Unctions of the Spirit

WHO WAS ADAM

By: Gary L. Rodgers

The story of Adam is one of beauty, of joy, love and unimaginable happiness. It is also the story of fear, guilt and a deep sense of sorrow, loss and tragedy. We as men are the Adam of our home. Everything that goes on within our family we will give an account for. We are accountable for the behavior of our family members. We are responsible to teach, guide and nurture our family in all areas of their lives. We are to be the leader of our homes, not the followers. The character and strength of our families demonstrate what kind of a leader and person we are. Our leadership will have an effect on future generations to come. In this message “Who was Adam” we are going to look at what kind of a man he was and the effects that his decisions have on us and all mankind to follow.

Who was Adam? Why he was;

• The first man created as the crowning point of creation.  Created in the Image of God and he became a living soul.   (Genesis 1:26 & 27, 2:7)

²⁶And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

²⁷So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

⁷And 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.

• The first man to live and experience the beauty of a sinless world. (Genesis 1:28 – 30)      

²⁸And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

²⁹And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

³⁰And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.

• The first husband and only human to have a mate created from his flesh and bone. (Genesis 2:21-23)

²¹And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

²²And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

²³And 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.

• The first man to experience the unity of being one flesh in marriage. (Genesis 2:24)

²⁴Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

An interesting picture of this one flesh relationship can be found in the book of Job. In looking back at the story of Job we find that Satan came into the presence of God, (Job 1) “⁸And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth (turns away from or avoids) evil?

⁹Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

¹⁰Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. NOTE: (We too are surrounded by that hedge of protection from God on every side.)

¹¹But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

¹²And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.”

As this story goes on we find that there came a day when Job lost everything that he had. He lost all of his wealth and he lost all of his children.

And in verse 20 – 22 we find these words. “²⁰Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

²¹And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

²²In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”

As we read on we find that Satan came into the presence of the Lord a second time, (Job 2)“²And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

³And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

⁴And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

⁵But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

⁶And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he [is] in thine hand; but save his life.

⁷So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.”

Pay particular attention to what is being said here and by whom. “⁹Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

¹⁰But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”

Mrs. Job survived all the torment that her husband went through. Why did she live, and not die with her children? Because God told Satan that he was not to lay a hand on Job nor could he touch Job’s life. To touch Mrs. Job would have meant to touch the very life of Job himself. Herein is the mystery of that one flesh relationship. You cannot touch the Bride of Christ (The Church) without touching the life of the Bridegroom (Jesus Christ). What did Adam say when he first saw Eve? (Genesis 2:23) “This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:” And what did Satan try to do in Job 2:5 “⁵But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh,” Satan was not only wanting to touch Job’s physical flesh and bone, but he was also wanting to touch Job’s wife, Job’s one flesh partner in his marriage relationship.

To illustrate the one flesh marriage: If you were to take two glasses of water and call the one man, and the other woman, you would first notice that they are both made up of the same chemical compound H2O. We as humans are made up of a body, soul and spirit. While the two glasses are apart from each other they are their own individual selves. But as soon as you mix them together they twain become one. Who can separate the two, one from the other, and put all of the drops of water into one glass making up the individual man, and the remaining water into the glass making up the individual woman? Only God can make that separation. In marriage we become one.

• The first man to hear God’s voice and the first man to receive a commandment from God. (Genesis 2:16 & 17)         

¹⁶And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

¹⁷But 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.

•  The first man to be used of God. (Genesis 2:19)      

¹⁹And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof.

• The first man to behold a woman. (Genesis 2:22 & 23)     

²²And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

• The first man to experience the deceit of Satan. (Genesis 3:1-7)         

¹Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

²And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

³But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

⁴And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

⁵For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

⁶And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

• The first man to sin willfully. (Genesis 3:6)            

⁶And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

• The first man to experience being accountable for sin. (Genesis 3:7)              

⁷And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

• The first man to realize his need for a Savior.  (Genesis 3:10)                           

¹⁰And he (Adam) said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.

• The first man to start a religion. (Genesis 3:7 & 8)                 

⁷And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

⁸And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

• The first man to hide from God. (Genesis 3:8)            

⁸And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

• The first man that was sought after by God. (Genesis 3:9)                       

⁹And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?

• The first man to see himself as a sinner. (Genesis 3:10)    

¹⁰And he (Adam) said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.

• The first man to pass the buck. (Genesis 3:12)                   

¹²And the man (Adam) said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

• The first man to receive chastening for sin. (Genesis 3:17-18)            

¹⁷And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;

¹⁸Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

The blessed provision of God was for man to eat of the trees in the Garden. The chastening penalty of the Lord was for man to eat of that which he toiled for from the ground.

• The first man to experience hard labor. (Genesis 3:19)        

¹⁹In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.

• The first man to see the innocent die for the guilty. (Genesis 3:21)           

²¹Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

• The first man to be clothed in the righteousness that God provided for him. (Genesis 3:21)        

²¹Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

• The first man to receive God’s promise of the Messiah. (Genesis 3:15)       

¹⁵And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

• The first man to be denied the true blessings of God. (Genesis 3:23 &24)       

²³Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

²⁴So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

• The first man to reproduce an offspring. (Genesis 4:1)     

¹And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

• The first man to experience the death of his child. (Genesis 4:8)    

⁸And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

• The first man to experience the heartache and sorrow that sin had brought upon himself and his family. (Genesis 4:10-15)

¹⁰And he (meaning God) said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

¹¹And now [art] thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;

¹²When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

¹³And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment [is] greater than I can bear.

¹⁴Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, [that] every one that findeth me shall slay me.

¹⁵And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Who was Adam? Why Adam was the man who brought death upon all mankind.

Because of Adam man was plunged into a world of sin. And because of Adam all mankind needs to be redeemed from their sin. There is only one who is able to save man, and that person is Jesus Christ the Perfect Son of the Living God. The lamb slain (promised) from the foundation of the world.

It was Jesus alone who came to the earth seeking after man. (Where art thou?) It was Jesus alone who went to the cross to make the full payment for our sins in order to rescue us from the fiery eternal depths of hell. What did God require as payment? It was blood, (^{Leviticus 17:11}For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul.) and Christ shed every drop of His blood for each of us.

Baptism, church membership and good works did not descend from heaven and go to a cruel cross to make an atonement for our sins. It was a Savior, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It’s Christ alone and Him only to save us. It never has and never will be Christ plus anything. These other things, Baptism, Church Membership and good works are not prerequisites to salvation; they are simply a demonstration and witness of our faith to others that we are the children of God. If they were to be a part of salvation then they would be the deciding factor and Christ would become nothing.

Won’t you come to Christ today?

^{John 6:32}Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

³³For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

³⁴Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

³⁵And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

³⁶But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

³⁷All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

³⁸For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

³⁹And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

⁴⁰And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Amen!

If you made a decision to pray and ask Christ to forgive you, and to wash away all of your sin with His blood, and to come into your heart to be your Savior, then we praise God for you.

^{Romans 10:13} For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

You should write down the:

Date: _______________________

Time: __________________________

Place: _______________________________________________________

of your decision. Record this information in your Bible as a record of that decision. It is part of your testimony.

Please contact us through Myerstown Baptist Church, 59 N. Ramona Road, Myerstown PA. 17067 to let us know that you have made a decision for Christ so that we can pray for you and rejoice with you. We would like to send you some information to help you get started in your Christian walk.

Thank you, and may the Lord richly bless you!