human race. Adam's disobedience resulted in a race of sinners. The Bible says,

"…by one man's disobedience many were made sinners…"

Adam's Sin Brought All Men under the Power of Sin.

Because men are sinners, they are under the power of sin. The Bible says,

"Whoever commits sin is the servant (slave) of sin." John 8:34

In the kingdom of darkness, sin reigns as a king and all men who are in this kingdom are under the power of sin.

Adam's Sin brought Death and Condemnation into the Human Race.

Sin entered the world through one man—Adam, and death came as a result of sin. The Bible says,

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Romans 5:12

After Death—JUDGMENT

After death comes judgment. Every unsaved person will be judged for his sins. The Bible says,

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Hebrews 9:27

Every person IN ADAM is guilty before God. Some people may think that they are acceptable to God as they are, but God says otherwise. He knows the hearts of men, and, concerning Adam's race, God says in His Word:

"There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understands, There is none that seeks after God. There is none that does good, no, not one… For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:10-12, 23

Now we can understand why the Bible says, "You must be born again…" Why does every person need to be born again? Because every person has been born into a sinful race which is under the condemnation of God.

Let us look again at the picture of every person in Adam:

Thus we see MAN'S COMPLETE RUIN IN SIN. We must see that every person in Adam's race is condemned. And we cannot take ourselves out of Adam's race. Doing good, being religious, joining the church—none of these things will take us out of Adam's race.

To save Adam's ruined race, God had to do something. We could not do anything to save ourselves. But God loved us and He did something wonderful. He sent His Son into the world to be our Saviour. The Bible says,

"…the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." 1 John 4:14

The Lord Jesus was crucified for our sins. He bore the sins of all men.

"…the LORD laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6

God does not overlook our sins, but He forgives them because He sees the blood of His Son which was shed for them.

By His death and resurrection the Lord Jesus made it possible for men to come out of Adam's sinful race and become members of God's family.

Through faith in the Lord Jesus men can be BORN AGAIN.

Thus we see that God's salvation is in a Person—the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says,

"For as by one man's (Adam's) disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One (the Lord Jesus) shall many be made righteous." Romans 5:19

In the next lesson we will find out more about GOD'S PERFECT REMEDY IN CHRIST.

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