This morning, I like us once again to look at the Scriptures and may the Word of God, help us and encourage us in our lives today. We have been looking at the book of Romans and something a little bit unusual, this morning, I'm going to start by asking you a simple question. In your life, who has been the greatest influence to you, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from God, apart from the Holy Spirit of course. Apart from Jesus Christ, who has been the greatest influence in your life ? Now, I could ask on and on and on and you would give me all kinds of answers, from your parents, to your friends to your church leaders, to your brethren in Christ. But let me tell you, that there is someone who impacts you, impacts me, who impacts all of us in a way more profoundly than you ever know. In fact, I think he is more influential to us, than our parents, than our friends and our loved ones. You say, who is this man, who is this person, let me tell you his name; his name is Adam. There is a little bit of unbelief in this church. You don't believe, it is Adam. Let me show you, how profoundly Adam has impacted your life.

In Romans 5:12-14, this is the basis of our thinking this morning. Paul tells us,

12 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:

13 For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

It's a bit corny, I know, but let me show you a little video, alright, a little video which I have shared with my wife last night and I told her why I showed it, and she said "I am a corny guy." I know it is corny, but I think it is so apt an illustration, I hope to be able to share it with you. Addams family, this is a weird family. Addams family is invented, it is a fictitious story of course. It's invented by this man called Charles Addams and the movie clip that you just saw is one that is the original film or original series in the 1960s. And, the Addams family is well known for being weird.

Do you see that, I show you a modern picture, today? This is a nearer to our time kind of movie, the Addams family and right on top there is this phrase, Weird Is Relative. This is a weird family, because it is dark and gloomy. They are very morbid, they have hands that are chopped off, they have weird little magic, or witchcraft that is going on, they are dark and gloomy. In fact, the song that you have just heard, had these words.

They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky. They're altogether ooky. The Addams Family.

Notice, the spelling is not quite what we have thought, had thought, but this is the Addams family. And I thought to myself, all of humankind is also mysterious and spooky. In a sense, we are under the darkness and gloom of sin and death. So, by the Addams family invented by Charles Addams, I think today I want to share with you about the real Adam's family and in a way, we are dark and gloomy under the curse of sin and death.

Believe it or not, you are in the Adam's family.

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What has happened to mankind? When God created the heavens and the earth, when God created man, He made them very good. He said, it was very good. Man was beautiful,, he was glorious, he was the epitome of God's creation. However, something happened and caused the entire Adam's family to be plunged into darkness of sin and death. What really happened? Well, in Romans 5:12-14, I want to share with you a few thoughts. Allow me first of all, to share with you the

1. The penetration of sin.

The penetration of sin. In verse 12, it is said "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world"

12 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:

The penetration of sin. Notice first with me that sin did not originate with Adam. He was not the first person to sin. Sin had already taken place before Adam could sin. He was not the originator of sin. The Bible tells us, it is the devil was sinneth from the beginning.

1John 3:8, tells you so. It is the devil, Satan who sinneth from the beginning, he was lifted up in pride, he was the most glorious of angels, but he was lifted up in pride and he defied God and he rebelled against God and he sin against God. He that sinned from the beginning is the devil and along with him, according to revelations 12, a third of the angels of heaven fell together with the devil. And so, sin originated in the angelic sphere. This was where it began, this is where it originated. But, sin entered into the world through this one man, Adam.

Adam did not originate sin, but he was the introduction point of sin. He was the agent by which sin was brought into the world, the cosmos. Theologians called it, "The fall of man." And because of Adam's sin, now sinned has penetrated the world and the whole world is plunged into darkness.

Thinking of it from another point of view, Satan has used man, to be an instrument of attack against God. Satan has used man to be a pawn in his attack upon God. Sin originated with the devil, but he lured and tempted man into sin and when he fell, sin penetrated, and entered the world through him.

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Some eight years ago, in 2003, a story is told of a lady from Singapore who has traveled to Hong Kong. She was there for shopping tour, shopping trip for a while and she returned and upon her return, she became very sick. She was not able to breathe properly she was having a high swinging fever. The doctors recognized that and detected that she had severe pneumonia. Both sides of her lungs were whited out, she was very sick and people around her began to be very concerned and so they went to visit her in the hospital, in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Friends came, relatives came, church members came, not knowing that this lady, Esther Mok, was stricken with a severe kind of illness, unknown to mankind then called SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus. She contracted the SARS virus from Hong Kong and not knowing that, she came back to Singapore and those who were in contact with her caught on that contagious disease. Esther Mok became the first person to have SARS in Singapore. The SARS virus, the SARS disease became a near pandemic in 2003. It is said that some 8000 over people, got or contracted SARS and out of them 900 fatalities were reported. It was a fatality rate of some 10 to 11%. In Singapore, it was a little bit worse, there were 238 who contracted SARS and 33 succumbed to the illness, making it a fatality of 14%.

What was tragic was that when Esther came back, though she was sick, she survived. But the pastor and her parents who contracted that disease from her did not make it in this life. They died, they succumbed to the illness. Esther, was said to be a super infector or super spreader. Somehow, she was so contagious, that the hundreds of people that were contracted with SARS, could be traced back to her as the original source. In fact, during a press conference, our former health minister, Lim Hng Kiang, said, Esther Mok, infected the whole lot of us.

Another man, named, Gary Sivalingam, a deliveryman, he said, "I feel sorry for her (Added by Pastor : Won't you, the guilt, the sadness that comes into Esther's mind and heart) I feel sorry for her, but you might wonder, whether Singapore would be so badly affected, had she not be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I thought about it, and I thought how she was the agent, that allowed SARS corona virus to penetrate this land. It's a reminder of how sin, through Adam entered this world. Now, not altogether a perfect parallel or illustration. There are a few things that doesn't fit, first, SARS virus doesn't enjoy 100 percent penetrant, not everyone that comes into contact with her got it. But when Sin entered through Adam, the penetrant is hundred percent. Sin came upon all of humanity, none excepted. Number two, the fatality of SARS is 11 to 14%. But let me tell you, the fatality of sin is a 100%, the wages of sin is death and no one can cheat or escape death, it's 100%. And thirdly, the chief difference is this. Esther did not intend, she was unaware that she was the source, or she contracted SARS virus. But Adam, sinned intentionally. You could not excuse what Adam did. He was innocent, he was made without that bent towards sin and God gave him only one command, but Adam chose to go against God's Word and he contracted, he committed sin, intentionally, deliberately and in that he is different from how Esther was the agent by which SARS was brought into Singapore.

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But the parallel is there. Through that one man, sin penetrated and entered the world and the whole world according to Romans 8:21, is travailing, is crying, is groaning in pain. Do you realize, this whole world is under strain because of sin. Do you know that the whole of creation, nature, mankind, is corrupted because of this one man's act. Sin, has penetrated the world. Man has now lost his innocence and no man is made right now. No man is created innocent, no man is born righteous. The Chinese have a saying, we like to say (translated from Chinese proverb,"man was born righteous.") But, according to the Bible, that is absolutely the opposite. We are now born as sinners, our nature is corrupted because sin has entered the world.

You see, the Bible reminds us, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Psa 51:5

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Even in the mother's womb, I was made, I was created in sin, because sin has entered the world through Adam.

The Bible reminds us "The wicked are estranged (Added by Pastor : Separated) from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

You don't have to teach them to sin, it is inbuilt within them.

Psa 58:3

The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

The Bible reminds us, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Jer 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

You never have to train a child to sin, you don't have to, it is his natural bent, that is his nature. You don't have to teach a child to lie. I realized this, just this two weeks ago, when I was in Australia. I was shocked, when my son spoke a blatant lie, right in front of Winnie and myself. After the first service, I shared this and one of the ladies asked "So, what did Shaun lied about?" Let me tell you what he lied about. (Laughter in the congregation) Should I?  Maybe not, okay. On the hindsight, maybe I will protect him. But, I was shocked, for the first time, I heard him speak a lie so blatantly right in front of the both of us.

But, I thought about it, I really shouldn't be shocked. That's his nature, it's in his heart. When he is born, he is born to speak lies. He doesn't need to go to school to learn how to speak lies. He will be the master of it soon enough, it we don't teach him to speak the truth.

There is the statement I want you to ponder about and it is this, "I am a Sinner because I Sin". It's true, I am a sinner because I sin. But can I tell you, something that is even more accurate as to a description of mankind and it is this "I Sin because I am a Sinner."

Out of the two, I think both are accurate statements, but the latter one is more accurate I feel. I sin, because I am a sinner, it's my nature and that is what Adam brought to us. He has impacted us more profoundly than we realize sometimes. Because of Adam's sin, because of this one man, sin entered into the world, that is the penetration of sin.

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2. The Penalty of Sin

But secondly, Paul goes on to remind us in Romans 5, about the penalty of sin. Sin, having entered into the world, brought along its consequences and the consequence is that of death and death by sin.

Let me say this, all of us would die one day unless the Lord comes and raptures us before we could die. But if he tarries, all of us would die and if you die in Singapore, you would likely die from one of these top 10 causes. You know, top 10 charts, radio hits, top 10. Let me tell you, the top 10 of the causes of death in Singapore. I got this, right off a screen capture in the MOH website, some of you work in MOH and this is what it reports.

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You die, most people die from cancer and that is a cumulative figure for all kinds of cancer, from the head to the toe. Or you can die from ischemic heart disease, heart attacks and so on. Number three, you have pneumonia, which is an infection of the lung. You have stroke, cerebral vascular disease, including stroke. Accidents, poisoning, violence, other kinds of heart diseases, urinary tract infections, lung problems or kidney problems or diabetes. These are the top 10 causes of death.

When I was a doctor, or when I was working as a doctor in the hospital, I often see death, people die and when people die, you need to write what we call the certificate of death, certification of death and that is the sheet of paper that you have to fill up and not only must you fill up his particulars, you got to dictate, or you got to write now what is the cause of death. There is what you call a primary diagnosis and a secondary diagnosis. So, most of the people die because, primary diagnosis, heart failure, the heart failed to work and he died and the secondary diagnosis, is that of ischemic heart disease. You get what I'm trying to say? His heart failed, because his heart lacked oxygenation, ischemic, the blood vessels are choked. So, primary, secondary causes. Or another way if they die from stroke, primary diagnosis, the secondary diagnosis is that of hypertension, or high blood pressure. And so, we have to figure out what is the primary and the secondary. And if I fill up these entries, sometimes, I feel cheeky and I want to write, tertiary sin. (Laughter in the congregation).

It is true, because, man was not made to die. You were not made to die. When God made Adam and Eve, they were not meant to die but because of that sin, it penetrated the world and death by sin. You see, God had already warned Adam. He said in Genesis 2 "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Gen 2:17

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

You go against My Word, that is sin and the wages of sin is death. Adam, you are not meant to die, but if you do this you will die.

He says again, in Ezekiel 18:4 "...soul that sinneth, it shall die."

Eze 18:4

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Of course, that popular verse we know, Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death

Rom 6:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

From the moment, Adam took of that forbidden fruit, he died. He died spiritually that very instant, when he is separated from God and he died physically years later, in his body, but it is so true, the wages of sin is death. Death is the consequence of sin. Chinese people here, would be familiar with a figure, an iconic figure. He is the one who unified the whole of China, he is the one who built the Great Wall of China. He is the one who gave us the terra-cotta army. He is Qin Shi Huang. His other name is Yin Zheng . He is Qin Shi Huang, who is one of the great historical figures in Chinese history. Gave us a lot, gave us monuments, right up till today. But Qin Shi Huang, is said to fear death very much later on in his life. He didn't want to die. He felt he could not die, he wanted to live on and because he was rich and powerful and influential, he went about the search for the elixir of life. He went about searching for the secret of immortality. So, he sent his troops, he sent his men and women all throughout known worlds, to find the cure for death, to find the elixir of immortality. It is said, he sent hundreds of young men and women, but they never came back, because none of them could find the secret to immortality and they know, that if they should come back empty-handed, he would execute them.

Of course, we all know, Qin Shi Huang never found the secret to immortality, he couldn't. Why, because I don't think he understood, that death is the result of sin. You could not have life apart from the solution from sin. He couldn't. That's why, this world sees death. Until we find a solution to sin, you will not have life. How certain is your death? How certain is your death? Apart from the rapture, apart from the coming of the Lord? The Bible tells us,

1Cor 15:22

For as in Adam all die, ……

Of course, there were some exceptions like Enoch, was caught up and Elijah, who was caught up, but by and large, this is true, for as in Adam, all die. In fact, this is so true that an entire industry is built on this reality that death reigns upon all men. What industry is this, let me tell you. It's the life insurance industry. (Laughter in the congregation). We all insure, because we know the certainty of death. All of us would die, the only problem is that you do not know when, that's all. But, you insure yourself because you know you will die. How sure it is.

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So, my friends, I repeat. Man was not created or made to die. That was not the original makeup of man. But when Adam sinned, sin entered into the world and death by sin. Man was not made to go to hell. He was not, he was not meant to see death, he was not meant to have spiritual death, nor physical death, nor eternal death. He was not. That's why the Bible says in Matthew 25:41

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, (Added by Pastor : Prepared for who?) prepared for the devil and his angels:

Mat 25:41

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Because, they were the first to sin, in the angelic realm and God made hell that they would be punished in hell, but when sin entered the world, through Adam, all die and those who have not salvation in Jesus Christ would also be sent to the place that was first prepared for the devil and his fallen angels.

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So, you see, that is the re/asoning of Paul, how come, we are in Adam's family, dark and spooky, weird and gloomy. Reason number one, there is the penetration of sin, it corrupted the beauty that God has made us to be because of the penetration of sin, that is now the penalty of sin. We all face death, physical, spiritual, eternal death. But finally, and this is the part where your mind need to click up to gear five, because this is unfamiliar, I think to most of us and is this, the pervasiveness of sin

3. The Pervasiveness of Sin

Paul says, in verse 12, or the last part, he says

...and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

So, you say, pastor, what's so difficult about this, it's straightforward, didn't you say the Bible say, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Pastor, I understand, all of us have sinned in our lives and therefore, we deserve to die, we deserve it because we ourselves have sinned ?

Now, that is true, we deserve death because we have sinned. That is the truth, but that is not the truth of the text. Can I say that again "That is true, but that is not the truth of the text."

In other words, while what we said is true, that is not what these verses are talking about. Paul is saying, there is something else you need to understand. You die, not because you sin, personally, you die, because when Adam sinned, you sinned in him.

Now, let me show you this,

13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, ……

Why do all men die? Why do all men die? Paul here is saying, all men die, not necessarily because we all sin like Adam. We die not because we personally broke the law of God. You say, wow, this is, pastor, are you sure you're saying the right thing? Let me work it through, be patient with me. But this is something that may help you right from the start. We all sin like Adam and therefore we all deserve death, that is true, alright, that is true. Let's not take a shred of truth from that, it is true, that when we sin not Adam, when we go against God's law by Adam, we deserve death. It's true, but that's not what is being said here, I drew a red line across (the phrase Sinned like Adam), that is not what verses 12 - 14 is about. Versus 12-14 is saying, we all die because we sinned in Adam.

When Adam sinned, we all sinned with him at that point of time. Take a deep breath!! Let's work through the verses with me. You look at these verses, look in the second half of verse 13 - "but sin is not imputed when there is no law". Now this is a logical understandable saying. You cannot break the law when there is no law. Can I say that again? You cannot break the law when there is no law.

You cannot sin when God has not given us his law, alright. Sin is not imputed, is not reckoned, is not counted to us when there is no law. However, for until the law, sin was in the world. Before the law was given, sin was already in the world. Hey, you say, that is strange, God has not yet given the law, but the people who lived before the giving of the law are under sin. You say, how do you know they are under sin, maybe they are not under sin. No, they are under sin, because the 14 says "death reigned from Adam to Moses"

The law was given by Moses and from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, was a gap of 2500 years and during these 2500 years, every single human being, died, except for Enoch. Every single one of them died and why is there death? Because the wages of sin is death. And, so Paul is saying, sin was already in the world, because death is in the world, even though the law was not yet given, even though they did not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, they did not break the law like Adam did, who had the law of God.

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So, how did they sin? Verse 12, when Adam sinned, by one man he sinned, sin entered into the world and God says, for that, all have sinned. The word sin here is in the aoris tense in the Greek, which means, an action that is done once, completed, that has ongoing effect. So, all of us, sinned, once our representative Adam sinned in the garden of Eden. When God saw, when God sees man, he sees man in Adam today and when Adam sinned, we sinned. In a mysterious way, yes, even before I was born, I was a sinner, because Adam is a sinner.

My friends, if you think about it and it is true, why do infants die, why do infants die. There're some infants were born and the very moment they are born, they die. Have they yet committed sin personally, can they know the Word of God, can they know the laws of God, and can they have any recognition of all that? No, but, they die, why? Because they sinned in Adam.

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Because of Adam, he has impacted us so profoundly, that not only is that sin nature imparted to us, but sins punishment is also imputed to us. All have sinned, in Adam and the proof?  Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even before the law was given, even before they could have the chance to break the law themselves. Wow, that's the argument of Paul. Remember Achan, if I said Ah Chan, you will remember, Ah Chan of Joshua 7, no, it's not Ah Chan, is Achan. When Achan sinned and took of that thing that was forbidden, God dealt with Israel as a whole. One man's sin, polluted and impacted the entire nation of Israel. Adam's sin polluted and impacted that whole of humanity.

Now, this line of thinking, is not unique here in Romans, it is elsewhere as well. Can I show you, in Hebrews 7:9-10, the Bible tells us

And I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes (Added by Pastor : Because the Levites are priests, they received tithes from the Israelites, but the Bible tells us, Levi also), paid tithes in Abraham. (Added by Pastor : To who, to this man called Melchizedek, For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him.

Now, the reality here is this, Levi, is the great grandson of Abraham and Levi, personally has never met Melchizedek according to what we see in the Bible. Yet, God says, when Abraham, his great-grandfather, met Melchizedek, and gave tithes to Melchizedek, God says, in that way, Levi, the great grandson, also gave tithes to Melchizedek.

Heb 7:9,10

And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him.

So, is not a strange line of reasoning, it's not unique here. What Paul is saying in these verses, is the way God sees it. He sees all of us, in Adam, in Adam's, sad family. This is the doctrine of original sin and this is why, Jesus had to be born of a virgin, because, if he was born, the same way like all of us did, he would be in Adam, he would be a sinner and he cannot be our Savior. That's why he had to be born of a virgin. That's the whole impact of what Paul is saying in these verses, because of one act, Adam did, thousands of years ago, we have all been impacted, we have been imparted that sin nature and we have been imputed that sin's penalty.

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Now, I know where you're heading now. You must be asking, pastor, why do you bother to tell us all these things. Huh, it's relevant to me, isn't it? Well, that question is not to me, is to the Scriptures. If I may say, you should ask Paul why and if I should say, you should ask God why? God, why do you even tell us, that we are all condemned, we are sinful in Adam? There's a reason, the reason you can suspect, is taken from the word wherefore here in verse 12. Wherefore, why wherefore? Because this connects is something that goes on before.

What has Paul been saying? Paul has been saying that the whole world, can be saved through one man, Jesus Christ. Because, or what He did on the cross, all those who would believe in Him, will be saved. That has been what Paul has been writing in Romans. But the question people ask is this, how can one man, how can one Jesus and what He has done, be sufficient to save the whole world from their sins, how can it be possible? Therefore, Paul says wherefore, it is possible, because just as Adam's, one act, condemned the whole of humanity, so it is, with the righteousness of, One Man, Jesus, He brings the whole of humanity to salvation and life.

The principle is this, one man can impact many. Adam impacted us in a way, he brought us, condemnation, he brought us death, but Jesus, by His one life, brought us, brought us salvation and He brought us life. That's why, Adam is said to be the first Adam and Jesus is the second Adam, because what He did, impacted the whole of humanity. He's unique, He is virgin born, He is without sin and with what He has done, on His righteous act, He could save us from our sins. Wherefore, you see, verse 15, tells you so, before that, let me just ask the question.

Genesis 3:9, have you ever wondered, why did God call Adam and asked him, where are you? I mean, if you think about it, you should go to Eve, because, Eve is the first to sin, Eve was the one that brought that temptation to Adam and if you think about it, you should go to the woman. (some laughter in the congregation). But God didn't. God went for the man, God went for Adam, because God saw or viewed Adam as the federal head, that's what theologians call it, he's the covenant, he's the representative of the whole of humanity. He went for Adam. You see, when Adam sinned, he did not sin as a man, he sinned as mankind, that's why, God went to Adam, where are you?

Where are you Adam, what have you done? The whole of humanity is now infected with sin, in both its nature and its condemnation.

So, you say, what's the point pastor? Like I said, the point is this "Paul, is giving us a parallel, an illustration, just as Adam's one act, one life, impacts so many, Jesus', One Life, impacts so many as well.

Verse 15

15 But not as the offence (Added by Pastor : Not just about the offense of Adam), so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

The word "one", occurs 11 times in verses 12 to 21. It is obviously the key thought in these verses. It's saying, by one man, the impact spreads.

Do you realize, it is the mercy of God to see us all in Adam, so that we all may be saved in Jesus?

Some say, "How can we be condemned because of what one man did and Adam was so many thousands of years ahead of me; it's not fair!" Well, that's the way God sees it and indeed, it is the mercy and grace of God to see us in Adam so that we may be seen also in Jesus Christ, because of what Christ did, one Man, we can be saved.

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That's why, the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:22

1Cor 15:22

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

My friends, we are in Adam's family. Some of us were, some of us still are and if you are born into this world, you are under Adam's family. In the eyes of God, you will never match up, because you have the sin nature, you cannot do right, you can only do wrong. You are a sinner by nature and worse still, before the eyes of God, we are already guilty, not only because of what Adam did, but in our own life, we have committed sins against God and we are equally guilty if not more so. And, you could never save yourself but in God's infinite mercy, He gave us His Son, Jesus so that all those who believe in Him, can be born again. Apart from Adam's family now becoming a member of Christ's family. That is the grace of God, that is the gift of grace, whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, because in Christ, shall all be made alive.

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Let's bow, for a word of prayer. I deeply appreciate your patience, your engagement in the Word of God this morning, because it is so important for us to realize, there is no salvation given under heaven apart from coming to Jesus Christ. Man by himself is corrupt and guilty and stand condemned. But in Jesus Christ, there is salvation and life. You are born first into this world, but if you want to enter the kingdom of God, if you want to be saved, you've got to be born again. You've got to be borne by the Spirit, is what God does in your life and you should humble yourselves therefore this morning and cried out God, I am a sinner, I see what Your Word says to me, I am a sinner without excuse. Have mercy upon my soul, I thank you for Jesus and how you send Him, to be the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. I do, I want to believe in Him, help me, to do so.

My friends, that should be the proper response from our hearts and as I cry and pray to God that you would do so in your hearts and life even right now. Scriptures reminds us, "For God so loved the world, the world that is now rampant, corrupted by sin, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world, to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Would you come to Jesus today, humble yourselves and received the gift of eternal life.

My dear brothers and sisters, you who have believed in Christ, do you not realize, the immensity of Christ's finished work on the cross? What Adam lost for us, Jesus gained back for us and so much more. Don't you know that your God loves you so and in His Son, you can be made complete, that the glory that man was first made with can now return to him and so much more. Shouldn't you in this life, pledge yourself, to live in Christ and for Christ. My friends, isn't this the message the world needs to hear, a world that is like in Adam's family, plunged in gloom and doom and apart from Jesus, there can be no salvation. Isn't that the message we need to spread, isn't that the great commission that we will go and make disciples. The world is in the Adam's family. Let's ask God to help them to come to Christ's family. May we spread the message of love, salvation and life. Father, we thank You today, for Your holy Word. Our frail minds, sometimes cannot conceptualize all You intend in the Scriptures. But the best that we know how, we pray You will apply these truths to our hearts. For those who need to be saved, would You today humble them, that they may see Christ alone, receive Him for salvation and life. Lord, salvation is Your gift and we ask You today to dispense of it according to Your will. May none, leave without having Jesus in their lives.

We pray for believers, that we would live for Christ, because He has lived and died for us. And may we today, as a church be leading generations into a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ. God, bless Your Word, we ask these things humbly, in Jesus name amen. God bless.