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SERVICE TIMES |
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| Sunday | Sunday School | 10am |
| Morning Service | 11am |
| Evening Service | 6pm |
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| Wednesday | Bible Study | 7pm |
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King James Bible Search
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Character Lessons
Adam
The Broken Image of God
Adam is best known for plunging mankind into sin!
I. ADAM WAS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD!
Gen. 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
A. What does God mean when He says that Adam was created in the image of God?
1. It is not referring to the physical appearance but rather the nature of God Himself!
a. Adam was able to fall in love with Eve only because God is love!
b. Adam was capable of being lonely - only because God too can be lonely!
c. Adam was capable of being brokenhearted because God too can have His heart broken!
2. Since God is a Spirit, Adam is not the visible image of God. And yet, He was created to be an accurate reflection of what God is!
3. And even though the sin nature has marred that image, every Christian is also to be an accurate reflection of Jesus in every aspect of their life.
B. Another aspect of how Adam was created in God's image was that he was created with the appearance of age. God did not create him as an infant but as a full grown man. Therefore, though only a few minutes old, Adam appeared to be an adult (probably in his early 30ˇ¦s, as was the age of Christ when He was crucified!). Since God is eternal, Adam's appearance of age typifies the agelessness of God Himself.
II. ADAM WAS CREATED TO HAVE DOMINION!
Gen. 1:26 And 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.
A. When God created Adam, He instantly placed the entire creation under his control!
1. The reason is because Adam was God's deputy on earth!
2. He was to name all animals and to dominate or control everything in the world. Some even believe that in his sinless state, Adam had the power to control the weather!
B. As Adam was God's deputy and was to control all things in the stead of God, man today is also God's deputy, especially in the home! Therefore, it is the husband's responsibility to have dominion in the home and to rule it as God so leads and desires.
III. ADAM WAS CREATED WITH A PURPOSE!
Gen. 3:8 And 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.
A. Why was God walking in the garden?
1. Because that is where Adam and Eve were!
2. God didn't create Adam to take care of the garden or to name the animals!
a. He created the garden as a place where He could have fellowship with Adam!
b. He also gave Adam the task of naming the animals because God enjoyed being with him during such a trivial task.
c. It's almost like a father who encourages a small child to help with a certain task around the house. Truthfully, the dad could get it done much better and quicker - but it is the desire for loving fellowship that the child is ˇ§neededˇ¨ to help ˇ§daddy.ˇ¨
IV. ADAM WAS CREATED WITH A NEED!
Gen. 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
A. As God had a need for Adam (fellowship), so Adam also had that same need because of the fact that he was created in the image of God.
1. God helped Adam come to this realization by having every animal created come before Adam for the purpose of being named. As Adam watched them arrive by the hundreds, he always noticed that they were created in pairs.
2. In this fashion, God allowed Adam to discover that he too needed a mate - a wife!
3. Upon his realizing this truth, God then made and fashioned a woman from the rib of Adam.
B. Just as God hungered for fellowship and created Adam, so also Adam hungered for fellowship - and God created Eve.
1. Parents naturally love their children because they were made in the image of God!
2. Husbands and wives naturally love each other for the same reason.
3. It is only because of our sin nature that we corrupt our God-given desire to love and turn it into self-love, which is simply selfishness!
V. ADAM WAS CREATED TO BE A LEADER!
Gen. 3:17 And 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;
A. When the serpent enticed Eve to partake of the forbidden tree, we find that it was Adam who was rebuked by God!
1. Why?
2. Because God operates via a chain-of-command!
Gen. 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
God did not hold Eve responsible for being disobedient because He had given the command to Adam - and Adam was to tell his wife to avoid the tree of knowledge!
3. God even rebuked Adam for forfeiting his position of leadership by listening to his wife instead of to God! Gen 3:17 And 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;
VI. ADAM WAS SAVED THE SAME WAY THAT ALL CHRISTIANS DO!
Gen. 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
A. What was the significance of these ˇ§coats of skinsˇ¨? The animal skins and the dead animal portrayed 3 great truths!
1. The innocent had to die for the guilty! The animals did not sin, and yet God killed an animal to obtain the skin to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness.
2. God accepted death by substitution! God didn*t kill Adam for his sin, but killed an animal in his place. When the Mosaic law was given, God instituted animal sacrifices whereby man could be taught that though man deserved to die, the guilty didn*t have to as long as there was an acceptable death.
3. There had to be the shedding of blood to deal with sin!
B. So how did Adam get saved?
1. There has always been one plan of salvation!
a. He had to see himself as a sinner.
Gen. 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Why was Adam afraid? Because he knew that he had disobeyed God - CONVICTION!
b. He had to realize the penalty of sin.
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.
Before he sinned, Adam was plainly warned by God that the penalty for disobeying Him would be death!
And when Adam sinned, he died spiritually!
c. He had to be willing to accept God's sacrifice!
Gen. 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
The emphasis here is upon the fact that it was God - not Adam who devised the plan for the shedding of blood!
VII. ADAM PLUNGED THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE INTO SIN!
Gen. 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth;
I Cor. 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
These 2 verses point out very clearly that sin is inherited!
A. A baby may look and seem so innocent, but it is because we cannot see the wretched, horrible sin nature that has been inherited by his earthly parents!
Ps. 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
B. The sin is not referring to the mother of David but to the fact that when he was conceived, he was already vile and wicked because of the sin nature that he inherited from Adam through his parents.
VIII. ADAM WAS TO BE A SHADOW OF CHRIST!
Rom. 5:14 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.
A. How is Adam a figure of Christ?
1. Because of what Adam did in the garden of Eden, he was responsible for mankind receiving a new nature - one that was fallen and corrupt!
2. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, He was responsible for every Christian receiving a new nature - one that is perfect and is the same nature as God Himself.
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