The Unity of the Human Race

Bible point number one, mankind is an immediate creation of God.

God is naturally the father of all men in the sense that He originated and gave life to Adam and Eve. All mankind descended — that's the first blank, descended — from this pair.

The unity — that's the second blank — of the human race — the third blank — underlines the of creation. So the first blank is descended, the second blank is unity, third blank is race, the fourth blank is creation. Let me reread that. Mankind is an immediate creation of God. We talked about this in week one when we discussed man as a creation of God, that God did not create man out of a lower species, man did not evolve, but he was a direct creation, a unique creation of God. God is naturally the father of all men in the sense that He originated and gave life to Adam and Eve. Caleb taught this last week when we looked at God as the father of all mankind. He's naturally our father in that He originated us and imparted life to us. Spiritually, though, He's only the father of those who are in Christ Jesus, as we discussed last week.

So He originated and gave life to Adam and Eve, and all mankind descended from this pair.

Adam and Eve were the first of creation and all of humanity descended from them. This is the unity of the human race. We talk about race and there's all kinds of definitions for race, but the original definition for race in the English language means those of a common descent, those with common ancestors, or those of a common lineage.

Today we use it in wildly different ways. The US Census, just for 2020, just four years ago, they actually said that race is something that you can choose, that it's not a scientific thing but a social construct. They went on to list a ton of races for you to check on that census. This had its origins in the late 1800s when we had Darwin's origin of the human species.

Darwin predicated his belief on evolution — that there were many different species of humanity, different races. You can go back and look at scientific textbooks from the late 1800s and the early 1900s from great minds and they all have different opinions on how many races there are. They have names for these races like the Mongol race, the Caucasian race.

One of the more astute minds said that there were six races, another one eight, another one as high as 65 different races, which is nuts.

That led, of course, to a very dark period of our history called eugenics. Eugenics is the idea that some races are inherently superior to others and therefore inferior races should not be allowed to reproduce. They should be stamped out or bred out. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was a eugenicist. When you read some of her writings, some of her statements, even her statements before the southern chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, it's just sickening.

To this day, Planned Parenthood is often found in minority populations. They disavowed her, so to speak, in 2020 after all that time, because all of her works became widespread on the internet. But even though they publicly disavowed her, they're still doing the same practice, right?

Trying to eradicate the lower classes, the have-nots, if you will. This reached its zenith in Nazi Germany, right? Their master race, trying to create a super Aryan race. How wicked that is. That's totally against Scripture, because Scripture states the opposite — that we all descended from one common pair, Adam and Eve. Science has finally caught up to the Bible. The Bible tells us that we all descended from one human pair, and that's what science tells us. Science tells us that life originated from the Mesopotamian Valley, which is where the Bible says it originated from. Science tells us that now in the 20th century, when DNA was discovered and DNA was sequenced, that no matter how different you are — if you're tall or you're short, or what color you are, or what facial structure you have — we share 99.99% the same DNA.

We're the same. Some of us may be darker than others, some of us may be lighter, some of us may be redheads, some of us may be blondes. We all came from the same human pair, Adam and Eve. Physiology even speaks of this, that our brains operate very similarly.

There are no differences in our cranial operations based on the way that you look on the outside. We all have a very similar pulse rate. We all have a similar body temperature, because it makes sense — we all descended from Adam and Eve.

Look at Genesis 2:7. "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 being." He took man out of the clay and He breathed and imparted His own life into man, right? That's how man gained his existence. And that first man — man means Adam, right? That's his name, Adam. Genesis 2:22.

"Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man." So from Adam, Eve's life was derived, right? Remember He caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and He wounded Adam. He opened up a rib from his side and from that He created woman. So the very first creation was man, and then woman from man. And of course man and woman are both made in the image of God. The Bible says they both make up the same race, mankind. And then Genesis 3:20 says, "And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living."

What's even more fascinating — besides modern physiology — folks who study archaeology and who study anthropology all agree that humanity actually originated from the Mesopotamian Valley, which is pretty much where the Bible says it originated from, right? So it's not just God's Word that says it. Science has finally caught up to God's Word, right. Flip over to the back.

Genesis 1:27 through 28. We've read this before, but it's very important to keep in mind as we're talking about the unity of the human race. It says, "So God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him. Male and female He created them." So both male and female image God. They're both made to be a reflection, a finite reflection of who He is. "Then God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" As we talked about in week one, God made man as the pinnacle of creation, right? To exercise dominion over nature. Acts 17:26 in the New Testament, Paul says, "And he," speaking of God, "made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth."

So the idea that we are all very different and we should be divided among our races is not scriptural, right?

I chuckled — I remember from four years ago when the US Census came out. There was actually a section where you were to fill out your race. So many different options to choose from. And they actually had a disclaimer. They said, "There is no scientific definition of race. It's what you identify as." And they have all these different things. And that's what politicians actually make their living on. They try to divide people along racial lines, right? And along class lines. And society does that too. If you've been in public schools as a teacher or an administrator, or in Fortune 500 companies, you've probably come across something called intersectionality.

It's a form of Marxism. The old communist Marxism pitted the poor against the rich, the have-nots against the haves. Well, what this intersectionality does is a new form of Marxism that creates different classes of people and pits the oppressed — which would be those who are disadvantaged, who don't have as much wealth — against the oppressor. And they do that along racial lines. And that's a sickening thing to do. They'll say, "You don't have a voice at the table because you're at the bottom of the pecking order. Sean, you are a white man, so your voice isn't important." Now Natalia is a little bit above you because she's a woman, and therefore she is a minority, so she has a slightly better voice or is considered more important than you. But then another race comes above Natalia, right? And of course Natalia could argue that you're from Montenegro. There are all kinds of crazy intersections that they have, deeming one person to be more valuable than another. And isn't it nuts that we should diminish anybody who is made in the image of God?

Flip over to the front. The application for number one is this. We are one — that's the first blank — human race — the second blank is race — with one family tree. The third blank is one and the fourth blank is tree. We are one human race with one family tree. That is at the very beginning of Scripture, and it undergirds the very message of redemption. And to actually obscure that, as we'll see in a few points as we go tonight, actually obscures the salvation provided to us in Christ Jesus. We all are one race descended from one human pair.

Bible point number two, God created mankind as personal beings — that's the first blank, personal beings — with a likeness of nature to Himself. We talked about this in week one, that we are created as creatures, fully dependent on God for breath and life and our existence. But we're also created as personal beings in God's image, with the ability to have a rational nature, to think and to act and self-determine and relate to others.

The likeness of human nature to Himself — this common nature is shared. So the second blank is common. The third blank is shared. This common nature is shared by all mankind. Every human being is made in the personal image of God. They are made with a rational mind, right? They are made with free will. They are allowed to contemplate abstract thoughts and to choose among them, to determine what their motives are and to act on those. So therefore they are responsible, and they're made to be able to relate. Every single human being is made in the image of God.

This personal likeness underscores the doctrine of humanity.

That's the fourth blank, humanity. So God created mankind as personal beings with a likeness of nature to Himself. This common nature, shared by all mankind, this personal likeness underscores the doctrine of humanity. What this means is simply this: because we're all made in the personal likeness of God, all human life has an inherent dignity, right? An inherent nobility that was gifted to them by God, because they are made different from all the other animals and creatures in this world. They are made to image God. So therefore they carry this impression — this God impression, this God-likeness. And therefore they're to be valued, right? They are not to be treated as a mere brute of the field. This doesn't matter your age. It doesn't matter if you're young or if you're old.

We live in an age where, more so than ever, our elders are being treated as disposable. There are countries such as our neighbors to the north in Canada and also in Europe where they will euthanize you.

They'll say, "Well, you're going to die of natural causes anyway, and you are already costing us a lot of money and a lot of care, and we don't want to be burdened by you. So we can euthanize you," which is a nice way of saying murder you, right? Same thing on the younger end of the spectrum, right?

Babies inside the mother's womb are no less of a person than a baby outside of the mother's womb. They're created in the image of God.

They're not to be disposable. You don't use abortion as birth control. You don't say, "Well, this is going to be a drag on my career," or "This is going to be a drag on my life," and say, "I'm not ready yet." God will make you ready, right? God gives you a baby, He's going to give you the grace and strength to raise that baby, right? So this inherent dignity doesn't matter your age. It doesn't matter your gender, right?

Christianity was pretty remarkable in the dignity that it afforded women, and we see that in the life of Christ, right? Remember when Christ spoke to the woman at the well, and His disciples were kind of amazed that He was speaking to a woman, because typically rabbis didn't do that, right? Who did Jesus choose to be His first witnesses at His resurrection?

Exactly right. It was Mary and Martha who came to His grave, and they are the ones who ran and told the disciples. And the disciples had a hard time believing it. And that was at the same time when in Jewish courts a woman's word wasn't acceptable, right?

So we see that women were made from Adam, both made in the image of God. And as men, we must always protect women above and beyond all else, because they are made from the very rib, right? She was formed from Adam's rib, so she will always be closest to his side, right? So therefore men are to protect our daughters, are to protect our wives, are to protect our sisters in Christ. That's what we do, because that's the way that God designed us, right? So all human life is valuable. It doesn't matter your race, right? The despicable things that came out of eugenics were horrible. And the institution of race-based slavery was a horrible thing, right? Despicable. To say that a person is not a full human being, and to try to justify that on science, is to go against God's Word. It's to go against the way that He created us in His very image. Okay, look at Genesis 5:1 through 2.

I'm sorry — Genesis chapter 5, 1 through 2. "This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them and called them mankind in the day that they were created." So God created mankind, and He called them male and female to be in His very image, and He blessed them on the day that they were created. Flip over to the back.

The very last of Genesis chapter 5 — Genesis chapter 5 we just read was the beginning of the genealogy of Adam, and it goes through Noah. And then we see in Genesis 5:32, "And Noah was 500 years old, and Noah begot Shem and Ham and Japheth." Then fast forward to Genesis 9. This is after the flood. "Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated."

All goes back to Adam, right?

Even after the flood, we see Adam's posterity continuing that line. So there should be no question at all in our minds that we have a unity among the human race. I mentioned those who are older being treated as disposable, those who are younger being treated as disposable in our society, those who look different from us. Another way that people are often disposed of is those with disabilities, right?

Do you know that there are some people who will abort a baby if that baby has Down syndrome, right? Do you know that Down syndrome in some countries is a pretext for euthanasia?

Isn't that a wicked thing? If you've ever been around a child with Down syndrome, you know they're the most lovable, the most joyous people that you could ever encounter in life, and how wicked that is. Just recently, there was a girl over in Europe who voluntarily euthanized herself. She was only 26 because she was struggling with depression.

And their system allowed that. Again, that's murder, whether it's self-murder or whether it's state-endorsed murder. We're made in the image of God. The application for number two is this. All humanity — all, that's the first blank — all humanity was uniquely created — that's the second blank — by God — that's the third blank — uniquely created as opposed to all other creation. Deer are beautiful to watch them run through the field, are they not?

All the animals that God creates, the birds with their songs, are beautiful. But they can't hold a candle to humanity, right? Because we're the only ones created uniquely to image God.

Bible point number three, sharing a common origin — that's the first blank, origin —

and a common nature — that's the second blank, nature. Sharing a common origin and a common nature, mankind possesses a natural — that's the third blank — a natural brotherhood. What I mean by this is we all share the same nature, right? Now there is a separate brotherhood, a spiritual brotherhood, that we have as brothers and sisters in Christ. And we'll talk about that when we discuss ecclesiology, right? But by being created by the same Creator and being created with the image of God, we all, as brothers and sisters, share a natural brotherhood, a common nature. This filial relation — which means this family relation — underlies the rationale and responsibility of being our brother's keeper. That's the fourth blank.

So let me reread that. Sharing a common origin and a common nature, mankind possesses a natural brotherhood. This filial relation underlies the rationale and responsibility of being our brother's keeper. Because we are all created in the image of God, we have a responsibility to look after one another. We are our brother's keeper. When God first created Adam, He put Adam in the garden to keep the garden. That includes protecting, that includes nourishing, tending it. Let's look at Genesis 2:15. "Then the Lord God took man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it." Later, God of course gave him a wife, and he was responsible for his wife. Later, God would give them children, and they would be responsible to tend and keep those children. As brothers and sisters, we are responsible for one another.

That's one of the beautiful things about Christianity. You can look at other world religions — Judaism, you can look at Islam — none of them come close to Christianity and its impact for good in this world. Think about our hospitals. Don't you know that most of our hospitals are Christian-based? Whether it's a Catholic hospital, a Baptist hospital, or a Seventh-day Adventist hospital, they all have some grounding in Christianity, right? So many of the great cures of this world have come from these hospitals. Not just hospitals, but think of all the charities around the world that have lifted man up. Think about the Salvation Army. Now, the Salvation Army is not what it used to be. These charities have drifted from their original moorings, but if you know anything about their history, they were a gospel-marching type of a unit that would go in and find the dregs of society — the drunkards — and would give them both spiritual food and physical food, clothing and spiritual nourishment at the same time, right?

Think about education. Just a few weeks ago, Pastor had mentioned a book he recommended about John Knox. It was from a series that Steve Lawson wrote called "A Long Line of Godly Men." These are short biographies of some of our great Christians during the Reformation period. They're written for middle school to high school, which means that most of our first-grade homeschoolers can read them without a problem at all. And they're so good and they're so uplifting. And John Knox — he was called the "Flaming Scot." The reason why he was called the "Flaming Scot" is because he burned so brightly in his zeal for Christ. And one of the things that John Knox did there in Scotland, this is in the 1500s, he formed the very first public school. He formed the public schools because he had a vision that every boy and every girl in Scotland would be able to read the Bible in their own language. They would learn how to read and the Bible would be their textbook, so that they could know Christ and make Him known, right?

Now, what's the genesis of our public school system, right? Think about all the great colleges. Think of the Ivy Leagues — Yale, Harvard. You know they started as divinity schools?

They started as schools to train men to shepherd churches and to preach the gospel. And they still have divinity schools there. Again, they've drifted from their moorings. But those institutions have led to countless Nobel Prizes and improvements in society, right? And that's all part of being our brother's keeper, right? We are to look after, we are to help one another. We are to improve those who are around us in whatever field God has placed us in, right? It may be something as simple as being a pastor to meet people in the hospital, to be with people when they're grieving, right? It may be something as simple as teaching a Bible study, or being on the visitation team, or writing notes to people, praying for people. Those are all things that are uplifting our brothers and sisters in Christ. Flip over to the back.

The reference for number three on the back is from Genesis chapter 4. If you remember,

Adam had two children initially, Cain and Abel. Cain was the oldest and he took after his father. He was a tender of the ground, just as Adam was. One phrase comes to mind: "following in your father's footsteps." Well, there he was. And Abel was a keeper of animals, right? They presented offerings before the Lord, and God was pleased with Abel's offering but not with Cain's. And God warned Cain about this because He sensed in Cain's heart jealousy and anger towards his brother. He said, "Why are you angry with your brother?" But Cain let this jealousy and this anger build up, and look what happened. Verse 8, "Now 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 killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' And he said, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?'" He was his brother's keeper, but he's denying his responsibility, right? And he's lying before God. He knew exactly where Abel was. And God said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground."

God knows our hearts. He knows when we are truly being our brother's keeper, and He knows when we're not, right? And we're accountable to Him. Let's look at 1 John 3:10 through 12.

"In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest." John's saying, this is how you tell apart the children of God and the children of the devil.

"Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that you should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. Why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous." It shows our heart, right? It shows whose child we are. Look at Galatians 6:10. Paul's writing to Christians here, and he says, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." In other words, we have an even higher obligation to our brothers and sisters in Christ, but we're to do good to all men, right? Don't ever question yourself if you feel compelled or moved to help someone in need, saying, "Am I being taken advantage of?" Let God sort that out, right? Do good to all, because we are our brother's keeper.

Slip back over to the front and let's look at the application for number three.

"Do good to all men and watch over them." The first blank is good, the second blank is all, the third blank is watch. Do good to all men and watch over them. Ask yourself, "How am I my brother's keeper in the responsibilities that God has given me?

Am I discipling somebody? Do I have an influence over someone? Do I have a friendship with someone that I've neglected? Can I call them up to encourage them? Can I pray for them? Can I pray with them? How about my relatives, my blood relatives, my immediate family, my brother, maybe my sister, my children? Do I have ought between me and them? Do I need to make that right? Because I am my brother's keeper." Right?

Bible point number four, the unity of the human race explains the participation — that's the first blank. And I know there's not a lot of space to write that, but you can write it out in the margin. The unity of the human race explains the participation, which means the sharing in, the participation, the coining in, of mankind in the first transgression. The unity of the human race explains the participation or sharing of mankind in the first transgression. So the first blank is participation, the second blank is first. When Adam's nature became corrupt through sin — this is the third blank —

this corrupt nature was shared with his descendants. So the third blank is sin, the fourth blank is shared. This corruption underpins the history of the fall. That's the fifth blank. The unity of the human race explains the participation of mankind in the first transgression. When Adam's nature became corrupt through sin, this corrupt nature was shared with his descendants. This corruption underpins the history of the fall.

Because Adam was the first man, and from him we derive our nature, when humanity fell in Adam, guess what? We fell in Adam. When Adam first participated in sin, all humanity participated in sin. We're going to discuss this in detail in a few weeks when we go to Unit 5, which is "Hamartiology, the Study of Sin, the Fall of Mankind." But it finds its basis in the unity of the human race.

Because it's like an apple. How many seeds are in an apple? About eight to ten on average inside of an apple. If you were to take an apple and cut it open and get those seeds out, and you were to plant those seeds and cultivate them and put fertilizer in them, get them to grow and make little sprouts, would you grow a cucumber? No. How about an orange? No. What would we grow? An apple, right? Because seeds come after their own kind, right?

We were all in Adam at the very beginning. He was the representative head of the human race. Before there was anybody, there was just Adam. And so when Adam fell, all humanity fell, right? You say, "That stinks. How can I be guilty for something that Adam did?" Well, we're going to talk about that when we study Hamartiology. But don't kid yourself. You ratified his decision as soon as you could. As soon as a baby is born, he goes about speaking lies, right? That's what the Bible says. So this corruption underpins the history of the fall. The fact that we're all sharing common humanity in Adam — once that humanity fell, which was at the very beginning, before he had Cain and Abel or anybody else — we all fell in Adam. Look at Romans 5:12.

"Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." Saying, "Through one man sin entered into the world." That's Adam. "And death through sin." Because what does God say? The wages of sin is death. "And death spread to all men." All men are born mortal beings, born dying, basically. Our days are numbered because we all participated in Adam's first sin. He was our federal head. He was the progenitor of the human race, and the human race has fallen. And that's the race that we are born into. Flip over to the back.

And Romans 5 continues in verses 15 through — I'm sorry, Romans 5 verse 14.

"Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who was a type of Him who was to come." Paul's talking about the law. You see, the law wasn't given yet between Adam and Moses, right? Moses had not delivered the law, but yet they were still guilty and they were still sinners. Even if they hadn't sinned in the exact same way that Adam sinned, they were all sinners. We're not sinners because we sin.

We sin because we're sinners. It's part of our nature. It's our human nature to sin, derived from Adam. And he says here that Adam was a type of Him who was to come. That's where there is hope and there is promise, which we're going to see very shortly in Bible point number five. It just says, "Adam brought death and sin into the world." There's a second Adam, a last Adam — praise God. And that's the glorious hope of the gospel. Romans 5:18 says, "Through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation." We're all condemned in Adam. Romans 5:19, "By one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. By his single act of disobedience, we all became sinners." Okay, let's flip back over to the front.

The application for number four is this. We are born in Adam, corrupt and guilty.

We are born — that's the first blank — in Adam — the second blank — corrupt is the third blank — and guilty. We have real guilt inherited from Adam and we also have a corrupt nature with a bent towards sin that loves sin and hates the things of God. That's what all men born in Adam have from birth. We're born in Adam, corrupt and guilty.

But here's the good news. Bible point number five, the same unity of the human race that causes all mankind to share in Adam's transgression also makes it possible — that's the first blank, possible — for sin's curse to be lifted and humanity to be purified and renewed through Christ. Just as humanity has its beginning in Adam, a new — that's the second blank — a new and restored — the third blank, restored — humanity has its beginning in God's perfect Son, Jesus Christ, the last — that's the fourth blank — the last Adam. Christ's perfect humanity undergirds the doctrine of man's spiritual union — that's the sixth blank — with Christ. So the first blank is possible, the second blank is new, the third blank is restored, the fourth blank is last, and then the fifth blank is union.

Let me reread that. The same unity of the human race that causes all mankind to share in Adam's transgression also makes it possible for sin's curse to be lifted and humanity to be purified and renewed through Christ. Just as humanity has its beginning in Adam, a new and restored humanity has its beginning in God's perfect Son, Jesus Christ, the last Adam. Christ's perfect humanity undergirds the doctrine of man's spiritual union with Christ. The Bible tells us that through faith in Jesus Christ we are placed spiritually into Christ. And by being placed into Christ,

we now have a new federal head. No longer is it Adam, but it's Christ. Just as Adam was the beginning of the human race, Christ marks the beginning of redeemed humanity, right? Whoever is in Christ is a new what? Creature, a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:21 through 22. "For since by man came death," by Adam came death, "by man also comes the resurrection of the dead." So Adam brought us death, Christ brings us the resurrection.

"For as in Adam, all die. Even so in Christ all shall be made alive." If you are in Christ, you have life eternal. You have the very life of God shared with you. I always like, when I speak of union with Christ, to use the example of an airplane. If you think about it, you can only go so fast if you start walking out of this church. You know, maybe if you're super fast, you can get up to 15 or 20 miles an hour — that's about it. And you're only going to go so far before your legs give out, right? But you could step into a plane, and can't you travel far farther than you could on foot? Can't you travel far faster? Most planes go 400 or 500 miles an hour — the jets that you fly on — far higher than you could ever achieve on foot, right? You never get tired, right? Because the plane is actually doing the work. But the plane gets you, takes you places that you could never get to yourself. And you're even said to fly, right? You're not flapping your wings; the plane is doing the flying. That's what it means to put our trust in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus, we get all His merits, all the saving benefits — His righteousness. We trade our filthy rags for His gleaming righteousness, His perfect righteousness. We trade our opposition towards God for a love and a union with God that is possessed only in Christ and in the eternal communion between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. We get to share in that union through Jesus Christ, right? We get to trade our enmity with God — whereby we are enemies with God and God is against those who are in Adam because we sin, we rebel — we get to trade that for God's favor, right? If we are truly in Christ Jesus. So all the saving benefits of God — His love, His righteousness, His favor, His goodness, His power, and His strength — are shared with all those who are in Christ Jesus. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:45, "And so it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam," or the second Adam, speaking of Christ, "became a life-giving spirit." It's not just that Christ takes away your guilt.

It's not just that He takes away the punishment that you deserve. It's that He totally transforms life. He's a life-giving spirit. He shares His divine life with all those who are in Him. He says, "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly," right? That's the resurrection power of Christ at work within each and every believer. Romans 5:18 through 21 says this, "Therefore, as through one man's offense," speaking of Adam, "judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one man's," this man is capitalized, speaking of Christ, "one man's righteous acts, the free gift comes to all men, resulting in justification of life." We are justified. We are declared righteous by the free gift of Jesus Christ for all who are in Him. Verse 19, "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." Not only did Christ never disobey God, but He perfectly fulfilled all righteousness. He did everything that man was supposed to do, right? And that's credited to us in Christ Jesus. Look at verse 20, "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more." The law came to show us that we are sinners. Our natural alienation and enmity towards God in Adam caused us to want to rebel against it even more, right? But where that rebellion abounded, in Christ, grace abounds. God's grace is greater than all your sins. You may list all the things you've done wrong. They may still keep you up at night. You may have a guilty conscience even as a Christian — things that you said or things that you did. You know you've already confessed it, but something pops into your head. Does that ever happen to you? You should know that God's grace is greater, because the merits of Christ are greater than any sin you've ever committed.

It says so right here. "Whereas the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Grace reigns in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. When we're in Christ Jesus, we are recipients of His grace and He shares with us His life, life eternal. Flip over to the back.

Romans 5:15 through 16 says, "But the free gift is not like the offense, for if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned, for the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses results in justification." Saying that this grace that God gives us — abundant grace — is a gift.

When we receive a gift, we're not receiving a shadow. We're not receiving an idea. Think about Christmas morning at your house, if you still have kids at home, or think back to when your kids did live at home. What if you said, "I love you and I have some wonderful imaginary gifts for you. Let's pretend that these are gifts." That wouldn't really go over very well, right? Because they're expecting to get something, to open something up, right? The gift that Christ gives is a tangible, real gift. You can't see it, but it's more real than you and I, in the sense of Christ Himself. That's what it means to be united to Christ. It's to receive Christ. There is no salvation apart from union with the Savior. To receive Him as your Savior means to trust in Him, to depend on Him, to lean on Him as surely as you're sitting in that chair right now, demonstrating your faith that the chair is suitable to uphold you. So throw yourself on Christ and say, "Uphold me. My merits aren't good enough. I can never outwork my sin. I can never undo the wrongs that I have done, but I trust Your perfect righteousness. I trust Your free grace. I trust that You will give me eternal life." Let us receive Christ and enjoy Him. That is the free gift of Jesus Christ. Flip back over to the front. The application is this.

Are you dead in Adam — first two blanks, one is dead, second blank is Adam — or alive in Christ? Blank number three is alive. Blank number four is Christ. Are you dead in Adam or alive in Christ?

When it comes down to it, all of us human beings share the same common nature, the same origin, but there are two classes of humanity. There are those who are in Adam and they're dead in Adam. They bear the guilt of Adam. They face physical death and thereafter spiritual death. Physical death is a separation of our soul from our body. Spiritual death is a separation of our soul from God, which is far worse. That's what we see in hell, right? Separation from the goodness and gracious presence of God, and in His full wrathful presence for all eternity. That's the fate of all who are in Adam. So are you dead in Adam or are you alive in Christ Jesus? I pray that you're alive in Christ Jesus. It's a free gift. All you have to do is repent and believe, right?

Let's look at number six. The unity of the human race makes atonement possible. Atonement is not a word we use a lot, but you can break it down as "at-one-ment," right? It means to be at one with God. If we're in Adam, we're at odds with God. There is enmity between us and God. We're rebels against God. But the unity of the human race makes atonement possible — makes it possible for us to be reconciled to God, to be at one with God. As mankind was created in the image of God, this personal likeness allowed Christ to take on a human nature. The first blank is human nature. The righteousness of Christ is imputed — it means given — to anyone who will repent and believe. So the first blank is human. The second blank is imputed. The third blank is repent. The fourth blank is believe.

The unity of the human race makes atonement possible, makes reconciliation possible. As mankind was created in the image of God, this personal likeness allowed Christ to take on a human nature.

The righteousness of Christ is imputed to anyone who will repent and believe. Because we all share a human race, one common nature, Christ was able to take on that common human nature and to add humanity to His divinity and to come in the incarnation and to live a flesh and blood existence, to live as a human. And as a human, He suffered, right? He hungered. He thirsted. He had human limitations. In His divinity, He could exercise all His divine attributes by the power of the Holy Spirit, but only by the will of the Father — and that's what we see in the life of Christ, right? He willingly obeyed the Father perfectly. And He willingly laid down His life for us as an atoning sacrifice, as a sacrifice to make us at one with God. The sacrifice wholly acceptable because He was God of very God, right? Perfectly pleasing the Father, that express image of the Father — so He could make divine satisfaction. He was altogether holy.

And He did that for us. He took on our human nature, and that human nature is common to every person. It doesn't matter if you're white, it doesn't matter if you're Black, it doesn't matter if you're Asian, it doesn't matter if you're young, it doesn't matter if you're old. The very fact that we all have this common human nature underpins the incarnation of Christ, to make us at one with Him, for whoever will put their trust in Christ. This is imputed to anyone who will repent and believe.

To put our trust in Christ, to put our faith in Christ — there are two sides to that coin. The first is repent. Repenting simply means to change our mind. It is to turn away from our sins that we love, to turn away from ourselves that we love, to turn away from the world, the flesh, and the devil — everything that we serve in Adam — to make a decisive turn away from that. And then of course faith, or trust, is turning to Christ. We can't turn to Christ unless we turn away from everything else. Leave everything else behind, right? You can't have your feet in both worlds. You can't be in Adam and in Christ, right? So to be in Christ, we have to repent and trust our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Repent and believe. Hebrews 2:14 through 17 says this, "Inasmuch as the children have partaken of flesh and blood," meaning us — we all are flesh and blood, humanity — "He Himself," Christ, "likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil." Amen to that, right? "And release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham." And who are the seed of Abraham but all who have faith in Christ Jesus? "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." Christ became our brother when He joined the human race, right? So He could be like us in every aspect — naturally our brother, right? When we put our faith in Christ Jesus, He becomes spiritually our elder brother, right? And God is our Father, whom we share with Christ. So He did it, it says, "in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation." Propitiation simply means a covering or resting place for the sins of the people. On the Ark of the Covenant, there was a cover — propitiation —

on top of the ark, and that is where the blood was sprinkled once a year in the Holy of Holies, right? It was a place of sacrifice. You can also look at that as shielding us from the wrath of God. It was a place to shield us from the wrath of God, to cover us in His mercy and in His blood. Flip over to the back.

Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord." That gift is in Christ Jesus. The "in Christ" means to put our trust in Him, to lean wholly on Him. 1 Corinthians 15:3 through 4 is the gospel in a nutshell. "For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."

Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again. But it's not enough just to repeat that. It's not enough just to know the facts of the gospel. You have to appropriate that as your own.

You have to go to God and say, "I am a sinner. I deserved what befell Christ on the cross. He did that for me, and I believe that His death was for me, that His resurrection was for me as well, that as in Adam all died, in Christ all live, and I live because of Christ Jesus." Acts 4:12 says, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" — only in Jesus Christ. The gospel in Acts 16:31 was told to the jailer in Philippi who, when the angel had opened up the prison bars,

the jailer knew he was a dead man because the prisoners had escaped on his watch. But what did Paul and the disciples tell him? "Don't kill yourself." And the jailer was amazed that they had not escaped. He said, "What must I do to be saved?" This is the answer. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." That offer is good for every person on this planet, because we all share a common origin, a common nature, and Christ took on that nature to die in our place.