Tuesday: Death Through Sin
Death is an enemy, the ultimate one. When God created the human family, He designed that its members should live forever. With few exceptions humans do not want to die; and those who do, do so only after the greatest personal anguish and suffering. Death goes against our most basic nature.
Image © Krieg Barrie Goodsalt.com
And that’s because from inception we were created to live forever. Death was to be unknown to us.
Read Romans 5:12. What is Paul describing here? What does this explain?
Commentators have argued more over this passage of Scripture than over most others. Perhaps the reason is, as noted in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 529, that these commentators “attempt to use the passage for purposes other than Paul intended.”
One point they argue over is: In what way was Adam’s sin passed on to his posterity? Did Adam’s descendants share the guilt of Adam’s sin, or are they guilty before God because of their own sins? Folk have tried to get the answer to that question from this text, but that’s not the issue Paul was dealing with. He had a whole other object in mind. He is reemphasizing what he already stated: “for all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). We need to recognize that we are sinners, because that is the only way that we will realize our need of a Savior. Here Paul was trying to get readers to realize just how bad sin is and what it brought into this world through Adam. Then he shows what God offers us in Jesus as the only remedy to the tragedy brought upon our world through Adam’s sin.
Yet, this text tells only of the problem, death in Adam-not the solution, life in Christ. One of the most glorious aspects of the gospel is that death has been swallowed up in life. Jesus passed through the portals of the tomb and burst its bonds. He says, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1:18). Because Jesus has the keys, the enemy can no longer hold his victims in the grave.
| What has been your own experience with the reality and the tragedy of death? Why, in the face of such a relentless enemy, must we have hope in something greater than ourselves or greater than anything this world offers? |
(33)
"When our first parents were placed in the Eden of God, they were tested in regard to their loyalty to God. They were free to chose the service of God..." TMK 14.2 Adam’s sin (Genesis 3:1-6) consisted in his yielding to the temptation and rebelling against God by eating the forbidden fruit. This sin involved in it the sin of both omission and commission. Omission: the lack of trust in God's goodness in dealing with his wife Eve who had succumbed to the temptation first. And second, the sin of, unbelief, that should they eat of the tree, they "will surely die" ultimately making God a liar. The sin of omission led to the actual sin of disobedience to the positive command by eating the forbidden tree.
Since God constituted Adam to be the head and representative of all his posterity, he is also their natural head. Therefore when he fell they fell with him (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:22-45). His probation was their probation, and his fall their fall as pointed out by Ellen White in the quotation above: "they were tested in the regard to loyalty to God". Should they listen to the other voice than that of God, they would forfeit their claim to Eden as well as claim to life. Eden here meaning pleasure and delight of God (Ezekiel 28:13 gives an insight of the meaning of Eden). He lost the intimate communion with God; his whole nature became depraved, and he incurred the penalty of disobedience (Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death..."). Because Adam is the root of all mankind, the guilt of his sin is imputed, as well the same death (spiritual and bodily). As a consequence of Adam's first sin, all his posterity came into the world in a state of sin and condemnation. The result of that Great Fall (separation from divinity) from set consequences in motion that man and "all creation groaneth under, to this day" Romans 8:22.
I do not believe that "the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed." That clause appears to express the teaching of original guilt which Seventh-day Adventist have historically rejected. Instead, our Fundamental Belief #7 puts it this way:
It may appear to be a small difference, but I believe it is highly significant. When we discuss all things "original," it is probably best to stick with biblical language without attempting to parse the details too closely.
I think our fundamental belief is worded very carefully to be instructive beyond abstract theology. Notice that "When our first parents disobeyed God, they denied their dependence upon Him." This is true, and it is instructive in that it points to the way back - total dependence on our Creator God.
Since the essence of God's character is self-renouncing love (1 John 4:8, 16) the self-focus demonstrated in the Fall marred the image of God. The bent to selfishness, once indulged, could not be broken without total dependence on the Creator. And no child of our first parents, other than Christ, has ever lived a life totally dependent on the Creator. Thus everyone has sinned. (Romans 12:23) Notice how Paul explained how "death passed to all men." He said "for all have sinned." (Romans 5:12) He did not say that death passed to all men because Adam's sin was imputed to them.
As a parent and grand-parent, I have been interested to watch how this "independence" (from God) principle is demonstrated in babies. Most babies are content to be totally dependent on parents (as they genuinely are) at least for the first few days of their lives. But I have seen self-will demonstrated very early in life. By the time it gets to baby tantrums, it is crystal clear. And then there are babies that seem to be born kicking and screaming defiance. Yet, by the grace of God, they can all be taught to submit their desires to their parents, so that they may ultimately submit their desires to God. But maybe I'm getting off-topic. 😉 But I must add one more observation: Babies who try to assert their self-will are really totally dependent on their parents, and if they were to be separated from parents (or parent substitutes) they would die. So it is with us: We are totally dependent on our Creator, who is the Source not only of our spiritual life but our physical life as well, and separation leads to not only physical but spiritual death.
Scripture says death reigned up to Moses because of Adam’s sin, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam. We don’t die because we sin. We sin because Adam sinned, and we die because of him. That’s the gift Adam procured for us.
It is in the same way that Christ and His ‘race’ live. He procured Life for them through obedience. That is the gospel.
If it is that we die because we sinned -in the Adam case, then those who live(through Christ) live because they were obedient.
Kenny, let's take a look at the passage you reference:
Paul says very clearly that "death spread to all men, because all sinned." Because all died, it is clear that their sin was "imputed" to them. So Paul's argument goes further to reason that they did not die because of Adam's specific sin, because they did not sin in the same way that Adam did, but that they sinned against God's Law before its specific expression at Sinai.
This harmonizes with Paul's argument in Romans 1 in which he argues that all had opportunity to know God's attributes and thus the essence of His Law through His creation. In Rom 1:28 he argues that people "did not like to retain God in their knowledge." In other words, they acted out of self-will in defiance of God's government. And they were held guilty. This applies to all descendants of Adam, as Paul says again in Romans 5:12-14.
Paul's big point is that even though Adam and Eve, by distrusting God, plunged this world into sin, so Christ, through His total reliance on and trust of the Father redeemed what Adam forfeited, and the children of Christ can again be connected to the Father and live in harmony with Him through eternity. Christ's followers live because they put their trust in Him, rather than distrusting the Creator as Adam and Eve did.
Kenny. What Adam relinquished when he sinned was earthly and heavenly immortality. What Jesus provided at the cross by "defeating death" was the revival of heavenly immortality (not earthly immortality). That is because Jesus died the second death in our stead (not the first, earthly death).
I don't believe innocent babies are condemned. On earth, we don't hold babies accountable for their behaviors until they are mature enough to understand right from wrong. Likewise, an all-loving God would not deny an innocent baby eternal life until it is able to choose to reject the pardon provided at the cross for "all" (Romans 5:18)
Ellen White agrees: "As the little infants come forth immortal from their dusty beds, they immediately wing their way to their mothers' arms. They meet again nevermore to part. But many of the little ones have no mother there. We listen in vain for the rapturous song of triumph from the mother. The angels receive the motherless infants and conduct them to the tree of life. {2SM 260.1} "
Hi Sieg
Can you explain your comment further that Jesus died the second death in our stead. How can Jesus have died the second death when the second death is eternal death?
Thanks
Sieg can answer for himself, but I have another question: How could Jesus be both God and man when God is divine and eternal and man is human and mortal? If you can explain that, you may not need anyone to explain what Christ could and could not do.
If you cannot explain the incarnation - and I suggest that we should reverently desist from trying to explain it - perhaps we should just learn from the sanctuary system that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world and ask ourselves which death He died for us.
God has power over the second death.
Hi Phil. With regard to the second death, in order for Jesus to pay for our sins as our Substitute (2 Corinthians 5:21), He had to pay for the consequences of our sin which is eternal death (referred to in the Bible as the "second death"). The first death, the one most will experience here on earth is referred to in the Bible as "sleep."
Relevant Bible texts include: Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:11-15, Revelation 21:8
Please listen to a thorough explanation of the second death in this 5-part discussion on Amazing Facts.
https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/media/e/4735/f/6/t/second-death--pt--1
https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/media/e/4736/f/6/t/second-death--pt--2
https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/media/e/4737/f/6/t/second-death--pt--3
https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/media/e/4738/f/6/t/second-death--pt--4
https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/media/e/4739/f/6/t/second-death--pt--5
Please also take a look at William Earnhardt's discussion on this topic SSNET:
https://ssnet.org/blog/two-resurrections-second-death/
Phil: another great post by William Earnhardt on what Jesus experienced at the cross for us as our Savior and Substitute can be found here:
https://ssnet.org/blog/the-god-forsaken-god/
Another observation: I am uncomfortable with the statement that "As a consequence of Adam's first sin, all his posterity came into the world in a state of sin and condemnation." Rather, I believe that, as a consequence of Adam's first sin, all his posterity came into the world in a state of separation from God. This naturally results in a bent to selfishness that can only be reversed by Christ living within each heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. Gal 2:20 It is sin that collects the wages of death, and that's why we all die.
The idea that we are born "condemned" makes God sound like an arbitrary tyrant who condemns us for something somebody else did. (I'm wondering whether this belief is wide-spread enough and thus explains the occasional comments we get about God being "unfair.") It also suggests that babies are born guilty, which leads to the doctrine of infant baptism to ensure their salvation -- which is another doctrine Seventh-day Adventists have rejected.
To clarify again: I don't believe we die because of God's arbitrary condemnation. We die as the natural consequence of separation from God, since God is the Source of life. (We do not have life within ourselves or natural immortality.) If Christ had not immediately stepped into the gap when our first parents sinned, they would have died that very day. But Christ stepped into the gap to provide them and all mankind with a period of probation.
We all die because we "all have sinned". Adam may have set things in motion, but I die for my own sins, not his. Ezekiel 18 especially vss 18 and 19 speak very clearly to this point. "The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent". steve
Good point Steve. We are responsible for either our being saved or lost. However, this particular topic is about how sin and death entered. Do we agree with Paul in verse 12 that through one man sin entered the world and death through sin. And sin here is more that breaking the law but missing the mark of God's glorious standard. For you and I Ezekiel 18:18 is sin and death at a secondary level instead of the primary level. Maybe this question might help us discern this topic.
Why are innocent babies subject to death even though they have never sinned or knowingly transgressed God's law?
Regarding "innocent babies," it might be helpful to remember that the wages of sin is eternal death, not the temporary state of sleep to which every human being is subject.
Tell it to Paul that he was so confused here. Romans 5
and you may help him understand better.
I thought the lesson today pointed explicitly that some people use this text for other purposes than what Paul intended it to be used Paul was only saying in this text that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, in need of a Saviour. Do I need to sin to have the need of a Saviour. Absutely not. I find that since I am so free since I have choosen to follow Christ. I need Christ all the time to keep me from sinning. Some may use the text in Isaiah 26:3 as a primise for peace of mind. "He will keep those in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on God." What is peace? Free of guilt. How can I be free of Guilt? By being reliant on God. By trusting in Him. By keeping our mind on God. Cling to God, thus you don't become seperated from Him. How do we keep our mind on Him. Ask Him to do it for us. Matthew 22:22. In prayer and supplication. Phipplians 4:6. The title of todays lesson is death through sin, not death through Adams sin. Through ours.
I am so sinful. I need christ. Thank God for His son Jesus Christ, I now have hope. Please pray for me and my family.
Good message, having gone through two funerals the last two weeks. This message is an important reminder 'death in Adam-not the solution, life in Christ. One of the most glorious aspects of the gospel is that death has been swallowed up in life. Jesus passed through the portals of the tomb and burst its bonds. He says, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1:18). Because Jesus has the keys, the enemy can no longer hold his victims in the grave.' Amen
Because Adam & Eve chose to believe Satan rather than God they no longer had access to the Tree of Life, their relationship with God was broken, God promised to restore that relationship and to give them access to Tree of Life so they could live for ever in harmony with God.
NuMy experience with death started when I was 5 years-old. It was hard for me to understand why my father would not come home anymore! It took me decades to figure it out! Decades of simply trying to deny the scar! Death is something we were not made to feel, but we all need to face it! And we should not be afraid of, because our Savior has conquered it forever! It is part of our faith! God has been my true father! He has cared more for me than I deserve! His love has helped me to survive my struggles! I owe Him my own life! And today, on my 46th birthday, I just have to say thanks to Him, because He has blessed me in such a personal way that I may doubt my earthly father would be able to!
May you have a blessed birthday and many more blessed days and years to follow. 🙂
Thanks for being with us and engaging in conversation so that we may all better understand God's plan for our lives.
Thank you!
Happy birthday, JC, and may God continue to bless and protect you.
Tanx!
The Apostle Paul was just indicating in this Scripture of Romans 5:12 how that because of Adams very first sin of his disobedience to God's command to not eat of the fruit of the tree in the center of the Garden of Eden, Adams descendants inherited a sinful nature and eventual physical death too.
Sin is actually who we are. We were born with the seed of sin planted in us, because of our earthly parents. We inherited it and nothing we can do can change that part. It was what God said and so it is. BUT our Hope came in Jesus, He paid the price for our sins so we are redeemed through His Blood, Hallelujah. A new born baby does not have to do anything to be a sinner, but because of his DNA he is a sinner! I've heard people say a baby cannot sin, but they don't comprehend he was born IN sin and shaped in iniquity, so he is still a sinner. But the amazing part about our Heavenly Father, we don't have to stay that way. All we have to do is accept by faith what the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have done for us, and we will one day be like HIM! It's kind of like the children of Israel who had sinned against God in the wilderness, and he allowed poisonous snakes to come into the camp and bite them. They begin to die, but God told Moses to put a brass serpent on a stick and hold it up and whoever LOOKED at it would not die. Some people were so stubborn they refused to look and therefore died, that stick and serpent represented Jesus, He said, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me." What effort did it take to look at the serpent, only a small glance? So it is with us, our sins are forgiven in Jesus, all we have to do is "look", and accept his payment for us by faith, by accepting His sacrifice for our sins. We too don't have to die! Not that eternal death, we just need to "look" and accept Him, by FAITH! What a wonderful amazing Heavenly Father we serve!
Thank you Father for changing our DNA!
Well, Faye Brown, our sinful DNA will not be 100% changed until GOD gives us a GLORIFIED BODY after His Son Jesus' Second Coming.
How sad it is almost the entire Christian world believes the lie of instantly going to heaven upon death. Without realizing it they have made void the joy of the hope and promise He gave us in John 14:1-3.
I don't believe we are born sinners, but we are born under the dominion of Satan, we are born self-centered.
i strongly believe you Shirley...but its the same thing we cant stay a second without sinning no matter how hard we try..but that was not what Paul meant when he said it...he was pointing out that only when we accept we are sinners and that our works can't save us only then do we know that we need salvation..which requires us to have faith in Christ's righteousness knowing that he alone can save us from the Dominion of Satan....he holds the key to the gates of hell and death:-) the devil is defenseless just waiting for when he'll be sent parking... he's only trying to gain more people to dall with him...God help us not to be one of them
I like the way you express it, Shirley. The words we use make all the difference in the way we represent God. As you wrote earlier, our first parents' choice to follow their own will instead of God's broke their relationship with the Creator. And not only that, but they effectively switched their allegiance to another god, whom Christ called the prince of this world.
Being disconnected from their Creator, their children were also born disconnected, and it is only through Christ we can become connected again. So now we all have a choice to make that is not that different from Adam and Eve's choice: Will we trust our own desires, or will we submit our desires to God and trust Him and His will for us?
Because of our doctrines we still don’t get it although placed right before us. We are not subjected to a test or choice like Adam. Christ, our Head is! We reap the benefits of His victory. Adam’s progeny reap what he himself sowed. His progeny weren’t subjected to the test. Their head was. All they had to do was to be born and they bore the fruits
Kenny, you seem to be implying that people don't have a choice to make.
Are you saying that since Christ's death every human reaps the benefit of immortality in the heavenly Kingdom, without choosing to trust Christ completely (i.e. have faith in Christ)?
I don't mean this in a sarcastic or cynical way at all, but was baby Jesus self centered when he cried because He needed his diaper changed, or when He was hungry, or when He was sick? Was it self centered when Abraham asked of God "what will you give me"?
I'm currently working near John F Kennedy high school and on the front of the school are the famous words "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country". Might it not have been more appropriate for Abraham to have asked God what he could do for God? Would it be incorrect for us to expect that Jesus might use his powers as God to get up, even as a baby, and go out and help someone else rather than lay there and cry until someone came to help Him?
For that matter, is there anything we can do to help God?
The story of Jesus suggests that God makes Himself vulnerable and there is a sense in which we can help Him. It's interesting that we recognize Jesus as having been without sin, even though there was a time when he "made Himself of no account" Phillipians 2:7, and could do no more than cry out for help. In the story of Abraham God goes beyond that to say that when Abraham believed that God would give him what he asked for, he was considered righteous. In fact the story would suggest that God knew before Abraham asked what he desired and went to him with the offer to make of him a great nation. Abraham could not have failed to recognize this as a promise of the son he so dearly wanted, even before there is any record that he had asked God.
I would draw from these observations that sin goes beyond self-centeredness as we commonly understand it. There is a clear sense in which Jesus as a baby was self centered and could do no more than cry out for someone to meet His needs. We understand the law as a transcript of God's character and sin is a rejection of Him and everything He is and stands for. ! John 3:4 reads "sin is the transgression of the law", but the phrase "transgression of the law" in the KJV is a translation of a single Greek word "anomia" meaning to be without law. NIV does better here using the word "lawlessness". To sin is to reject God, His character, and His standard of behavior.
Interestingly, to reject the law still has consequences, which is the subject of tomorrow's lesson, and is one of the strongest arguments against the idea that the law has been done away with. God bless you all. steve
Thats right Steve the Holy Spirit uses us, we don't use the Holy Spirit. We may reap the fruits of the Holy Spirit, but we just the same don't use the Holy Spirit. We need to have the frame of mind, "Here am I Lord" Acts 9:10.
Christ in us the only hope of glory!
Esther Moran
knowing that we are destine to end life, how does that make you feel? If and when that day is immanent and knowing what to expect,
does that leave one with a feeling of hope or dread. 1Chorinthians 15:55,56, O death where is your sting? There is hope
except for those that do not know God. Life is taken for granted by most till the possibility of an end is inevitable. I am thankful for every day that I am given. The future that is God given helps change dread, to Hope.
I think we all get a little apprehensive the older we get. So much to do and so little time to do it. However the hope for the future is grounded on the presence of Christ in our lives now. Being saved is about a relationship with Jesus now that is fulfilling now. I often quip that being saved is an action plan for the present, not a retirement plan for the future. If we do not have a relationship with Jesus, then our hope is like a fisherman fishing in a bathtub!
What has been your own experience with the reality and the tragedy of death?
When my sister passed awayvery, she left a void. A lot of energy that she left behind. No longer to have that my sister to continue with and fellowship with. It’s strange to know this body will eventually die. My dad and mom are in there eighties and people tell me to enjoy them as much as possible they will not be around forever.
Why, in the face of such a relentless enemy, must we have hope in something greater than ourselves or greater than anything this world offers?
It seems like a natural thing to think the people we care about will be seen again. There memories may be lost in time but thinking about them makes it real. Genealogy brings life to my ancestors. I can almost feel that they are alive. Something brings this out. If one observes the univers and how things are working in unison from the heavens land and sea, something is working beyond our abilities.
As to Romans 5:12, it seems to me that Paul at this point of his letter, does not go into details of sin and sinful nature of mankind after the fall (post lapsum). While he goes on in his comparison between the first Adam and the second Adam, bringing into opposition sin and grace with its various aspects, climaxing in the superabundance of grace over against sin --- most likely we have to look at other places of his letter where he is describing the nature of sin after the fall (post lapsum).
Being confronted with the holiness of God`s law (Romans 7:12), Paul is recognizing the law in its spiritual depth seeing himself as being carnal and sold under sin. (Romans 7:14) Describing his inner struggle, finding himself doing the opposite of what he wants to do, he expclaims: O wretched man hat I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24) This is his cry for salvation, which is answered immediately. (Romans 7:25; 8:1-2)
Where does this corrupted nature, deprived in sin, come from? Without going into a detailed description as to how Adam and Eve reacted being confronted with God, interrogating them, their depraved nature post lapsum (after the fall) becomes obvious. This sin corrupted nature was past on to all mankind (Romans 5:12), showing its need of salvation. We are as responsible for our sins and thus accounable as Adam and Eve were.
Although sin corrupted nature of Adam has been passed on to us, we have not inherited sin as such in order to be condemned for Adam`s sin or to justify our sin by pointing to Adam as the one being guilty for our sin--- justifying ourselves. Selfjustification would render needless justification by faith in Christ. The accountability for sin is cearly expressed by Paul saying in the latter part of Romans 5:12: "...for all have sinned." This is referring guilt on those who were, are and will be committing sin; and who were, are and will be accountable for their own sin.
In line with the condition of our inherited sin-corrupted nature, Paul will be continueing in Romans 6 a total change of nature in participation of Chrit`s resurrection entering into a new life, symbolized in baptisms. (Romans 6:3-4) There is no need for our sin-corrupted nature to retain and to hold on to it. So we are in the middle of good news, as Paul says, if any man is in Christ, he is a new crearure; old things have passed away, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Sinful nature has been changed into becoming a new creature, old things have passed away, the old sin corrupted nature is gone. The new creature in Christ Jesus is being changed into Christ`s glorious charakter from glory to glory, as Paul puts it. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Also in his letter to the Galatians Paul points out that neither cirmumcision nor uncircumcision is the issue: the real isue being a new creature. (Galatians 6:15) Jesus himself had already explained the same issue in his night communicaction with Nicodemus. (John 3:3.5)
So there is hope in our sin corrupted nature passed on from the first Adam, but the second Adam brings about the glorious change, which is good news.
Winfried Stolpmann
I would respectfully offer that Paul was a 'master' in being able to comprehend and write of the complexity of phenomena related to sin and salvation etc. One of the reasons people find Paul hard to understand was his ability to do this. He was able to convey multiple main points simultaneously - reflective of the complexity of reality. I believe this passage in Rom 5 is an example of this.
Consequently, I believe that Paul does in fact incorporate key details regarding the nature of a fundamental change to humanity as a result of the fall - and a corresponding fundamental 'reversal' that Christ brought to humanity as the second Adam.