Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:44b-49
Genesis
2:8-9
Now the Lord
God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had
formed. 9 And the Lord God made all
kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and
good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis
2:15-18, 21-25
The Lord God
took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the
garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Things are going well so
far)
18 The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. (I
am not so sure that it was so bad for man to be alone.) I will make a helper suitable for him."
ILLUS: Chip and Shady (two dogs) would dig when together – NEVER
when alone.
21 So the Lord God caused the
man to fall into a deep sleep; (first surgery – first anesthesia - why
sleep? Because Adam would have wanted in on the design plan) and while he was sleeping, Dr. God took one
of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the
rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, (Wow – you are the most
beautiful woman I have ever seen – knowing that sounded like a line: When Adam
stayed out very late for a few nights,
Eve became upset. “You’re running around with other women,” she charged. “You’re being unreasonable,” Adam responded.
“You’re the only woman on earth.” The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep,
only to be awakened by someone poking him in the chest. It was Eve. “What do you think you’re doing mother of all
living?” Adam demanded. “Counting your ribs,” said Eve.) "This is now bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of
man." (The first marriage) 24 For
this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
and they will become one flesh. (There is something immensely important
about the two becoming one flesh) 25
The man and his wife were both naked,
and they felt no shame. (There was no sin – no shame between them and
between each of them and God. They
didn’t need to hide from each other or from God. They were sinless. How awesome would that be if we felt we could
stand spiritually naked in front of one another and in front of God. Sin causes us to cover ourselves up and hide
and then blame someone else.
Genesis 3
Now the
serpent (Rev 12:7-9 And there was war in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels
fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.
The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or
Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his
angels with him. Isa 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You
have been cast down to the earth…)
Satan, the devil, the serpent…was
more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. (think
about how a snake moves – more subtle than other animals – the tempter doesn’t
come in brash and bold but quietly and with great care and craftiness.) He said to the woman, "Did God really
say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" 2 The woman said to
the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did
say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden,
and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" 4 "You will not surely
die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you
eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil." (How would you like to live knowing only good?)
6 When the
woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye,
and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave
some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both
of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig
leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (DunDunDun - enter shame & guilt) 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound
of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they
hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God
called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard
you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that
you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat
from?" 12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me — she gave
me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman,
"What is this you have done?"The woman said, "The serpent
deceived me, and I ate." (SIN, then cover up, hide, blame others) 14 So the Lord God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust
all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will
strike his heel." 16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase
your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your
desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." 17 To Adam he
said,
"Because you listened to
your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat
of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you
will eat of it all the days of your life. 22 And the Lord God said, "The
man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be
allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and
live forever." 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden
to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out,
he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword
flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
What Makes a Man?
Some young men visiting Washington went into the National
Museum. On one of the cabinets was a label with these words: "The body of
a man, weighing one hundred and fifty-four pounds." "Where is the
man?" asked one of the young men. No one answered him. In the cabinet were
two jars of water and other jars in which were phosphate of lime, carbonate of
lime, potassium, sodium, and other chemicals. Another section held a row of
clear glass jars filled with gasses—hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The
materials in those cabinets were given in exact proportion as combined in an
ordinary man. After looking at the assortment for some time in silence, one of
the young men said: "And that is what I am made of? That is all that goes
to make me?"
"That is all," said a bystander as he smiled and walked on.
But the young man did not smile. "If that is all that is
needed," said one, "so much lime, so much gas, so much water, we
should be exactly alike. There is something more which they cannot put into
cabinets."
"Yes," said another under his breath, "that which is
added by God, who puts into these senseless elements that which makes a living
soul." They passed on in silence, their souls and their God suddenly
becoming real before those cabinets filled with all the material essentials for
the making of a man.
Adam 1 creates the problem – Adam 2 provides the solution
1 Corinthians 15:44-57
If there is a
natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living
being"; the last Adam (JESUS),
a life-giving spirit. 46 The
spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the
earth, the second man from heaven. 48
As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man
from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we
bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not
all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the
trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed. 53 For the perishable must
clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with
the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is
written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in
victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where,
O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power
of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be
to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is pointing out the difference between two kinds
of bodies, i.e., the natural and the spiritual. Adam was made from the dust of
the ground and given the breath of life from God. Every human being since that
time shares the same characteristics. However, the last Adam or the “Adam 2”—that
is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. Just as Adam was the first of the human
race, so Christ is the first of those who will be raised from the dead to
eternal life. Because Christ rose from the dead, He is “a life-giving spirit”
who entered into a new form of existence. He is the source of the spiritual
life that will result in believers' resurrection. Christ's new glorified human
body now suits His new, glorified, spiritual life—just as Adam's human body was
suitable to his natural life. When believers are resurrected, God will give
them transformed, eternal bodies suited to eternal life.
In verse 46 the natural came first and after that the
spiritual. People have natural life first; that is, they are born into this
earth and live here. While it is true that Christ has existed from eternity
past, He is here called the second man or second Adam because He came from
heaven to earth many years after Adam. Christ came as a human baby with a body
like all other humans, but He did not originate from the dust of the earth as
had Adam. He “came from heaven.”
Then Paul goes on: “As was the earthly man [Adam], so
are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven [Christ], so also
are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the
earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven”. Earthly bodies are fitted for life on this
earth, yet they are limited by death, disease, and weakness because of sin
which we’ve seen was first brought into the world by Adam.
However, the
good news is that believers can know with certainty that their heavenly bodies
will be just like Christ's—imperishable, eternal, glorious, and filled with
power. At this time, all are like Adam; one day, all believers will be like
Christ (Philippians
3:21 who, by the
power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform
our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.).
The Apostle John wrote to the believers, “Dear
friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made
known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see
him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
How does this
happen? We cannot get to heaven because
the way to the tree of life is strongly guarded.
The trees of life
may be accessed again
Rev 2:7
He who has an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I
will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of
God.
Rev 22:1-2
Then the angel
showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the
throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.
On each side of the river stood the tree of life.
How do we get to this
tree of life, look at the tree on the hill called Calvary – see the man hanging
there – our disobedience – our Adam 1 sin and all its penalty pressed into
him. Jesus, arms stretched out of that
tree of death, breathes his last breath – at that moment there is a physical
earthquake and the veil of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom and we
are given access into the holy of holies – to the tree of life through the shed
blood of Jesus – the spotless, sinless lamb.
Rev 22:18-19
I warn everyone who hears the words of the
prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the
plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book
of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in
the holy city, which are described in this book.
