The Story: Adam’s Meltdown in The Garden.

• God created man in the beginning in His image and in His likeness  (Gen. 1:26).
• God built Adam a home and gave him dominion over His creation (Gen. 2:7-8).
• Adam was given ‘The Directive’ from the Most High God.

Genesis 2:16–17 (KJV )
¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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 probably have heard what happened, but if you didn’t, Adam failed to keep the commandment that was given to him.
• And, so in the day of the meltdown, Adam died.
• But Adam didn’t just die.
• He died twice.
• The first death was spiritual death, that is, his spirit inside his body died.
• Adam’s physically body still had life. His blood still ran warm. His physical heart pump was still engaged. All of this would soon change.
• Years after the meltdown, Adam died physically.
• First the spiritual man, then the physical man experienced the effects of disobedience to the directive.
• But there was more.

Adam Never Saw the Long Term Effect of the Meltdown

• Adam had no idea what the repercussions were for disobeying that one Directive.
• He had no idea of the wars, the rampant disease, the greed, the abuse of sin and the degradation that would sweep this planet like a flood or the curse that would fall upon the vegetable and animal kingdoms.
• All that he knew was that God told him that he would die.
• He began to realize the depth of his error when his son Cain was born (Gen. 4:1) and grew into manhood.

Genesis 4:3–5 (KJV)
³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. ⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: ⁵ But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

• Cain displayed anger so strong that it led to the death of his brother Abel at his own hands.
• Where did this murderous anger come from? Cain didn’t disobey ‘The Directive’. Adam did.
• What Adam never saw was that the ‘sin nature’ that came into his being when he disobeyed, ‘The Directive’, passed from Adam to his seed via the agency of human birth.
• What started out as a blessing for man, partnering with God to replenish the earth, became a vehicle to fill the earth with the raging consequences of sin.

• Sin, that is the sin nature, came into the world through Adam’s transgression and death came by that sin nature.
• So, the child ‘death’ and its mother ‘sin’ raged on planet earth all the while ‘twice dead’ men walked the planet.
• God is life, the Bible says (John 1:4), in Him there is no death.
• How does this huge problem get solved? How do dead men, with the putrid stench of sin, embrace the God who is total life?
• There is only way, God has to get the ‘sin’ issue solved. A way must be found that eliminates the sin issue and resurrects man from his twice dead status.

The Solution to the Sin Problem Caused by the Meltdown

• What followed is, without doubt, the greatest solution ever thought up to any problem that has ever existed at anytime in the universe.
• God is the Ultimate Master problem solver.
• His solution was so innovative that Satan, the enemy of man, had no clue what hit him.

1 Corinthians 2:8 (KJV)
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

• The dilemma defined: Adam’s disobedience to ‘The Directive’ ‘You shall not eat’ was punishable by law. Therefore, it’s resolution had to be accomplished on legal terms.
• God’s answer, hinted at in Gen. 3:15, was Jesus coming to earth in a human body.
• Adam and Jesus had one thing in common. They were both representative men.
• What Adam did passed to all men.
• What Jesus did in reversing Adam’s transgression was also a representative work.
• God’s Plan was to make Jesus, a substitute in the place of man.
• He paid the price for the sin nature.
• He paid the debt owed to the Universe’s legal system.
• Jesus balanced the books.
• He became your substitute and mine.
• Substitution can be thought of as a test score. Jesus took the test for you. He received a perfect score for His life and you get His grade.
• Substitution can be thought of as a person on death row awaiting sentence. Jesus came into your cell and took your place and went to the gas chamber for you. He died for your sins. He died for your transgressions against God so you don’t have to.
• All man has to do is accept the finished work of Jesus on His behalf.

The Gospel is a Message of The Great Exchange

• When Jesus became our Great Substitute, there was a Great Exchange
•  We exchanged hell for heaven.
• We exchanged death for life.
• We exchanged unrighteousness for righteousness.
• We exchanged sickness for health.
• We exchanged poverty for wealth.
• We exchanged losing for winning.
• We exchanged fear for faith.This is the essence of the gospel.
• The gospel could be called the great exchange.
• The exchange facilitates deliverance.
• This is the message of the New Testament.
• You have been delivered, plucked out, and rescued.

Call to Action:

The gospel is the good news of Jesus. It is a message of hope and victory. Have you received the ‘substitution’ sacrifice of Jesus? Do you believe the record that God gave of His Son? If not, what is holding you back?

Questions: Is something holding you back from receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If so, would you share that with us? Are you an honest seeker or inquirer after God? If so, we would like to help you. Please leave your question in the comments section below or tap on the record button on the right side of the web page which says ‘Send voicemail’ and leave a recorded voice message. We will will get back to you as soon as we can.