The Way of Adam

The speaker greets the audience and emphasizes the importance of family. They discuss the origin of sin through Adam and its impact on mankind. They reference Romans 5 to explain how sin entered the world and brought death. They highlight the need for a Savior and the role of Christ in providing hope. The speaker discusses the state of mankind, emphasizing that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. They explain that sin has caused alienation from God and a lack of peace. They reference various scriptures to show God's role as creator and the purpose of mankind. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of seeking the Lord and relying on His wisdom rather than our own. Well, good morning from North America. Greetings brethren from around the world. It's good to be able to come and bring a message and go to leading here this morning in Michigan. Greetings to you also from all of the family here in Michigan. It is a wonderful opportunity to be able to come together as the opening prayer indicated and have this time to fellowship together as God's family. And I want to emphasize a little bit today about family and, you know, the originator of this progeny, which is man. And so we're going to talk about Adam and his way and learn some lessons from him from the very beginning, things that stand out and things that are referenced in the scripture. We won't cover 100% of everything. One couldn't do that, of course, in the span of an hour. But we're going to learn some very valuable lessons here. Some of the things that are brought out in the scripture about our existence as mankind, if you will. So let's turn to, for our first scripture, let's turn to Romans. We'll begin our study in Romans and we'll turn to Romans 3. In Romans 3, Paul brings out something that kind of reaches back to what we'll be talking about today. And we'll pick it up in verse 9. And I apologize, brethren, let's go to Romans 5. That's where I want to first begin. We'll get to Romans 3 in a moment, but let's start in Romans 5. So let's go forward a couple of chapters there in Romans 5. So in Romans 5, Paul mentions something that he tells us in verse 12. He says, Therefore, as by one man, sin entered the world, and by means of sin came death. So now we see the problem, the elephant in the room from God's creation of man until the return of Christ is this problem of sin. And now let's understand it a little bit more. So Paul tells us that by one man, sin came into the world. And so let's define, if you will, the world, because we also know that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, so that we could have some hope there and have something to grasp, if you will, and feel for and to hope for. So he says that sin came into the world by this one man, and by means of sin came death. And in this way, by this process, this act, sin entering into the world, death has into all mankind. So we have Adam to thank for that. We have him for making a decision at that moment that resonates all the way through time and resulting in a number of needs, and Christ from the foundation of the world recognizing that giving him this option of choice, if you will, that he might make the wrong choice. And so he fulfilled that which he had planned to do from the foundation of the world in order to rectify that, to provide a solution to that. So sin and death passed on to all mankind, the law of sin and death. And it is for this reason that all have sin, again, recognizing that we are and were in a state of sin, flesh. Verse 13, for before the law, sin was in the world, however, sin is not imputed, sin is not imputed when law does not exist. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses. It was there. Even upon those who had not sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam. And Adam's sin was indeed significant. So let's go back a moment and define the world that we're talking about here. Sin entered into the world. And if we're just looking at the inset prong that is part of the faithful version, it brings out the various aspects of this word, cosmos, K-O-S, M-O-S. And I'll just pull some things out of there. Cosmos deals with one of the things that it defines, if you will, talks about the inhabitants of the earth, sons of men, the human family. Again, the word carries a focus onto each and every one of us. So sin entered into the world. Man now is exposed to sin. Sin now has this grasp on mankind. If you look at the setting that we had in Garden of Eden, it was an incredible setting. Indeed, there was God in their midst, face to face, teaching them, you know, and I'm sure on the Sabbath there was special time, as it is with us today, that he dwelt with his creation, beginning with Adam, even before he made Eve. Remember, Adam had a very integral part in naming the animals. God told him to care for and tend the garden, explain to him, you know, how to keep it and what things were appropriate to use in their use. There was no sin. You know, we are talking about no sweat of the brow to get it all done because we didn't have to wrestle with, you know, the weeds and the thistles and the things that we have to deal with today for me to get my garden prepared for the spring. I've got to put some work in and some sweat in because the weeds are already coming in. That's just the nature of things. Their ground attracts and requires weeds to grow, or they grow, and we have to pull them out with our hands and the sweat of our brow. This wasn't the case in the garden. And so here's Christ instructing Adam, and then later Eve, as we'll see. So sin came into the world, and what impact did it have? An incredible impact on that setting that I've just described, and my words don't give it justice, I'm sure, but this aftermath, after sin came in, again, the word world describes in the condition of man otherwise, the ungodly multitude, the whole mass of men, all God's creation here, all of mankind alienated from God. So today that's kind of what it's describing. Now hostile to the cause of Christ, enmity has formed, and that division has been set. This, brethren, is the result of sin. This is the result of sin. Now let's turn to Romans 3, and we'll see as Paul continues to define for us the state of things. In verse 9, he talks about even us within the body of Christ as it was then. He was talking to the Jews. He says, what then? Are we of ourselves better? Thinking about our state or the state of man, when we look at it from that perspective, we are all standing in the grace of Christ. We are all endowed with the law of sin and death. We were all dead in trespasses and sin. So brethren, the state that we find ourselves in now is because God is doing a work that enables us to have a relationship with him again, that is enabling us to have hope for an eternal life with him, which was his plan from the beginning. He made man for a purpose, and it was Satan who came into the garden and disrupted that. It was Adam's decisions that put us on this track that was going to require Christ, was going to require a savior, going to require the Messiah to come. And now we have this knowledge and this understanding that God has given us by grace, by a calling and an election to be a part of the first beginnings of it. God's plan is still being fulfilled for all of his creation. It is indeed going to come to be. So we look at this result of sin. For we're not better than anyone in the world, but saved by the grace of God, we would still be in our state of death. No, not at all. For we, so verse nine, the latter part, for we have already charged both Jews and Gentiles, everyone, all of mankind, all of Adam's progeny with being under sin. Now we are starting to understand why we need it. We need a savior. Let's read on a little bit further here. Exactly, verse 10, as it is written, for there is not a righteous one. Brethren, that means not one. No, not even one. There's not one who understands. Saved by God's bringing that light into your eyes and opening your mind so that you can understand and circumcising your heart so that you're not hostile against him anymore. That's the miracle that was performed in each and every one of us. Verse 11, the last part says, yeah, there is not one who seeks after God. And it's only by that calling, we've been talking recently about conversion and coming and changing. And yes, Norbert's message last night really spoke to me personally, as I'm sure it did to each and every one of you. I internalized it within myself as I was listening to it and thinking about choices that we make and the calling that God has given us and answering the call when he reached down and got our attention. So God is calling, first fruits, preparing us to do the greater work in the millennium, do the greater work in the Great White Throne Judgment, to bring all of his sons and daughters into his family, which was his purpose from the beginning, but again, brethren, it depends upon choice. And we can learn from Adam's choice to help us to truly kind of reflect and make sure that we're making the right choice. So all our understanding in verse 11, now there's not, I'm sorry, verse 12. He says that they have all gone out of the way. So they have turned aside from God's purpose. Together they have all become depraved. There's not even one who is practicing kindness, let alone righteousness, just being kind. You see the hostility in the world. The love of many is growing cold in society as a whole. The world is indeed changing. The spirit within the world is changing, you see it. And it is not isolated in any one nation or place, it is all over the world. We see the spirit of Satan continuing to affect man. So there's not even one practicing kindness, no, there is not so much as one. It says that their mouths, I'm sorry, that their throats are like an open grave, verse 13. With their tongues they have used deceit. The venom of ash is under their lips, whose mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. The way of peace they have not known. So where will we find that peace, brethren? It has to come to us in Christ is the answer. He came into the world to make a difference, and oh, what a difference did he make in terms of creating and offering hope beyond all this foolishness that we see in society. Our hope is in Christ. Verse 23, he says again, verse 23 of Romans 3, for all have seen and come short of the glory of God, and that glory is what God intended. He made us in his image after his likeness. God made us for a purpose, and we have lost our way. Everything has lost its way, and this isn't anything as of late. This began with our father Adam. It began there. So I described to you the setting as it were. Here is Adam in the garden, and God instructing him, let's go back for a minute. Let's go to Acts 7, Acts 17. Let's get something right into the record so we truly comprehend the scope of what has occurred here or what is about to occur with Adam's decision. If we look at Acts 17, and we pick it up in verse 22, here is what God did. Verse 22, and Paul stood in the center of Mars Hill, and this is Paul having an opportunity to give a Bible study, if you will, on the true God. Paul stood in the center of Mars Hill and said, Men, Athenians, I perceive that in all things you are very reverent to deities, and these are the wise ones of the world, the Athenians, right? For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your veneration, I also found an altar in which was inscribed to the unknown God. And again, since the Garden of Eden, man has been caught off from, they don't know God. It was mentioned in some of the comments earlier as we were coming up. The world is blinded to this truth. They truly do not comprehend, as we all were. I'm not just mentioning that as though I'm speaking down to a fact or state of man. We were all in that condition. God is making a difference here. So they have this statute. They like to worship everything, they don't want to leave anything unconsidered to the unknown God. So then, he whom you worship in ignorance, worshiping the unknown God, is the one that I proclaim to you. Now here's what Paul is explaining about the true God. He is the God who made the world, as we describe it, mankind, all that exists, earth, and the universe as we know it, and all things that are in it. Being the Lord of heaven and earth, he does not dwell in temples made by hand, nor is he served by the hands of men, as though he needs anything, for he gives to all life and breath and all things. And he made of one blood all the nations of men to dwell upon all the face of the earth, having determined beforehand their appointed time and the boundary of their dwellings, in order that they might seek the Lord. If perhaps, again, thinking about what Paul is saying here, God made us as we are, has given us an understanding of his purpose, and given us the seasons. He is revealing himself through his creation to his creation, through his creation to his human creation, having determined beforehand our appointed times and the boundaries of our dwelling, in order that we might seek the Lord. This is the objective here, that we recognize that we have a creator, that we have a God that we should be seeking after, not inviting him into our heart. We need to go where he is, on his terms, and seek the Lord. If perhaps they might feel after him, they might find him, though truly he is not far from each one of us, as he was there with Adam in the garden when he made his decision. The Lord was in his midst. He knew him. He goes on to say in verse 28, as he is explaining to the Athenians, for in him we live. We draw breath. We exist and move and have our being. Some of the poets among you, he told the Athenians, some of the poets among you also have said, for we are his offspring. We are his offspring. Let's go to 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel, and select the prophet Samuel, and expand on this a little bit more. 1 Samuel chapter 2, pick it up in verse 6, 1 Samuel 2, here's the God that we bow to. Here's the God that we worship. Here's the God who loves us and made us. He wants us to understand who he is. Verse 6, the Lord killed and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and brings up. There's no limit to God. In him is life, brethren. To understand God, we have to understand that he is the God who gave life, he can take life, and he can give life again. Verse 7, the Lord takes away. He gives riches. He brings low. Yay, he lifts up high. He raises up the poor out of the dust. We understand that this is a part of what Christ, the prophecy of the Messiah, wants to do, is to help the poor. Yay, he causes them to inherit a throne of honor, for to the Lord belong pillars of the earth, and he sets the habitable world upon them. Yes, he is the great creator. He is the God that we worship. Let's go to Proverbs 8. And again, I'm establishing the same God that was there having these conversations, working with his creation at the very beginning, the first man made in the image of God. So let's, hold your finger there, let's go first over to Genesis 1. Let's go to Genesis 1 and then we'll go to Proverbs 8. Let's go over to Genesis 1. I'm going to try to get all these scriptures in here because they all have bearing on this relationship that we currently walk in. And let's keep this in mind, this relationship that we walk in is being orchestrated from above. We are a part of it. And we have to remember that we're not running things here. We are blessed to be a part of the plan of God now, to not have knowledge of it, to participate in it and be a part of God's family as he is working today. So in Genesis 1, in verse 26, let's get back to the garden for a moment. Genesis 1 in verse 26. This is where God formed man. He said, let us, and God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion. So mankind, the creation of man was for a special purpose. To have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of heaven, over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that is, that crawls upon the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him. In a very clear statement, and let me make it loud and clear. He created them as he did with the animal kingdom, male and female. And God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. That is, populate the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish and have dominion of the sea and over the fowl of heaven, over every living thing that moves upon the earth. God said, here's the state in the garden, behold, I've given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth, every tree upon which is the fruit of tree bearing seed, to you they shall be fruitful. And to every animal of the earth, and to every fowl of heaven, and to all the living creatures that crawl upon the earth, even every green plant is even fulfilled. And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made. And indeed, it was exceedingly good in the evening and the morning for the sixth day. And I remember just starting to study scripture early in my calling and defining the day, evening and morning, as the sun was setting, begins the day. So, this is where God is creating. Let's go over to chapter 2 of Genesis now and pick it up in verse 15. In 15, and the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it, to dress it and to keep it. And that is also with emphasis, as we have the note, to guard it, to guard it. Guard it from who, brethren? To be mindful, to be watching, to take care, to guard it. So, and the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may freely eat of every tree in the garden. And here is instructions, right? But you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For in that day that you eat of it and dying, you shall surely die. Now, I'm coming to understand this tree of the knowledge of good and evil more and more, brethren. It is this reliance upon a knowledge or wisdom that does not originate from God. It is taken unto yourself this idea that you can define good and evil, or what is right, or what is acceptable, that is coming from within you or from your own creative being, that this is not from God. And anything that's not from God is from the devil. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil originates not from God's thinking, but your own thinking, and inspire the same. And so, we are always looking toward the wisdom and the knowledge of God. We are seeking understanding and truth from God, not our own way, not our own things. Because the things that come from us, the things that come from the knowledge of the tree of good and evil leads to death. Because God told him that he, by instruction, the word is preserved for us. For in the day that you eat of it and dying, you shall surely die. No, we eat from Christ, from the word. We partake from the table of God. We don't seek after the bread of this world, the riches of this world, the wisdom of this world. Verse 18, and the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper compatible for him, a counterpart, a sustainer right by his side. And then in verse 19, and out of the, so it says, out of the ground, the Lord God had formed every animal of the field, every fowl of air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. Whatever Adam called each living creature, that became his name. So we see a relationship here forming between the creator God and the created man. Eve is not on the scene yet. Adam is being instructed well before he received his wife. He's being taught how to care and guard, not only the garden, but the whole garden. Not only the garden, but a family that God was going to give him here. And this is also the instructions that we receive even today, that you go and build a home and then you seek a wife. You don't go out there looking for a wife to bring into nothing. You have to build a foundation. And once you have a family, you're supposed to guard it and keep and care for it. And then, and Paul goes on to talk about love, the relationship between husband and wife, like the church and Christ. We have a lot of affirmation to help us to truly understand what that represents. So skip down to verse 20. So Adam gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the air, every animal of the field, but it was not found to help or compatible for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall over Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs from out of man. A rib was taken and afterward closed back up the flesh underneath. And then the Lord God did something incredible. And I dwell on this, you know, quite interestingly, I should say dwelt on this quite interestingly as a young single person from within man was taken a rib and God formed a woman. Verse 22, the Lord God made the rib, which he had taken out of man and to a woman, he brought her to the man. And Adam said, no, again, probably not expressed here, but I'm sure wow, was in there somewhere. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man, woman. In verse 24, for this reason, shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and the wife, and they were not ashamed. Again, no sin, no, just the innocence of a child, if you will, in this presence of God being taught and instructed without sin. All right. So we've established that. Let's go to Proverbs 8. So this understanding that all knowledge, all things, all wisdom, all truth, anything that is to be had for a purpose of life comes from God, comes from his word. Okay. So we go to Proverbs now, and that it is of wisdom to comprehend these things. And God, he extends to us wisdom from above. So Proverbs 8, and let's pick it up in verse 1. Does not wisdom call and does not understand and put forth her voice. And this is the relationship in the garden with Adam at first, and then after Eve up to a point until Satan comes on the scene. So God is telling us how important his wisdom is, how important his word is, how important his truth is, his way. That is from God because God made us and we are to gain knowledge and perspective and truth and direction from him, not from our own wisdom, not from the wisdom of this world, which belongs to Satan. God has called us out of this world into his truth. And so he says again in verse 1, does not wisdom call and does not understand and put forth her voice. She stands in the top of high places by the place where the paths meet. She cries in the gate, at the entrance of the city, at the doors to you, oh man, I call and my voice is to the sons of men. As he began in the garden, now he still speaks to us through his word, the holy script. He says in verse 5, oh, you simple ones, understand wisdom and you fools, be of an understanding heart. Here God will speak of excellent things and opening of my lips shall be right thing. For my mouth shall speak truth and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing twisted or perverse in them. This is the instruction that Christ was given to Adam. They, verse 9, they are all plain to him who understand and God has given us understanding. The right to those, sorry, and right to those who find out, receive my instruction, not silk and knowledge rather than choice of gold, because the silver and gold perish his breath. God's word, his truth stands forever. In verse 11, for wisdom is better than ruby and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to wisdom, that is to it. God's word, his truth and what he has revealed to us, we are indeed fortunate. And so God says about wisdom through this proverb, I, wisdom, dwell with prudence and find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. I hate pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth. Now, this is where Adam should have been standing on these principles at the time that sin came into the garden, that Satan, the deceiver came into the garden. Verse 14, counsel and sound wisdom are mine. I'm sure God had instructed him. He says, I am understanding. I have strength. By me, kings reign and princesses decree justice. Princesses rule by me and nobles and all the judges of the earth. Sounds like something that we need to be putting in our toolbox, right? Preparing for ruling with Christ in the kingdom. Verse 17, I love those who love and those who seek me early shall find. Riches and honor are with me, yea, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold. What I give is better than choice silk. I want us to hear these words, brethren, because this is a relationship that God wants us to have with him as he did Adam. He says, I lead in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice that I may cause those who love me to inherit sustenance and I will fill their treasury. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way. Yes, it was there as he was instructing Adam in the way that he should go. Before his works of old, even the foundation of the world, right? God recognizing that he was going to create humankind and instruct them in the way that they should walk. There are many scriptures, even in the relationship between God and the nation of Israel, for these principles are brought out even more profoundly. And that personal relationship that he had with a people that he had called unto himself a special treasure to have a relationship with him. To be, to show the world what this wisdom could produce. In verse 23 again, I was set up from everlasting from the beginning before the earth ever was. When there was no depth, I was brought forth. When there was no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth. Before he had made the earth or the fields or the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heaven, I was there. When he set a circle upon the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its limit, that the water should not pass his command, when he appointed the foundations of the earth. You're starting to understand Paul's lesson on God to the Athenians too. You compare Proverbs 8 to that, that he was explaining to them. Verse 30, even I was with him as a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. Rejoicing in the habitable world, rejoicing in the habitable world, his earth. And my delight was with the son of man. And now, therefore, hearken unto me, O children, O you children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise and do not refuse it. Blessed is the man, and brethren, that is any of God's creation, any of mankind. Blessed is the man or woman who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors. For whoever finds me finds a life, and shall obtain favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All who hate me love death. So we see the choice that is set before us here, and we start to understand. We know that all things came into being through Christ, through him. In the first John, I'm sorry, in John, the Gospel of John, let's turn there. The Gospel of John, again, Christ having the opportunity to tell us, again, expounding upon this truth. And as we look at John 1, verse 3, all things came into being through him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without him. That includes Brethren, Lucifer. That includes Lucifer, the great angel as he was, but we know he failed. And let's go over now to John 3. Now, there was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, by name, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. So this light that came into the world over there in John 1, this teacher has come into the world to continue and to provide instructions for us. So Christ is bringing hope. So he's recognizing that, yes, he is a teacher. We know that you are a teacher who has come from God because no one is able to do the miracles that you are doing unless God is with them. And Jesus says and said to him, truly, I say to you, unless anyone is born again, and they are born again, they will not be saved. Truly, I say to you, unless anyone is born again, and that is anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus was puzzled by this and his understanding of it. So we recognize that a change must occur. And so Nicodemus said in verse 4, he said to him, how can a man be old, who is old be born? Can he enter into his mother's room a second time and be born? And Jesus says that truly, I say to you, unless anyone has been born of water in a spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And so we have an instruction there provided that verse 6, that which has been born of the flesh is flesh, that which has been born of the spirit is spirit. And he says, do not be amazed at this, that I said to you, it is necessary for you to be born again. And he is just laying out there as a part of his ministry and his message that there is a life beyond the flesh. There is a life beyond the flesh if we are to have it. So we have this condition that we find ourselves in. You know, we find ourselves under the consequences of Adam's sin. And yes, brethren, we have our own sin as well, not just his. Christ came into the world and saved us from sin. So there is a means by which we can have the sins of Adam eliminated through what Christ But we also know that we still carry with us the law of sin and death. So three aspects of salvation, you know, you have been saved, you are being saved, and you shall be saved. And Christ did indeed save us from the sins of Adam, the law of sin and death and the death that was over us and the bondage that Satan had on us because we were born into the progeny of Adam. That part through faith in Jesus Christ has given us freedom. We are being saved each and every single day as we walk in newness of life, as we practice righteousness, as we look to God in faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We are being saved. This covenant relationship that we have with God, we are being saved as we avail ourselves to it, as we have faith in it, as we live in it and practice the way of God. And we shall be saved in that day because our faith is steadfast and we endure to the end. We understand these principles. So we found ourselves in the consequences of sin, the sin of Adam, but God gives us true hope. He gives us true hope. Turn to 1 Timothy 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. In 1 Timothy 2 verse 13. Just read 13 to 14 here. For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman came to be in transgression by being deceived. Now, I bring this scripture out because we need to understand that this question. So Paul tells us that we're not to be deceived, not by Satan or men. It's 1 Corinthians. You can just write in your notes, 1 Corinthians 11, 3. So what are we to do then? Okay. So we have this relationship between the Lord God and Adam prior to even Eve's creation of instruction in his way. He spent time with Adam. He had a relationship with God face to face. So here comes Satan into the garden. And all of a sudden, the target of his attempt, if you will, of the target of his attack was So he starts to ask her questions. Question, where is Adam? Was he not there? Could he not intervene? Did he not, did he forget the instructions that God had given him? What was happening there is the question that I have. And then there's a question that I may not fully understand until the resurrection. But, Adam was not deceived. But the woman came to be in transgression by being deceived. Verse 15 now of 2 Timothy 2. But she shall be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with self-control. So this is all, again, made possible through Christ's death and resurrection and salvation and forgiveness and reconciliation, you know, through him. Turn with me to Romans 8. So because of what Christ has done in coming into our life and bringing us the hope that he has given us, we indeed have a newness of life in Christ. Let's read verse 1 of Romans 8. Consequently, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who are not walking according to the flesh, not making the same decisions that I've made, but according to the spirit. Because the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has delivered me, and all of us, rather, from the law of sin and death. Yes, we have been made for what was impossible for the law to do, any law, in that it was weak through the flesh. God, having sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. So our Savior brought hope, our Savior brought and renewed and restored life in this relationship. Verse 4. In order that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Our lives now are anew spiritually in Christ. One day we will be spirit with Christ, if we endure to the end. Verse 5. For those who walk according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but those who walk according to the spirit mind the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is indeed, brethren, is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is intimacy against God. That is what occurred after Adam's sin. If it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. But those who are in the flesh cannot please. However, brethren, he tells us here, you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If the spirit of God is indeed dwelling in you, but if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. But if Christ be within you, this is the new relationship. There is not a counseling necessarily just face to face, which would be incredible all by itself. We saw the result of that in Moses and Christ. But we have something greater than that, brethren. Let's read verse 10. But if Christ be within you, the body is indeed dead because of sin. However, the spirit is life because of righteousness. Whose righteousness is dwelling in us? Whose mind is being implanted and developed within us? The very mind of Christ. So no, it's not face to face anymore. It is God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, dwells within us. They have literally become a part of who we are by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, changing our heart, changing our mind, co-joined with the spirit of man, creating a new creation. Verse 11, now, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling within you, and you're putting on the mind of Christ, and you're growing in this knowledge and this understanding and living this way in hope and faith, this wonderful relationship that we have with God as individuals and as a family, then we too have hope. He who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, latter part of verse 11, will also quicken your mortal bodies because of his spirit that dwells within. So then, brethren, we're not debtors to the flesh. We're not in bondage to Satan. He does not have control of our life unless we give it to him. We belong to Christ. To Christ. We belong to the Father. So verse 12, so then, brethren, we are not debtors of the flesh to live according to the flesh because if you are living according to the flesh, you shall not. That was the instruction God gave Adam in the garden. He didn't hear him. We need to hear these words as God's called and elect because our garden of Eden is out there in the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ is instructing us each day as he's doing today on the Sabbath. But he says, there's a but, if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you shall live. If we're using God's spirit as to, for the purpose he gave it to us, to put to death the deeds of the body. For as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And this is a relationship that we have, as it says there in verse 15, we say, we call out, this relationship is an intimate relationship. Yeah, Adam was in the garden tempted and it led to sin and he was tempted by the lust within him. And we all have this lust, this lost sin and death, which is within us. It was stoked by Satan, yes, and that's how it works. It was stoked by Satan himself. Now, do you think Satan, when he was picking on Eve, that Adam wasn't in his mind? You don't think he realized where Adam was as he was picking on Eve? No, Satan is diabolical. He's crafty. He knows what he's doing. So I cry out to you, brethren, to recognize the need for God's wisdom in your life, for God's wisdom in our lives, so that Satan won't come in and deceive us, that we hold fast to the truth that God is giving us, and we stand in the truth that God is giving us. See, sin's desire is for us. Sin's desire is for us. Adam sinned and his sin hooked him. You know, the enticement, as it's mentioned in James 4. I was doing this and preparing this and preparing the sermon. The one thing that jumped out at me was this, how sin is a lure and it lures you away. Now, I'm a fisherman and I understand the effect of a good lure. So Satan is an artful fisherman as well. We have that symbol that many of the churches in the world in terms of being a fisherman. Satan is a fisherman too, and he uses a lure, various lures of all types to entice us and to get us our attention, and we go after and we get hooked and drawn away from God. But we have to stay close to our God, who is our Father. So, Satan is the father of lies. We need to reject him at every turn. Don't fall victim to his lies as Adam did. God instructs us by his word. Adam was also instructed by God, but did not listen. He listened to Satan and obeyed him and not God, as was mentioned there in Genesis 3.22. At that moment, Adam became a servant of Satan. How? He became a servant of Satan by yielding to sin and the lust thereof. I want to read this into the record. Let's go to Romans 6. This is very important, that we are servants to the ones that we obey. So, he says in Romans 6.16, and this is our lesson that we took from the days of unleavened bread, and this is our lesson that we take across to Pentecost, the seven weeks. This lesson is brought up with the seven churches. God says, obey my voice, and if we obey his voice, we are servants of his. In verse 16 of Romans 6, don't you realize to whom you yield yourselves as servants to? You are servants of the one you obey, whether it is of sin unto death, which is for Satan, or of obedience unto righteousness, which is unto God. But thanks be to God that you were servants. You were the servants of sin. As I said, the state of man, of all men. But you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, which was delivered to you. And having been delivered from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. That is who we are now, servants of righteousness, raised from the dead, from the watery grave, symbolically to serve anew unto God. Seeking a new homeland, seeking a kingdom, not of this world, but one that is promised to us. And God is preparing us to receive it. So, our hope is in God. Let's go to 1 John 5, 1 John 5, and we'll kind of sum up these two verses. So, in 1 John 5, and let's just pick it up in verse 1, says, everyone who believes that Jesus Christ has been begotten by God, has been begotten by God, and everyone who loves him, who begat, also loves him who has been begotten by him. On this standard, we know that we are, that we love the children of God, for we love God and keep his commandments, that wisdom that God was talking about. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments have not hurt us. Now then, everyone who has been, who is begotten by God, overcomes the world. So, God is bringing us out of the world. Through his begettal, the power of the spirit dwelling in us. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, brother. Faith is not in ourselves, our faith is not in our wisdom, faith is not in this world, nor the rulers of this world in any shape, form, or fashion. Our faith is in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And the great work that God the Father has done through him, in order that we might have a relationship with the Father. Verse 5, who is the one who overcomes the world? Even the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is he who came by water and blood. Jesus the Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the spirit that bears witness, because the spirit is the truth. And this is, again, a truth that we need to take with us. For there are three that bear witness in the area. The spirit, and the water, and the blood. And these three witness unto one truth. If we accept the witness of men, the witness of God is superior. For this is the witness of God, which he has witnessed concerning his Son. Brethren, this is a witness given by the Father himself concerning his Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has witnessed in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has witnessed concerning his Son. I'm not going to, I believe the Father. I'm not going to sit here and say that he is a liar. Trusting God, as was mentioned there in Proverbs 8, verse 11. And this is the witness that God has given us, witness that God has given us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. We are not to be deceived as Satan was deceived in the garden. Verse 12 is clear. The one who has the Son has eternal life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life. So we can struggle in this flesh as much as we want to. If we're trying to achieve perfection in it, we're striving for righteousness and doing all those things which are our obligation. But our hope and our rejoicing and our ability to keep going is based on a truth that God the Father and Jesus Christ is in our corner helping us. We're not doing this alone, brother. We're not fighting this fight alone. Here's another truth about the Garden of Eden. If, you know, Satan is there, he was allowed in, Adam and Eve is there. They knew God. For in any of that exchange, did they ever look up and cry out and say, God, come and take this being out of here, or God help me, or God forgive me, or God strengthen me, or God rebuke you, Satan the devil, and get thee from before me. Get thee from before me. Did it ever happen? Let's not be so negligent in our walk with God. When we are in trouble, cry out. When we need help, cry out. When we sin, repent, ask forgiveness. This walk that we are walking for eternal life is with God the Father and Jesus Christ at our right hand. Let's go to Ephesians. It's Ephesians 5. So, here's a relationship that we have, and I have only touched on a portion of it with this message. There is so much to be gleaned in terms of Adam's mistake and what God did to redeem us from it, and the walk that we now have with him enhanced through a covenantal relationship promised in blood by our Savior, who is alive at the right hand of God the Father, ready, able, capable of strengthening us and giving us what we need naked. He says, therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love even as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet, smelly faith. That is the God that we have hope in. That is the Savior who came and died for us. And that is where life is, brethren, in Christ and in our relationship with him and the relationship made possible through him with God the Father. So, I encourage you as we go on across to the resurrection feet, as we walk across these continuing weeks for Pentecost, that we as a church be of this mind.