Even in these Old Testament passages, we're looking for Christ, and we're looking for Christ because He says He's there. He tells us that the whole of the scripture speaks about Him. I've suggested these six words. Maybe they're not helpful to you, but they're helpful to me. Two Ps, progress and promises. Two Ts, themes and types. And two Cs, to compare and to contrast. We're looking here in the genealogies of 1 Chronicles. As I mentioned this morning, the first nine chapters are all lists of names of genealogies. As I thought about what to focus in on, I considered Noah. He was rescued with his family from the worldwide flood. I considered digging a bit deeper into Peleg. The world was divided in his time. I considered looking at Abraham, the spiritual father of all who believe. I considered, even though it was a slight variation of my normal plan of preaching a chapter and then one portion of that chapter, I considered moving all the way to chapter four and looking at the prayer of Jabez. You might be interested in reading that if you're not familiar with it, Jabez 4, 9, and 10. It's a very valid prayer for Christians to pray. It's not a mantra to guarantee success. And so if you wanna read a book about the prayer of Jabez, let me suggest to you Charles Spurgeon's book on that and not Bruce Wilkinson's by the same title. I decided to consider the first name, the first man. And though I've titled it the Sons of Adam, I considered the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve and probably should have just made it the Sons and Daughters of Adam. It is often that the scripture when speaking of sonship includes both men and women in that sonship. And Adam matters because God really created him from the dust. He really is the father of us all. We really are the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. And the story of the Bible really is about God restoring what Adam ruined by his sin. We see the phrase the sons of Adam in Deuteronomy 32 and in Luke 3 in the genealogy of Christ, which ends with the son of Adam, the son of God. Although actually most of the phrases in that genealogy in the Greek son is not there. It's just of, of Adam. And we are of Adam. But what do you talk about when your family gathers for family stories? Often, at least in my experience, to kids' delight, family stories often include things that parents did. And there's a real sense, I believe, that these genealogies are telling us, at least briefly, of parents and sometimes what parents did. And I thought it would be a bit abrupt to only read the first word of the chapter, so I'm gonna read the first four verses, which is only the first 10 or so words. But this is the word of God, breathed out by God for our use. And so here the word of God, 1 Chronicles 1. one through four, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Having heard from the word of God, let us pray. Father, in these few names and really just the one name that we'll consider this evening, might you teach us from your breathed out word in order that we might better love our Lord Jesus and follow after him, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. I believe that this first name in this list of names calls you and me to faith. It calls us to believe that Adam was the first person that God created. This list of genealogies calls us to believe that the first name, as real as the rest of the names, we are to believe that Adam was the first person that God created. Now obviously I'm gonna look at some things and you don't have to get out your magnifying glass and see how to find them in that first name. We're gonna look at the whole of scripture and what it says about that first name that's listed here in this genealogy. And what we know from the historical facts of the scripture is that this Adam, the first name, was created on the sixth day of creation. God said, let us make man in our image. According to our likeness, it will rule the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl along the ground. God said, let us make man. Let us make Adam in our own image. I wrote in my notes that it's difficult, if not impossible, but I really think it's impossible. It's impossible to reconcile the Genesis creation of the account of the origin of mankind with modern scientific views on origins. You'll hear from Christians, professing Christians, that there's no disagreement between the Bible and science. But whenever I've heard that and dug into what the person who says that is saying, they end up, as near as I can tell, and somehow making the creation account subservient to science. Well, we know what science tells us, so we have to come to distort. They don't use that word, but that's what they do, distort the account given to us in the scripture. Adam was created by God on the sixth day. And though, as a denomination, we don't require a particular view of origins, We don't require a six 24 hour day view of creation. I am convinced that that's the most plausible and the most consistent with the word of God. Adam was the first person God created and he was created on the sixth day. He was the very first human, the very first human. Created, as Genesis 2 tells us, out of the dust of the ground. The Lord formed the man out of the dust from the ground. And he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And the man became a living soul, a living being, a living human. God created this first human out of the dust of the ground. And Adam became, as our older translations read, a living soul. It's interesting that apparently in the history, although I'm not very aware, I've never taken a transit Atlantic ride on a ship, but it started there and it continues into flying in planes. What is it that they say about the people on board? It's so many souls. It's how many souls are on board. The pilot of the plane knows how many souls he has on board. And if you watch or read about airline flight, those pilots are very aware. And I suspect that that came out of the biblical account of man becoming a living soul, a living being. I am convinced that we cannot accept anything other than, as one writer has put it, Adam was a historical person created by God's direct, immediate, and supernatural agency. A historical person created by God's direct, immediate, and supernatural agency. You see this list of genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1 begins with a name, Adam. And there's no point in the list that we can say, well, this was prehistory and now we're into history. These were just sort of, we could think of them as people, but not really people, and now these others are real historical people. There's no way to make sense of the scripture and believe that. and we definitely are not permitted to approach the Bible and say we'll believe everything that's believable. Some of you have heard of Jefferson's Bible or Jefferson's New Testament, where he just wrote a copy of the scriptures, at least of the New Testament, but left out all the miracles of Christ. He couldn't believe that those were real, and yet he thought the Bible was full of useful teaching. But we don't have permission from God who says his word is God-breathed and useful. All scripture, God-breathed and useful. We can't say, well, I'll just believe what's believable. There's a lot of stuff in this book that left to our awareness, left to our own understanding, is simply unbelievable. And to be sure, as we'll see shortly, the last Adam is even more unbelievable than the first Adam. But we must believe that Adam was the first person God created, the very first human, and he was created in God's image. God said, let us make man. So God created man in his own image. He created him in the image of God. He created them male and female. God created man in his own image. And we spend a lot of time trying to figure out how it is that men and women are in the image of God. Our catechisms suggest and use scripture as a basis for that, that man particularly, as men and women, is particularly in the image of God in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Knowledge from Colossians 3, righteousness and holiness from Ephesians 4. And it's in our knowledge, righteousness, and holiness that we, in some way, reflect God in our humanness. Being made in the image of God is our humanness. Animals, as cute as they are, are not made in the image of God, or as frightening as they are. You know, there's some cute animals and some not so cute animals. But animals are not image bearers of God. A definition of what it means to be human is to be made in the image of God. And that image has been corrupted through sin, but it's not removed. And so we must believe that Adam was the first person God created. Created on the sixth day, created in God's image, and created very good. God said at the end of his creation account, saw all that he had made and it was very good indeed. Evening came and morning, the sixth day at the end of Genesis 1. The larger catechism, the question and answer trying to draw out scripture truth, that speaks about how did God create man says this. After God had made all the other creatures, he created man, male and female. He formed the body of the man from the dust of the ground and the woman from the rib of the man and endowed them with living, reasoning, and immortal souls. He made them in his own image in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. They had the law of God written in their hearts and power to fulfill it and rule over the creatures, yet with the possibility of sin. Adam was created by God directly on the sixth day, and he was created very good. But as we know, the biblical account continues and tells us that Adam fell into sin. The serpent came to Adam and Eve in the garden. We understand that not to be merely a talking snake, though God used a talking donkey. He could use a talking animal if he wanted to, but this was Satan coming to tempt the man and the woman. And the question that he tempted them with is a question that resounds throughout history. Has God really said? And Adam and Eve listened to the tempter. And they fell into sin. And we fell in him. And so as we consider this morning in looking at these genealogies, sin abounds, even from these first four verses, even from the first two names. It's not Adam, then Cain, then Abel, then Seth. Cain, of course, killed his brother Abel because he wasn't pleased with God's response to his sacrifice. We see Noah and his three sons, who along with their wives, Noah's wife and his son's wives, were saved when the world was destroyed because of the sinfulness of mankind. Adam fell into sin and we fell in him. The scripture demands that you believe that Adam was the first person God created. The chronicler here assumes that you believe that Adam was the first person that God created. He begins this long list of names, and the first four verses are a lot easier to read than all 54 or so verses, but he begins with Adam. And we must believe that Adam was a true historical figure whom God created. And not only do we need to believe that, we need to understand what we lose otherwise. That is, what do we lose if Adam is not the first person God created? What we lose, at least one of the things we lose, is the reliability of the Bible. Imagine that I started my genealogy like this. Ed, the son of Carl, the son of Henry, the son of Robert, the son of MacGyver. Now those first four names are true historical people who are me and my ancestors. The fifth is a TV make-believe person. And he's not my ancestor. And if I were to make that claim and expect you to believe it, you wouldn't believe much of anything that I said. And if we do not believe that Adam is the first person God created, then we lose what we just sang. God, your word is pure. Your word is true. If we don't believe in the historicity of Adam as the first created man, then we lose the reliability of the Bible. Some of you will know Pastor Bob McFarland, now in glory, and he used to say, as people approach the scripture with doubt, They'd read about Adam, and they'd say he's a myth. They'd read about Methuselah, the oldest man who ever lived, but died before his father did. You can think about that, kids. And they'd say he's a myth. And then by the time they got to Noah, they'd myth the boat. You see, if you begin to say that the Bible is full of myths, full of made-up stories, full of make-believe fairy tales, then we simply don't have a Bible that we can believe. We can't pick and choose. We can't say, well, I'll believe this page, but not that page. I'll believe this verse, but not that verse. I'll believe this account, but not that account. This is the word of God breathed out by God. God himself claims that he has breathed it all out and it is useful for teaching, for correcting, for teaching, for instruction, for correcting, and for training in righteousness in order that we might become complete. If we deny Adam's historicity, we lose the reliability of the Bible. The second thing that we lose, and it might be something you would like to lose, but it comes with a cost. If Adam is not the first person God created, then we lose the burden of Adam's sin. If Adam is not a real historical figure, then I did not fall in his sin any more than I fell in Icarus flying too close to the sun and his wax wings melting and falling off and implunging to his death. If Adam is not a real historical figure, then I don't have the burden of Adam's sin, and I might like to not have the burden of Adam's sin, but if I have no burden, I need no Savior. One writer has put it, without a historical Adam, Paul's doctrine of original sin and guilt does not hold together, neither does his teaching on Christ as the second Adam. Paul, he goes on to say, does not think of Adam as a mere teaching model or literary character. Adam is a type of Christ. If you're looking for T's and P's and C's, there's a T. Adam is a type of Christ. He pointed to Christ. He pointed to Christ mostly in negative ways. He was the first representative of his people, but Christ had to undo what Adam did. And so if Adam is not the first person God created, understand that you lose the burden of Adam's sin, and with that, the need for a savior. The scripture demands that you and I believe that Adam was the first human God created. And so believing that, let's look forward to the last Adam. Trust Jesus, who was the last Adam. Trust Jesus, who was the last Adam. Paul writes to the Corinthians, it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being and the last, Adam, became a life-giving spirit. One of the lexicons on the scripture says this, the first Adam in his disobedience brought sin and death into the world. Christ, the second or last Adam, undoes the work of the first, wherein his obedience to the point of death brings light, life, and righteousness. Adam is a type of Christ, and Christ is the last Adam. And it's interesting to me how similar what we're told about Adam, we're told about Christ. They're not identical, but they're parallel points. Christ was eternally begotten, not created. Psalm 2 verse 7. The Messiah speaking of his father's promise says, I will declare the Lord's decree. He said to me, you are my son. Today I have become your father. And there's some uncertainty about the timing of understanding that text. Some believe that because it is always today in eternity, that that today is a reference to the eternal beginning of the Son. And that very well is part of that, but it may be that we can understand even more of that as the New Testament speaks of the fullness of that being fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so we read in Acts The apostles proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors. There's a promise if you want to pee. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus as it is written in the second psalm, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. And so some believe then that the fullness of that today promise is in the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ. Christ is the eternally begotten Son of God. One writer on Psalm 2 suggests that we might paraphrase Psalm 2 this way. Today, pointing to the New Testament uses of that Psalm, today in your bodily resurrection and ascension to my right hand, I declare and constitute you who have been Son of God by nature from all eternity, now to be the Son of God in power. Christ is the eternally begotten Son of God. There is never a time that Christ was not. He was not created like Adam was created, though He is the firstborn, the eternally firstborn. The Nicene Creed, one of the historic creeds, a statement of faith of Christianity, says in part, we believe in the one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages. God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made of the same essence of the Father. Jesus, who was the last Adam, was eternally begotten and not created. But he became fully human. He became fully human. Paul tells the Philippians that he emptied himself. He took the form of a servant. He took on the likeness of mankind. John writes in his first gospel, the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. He writes in his first letter, what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life, we declare to you. Jesus Christ, in a way that is not entirely understandable, though always fully God, became fully human. He didn't cease to be God, though he set aside for a time some measure of his glory in his humanity. We cannot accept what is sometimes taught that Jesus just seemed to be human. that the Bible just presents that as an idea for us so that we can understand it. There are things about God in the scripture in which God communicates in ways that we can understand. The Bible tells us that God is Spirit but it speaks of His voice and it speaks of His right hand. Not because God as Spirit has a voice and a right hand, certainly not a voice box nor a right hand. But every indication given in the scripture about Jesus Christ and his humanity is that he was really and fully human. We have a problem with Bible storybooks. there's the potential that we might give a message that Jesus wasn't really human. If we picture everyone except him when we're giving pictorial accounts of the time in the life of Christ. And I don't know what the answer is to that problem. Had Christ been on this earth in our generation, We could have seen him. We could have touched him. We could have heard him. We could have taken his photograph with our phones. He wasn't, and that's in the providence of God. And I think when we think about how easy it would be to worship an image of Christ, we're thankful. Maybe the answer is not to have Bible storybooks. I don't know what the answer is. But I want us to be careful that we don't allow a bit of, it seems like he was human, to creep in because we picture everyone except him. We had a series of Bible story books that we liked when our kids were little that only showed Jesus' hands as he was looking out over the people he was talking to. Maybe that's a reasonable representation that doesn't violate making an image of him that we might worship. I'm not sure, but I certainly want us to understand and believe that Jesus became fully human. In fact, believing that is a litmus test for genuine Christianity. John writes in 1 John, this is how you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And in contrast to that, he says many deceivers have gone out into the world. They do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Just as you must believe that Adam was a real human being, the first created human in God's creation, so you must believe that Jesus, the eternally begotten Son of God, not created, always existing, became fully human. And though Adam was created in the image of God, Jesus is the exact image, the exact image of God. The God of this age, Paul writes to the Corinthians, has blinded the eyes of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel and the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Paul, writing to the Philippians, says Jesus, who existed in the very form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped or something to be held on to. The writer of the Hebrews says the sun is the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of his nature. The Bible takes pains for us to believe that Jesus is not merely created in the image of God, but is the full and exact image of God. In fact, Jesus told those in his day, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. It's not just that he looked like God, but in some way that the Bible doesn't completely explain, but what we must accept is that in Jesus there is the very fullness of God. When God wants us to know what he looks like, he sent us Jesus. And so Jesus is the exact image of God. And he was not merely created very good, but he is perfectly good, never sinned. How many of you kids have never sinned? You're younger than us, so maybe you've got a better shot at it. Put those hands down. Nobody was raising their hand. We sin daily in thought, word, and deed. Jesus Christ lived some 33 years on this life, and he never, he never sinned. He was and is perfectly good. The Bible tells us that he was tempted just like we are, but was without sin. Therefore, we can go boldly to him as our high priest. He is able to help us when we are tempted, because he knows how to resist temptation. The Bible says he, the one who knew no sin, became sin for us, that we might become in him the righteousness of God. There was a transaction. made in eternity, carried out in our experience so that we can be credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ. And on the cross, in a way that I don't understand, Christ took all of my sins. took all of your sin, all of you believe in Him, took all the sin of all those in this list of genealogies and everyone else in the whole of history for whom He died, for whom the Father gave Him, those who would come to believe in Him for eternal life, He took that sin on Himself so that I could stand before God righteous and God punished the perfectly good, eternal Son of God for the sins of His people so that we might be saved. And in that, He rescued all who believe from Adam's sin. Paul talks about that a lot. Romans 5, it's probably the clearest place. Let me just read three verses. Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. Remember I said sometimes figuring out a type is difficult. It's always easier when the Bible tells us this is a type of that. Adam was a type of Christ, the one who was to come. And then he goes on to say this. As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, in Adam's sin we fell. So one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. Adam was a real historical figure, and he did fall into sin, and you and I fell in him. And Christ, also a real historical figure, the eternal Son of God, died for the sins of all who would believe in him. And in his death, he rescued all who believe from Adam's sin. Of all the family stories, the Christian family story is the best. And so trust the historical Jesus. who restored what the historical Adam's sin destroyed. Trust the historical Jesus who restored what the historical Adam's sin destroyed. Pray with me. Father in heaven, we admit there's a lot of mystery. We admit that we don't understand how all these things took place. But may we believe your word May we not compromise because it's hard to understand or hard to believe. May we not say, well, this was real, but this wasn't. You have given us your very word. And in your word, you have given us Christ. And in Christ, we have life. And so help us to believe that we fell in Adam and that we were raised to life in Christ. And help us not only believe that, but proclaim that. We pray in Jesus' name.