In order to understand the essence of our salvation, we need to go back to the very beginning. In doing so, we will discover the heart and mind of the Father regarding His intent in making man. Recently, we at Bible Teachers International fasted before the Lord, shutting in for seven days. During that time the Lord spoke to me and said, “The very essence of all that I have done regarding my people can be summed up in two words, Another Creation.”

Another Creation is what He said. Now I began to ponder this in my heart, but the Lord is faithful. He knew what was in my heart and He began to minister to me accordingly. Beloved, it is important that you open your heart so that you, too, can understand the wonderful things God has done on our behalf.

Genesis 2:7

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Let us look at the Creation from God's perspective. He creates earth and all the things that are within and places man as the ruler and overseer of the planet, giving him complete dominion. Please note that man was made from the dust of the earth. His inward parts were also fashioned from an earthen element, the wind, which is the spirit of the earth. Adam was a natural man. He was of the earth, earthy. The Scriptures also described him as a living soul, whereas Jesus is described as a quickening spirit. This meant that Adam was not a begotten Son of God. He was created in the image of God. This meant he had complete dominion over the earth and he was commanded to be fruitful, and populate the earth. Thus, he was to father a race that would subdue the planet.

Now I want you to think about this. God creates the world and a man to rule it. But that man sins and opens the door for death to come into that world. Now the whole creation is off course. Death rules over the entire creation of God. Man begins to kill man, the animals begin to kill each other, and plant life begins to die. The consequence of Adam’s sin was death to the entire creation. The spirit of sin actually occupied the seed of man and was passed on to all who were born of Adam. As far as the Father was concerned the race of man was a dead race, for in Adam all died.

I Corinthians 15:22

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Romans 5:12, 14-15

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Let us hover here for a bit. God created His man innocent and gave him a commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Gen 2:16-17). In lieu of the fact that Adam was to have children this meant that Adam and all of his generations were expected to obey God throughout eternity since there was another tree in the Garden of Eden called the Tree of Life which would have caused them to live forever.

If God can make a man out of the clay and expect him to be perfect and sinless throughout all his generations, how much more would He expect the offspring of the second Adam to be sinless throughout all their generations on this earth? (That's just some food for thought.)

But Adam sinned against God. He made a conscious decision to disobey his Creator. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat (Genesis 3:6). What made him do it? He was created innocent, sinless and perfect. There was no devil or spirit of Satan dwelling

in him. Now if Adam was created sinless does it not follow that his offspring would have a sinless identity? Most theologians would agree that had Adam not sinned, all his children would have had a sinless identity. All truth being parallel, why is so hard to accept that God through a sinless Christ, could birth a generation of Sons who have a sinless identity? (This is just some more food for thought.) Now back to Adam. There was no law of sin and death operating in the Garden of Eden. One would have to conclude that this innocent, perfect man simply chose to sin against his God.

Nevertheless, sin was very costly. The entire human race was in the loins of Adam. Once again, from God’s perspective, the whole creation is off course and dead in sin and trespasses. Death is the absence of life; it is alienation from God. It ruled and reigned on planet Earth. All were dead and separated from the creator.

Some might think to say, “If God knew Adam was going to sin, why did He put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden in the first place?” Beloved, we cannot hope to know all that is in the mind of God. But this one thing we do know, no one will inherit eternal life except they have a testimony that they overcame the world. According to Paul in his writing to the church at Ephesus, it is the good pleasure of the Father to have children who stand before Him in love. Could this be why God made His man a free moral agent giving him the right of choice? Sadly enough Adam chose to bring death to us all.

But the Lord had a plan. In Him was hidden a great mystery. As the mystery unfolds we find that we, too, have a choice Many stand at the crossroad of sin and righteousness . . .

Romans 6:15-16

15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

We are free moral agents. You have the right to choose life or death. The choice is yours