Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned...

Romans 5:12-21

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned... 19 For as by one man s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man s obedience the many will be made righteous... 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life though Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:12,19,21).

No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It toils for thee. John Donne, 1600 AD

A DA M His Choice: To willfully choose his perceived happiness over God s glory (Gen. 3:6; 1 Tim. 2:14). The Consequence: To experience death, and pass his nature and its consequence on to each of us (1 Cor. 15:22).

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 1 Timothy 2:13-14

A person does not become a sinner by committing sins but rather commits sins because he is by nature a sinner. A person does not become a liar when he tells a lie; he tells a lie because his heart is already deceitful. A person does not become a murderer when he kills someone; he kills because his heart is already murderous. For out of the heart, Jesus said, come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. John MacArthur

DEATH Spiritual Death: We enter this world separated from God (Isa. 59:2). Physical Death: We will one day be separated from those who are living on earth (2 Sam. 12:23). Eternal Death: We will (without Christ) be eternally separated from God (Lk. 13:27).

1 Behold, the Lord s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. Isaiah 59:1-2

C H R I S T His Choice: To willfully choose God s plan and, by his death, pay for our sins (Rom 5:18; Eph. 1:7-10). The Consequence: To overthrow death and pass his nature on to each of us who believe (2 Pet. 1:4; Rom. 5:18).

THE GIFT The gift is free offered by grace not earned by works (Rom. 5:15). The gift is an exchange our sin is replaced with his righteousness (Ro. 5:16). The gift is eternal it extends beyond our physical life (Rom. 5:21).

Return of the Prodigal Son The Raising of the Cross

God hates sin so much that it took only one sin to condemn the entire human race and separate them from Him. It was not that Adam s first sin was worse than others he committed or worse than men have committed since. It was simply that his first sin was sin... any sin that any man has ever committed would be sufficient to damn the whole human race, just as Adam s one sin did. A sobering thought, indeed.

But greater even than God s hatred of sin is His love for the sinner. Despite the fact that God hates sin so much that any one sin could damn the human race, His loving grace toward man is so great that He provides not only for the redemption of one man from one sin but for the redemption of all men from all sins. Jesus Christ took upon Himself the sins of the whole world. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them (2 Cor. 5:19). John MacArthur