“That the appearance of Jesus of Nazareth on the earth was necessitated by the position and state into which the human race had been brought by the circumstances connected with the first man.” (Article III — Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith). The two articles that follow recount the creation of Adam, the introduction of sin, and the devastating results of that first transgression.
It is unfortunate in this age of materialism, skepticism and “higher” criticism, one should find it necessary to reaffirm his belief in the divine account of these matters. Such was not the case a few decades ago — at least within the brotherhood. However, today, doubt and uncertainty about the Biblical record are even taking their toll from the household of faith. The departure from formerly accepted beliefs represent a concession to the devil as manifested in the learned” of our day, and threaten to weaken the very foundation upon which our hope is built.
Perhaps it does not occur to those who hold doubts concerning Adam, sin and death, that such uncertainty immediately reflects on the wisdom of Jesus and His followers through whom the New Testament record has come to us. As pointed out in earlier articles, the Lord gave His unreserved endorsement of all that was found written in the Old Testament. The Master placed His seal of authority on many Old Testament events which higher criticism has consigned to myths and fables. To doubt the veracity of those very records on which Christ gave His unqualified endorsement is to align one’s self with the men-pleaders of modern theology. Actually, such action amounts to a rejection of both the Master and His words, and brings one in direct conflict with the Divine purpose: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48)
“The First Man Adam”
Basic and fundamental to our understanding of the Truth is the belief that Adam was truly the first man, and the progenitor of all mankind. This fact is stated so clearly and with such emphasis that there is left no room for the theory that there were other man-like creatures or “near men” on the earth when God selected Adam. After creating the earth and the myriad forms of vegetation and animal life, and before the appearance of Adam on the scene, the record states, “and there war not a man to till the ground.” (Gen. 2:5) The obvious and logical conclusion to which we are led is simply that there were no ancestors of the Roman race yet on the earth. That this was surely the belief of the inspired writers of the New Testament is evident from the following passages which strongly imply, if they do not declare, that Adam was indeed the first man:
” . . The first man Adam . . .” (I Cor. 15:45, 47)
“For Adam was first formed, then Eve.” (I Tim. 2:13)
“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.” (Rom. 5:14) Paul’s argument concerning the introduction of sin through Adam being the cause of death would be considerably weakened, if not totally destroyed were Adam not the first man. The question as to why there was no sin in the world prior to Adam, and why he alone should be singled out for condemnation (on the basis that there were many other human forms of existence) add greatly to the diminishing of Paul’s thesis. The inspired apostle includes All Mankind as being descendants of Adam in I Cor. 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Every individual was and is “in Adam” in a natural, physical sense, because he had been born of one who descended from the first man.
The account of the first man’s creation is stated with distinctness, which only the weak in faith can misconstrue. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Gen. 2:7) Adam’s origin in the dust is re-emphasized in the condemnation pronounced against him: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it was thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return.” (Gen. 3:19) The living soul into which Adam was made was a being whose existence was dependent on the atmosphere, food, water, etc.; in other words, a natural body, composed of the elements of the dust and sustained and activated by the Spirit of God. This is precisely the definition, Paul advances to accent the difference between Adam and Christ: “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul: the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” (1 Cor. 15: 44-45) The apostle then continues his contrast between the two Adams by showing the earthly origin of the first: “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural: and afterward, that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth. earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.” (VV45- 47)
Though Paul seems to disparage Adam’s condition, he does so only by the great contrast that he sees between the first man and the glorified Jesus. With the use of the terms “earthy” and “of the earth”, the apostle is accenting the first Adam’s physical constitution in the dust. For, God looked upon His work and pronounced it “very good”. after He had finished His work of creation.
“Thou Shalt Surely Die”
Adam and Eve were placed under a law in the garden, the violation of which would bring certain death. The presence of the “tree of life” (Gen. 2:9) suggests that its fruit would be granted the man and the woman if they would continue to obey the voice of God. To the question as to why they had not eaten of the tree before their expulsion from the garden, the obvious answer would be that its fruit had not yet been formed, or at least was not ripe. The wording used in connection with the warning concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17) need not necessitate death on the actual day of transgression. Some have seen no other alternative than death in its final sense being visited upon the two in the same day in which they transgressed. This narrow view has led some to the logical but erroneous conclusion that God did not carry out His warning, and that death was averted.
The phrase, “in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” can be understood in at least two different ways. Either God meant that death would come to the transgressors on the very day they sinned, or that a process of death would commence within them which would ultimately bring them to the grave. The foreknowledge of God would certainly prohibit Him from making a statement which He knew would never be enforced. This was essentially the first law, with punishments attached for those who violated it. The deference of that warning, which would amount to the abrogation of the law would indicate from the very dawn of mankind that God did not mean what He said. It would set an unhappy precedent, which sinners would see as a convenient excuse for their persistence in sin.
We must keep in mind the Creator’s object in creating man: viz., to let him have dominion over all other living things: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them hate dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:26) Had the Lord meant that our first parents were to literally and immediately suffer death, the execution of that warning would have prevented the fulfillment of His purpose, as expressed above. It is also expedient that we understand that God must surely have had His Son in view when uttering the words recorded in Gen. 1:26, 28. The thought is further carried over by the Psalmist in the well known 8th Psalm. The object of man’s creation was to make him “have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.” (V.6)
The Spirit of God acting upon the mind of the writer of Hebrews, informs us that Jesus is the only descendant of Adam who has been crowned with glory and honour, and under whose feet all things will be subjected. (Heb. 2:8-9) Paul declares in Eph. 1:22 “That God hath put all things under his feet”, the only exception being the Father Himself, as the apostle further attests in 1 Cor. 15:23-28. Here, we have the third allusion to the 8th Psalm, where David, in commemorating his victory over Goliath is quoting from Genesis 1.
Since it was the Creator’s will, “In bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10), we are faced with the need to find another interpretation of His warning to Adam as to the day in which he would die. The only alternative left open to us is the one supplied by God, Himself when passing sentence upon the man (Gen. 3:19). In the entire account of the fall, and the subsequent execution of sentence, there is not the slightest suggestion that the original law given to Adam was not carried out. Thus, Adam and Eve became dying creatures; a process of decay commenced in their bodies, which would finally cause their return to the ground. Paul’s comment on the Genesis record is explicit: “. . . by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” (Rom. 5:12) The certainty of death, as in the case of our first parents, is often expressed in very forceful language. The passing of the sentence was thus equated with the warning of dying “in that very day”. We are not left without precedent in this application. When Abimelech unwittingly took Sara for his wife, God appeared to him in a dream and told him, “Thou art but a Dead Man.” He was said to be dead due to God’s intention of slaying him if he continued in his pursuit. In a similar manner, Paul employed a strong figure to express his sudden awareness of his own sins and the judicial end that awaited him outside of Christ; “For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” (Rom. 7:9-11) The apostle felt that he was a dead man because the commandment had revealed to him that he was a sinner, and subject to judgment.
To persist in one’s sins means only that his sins are open — that is, unconcealed, and portend the judgment that awaits him in the end. (1 Tim. 5: 24) As Paul further declared, “But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while he liveth”. (1 Tim. 5:6) It must be recognized that these phrases would be meaningless, if death were not certain. The “living death” of Christendom is a myth. Take away the reality of death, and the figure is destroyed.
Finally, we might paraphrase the warning which the Lord delivered to Adam in the light of the foregoing examples. “In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt be a dead man.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One