Shadows to Substance: Adam - DJ Dickerson

This morning

we noted last Sunday we began a series

entitled Shadows to Substance.

And we considered from that lesson, as

we will see throughout this series,

is that one of the most beautiful

aspects of the word of God is the way

the Old Testament prepares us for the

New Testament.

Paul reminded us and we noticed this in

our our introductory I guess you would

say an overview of what I presented last

Sunday morning to start this series.

It's Romans chapter 15 and verse4 that

Romans 15 · chapter mention

says for whatever things were written

before were written for our learning

that we through the patience and comfort

of the scriptures might have hope.

And many of those things that were

written before time or before are what

we would also note throughout this

series of types and shadows.

And these types and shadows that we're

talking about are images,

symbols, and events in the Old Testament

even that foreshadow the greater reality

that's fulfilled in Christ. Another

verse that we started out with last

Sunday morning is from Colossians

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 16-1 17 where Paul was telling

the Colossay brethren about let no one

judgement food or a drink or regarding a

festival or new moon or Sabbaths which

are a shadow of things to come but the

substance is of Christ.

So this morning, we're we're going to

continue in this study of the shadow and

substance of God's plan for dealing with

sin. And I believe as we see as even as

the the Old Testament has been referred

to as being a school master or as a

tutor that leads us to Christ, we see

how important it is

to have this understanding of God's plan

for dealing with sin. as we consider a

type and shadow found in the Old

Testament from the very beginning

account of Genesis and which we'll

consider this morning as Adam being that

type and shadow of Christ.

A type and shadow of Christ.

Now, brethren, this account is is yet

another again type and shadow of the

remarkable things about the Bible as it

shows. It's it's consistent ties

together from beginning to end. And I

stated before that the Old Testament is

not it's not a collection of stories. A

lot of people say, "Well, it's just

collection of stories." No, there are

accounts. It's God's way of preparing us

for Christ.

And right here in the beginning of

Genesis and throughout Malachi,

God was painting pictures. He was giving

us spiritual previews, if you will, of

what he would accomplish through his

son.

And this earliest and I believe clearest

of those pictures is Adam, the first

man. Now, in Romans chapter 5, what our

Romans 5 · chapter mention

scripture reading this morning that

brother Robert Wooten read as we read

along there, it talks about in verse 14

this again, notice this. It says,

"Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam

to Moses, even those who had not sinned

according to the likeness of the

transgression of Adam, who is a type,"

y'all see this part, "who is a type of

him." That's talking about Jesus who was

to come.

That means Adam's life, his position,

and his actions all point forward to

Jesus Christ. Not in equality,

but in contrast and completion.

So this morning we're going to explore

this theme as Adam as a type of Jesus

Christ. Again, Adam who is a type of him

who was to come. as we'll see how

through Adam came death

and through Christ came life.

Through Adam came condemnation

and through Christ came justification.

And that text I believe is we find

throughout this lesson is really how

amazed again we should always be at the

unity of God's word.

how even from the dawn of creation,

God's plan of redemption was already in

motion. Romans 5 12-14 as we read

in our scripture reading that talks

about just as through one man sin

entered the world and death through sin

and thus death spread to all men because

all sinned. For until the law, sin was

in the world. But sin is not imputed

when there is no law. Nevertheless,

death reigned from Adam. Most even those

who had not sinned according to the

likeness of the transgression of Adam,

who was a type of him who was to come.

What I want us to notice in in this

first part is that Adam and Christ is

what we call the head of two races. And

you say, well, what in the world does

that mean? Well, bear with me, okay?

Because I have a lot that I'm I'm trying

to impart here this morning.

Adam is noted here in this passage as

standing

as the head of the human race. That's

that's the very thought we get is being

considered as as a father of mankind if

you will. But Christ, what he's saying

stands as the head of a new race. We

might say uh we we sometimes use the

word again a new nation of a sort or a

new kingdom. We might use words like

that. But the thought is it's a

spiritual family born not of flesh but

of faith. And I say that because of what

we find even in John chapter 1. Remember

John 1 · chapter mention

we we we there's a lot that's in John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 about speaking of Jesus who

came as the word right of the light.

John chapter 1 12 and 13 tells us that

John 1 · chapter mention

but as many as received him talking

about Jesus to them he gave the right to

become children of God to those who

believe in his name who were born not of

blood nor of the will of the flesh nor

of the will of man but of God. See, that

tells it right there. We're talking

about the difference between physical

and spiritual, even that even as Adam

has been referred to throughout the

scriptures as being the head of

basically the old creation

and then you have Christ who is the head

of the new creation. See, those kinds of

words are are used throughout the Bible,

especially when you look at 2

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. What

do you see there?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is

what? He's a new creation. Old things

have passed away. Behold, all things

have become new.

And so, we see this contrast that's

being made here. Even

that Adam,

that sin, that first sin, if you will,

Eve, of course, she took of the fruit of

the tree of knowledge. It was in the

midst of the garden that she was told

not to partake of. Adam knew this as

well. She took of that fruit and then

what did she do? She gave it to Adam.

Adam fortook of it. That's Genesis

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 referring back to that from

last Sunday.

That by that Adam brought a curse upon

all his descendants.

What's the flip side?

What do we see? This Christ brought

blessing to all who come to him.

The moment Adam sinned, the human story

changed.

You remember what I I I mentioned last

Sunday is that sin always changes one's

location.

Always changes one's location. It

changed Adam and Eve's location, didn't

it? Because they got kicked out of the

Garden of Eden.

That came separation. See, that's the

idea. We see death and separation from

God entered the picture.

But when Christ came, he opened the way

for a new story.

One that shows reconciliation,

forgiveness,

redemption. Those are the words you see

tied there.

As the scriptures make abundantly clear,

with the first man, Adam,

we inherited mortality

and we inherited a sinful world.

But only those who are born again

through the gospel or in Christ wherein

mortality puts on immortality.

Which leads me to 1 Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

15. Again, there's a line in 1

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 15 that I won't be

able to get to everything, but again,

this stimulates our thoughts and what

we're talking about. First Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15, look at verses 21 and 22.

[clears throat]

Prove all things according to God's.

We're not DJs. Here we go. For since by

man came death, by man also came the

resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam

all die, even so in Christ all shall be

made alive.

What does that tell us? When we look at

Adam and Christ,

we see the first Adam brought death. The

second Adam brings life.

So when Adam disobeyed, the penalty of

sin was death.

We know that Romans 6 verse 23. What

Romans 6:23

does it say? For the wages of sin is

what? Death.

That's not just physical also, but also

spiritual. talk about that separation

from God again. And when Christ obeyed,

the reward of righteousness was life,

both spiritual and eternal. That's what

those passages are telling us. Now, I've

created some charts, and it's funny.

I printed charts out, but I don't think

I put them back there. I think they're

still in my bag.

After services, you can get a copy of

these charts, okay? because you probably

going to be able to see them. You might

be able to.

I knew I was forgetting something. But

we talk about Adam's sin and and Christ

obedience. And and there's a there's a

outline here for us basically to look at

when you go through the scriptures. And

and one of the charts I'll give you

later on has all the scriptural

references of what we're talking about

this this morning.

Adam, the first man when you talk about

the type and shadow and then Christ on

on the right side there column is the

second man which is the anti-ype or the

substance that we've been talking about

in this series. Well, Adam sin, what did

it do? It brought decay, death. Christ

obedience brought restoration.

The first Adam ate from a forbidden tree

and brought death. The second Adam died

on a cursed tree and brought life. The

first Adam was conquered by temptation.

The second Adam conquered temptation.

The first Adam was expelled from

paradise. The second Adam opened

paradise

again. And really when you go to the

scriptures, it it it shows us this

imagery in the very beginning of Genesis

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 that that sin it's like a

disease. It's it's introduced by one

person that that spreads to all. Right.

Sometimes that's the way it feels like

in a house. You got one sick kid and

they sneeze on you. What happens? Well,

you got it. And then you sneeze on

somebody and they got it. We all know

how that is, right? We know how that is

because that's patient zero, as we might

call them. Okay, that's patient zero.

Well, this is the imagery that we get.

Adam is that one that brought sin, death

into the world.

Christ is the cure,

the antidote that heals every person who

comes to him. Look at this big picture

here. Even in Revelation talks about

this about, you know, uh no more sorrow,

no more tears. What does all this lead

us to? Understand this that every

funeral, every tear, every broken heart

is the shadow of Adam's fault. That's

exactly what it is.

But every baptism in every restored

sinner, every resurrection promise is

the light of Christ's victory. That is

the beauty of the scriptures that

unfolds from beginning to end.

And if we're not careful,

we'll miss it.

These are the types and shadows that are

so abundantly clear right in front of

us.

the first man.

Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 47-49.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Now

the first man was of the earth

made of dust. The second man is Lord is

the Lord from heaven. As was the man of

dust, so also are those who are made of

dust. And as is the heavenly man, so

also are those who are heavenly. And as

we have borne the image of the man of

dust, we shall also bear the image of

the heavenly man.

What's he saying? You got Adam, you got

Christ. First man, second. What's he

saying in that passage? The first Adam

was of earth. The second Adam is from

heaven. Now,

as we know from the creation, Adam was

formed from the dust of the ground.

And the Lord breathed him the breath of

life.

He gave him physical life. Christ came

down from heaven. And what did Christ

give us? Spiritual life. Y'all see that?

So Adam's nature was earthly.

He was a subject to weakness and hunger

and temptation and mortality. Christ's

nature though was divine. He came from

heaven, lived perfectly, and conquered

death.

What did Adam give us? He gave us the

image of dust.

We are frail and we are temporary.

That's exactly what we are. But yet

Christ gives us the image of heaven,

eternal and glorious. That's exactly

what you see in verses 47 through 49,

don't you?

Sometimes there's there's a lot of words

that that are spoken. And I I love the

the descriptions that are given. Uh

sometimes we we are talked about as as

tents. Uh that these are just our our

tents that we have that we're living in.

It's our physical bodies. Peter makes

mention of that as well as as Paul.

And sometimes we're referred to as as

vessels.

uh you might you might consider might

think of in the way of if you've ever

handled uh fine pottery. Okay. What you

understand about handling that fine

pottery is that it's fragile. It's

fragile.

That's really us because we're made of

clay

and we are easily broken.

But in Christ, the potter takes that

fragile vessel and and fills it with

what? Heavenly treasure. I know this

because the scripture says in 2

Corinthians 4 and:e 7 he says but we

have this treasure in earthn vessels.

What's the earth and vessels? That is

our physical body. Earth and vessels

that the excellence of the power may be

of God and not of us. The treasure that

we have is what Christ came to give us.

That's the treasure.

So yeah, physically we we bear the very

image of Adam, okay, the first man.

But what the scriptures teaches us as we

go to the New Testament and see what is

God's plan in dealing with sin and the

whole redemption process, all of this,

what what spiritually we are called to

be transformed to Christ's image. Look

at Romans 8 29.

What's it say? For whom he forneew, he

also predestined be conformed to the

image of his son that he might be the

firstborn among many brethren.

See, Christ was was reflecting that,

right? Thinking about the Lord God

himself. And look at Romans 12:es 1 and

2. This says it all right here. I

believe when Paul said, "I beseech you

therefore, brethren, by the mercies of

God that you present your bodies a

living sacrifice, holy God, which is a

reasonable service. And do not be

conformed to the world, to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of

your mind, that you may prove what is

that good and acceptable, the perfect

will of God."

The question that we ask

is which image are we shaping our life

after today?

Which image?

Go to Romans chapter 5. Now look at

Romans 5 · chapter mention

verses 18 and 19.

I told you there's a lot to this. Romans

5 18 and 19.

It says, "Therefore, as through one

man's offense, judgment came to all men,

resulting in condemnation, even so

through one man's righteous act, the

free gift came to all men, resulting in

justification of life.

For as by one man's disobedience, many

were made sinners,

so also by one man's obedience, many

will be made righteous."

So here we have the first Adam's

disobedience that condemned many. The

second Adam's obedience justified many

as the very thought. Adam's single act

of rebellion in the garden brought death

into the world. But yet Christ's act of

obedience on the cross brought life to

the world. And obviously there's many

passages that speak of Jesus in such a

way. And one of those is Hebrews 5 8 and

9 that says though he was that though he

was a son yet he learned obedience by

the things which he suffered and having

been perfected he became the author of

eternal salvation to all who obey him.

Jesus was obedient to his father's will.

Adam's single act, his choice affected

all of humanity. And Christ,

his choices to live, to do the father's

will and his own sacrifice offers

redemption to all of humanity.

So again, through Adam came condemnation

and through Christ came justification.

Here you have again

sin spreading because people followed

Adam's path. But yet grace spreads

because people follow Christ.

And what Paul makes abundantly

grace abounded much more so that as sin

reigned in death, even so grace might

reign through righteousness to eternal

life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

That's a lot of stuff I'm giving, ain't

it? That's a lot. Well, I'm trying to

make this a two-part series, so I'm

going to keep going.

Genesis chapter 2. Let's go back.

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 2:es 21-23.

This is reminding us of what's mentioned

earlier. Here's the reference here.

Genesis chapter 2 21-23

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

talking about Adam being created by the

Lord God. It said, "Lord God caused a

deep sleep to fall on Adam and he slept

and he took one of his ribs and closed

up the flesh in its place. Then the rib

which the Lord God had taken from man he

made into a woman and he brought her to

the man and Adam said, "This is now bone

of my bones and flesh of my flesh she

shall be called woman because she was

taken out of man."

you know, you get to thinking about this

and the types and shadows and some of

the things that sometimes say, well,

maybe I might be looking a little bit

too deep into it. I don't know. But but

I I thought about this and and it's

interesting when you look at Adam and

Christ even that Eve was taken from

Adam's side.

The church came from Christ's side. You

ever thought about it in that kind of

way?

Adam obviously put him into a deep sleep

and and and God opened his side, took a

rib to form Eve. That was his bride. And

as he stated, bone of his bones, the

flesh of his flesh. When you think about

Jesus that when he was hanging up on

that cross, his side was what? It was

pierced. And from that wound came blood

and water. John 19:34 actually records

John 19:34

that, doesn't it? One of the soldiers

pierced his side with a spear and merely

blood and water came out.

Do you know what blood and water

represents? Now, that's a whole another

study. That might be another series for

another time. But blood and water is

very significant throughout the Bible

because blood and water has always been

a symbol of salvation and baptism. Did

y'all know that?

That's throughout the scriptures. And

we'll get into more of that maybe later.

So, think about the church. You think

about the bride of Christ that was born.

The shadow that we're talking about with

Adam, the bride from from the side of

the sleeping Adam was Eve. That was his

bride. The substance though of what we

see in the New Testament is the church

came from the side of the crucified

Christ. Even Acts 20 and 28 makes that

abundantly clear. Look at Acts 20 and

verse 28.

Acts 20 and verse 28. I don't have it on

the charts here. Acts 20 and verse 28.

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to

all the flock among which the Holy

Spirit has made you overseers to the to

shepherd the church of God which he

purchased with his own what? Blood. Acts

20 28.

Out of Adam's sleep came his companion.

Out of Christ's death came his people.

God was showing from the very beginning

that life and relationship come through

sacrifice.

That just as as Eve belonged only to

Adam, the church belongs only to Christ.

He is the head and we are his body. And

there are numerous scriptures on this

one. Ephesians 1:es 22 and 23. And he

put all things under his feet and gave

him to be head over all things to the

church which is his body the fullness of

him who fills all in all.

There it is. This is the very church

that Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 upon

Matthew 16:18

this rock I'll build my church and the

gates of hell shall not prevail against

it. That's Matthew 16:18.

Matthew 16:18

And and the church will be referred to

yet again later on in the book of

Ephesians in chapter 5. And look at

verses 25 through32. Read that. Look at

this. Ephesians 5:25-32.

Ephesians 5:25–32

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ

also loved the church and gave himself

for her, that he might sanctify and

cleanse her with a washing of water by

the word. that he might present her to

himself a glorious church, not having

spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but

that she should be holy and without

blemish. So husbands ought to love their

own wives as their own bodies. He who

loves his wife loves himself. For no one

ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes

and cherishes it just as the Lord does

the church. For we are members of his

body, of his flesh and of his bones. Oh,

did y'all see that? That sounds

familiar, doesn't it?

Verse 31. For this reason, a man shall

leave his father and mother shall be

joined to his wife, and the two shall

become one flesh. This is a great

mystery, but I speak concerning Christ

and the church.

Maybe I'm not thinking too deep into

this, am I?

Maybe this is exactly what we're seeing.

The shadow and the substance. There is

no other savior, no other husband. There

is no other arc of safety.

I believe that's clear. The shadow and

the substance.

Let's go to another passage. Genesis 3

and 21. We we talked about this one uh

briefly last Sunday morning.

a after they had sinned, of course, Adam

and Eve, they they made some some fig

leaves, right, to cover themselves

because they realized that they were

naked. And and after their

confrontation, I guess you would say,

with with God, God asked a question. And

of course, all of this started, you

know, coming out here. Okay. Well, this

is what we did. Well, also for Adam and

his wife, the Lord God made tunics of

skin and clothed them. I thought that

was interesting. and and and I and I was

kind of thinking about,

you know, how how God again

the covering in Eden and the covering in

Christ of what we see. And we we talked

about the innocent slain to cover the

guilty, right? Because that's that's

what it costs. It costs an animal,

right? To cover.

There was always sacrifices throughout

the scriptures as we mentioned even on

uh Sunday morning last week. But even

think about this. We talk about covering

or being clothed in righteousness. Those

are the kind of words that are used

throughout the Bible. And in Romans

Romans 13:14

13:14, it says that we are to put on the

Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision

for the flesh to fill its lust. And and

what I believe is is is as we saw with

Adam and Eve and talking about the the

the covering that when they realized

their shame and tried to cover

themselves with those fig leaves, they

realized that it was inadequate and God

himself provided those garments of skin.

The first shedding of blood to cover

sin. And yet the shadow, what was that?

The innocent slain for to cover the

guilty. And the substance was what? It

was Jesus, the innocent lamb slain to

cover our sin forever. John 1 verse 29,

John 1:29

behold the lamb of God who takes away

the sin of the world.

You see, if you if you spill ink on a

white shirt, I've done that numerous

times. You can try to hide it under

another layer, but you know what still

remains?

The stain.

Only proper cleansing can remove it. And

man tries to cover sin his own way, but

only Christ's blood can cleanse it

completely. And that's what we see

throughout the scriptures in the New

Testament. Galatians 3:26 and 27 even

Galatians 3:26

makes this abundantly clear as well. For

you are all sons of God through faith in

Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were

baptized into Christ, what'd you do? You

put on Christ. You put on Christ,

clothed in righteousness, right?

God no longer sees such sin. He sees the

righteousness of his son that covers.

You know, as we were I'm going to go

back to Romans chapter 5 for just a

Romans 5 · chapter mention

moment

and and I want us to think about this

verse 2021 because this is we talk about

how does all this work. Well, it has to

do with that word grace that we

mentioned earlier and and what's

mentioned in verse 20 and 21

that though Adam's sin introduced death,

God's grace through Christ introduced

eternal life. The shadow of Adam's fall

stretches across human history. But the

light of Christ

resurrection outshines it all.

Now, if you've ever stood outside at

sunset, you know how long your shadow

can stretch.

But once the sun rises high in the sky,

what happens to the shadow? It

disappears.

And that's the imagery I think we get

from the scriptures here is the cross

and the empty tomb are the rising sun,

the son of righteousness. That's in

Malachi. See, there's so much in these

scriptures. And that rising sun of

righteousness dispels Adam's shadow

forever.

No matter how far sin has spread, God's

grace reaches further. No matter how

dark the shadow, the light of Christ is

brighter still. Friends, I want to keep

in mind though when I talk about grace.

I always want to make mention from

Romans chapter 6 that we don't forget

Romans 6 · chapter mention

this part.

Romans chapter 6 because that is not a

Romans 6 · chapter mention

license to sin. It's not the triumph of

grace

over sin is that we live differently.

We live for the one who died for us. And

that's what Romans 6 goes into detail

about. And I just want to share with you

verses 1-6 as we start bringing the

lesson to a close. Romans 6:es 1-6. Look

at that.

Romans 6 1-6.

What shall we say then?

Shall we continue in sin that grace may

abound? Certainly not. How shall we who

died to sin live any longer in it? Or do

you not know that as many of us as were

baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized

into his death? Therefore, we were

buried with him through baptism into

death, that just as Christ was raised

from the dead by the glory of the

father, even so we also should walk in

newness of life. For if we have been

united together in the likeness of his

death, certainly we all shall shall be

in the likeness of his resurrection.

Knowing this, that our old man was

crucified with him, that the body of sin

might be done away with, that we should

no longer be slaves of sin.

Grace is not a license to sin. And I

think Romans 6 continues to talk about

that from what we've been studying in

Romans chapter 5.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

how thankful we should be for the grace

that has been offered and extended to

us, but don't take it for granted.

Don't use it and abuse it as so many

have certainly done. We want to be so

careful with what we're doing with the

word of God. So, as a concluding

thoughts, as I mentioned these charts,

I'll have those um for you following uh

the service this morning. But all of

this of what we talked about goes into

again the scripture references. We have

looked at the origin about Adam the

first man, the type and the shadow and

Christ the second man the anti-ype and

the substance. And of course again the

scripture reference for all of these.

Adam formed from the dust of the ground.

Yet Christ came from heaven eternal son

of God. The first man, the first Adam,

head of the old creation. The last Adam

head of the new creation. The nature of

Adam. The first man was earthly,

natural, corruptible. And yet Christ,

the second man, the substance is

heavenly, spiritual, incorruptible.

The relationship that was with God, with

Adam and the first man, was created in

God's image, but he disobeyed. Yet

Christ, the second man, the antitype,

the substance, was the image of the

invisible God, and he was perfectly

obedient. the temptation. You see that

Adam yielded to Satan in the Garden of

Eden, but yet Jesus, as we know in

Matthew chapter 4, overcame Satan in the

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

wilderness as well as in Gethsemane.

The disobedience of the first man

brought forth sin. And the second man,

the antiype, the substance that Christ

is, obedience brought righteousness. The

tree, we mentioned that that he Adam ate

from ate fruit from a forbidden tree

that brought forth death. And the second

man, Christ, died upon a cursed tree and

it brought forth life. The consequence

of such an act, Adam brought

condemnation to all humanity, but yet

Christ brought justification to all who

obey. The effect of the work, well, Adam

introduced sin and death. Christ, he

conquered sin and death. Adam was the

head of the old fallen race. Christ is

the head of the redeemed race. We bear

the image of the man of dust, that is

Adam. But yet Christ, we bear the image

of the heavenly. The relationship to the

bride is Eve was taken from his side in

his sleep. Yet Christ purchased from his

side in death. The covering of sin. God

clothed it with animal skins, the

temporary covering. But yet Christ

closed us with his righteousness,

eternal covering. The result for

humanity? Well, Adam was exiled from

paradise and separation from God. Yet

Christ the second man gave us access and

reconciliation with God. The destiny

Adam ended in death and corruption but

Christ Jesus ends in resurrection and

glory.

And what's the legacy? The legacy as

we've seen from these scriptures briefly

this morning is exactly what 1

Corinthians 15 and verse 22 stated. In

Adam all die,

but in Christ all shall be made alive.

Romans 5:1 17 said, "For if by one man's

Romans 5:1

offense death reign through the one,

much more those who receive abundance of

grace

and the gift of righteousness will reign

in life through the one Jesus Christ.

Through the first Adam came ruin.

Through the second Adam came that

wonderful redemption.

Friend, as we prepare our hearts and

minds, as we prepare for this invitation

song, a lot that has been mentioned, and

I know it has been a lot that I I I I

gave you this morning in the shadows to

substance in this part two of the

series.

We were born into a world marked by sin

and death.

That it's an Adam.

But I submit to you, as you have seen, I

I believe abundantly clear in just a few

passages I've shared with you already.

You can be born again into Christ, the

second Adam, where there's forgiveness,

there's righteousness, and there's life.

How do you make that change? Well,

that's God's plan of salvation, not DJ's

and not yours. It's God's. And all these

scriptures make it very clear as well.

You believe that Jesus Christ is the son

of living God. Then you act upon that

and you confess him to be the son of

living God. You repent of your sins, for

all have sinned and fallen short of the

glory of God. That includes me. Romans

Romans 3:23

3:23 makes that clear. You repent of

your sins. You confess to be the son of

living God. And you're baptized,

immersed, as we saw in Romans chapter

6:es 3 and 4, buried with him in baptism

to rise and walk in newness of life. Not

only there in Romans 6 and 4, but you

also saw it in Galatians 3 26 and 27.

You are baptized for remission of those

sins, and you come out of the water

grave to walk in newness of life. In

that moment, you died to the old man and

you are buried to rise and walk in his

life. That part of the new creation, the

part of the family of the second Adam,

you can do that this morning.

All things stand ready. If you'd like to

study more, don't leave here without

saying, DJ, I want to talk to you more

about this.

Don't leave here without saying that.

If you're already in Christ, maybe you

have drifted back toward Adam's old

ways. You went back to the shadows.

How thankful we are that you can come

home. The same grace that saved you

still will restore you.

Let us never return to the shadows. Let

us live in the light of Christ who is

the substance of God's eternal plan.

Come out of the shadow of the first man

and walk in the light of the second.

What a beautiful thing we find from the

scriptures as we have seen today. If

you're subject to the invitation call,

whatever your spiritual need is this

morning, won't you come as we stand and

we sing the song that's been selected.