davidbowerkingwood

Do You Realize You Were Born Dead?

From a rational human perspective that statement sounds harsh and doesn’t make a bit of sense but from a Biblical perspective it makes perfect sense; you were born spiritually dead.

When we think of death, we automatically apply that to something that once had life; while we can think of a dead flower no one would refer to a rock as dead as the rock never had any life.

For me to suggest you were born spiritually dead would require that you once had spiritual life and lost it. If you were spiritually dead at birth, then when could you have possibly had a living spirit that died? That is a fair question to which the Bible provides an answer. In Romans 5:12 it is written:

“¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—”

I have written more on the subject of sin in a series which begins with “A Flood of Confusion“.

You Died Spiritually in the Garden of Eden

God commanded Adam in Genesis 2:15-17 it is written:

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

If you are told by your creator “you will certainly die” I believe you can count on the certainty of that warning. The fact is that at the moment Adam disobeyed God both he and Eve instantly died spiritually. Hundreds of years were to pass before they died physically but the really serious damage had already been done. I have written more on that in “The Fall.”

From God’s perspective, you died spiritually in Adam when he disobeyed a direct command. You were counted as being spiritually alive up until that time and then, when Adam disobeyed God, Adam and the entire balance of humanity died spiritually there in the Garden of Eden.

Physically Adam was to live several hundred more years before his mortal body died but Adam had died, spiritually, and from that point on all who were descendants of Adam were born spiritually dead. There was to be a clear distinction between physical and spiritual life and death.

Let us review the facts; you were counted as being spiritually alive in Adam in the Garden of Eden but died there when Adam disobeyed God. Much later you were born physically, but still counted as being spiritually dead. Your body had received a sin nature because of Adam’s sin so you were born with a living sin nature, a dead spirit, and a living soul and mortal body.

Two Kinds of Humans

There are now two distinct classes of humanity populating this globe called Earth; those spiritually alive by faith in Jesus Christ and those spiritually dead in Adam. Although we cannot see a difference in the physical appearance between the living and the dead; the difference is there and is of profound significance!

Remember that Adam’s mortal body lived for hundreds of years after Adam had died spiritually so it should be no surprise that God would follow that process for Adam’s descendants including you. The catalyst for that process is the new birth; as Jesus pointed out to Nicodemus, “³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3

The New Birth

The new birth initiates a series of spiritual events that have eternal consequences; you will recall it was the power of the Holy Spirit that began the process of the birth of the humanity of Jesus Christ in Mary’s womb. This same Holy Spirit is the instrument of the new birth in the lives of all who receive Christ as Savior. Being born again by God, the Holy Spirit, has both a temporal and eternal significance of incredible power; everything of any lasting value has been transformed by the new birth, everything!

Although I do not recall having seen this thought specifically mentioned in the Bible, it has come to my mind that after we are born again, we are no longer spiritually descended from Adam; we now have a new heavenly Father and have become a true child of God. While our mortal bodies still carry the Adamic curse and are subject to death, our spiritual nature, made in the image of God, has been fully redeemed by faith in the risen Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Next time we will think on your new beginning as a spiritually alive human being.