Now before we get into my story, let’s get one thing straight. A lot of people have been blaming me for a lot of things, like sin and death, so let’s be clear, I didn’t do anything that you haven’t done as well. Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick. And today, Colin, we’re looking at the Christmas story through the eyes of Adam. How does he fit into the Christmas story? Well, he was the one who was given the very first promise of the Redeemer, right back in Genesis. You see, the coming of Jesus Christ into the world isn’t some idea that God came up with, as it were, halfway through human history. It was his plan from the very beginning. And I love the way that the New Testament picks up the fact that there was the first Adam, and that when Jesus Christ comes, he’s called the last Adam. And what the first Adam lost for us in his sin, the last Adam restores for us through his righteousness. That’s a marvellous theme in the Bible, so it shines a whole floodlight into the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So to go back a bit, don’t we have the right to blame Adam for sin and death? Well, the Bible does say, as in Adam, all die. So it definitely has come from him. But here’s the point. If Adam was the only one who had sinned, we might have some cause for complaint. The reality is that we mimic and repeat his sin in our own experience. His sin is ours, not only in the sense that it is counted as ours because we’re in him, but because we got plenty of it of our own. And that’s why we need a Redeemer. And today we’re in the first book of Corinthians and chapter 15, as we begin Adam’s story. Here’s Colin. Well, I am delighted to be here with you today. I’ve heard some great things about this congregation from some of the friends who visited you in past years before. I tell you, you’ve had some remarkable guests over recent years as you’ve celebrated Christmas here, John the Apostle and old man Simeon. And then you had my pal Abraham last time, and he was telling me about it. Of course, when he comes to speak, he always goes on about how he lived 4,000 years before you and 2,000 years before Christ. Let me tell you, that’s nothing. He likes to talk about how he lived to be 175, and you might be impressed by that. I’m not. I lived to the grand old age of 930, though I have to admit I did have the distinct advantage of living before the flood. Now before we get into my story, let’s get one thing straight. A lot of people have been blaming me for a lot of things, like sin and death. So let’s be clear. I didn’t do anything that you haven’t done as well. So I’ll take my share of the blame, but you need to do the same. So don’t be picking on me after the service. By the way, as I came in, I saw your pastor had left a little note for me in his office. I thought I’d read it to you. Here’s what it says. Dear Adam, welcome to the orchard. Our people are very kind and they won’t blame you for everything. I like that. We don’t like preachers who talk too much about themselves. So please talk about the one who is greater than you. P.S. Don’t speak as long as I do. Remember it’s Christmas. So let me tell you about the one who is greater than me by far. I got three things to say about him today. Number one, Christ was born into my line. Now you might remember, if you have a very good memory, that when Abraham was here, he would have talked about Matthew’s gospel. Abraham’s all was going on about Matthew’s gospel because Matthew traces the line of Jesus Christ back to Abraham. And Matthew does that, of course, because Matthew presents Jesus as the king of the Jews. So Abraham’s all was on about Matthew. But I like the gospel of Luke because Luke traces the line of Jesus all the way back to me. And he does that because Luke presents Jesus not only as the Messiah for the Jews, but as the Savior for the world. The angel said at his birth that it is good news of great joy for all people. Christ has come as the Savior for all branches of the human family. Now I hope you’re listening carefully because I said that Christ was born into my line. I did not say that he was born from my line. You see, the Savior came to us. He did not come from us. Everyone ever descended from me failed like I did. He did not come from me. He came to me. See, here is the beauty and the significance of the virgin birth. This is why God spoke about the offspring of the woman. If he had come from my seed, he would have carried with him my sinful nature, just like all of you. But he was born of a virgin, which means that he was fully man, and yet he was without sin. Only God could accomplish something so glorious. Christ was born into my line. The Savior did not come from us, but he did come to us. And then here’s the second thing that strikes me as I think about him. That this Lord Jesus Christ triumphed where I failed. You see, the Gospels tell us that Jesus was tempted just as I was, but the outcome was totally different. I faced the tempter in the garden. He faced the tempter in the desert. When I faced the tempter, food was all around me, hanging off the trees. When he faced the tempter, he was hungry after days of fasting. In the garden, it was the tempter who came looking for Eve and for me, but in the desert, it was Jesus who stopped the tempter. But here’s the thing to get hold of. In the garden, I failed. In the desert, he triumphed. For the first time, a man stuck it to the devil. Someone has said it in these words that I rather like. Oh, loving wisdom of our God. When all was sin and shame, a second Adam to the fight and to the rescue came. Oh, wisest love that flesh and blood, which did in Adam fail, should strive again against the foe, should strive and should prevail. Folks, here is good news today that Jesus Christ triumphed where I failed, where all of us have failed. Here now is a man over whom Satan has no hold, and he went on from there to live a perfect life. And then he went to the cross and he laid down that life as a sacrifice for all of our sins. On the third day, he rose again, and today he is exalted at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Now, friends, most of you know that. But some of you might have wondered, how is it that the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ can actually make a difference in my life today? And if you have asked that question, I think that I can help you with the answer. See, we read a few moments ago this marvelous statement, as in Adam, all die. See, because you carry my nature, you carry with you the consequence of my and your actions. As in Adam, all die. We’re all lumped together in this. But the Scripture says even so in Christ, all will be made alive. Folks, you can’t get out of your connection with me. It’s yours by birth. The issue for you is whether you can have a connection with him. Because the Bible is saying that just as death flows to you because of me, so life can flow to you because of him. You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and Adam Story. It’s part of our larger series, Christmas Stories. And if you’ve missed any of the series or you’d like to hear any of the messages again, you can go online. Come to our website, openthebible.org.uk, and you can listen to any of our previously broadcast messages. You can also find them as a podcast. Go to your favorite podcast site and search for Open the Bible UK. Back to Adam Story now. Here’s Colin. Now, I want you to see this in the Bible. I don’t know if you knew this, but some of the richest theology in all of the New Testament involves the wonderful comparison of me and what I did and Christ and what he did. Did you know that? Turn with me in your Bible just to one place today, and that is Romans chapter five, because I want you to see this clearly. It’s wonderful. Romans in chapter five. And if you look there at the end of verse 14, Romans chapter five, and at the end of verse 14, you’ll see that Paul mentions me by name and he says something absolutely remarkable. At the end of verse 14, Romans five, he speaks about Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come, that is Christ. Paul says, I was a pattern of Jesus, a pattern of Jesus. In other words, he’s saying there’s a similarity between what I did and the effects of it and what Jesus did and the effects of all that he has accomplished. In other words, he’s saying the way that I messed everything up and the way that Jesus puts everything right works on the same pattern. In the same way as my actions as a single man changed everything for everyone descended from me, he’s saying the action of Jesus Christ as a single man, the God man, can change everything for everyone who’s related to him. It’s the same pattern. You see what he’s saying? I can hardly believe that this is said about me, that I was in that sense a pattern of Jesus who was to come. Now look at verse 18 because he explains it even more clearly there. Look at what he says. Just as the result of the one trespass, that’s what I did, just as the result of what I did was condemnation for all men, so the result of one act of righteousness, verse 18, that’s what Christ did in his life and his death and his resurrection, the result of that one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. You see what he’s saying? My sin brought condemnation for everybody. Jesus’ righteousness brings life. My sin brings death for all who are in me. Jesus’ righteousness brings life for all who are in him. Condemnation is yours, friends, because you are in me and I am in you. Condemnation can be yours if you are in Christ and Christ is in you. Just in case we haven’t got it, you see he says exactly the same thing again in verse 19. He just says it in a different way. Verse 19, just as through the disobedience of the one man, that’s me, so through my disobedience, notice what he says, many were made sinners. I’ve got to just make the point again here. Don’t run away with the idea that you can blame me for everything that’s wrong. You’re a sinner too. You may say you’re a sinner because you’ve got what was in me in you, but you’ve done plenty to merit the title on your own account. Through the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners. So also through the obedience of the one man, that’s Jesus Christ, the many will be made righteous. Do you see what he’s saying? It’s the same pattern. You’ve got me in you and that makes you a sinner. You need Christ in you and he will make you righteous. So hope hangs for every one of us on having a connection made between you and Christ. And the obvious question is then, well I see how I’m bonded to Adam, we’re all of the same stuff in human nature here, but how do I get bonded to Christ? Listen, you have me in you by nature, you can have Christ in you by faith. The flesh binds you to me, faith will bind you to Jesus Christ. Faith is the bond of a living union with Christ by which all that he is and all that he has accomplished becomes yours so that even as death is at work within you, so life is yours through Jesus Christ for all eternity. You see the pattern? The sin that is in me became yours by nature, the righteousness that is in Jesus can become yours by faith. It’s not in you, you receive it from him. And if you’ll look with me at just one more verse in this wonderful passage, verse 17, he talks about how you have to receive this gift. Look at verse 17, if by the trespass of one man, that’s me again, death reigns through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness, how much more will they reign in life through this man, Christ Jesus. You see what he’s saying? Those who receive, oh, death comes to you through me by nature, but life can come to you by grace through faith. You have to receive God’s abundant provision of grace. He says it right there, you have to receive it. It’s offered to you as a gift, this abundant provision of grace and this gift of righteousness, but you have to receive it. And nothing matters more than this, friends, you have me in you by nature. You need to be one with him and have him in you by faith. You must receive the gift of God’s abundant provision. You must receive this gift of righteousness. And this gift becomes yours by faith in his son, Jesus Christ. That is why Paul says at its simplest, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Why? Because believing unites you to Jesus Christ, that’s what faith does. And when you have that union with him, all his righteousness becomes yours, it is counted as yours in him. And that’s why when you’re in Christ, friends, you have the most marvellous, marvellous future. I can’t begin to tell you about the joys of life in the paradise of God, but I can tell you this, that if you are in Christ, they will all be yours. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ, all those in Christ will be made alive. So I am so grateful that I am a man in Christ, that I was able to hold on to that promise that was given right back at the beginning of time and look forward to the saviour who came for me and all before him who believed and looked for the mercy of God through him. Now here you are 2,000 years after his coming, I hope that you too will embrace the saviour and receive his righteousness, because you don’t get it from me. You can only get it from him. You know, there’s one last thing that I want to say before I go. People sometimes ask me, Adam, how do you deal with the regret? It’s a good question. Of course, I have experienced throughout my life, 930 years it was, I experienced repentance. You never have faith without repentance, you never have repentance without faith. The longer the years went on, the more clearly actually I saw the devastating effects of what I had done, not only on myself, but on other people, especially people I loved. If you experience regret because of a great failure in your life, let me tell you, I know about that, I know about that. But I’ve come to see something else that I want you to hold on to today. Jesus said, the one who has been forgiven much, loves much. And I’ll tell you, that has gone very, very deep in me. I’ve come to see this from the perspective of heaven now, that I love Jesus Christ in a way that I never could if I had remained innocent all of my life. I have experienced mercy. I have discovered grace. And friends, just looking at the big picture, I’ve begun to see this, and it’s a thought that staggers my mind. A redeemed creation will glorify God forever, more than an innocent one ever could. I think that’s why the Bible says that the angels long to look into the mystery of our salvation, that God would have taken our flesh, that mercy and grace and justice should have been revealed in an incomparable way on the cross and through his resurrection. So that forever and forever, as God wipes all tears from our eyes, the redeemed creation will sing in wonder, worthy is the lamb who was slain for you and for me. Let the greatest failures of your life lead you to love him more, and to savour mercy, and to savour grace, and may God bless you. And we hope that this Christmas you’ll be enjoying the grace and mercy of God. You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the message Adam’s Story, part of our series, Christmas Stories. And if you’ve missed any of the series, or if you’d like to go back and listen to any of them again, you can do that by coming online to our website, openthebible.org.uk. You can also find the messages as podcasts, go to your favourite podcast site, search for Open the Bible UK, and subscribe to receive regular updates. Open the Bible is supported entirely by our listeners, and this month, if you’re able to begin a new donation in respect of Open the Bible, in the amount of £5 per month or more, we’d love to thank you by sending you a book. It was specially chosen by Colin Smith, and it contains prayers for some of Colin’s favourite writers, Thomas Watson, John Bunyan, Isaac Watts, Charles Spurgeon, and many others. The book’s called Valley of Vision, and it’s our gift to you if you’re able to set up a new gift to Open the Bible of £5 per month or more. Full details on our website, openthebible.org.uk. You’ve been listening to Open the Bible, with Pastor Colin Smith, and from Colin, and from myself, David Pick, I hope you’ll be able to join us again soon. Whatever you might achieve in life, the most important thing about you is your relationship with Jesus. Find out why next time on Open the Bible.