davidbowerkingwood

The Descendants of Adam

As a human being, you have been born into a family which labors under a curse, the curse of spiritual death. This curse goes all the way back to the beginning of the family directly to the original father of us all, Adam!

The Bible reveals the painful details of the spiritual death of our collective father in the first chapters of Genesis. We learn that although Adam was created in a state of innocence, that innocence was lost when he decided to deliberately violate a direct command from his creator. The following verses from Genesis explain what happened:

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image.
    In the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

²⁸ Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

God had created man in his own image to rule over the earth. Adam was given one command to obey:

“¹⁵ The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. ¹⁶ But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— ¹⁷ except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” Genesis 2:15-17

The Fatal Choice

The Bible is not clear on how much time had passed before Adam made the disastrous decision to disobey God; I have written more on that in “The Garden of Eden” The sad reality of Adams choice resulted in the spiritual deaths of both Adam and Eve plus all of their unborn descendants which most specifically include you and me.

We, and every other child of a human father, have been born spiritually dead with a living sin nature! This is fully revealed in the Book of Romans, chapters 5-6.

¹² When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. ¹³ Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. ¹⁴ Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. ¹⁵ But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁶ And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. ¹⁷ For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. ¹⁹ Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

²⁰ God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. ²¹ So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The False Doctrine of “Everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God.”

To suggest everyone is born innocent is to directly contradict the Bible and the revealed testimony of God, the Holy Spirit! That is foolish and potentially deadly! I have written more on this in “What Does Being a Christian Really Mean?”

The first two false beliefs listed in The (Abysmal) State of Theology in 2025, Ken Ham, Answers In Genesis; 64% believe that “Everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God.” 53% agree that “Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.” are total contradictions to the teachings of the Bible!

Next time we will discuss 53% think that “The Holy Spirit is a force but is not a personal being”