What we believe about humanity really matters because all of humanity has been separated from God as a result of our rebellion against God...

This week we are looking at the third statement that comprises our doctrinal statement as a church. This third statement addresses what we believe as a church when it comes to the human condition. This statement summarizes the answer to the question “Where did humanity come from? Who am I? And what went wrong? Why does the world seem so messed up?"

Yesterday, we talked about the reality that we believe God created Adam and Eve as the first human beings who inhabited the earth. We also talked about the reality that every human being bears the thumbprint of God. We were created in God’s relational image. We were created for a relationship with God vertically and for relationships with one another horizontally.

But not only were we divinely designed for relationships. Here we also see that we were divinely designed to rule over the earth as God’s representative. We have been divinely designed to live in relationship with God and one another and have been given responsibility over the earth as His representative here on earth.

However, during the life of Adam and Eve here on earth, an event from history occurred that sent shock waves through history. Adam and Eve responded to Satan’s temptation by buying into the deception that they could become like God. And it was Adam and Eve’s response that led to sin entering into the world. And as sin entered the world, we see the consequences immediately affect the world. The relationship between Adam and Eve and humanity throughout history was drastically changed.

We talked about the reality that as a result of Adam and act of selfishness and rebellion, all humanity acquired a natural bent toward selfishness and rebellion against God. Through Adam’s act of selfishness and rebellion, all humanity through history has acted on that selfish and rebellious bent to do things that hurt God and others. And it is this selfishness and rebellion that alienates, or separates us from the relationship with God that we were created for.

And in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Romans, we see the Apostle Paul unpack this reality for us in great detail. So let’s look at this section of this letter together, beginning in Romans 5:12:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—

Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of a first century church located in Rome by explaining that through one man sin entered into the world. When Paul talks about sin here, he is not referring to individual acts of sin. Instead Paul is referring to the evil and destructive power of selfishness and rebellion that causes us to do things that hurt God and others.

Paul’s point here is that selfishness and sin made its entrance into the world through a single human being; and that single human being was Adam. Paul then reveals for us two timeless consequences that the entrance of the evil power of selfishness and rebellion had on all humanity.

First, Paul explains that death entered the world as a consequence of the entrance of the evil power of selfishness and rebellion. It is important for us to understand that, in the letters that make up the Bible, the word death conveys the concept of separation. As a result of sin’s entrance into the world we experience physical death, which is the separation of our soul from our body. But not only do we experience physical death as a result of sin; we also experience spiritual death, which is the separation of us from God.

Now if we physically die while being spiritually dead, we experience eternal death, or eternal separation from God. The evil power of selfishness and rebellion which entered the world upon Adam’s act of selfishness and rebellion resulted in a separation from God and the relationship with God that we were created to experience for all eternity.

Second, Paul explains that death spread to all men, because all men sinned. As a result of Adam’s act of selfishness and rebellion, sin began to move across the landscape of all humanity throughout all of history, because all of humanity followed in the footsteps of Adam.  All humanity throughout history has willingly engaged in acts of commission and omission that are committed against God and others that flow from our selfish rebellion against God and the word of God.

Now a natural question that arises here would be “but Adam and Eve did not have the Ten Commandments. As a matter of fact, the Ten Commandments did not even appear until hundreds of years later, so how could they have been said to sin. This is a great question that the Apostle Paul answers in the very next verse, in Romans 5:13:

for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

Now to full understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to understand what the word imputed means. The word imputed, in the language that this letter was originally written in, is an accounting term that means to charge to one’s account. When Paul refers to the Law, he is referring to the first five books in our Bibles today, which the Jewish people referred to as the Law or Torah.

Paul’s point here is that while sin was present in the world, while selfishness and rebellion was alive and well in the time before the Law appeared on the scene, this selfishness and rebellion was not charged to one’s account. However, in verse 14, Paul makes it abundantly clear that just because sin was not credited to the accounts of those who lived before the Law was given, that does not mean that they did not suffer the consequences for their selfishness and rebellion.

Instead, Paul explains that nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses. Now Moses was the person who received the Ten Commandments from God and who wrote the Law or the first five books in our Bibles today. Paul here is revealing for us the reality that death was large and in charge of the lives of all humanity after Adam’s first act of selfishness and rebellion.

When Paul uses the phrase “even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam”  he is revealing the reality that even those who did not selfishly rebel against God in the exact same way as Adam, but still selfishly rebelled and rejected God, still experienced the separation from God that comes as a consequence of selfishness, sin and rebellion.

And it is in these verses that we find the answer to the question “where does this selfishness and rebellion come from?” And the answer to that question is this: Our selfishness and rebellion comes from Adam, who functions as our representative.

You see, as a result of Adam’s act of selfishness and rebellion, sin not only entered the world; sin totally corrupted the world. Sin totally corrupted the world because we bear the consequences of Adam’s selfishness. You see, prior to eating the forbidden fruit Adam was able to either sin or not sin. But as a result of his selfishness and rebellion against God, sin entered and corrupted the world, resulting in Adam being no longer able not to sin.

Now the church mumbo jumbo talk phrase that refers to Adams decision to selfishly rebel against God is the phrase original sin. And the church mumbo jumbo talk phrase for the consequences that we bear as a result of Adam’s selfishness and rebellion is the phrase total depravity. In other words, like Adam, we are not able not to sin. Total depravity does not mean that humanity is as bad as they can be. Instead total depravity means humanity no longer can meet God’s standard when it comes to having a relationship with Him.

In addition, total depravity places humanity in a position that is hostile to God in a way that is universal and insurmountable apart from the grace of God. That is what is referred to in the statement that we are looking at this morning by the phrase “Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed."

Now you might be thinking to yourself “But Dave, that doesn’t seem fair? Why should I be punished for what someone else has done?” Those are fair questions. As many of you know that I am a huge fan of Michigan football. And when I am watching a Michigan game, nothing frustrates me more than when we are driving toward the end zone for a score and the left tackle gets a penalty for a false start.

Do you notice that when there is a penalty in a football game that the whole team is penalized, not just the left tackle. The whole team is credited with the left tackles offense. It is the same with sin; Adam’s sin is credited to our account and we suffer as a result of Adams’ sin.

We see this concept throughout the letters that make up the Bible. It is also important to see that Paul clearly states in verse 12 that we face separation from God not because of Adam’s selfishness, rebellion, and sin; we face separation from God because of our own acts of selfishness, rebellion, and sin.

Now this leads us back to the question that will run throughout this series, which is “Dave does what we believe about humanity really matter?” And the answer to that question leads us to a timeless truth about why it really matters. And that timeless truth is this: What we believe about humanity really matters because all of humanity has been separated from God as a result of our rebellion against God.

You see, just like our first parents, all humanity throughout history has had this selfish and rebellious bent within us that has driven us to reject the relationship with God that we were created for. And just like our first parents, that selfish and rebellious bent leads us to do things out of that selfishness and rebellion that hurt God and others. And it is that selfishness, rebellion and sin that separates us from God.

Think of it this way “Parents did you have to teach your kids to be selfish? Did anyone sit down and teach you how to be selfish? No, no one taught you to be selfish because that selfishness has been there.” Because we are just like our first parents. And because of this reality, we are in need of rescue because we reflect our original representative. You see, Adam served as our representative, and because of that we are credited with Adam’s sin. Ane we follow in the footsteps of our first parents to do things that hurt God and hurt others out of our selfishness and rebellion.

And ultimately, it is because of this principle of Adam as our representative that we can have hope that God would provide another representative that could represent us and live the life that we were created for in relationship with God and one another. And as the Apostle Paul continues in this section of this letter, we will discover a timeless truth that provides hope of the possibility of rescue from our rebellion against God as a result of this second Adam, this second representative.

We will meet that representative Friday...