Well, good evening, everybody. Well, let's have a word of prayer and ask the Lord's blessing on our time together tonight. Our Father, we thank you for the time that we have around the Word, and we ask that in the next hour that you will make it profitable for us, teach us what we need to learn tonight about humanity, humanity as it was originally created, humanity as it will be recreated someday, and as we open up this Word, give us insight into it. especially reveal to us the good news of the gospel of Jesus and what he has accomplished for his people. For we pray this in his name, amen. All right. So this is our wedding anniversary tonight, and I'm here teaching you, but that's because of the goodness of my wife. 31 years. Yes, well, thank you. Always helps to marry up. Outkick your coverage, as they say. And I did. OK, so last time when we got together, we talked a little bit about Paul's life and background. And now we're going to move into Paul's teaching on various things. And so tonight, we're going to talk about Paul's doctrine of humanity. The technical term for this is anthropology, Christian anthropology, the doctrine of man or God. Man in its generic sense, universal sense, humanity. And we're going to look at four things tonight. And if you were with us last year, last summer, this will sound familiar to you because last summer we did our summer series was on the four faces of Adam. All right, how many were here for the Four Faces of Adam study? OK. All right, so Erin, we'll test your Latin, OK? So do you remember the Latin phrases, the four Latin phrases related to Adam? What was it created? Let's start with that one. Very good. Pase pecare, which means created, righteous, and holy, but able to sin. So once the fall happens, what's the next Latin phrase? Close. There you go. Non passe, non peccare. Not able to not sin. That's right, unable to do anything except sin. That's what we call total depravity, right? Total inability. Not able to not sin. Then, when the spirit regenerates us, we are now? Very good. Able to not sin. That's right, I know, passe non peccari. Now we actually have the ability to not sin. We're not under any constraints to do so, right? And then finally, the last face of Adam in his glorified state is? Non passe peccari, not able to sin. So can't wait for that day. How about you? Isn't that going to be good? All right. So basically, we're going to take a look at how Paul presents each of these things, man as created, man as fallen, man as redeemed, and then finally, man as glorified. We're going to talk about some important phrases, like inaugurated eschatology. What does inaugurated eschatology mean in this kind of context? Paul Eric, you're shaking your head, you know what it means? Nope, it's okay. What's that? That's why you came, that's exactly right. Well, we'll talk about inaugurated eschatology, that in fact, the new age has already dawned. If any person is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are already being passed away, and behold, everything is becoming new. Now, one day, we'll have consummated eschatology, when all things will be completely new. But for now, we have inaugurated eschatology. We are already saved, but we are not yet saved. You hear us talk about that all the time around here, right? Already, but not yet. So we're going to explore those concepts in just a little bit. All right, so let's talk about humanity created. So humans with angels, demons, animals in the plant world. are creatures and therefore are subject to God's rule and owe him complete obedience. Now, tonight we're just not going to have time to look at each and every one of these passages of Scripture, but I've given you passages out of Paul's writings that relate to those things, such as Romans 8.38, Colossians 1.16. Now, what is it that distinguishes you and me from, let's say, an aardvark? or an oak tree, or anything else that's part of the created order. What makes you and I ontologically different? Ontology is about being, human being, right? What makes us different than the rest of the created order? Exactly. Very good, Sarah. We have, we bear the image of God. And as you said, we have Eternal souls. Although our souls are not eternal in and of themselves, right? We have a beginning, we have an end. The only reason they stretch into eternity is because they are maintained in that capacity by God. But yes, we bear the image of God. Now, what does that mean? What does it mean to bear the image of God? Well, it means a number of things. It means that we have rationality. It means that we express dominion over the creation. It means that we have relational abilities with God and with others, right? A dolphin doesn't pray. A little sparrow in my backyard doesn't worship. That's unique to us. That's something that we have, the ability to commune with our creator. They obey the creator. They don't commune with him. They don't have fellowship with him. When Adam and Eve are placed in the Garden of Eden, he comes and he walks in the cool of the day with them. And maybe animals gathered around to see this thing, but they weren't participating in that kind of communion. That's a unique thing that you and I have as part of this creation. We're a duality. What do we mean by that? You have two parts to your being. What are they? You're looking at each other. And what do you see? A body. But that's not all you are. What else are you? Your soul. Part of you is material, this stuff. And part of you is immaterial. that animates your body is your soul or your spirit. And by the way, I take it that soul and spirit are two words that refer to the same thing. So we're a duality, a soul and a spirit. So to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So the body dies. The soul doesn't die. It immediately goes on to be with the Lord. But it's only half of you at that point. That's why we talk a lot and say, you know, we talk about heaven, and there is much about heaven that should capture our imagination and draw us forward. But heaven is not your eternal destiny. You were created body and soul, and your body needs a material universe to live in. So the day is coming when that body is going to be called out of the grave in the resurrection. And it's going to be reunited with your soul. You're going to have teeth again. You're going to have a tongue again that tastes. You're going to have a nose that smells. You're going to have eyes that see, ears that hear. Your senses have never been alive the way they're going to one day be alive. It's amazing. You know, the older you get, you look around and look at older folks at restaurants, and you know what you see a lot? The salt come out. Just dumping salt and other seasonings all over their food. You know why? Because their taste buds are dying. And they're not as sensitive as they were when they were, you know, teenagers. One day, those taste buds are going to explode again. All of your body is going to do that. You are a duality. So that's why we believe that our eternal resting, our eternal home, is not heaven. It's the new heavens and the new earth. Their righteousness will dwell. We're a duality. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23. All right, so man is created, male and female, God creates them, places his image on them, gives them dominion over all of the earth, says, here's what I'm commanding you to do. I want you to start having children, and I want you to have a bunch of children. And I want your children to have children, and I want them to have a bunch of children. And I want your children's children to have children, and I want them to have a bunch of children. And you're going to spread out over the face of the earth, and you are going to subdue it. You're going to have dominion over it. That's the language of kingship, of authority, right? Psalm 8, David's theological and poetic reflection on the creation. What does he say? He says, what is man that you're mindful of him and the son of man that you have visited him? You made him a little lower than the angels and you crowned him with glory and honor. So you think of a crown that's sitting on his throne. And you've given him dominion. That's the language of authority. It's the language of rule. So Adam and Eve were meant to be God's vice regents in this world, king and queen, with a bunch of princes and princesses, spreading out, going over all of the earth, and expressing God's rule, his kingdom. So this is the very first notion of kingdom in the New Testament, or in the Bible, and it happens right at the preface to the entire thing. It's going to become a major theme going all the way through the rest of the Bible. It will become a theme that we will discover in Paul's writings as well, right? The kingdom of God. Well, what happens? Satan comes into the scene, convinces Adam and Eve that they can actually be more than they are. If you eat of that fruit of that tree, you'll be like them. You be more than you are. Now all they had to do was look around at the world and realize they're more like God than anything else that they see, because they bear his image. They should have understood that God had made them the pinnacle of his creation, and there was nothing more for them to achieve, just to express his rule over the earth. At that point, they should have kicked Satan out of the garden, and said, we don't want to be more than we are. We are very happy to be who we are. We live in perfect communion with God. But they didn't. They believed the lie, the lie that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would be more like him. And what happened? Did they become more like him or less like him? Did they become more like their creator or more like the creatures that they see around them? driven by instincts, by passions, right? I don't want to be crude. But animals, by and large, are not monogamous. A lion doesn't run up to an antelope and go, you know what, this is one of God's creations. I'm not going to kill this thing. I saw this terrible video today. It's an awful video. Evidently, in China, in a zoo in China, there is a dispute that was going on between management and the workers. And somebody wasn't getting paid. This is awful. So these guys who weren't getting paid go get a donkey and throw the donkey into a tiger den. And these tigers jump on this donkey and kill it. And we look at that kind of thing and go, well, that's what animals do, right? Walk into an abortion mill, you'll find out how much like animals we are. Read what took place at Auschwitz or Treblinka. You'll find out. You think we're more like God or do you think we're more like the animals? We bought the lie, we fell. It's a horrendous thing. Adam acted as a representative for his race. His actions bring about universal guilt. So go to Romans chapter five. The classic passage that addresses the federal headship of Adam. When we say Adam was a federal head or a covenantal head, what do we mean by that? Anybody want to kind of venture a guess on that? Federal headship or covenantal headship, what do we mean by that when we say Adam was that? First representative. So, Arthur, when Adam sins, what does that mean for the rest of us? Exactly. Look at Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man, Adam, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned. Let's just pause there for a second and let's look at this. So think of dominoes. So we've got some dominoes that are set up on this table up here. Paul says the first domino to go was the sin of Adam. So it gets knocked over. The next domino to go is death. Death follows because of sin. So one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin. And so then what happens? Death passes upon all men. So now all of a sudden, all of these dominoes are beginning to fall. You move from chapter 3 in Genesis. where Adam sends to chapter four, and what happens? What is the very first thing we read after the event in the Garden of Eden? We go forward a couple of decades, maybe three or four decades, we don't know. We're jumping forward in that one chapter. What happens in chapter four? That's right. The oldest son kills the younger son. We more like God or we less like God? Immediately, right? That's the domino. The rest of the Old Testament history, what do you read? Death, destruction, rape, over and over and over and over again. I mean, the Old Testament is not what we would call PG, is it? Now, it's done in a way that doesn't doesn't titillate the senses. But it's full of a lot of bad stuff. You wouldn't take your kids to watch a movie with all the stuff that's inside this, right? That happens. Now notice what he said here, because don't pass over this. So just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all, and what's the next word? And what tense is that verb? Past. What's he saying? We all sinned. Past tense. You know what Paul's saying? He's saying when Adam sinned, we all sinned. And you go, well, I wasn't there. I didn't do what Adam did. I mean, if I had been the first person on the earth, I wouldn't have listened to Satan. Wouldn't have been my choice. See, Adam was our federal head. His actions flow to all of us. And God treats us as though we were him. so that his sin is imputed. It's counted as our sin. And if you go, well, time out, Tony. That doesn't seem fair. You might want to think about that for just a minute. Because there is another Adam that comes. And when he obeys, you obeyed. because his righteousness, his obedience is counted as yours. So I got news for you. I am happy to embrace the first Adam as my federal head because another Adam has come whose perfections are now my perfections by imputation. And I'm treated as though I did all of those good things that Jesus did. His righteousness is my righteousness. So in a nutshell, this is Pauline theology. And we're going to see this more as we go forward. But he sees two federal heads, Adam and Jesus, whom he calls the last Adam. He doesn't call him the second Adam, by the way. Even though Wesley says that. He calls him the second Adam. But Paul doesn't call him the second Adam, even though he is. He is the last Adam. Second implies that there might be a third, or a fourth, or a fifth. There isn't going to be. What Jesus does is come, and as we're going to see in just a moment, he is the federal head for a new creation. Adam was the federal head for the old creation. So forth. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Now, let's distinguish between sin, singular, and sins, plural. And here's a test for you. So Greg, you're smiling like a Cheshire cat back there, so let me throw this one to you. And it's a softball, so you're gonna be able to knock it out of the park, all right? Greg, are we sinners because we sin? Or do we sin because we're sinners? Exactly. I told you, you're going to knock that one out of the park. Congratulations, you did. We're not sinners because you came to an age of accountability when you knew what was right and wrong, and you went, OK, even though I'm a morally neutral creature up until this point, I think I'm going to choose to sin. And lo and behold, you then become a sinner. That's Pelagianism. and it's a heresy, and it was condemned in the fourth century. No, no, no, no. You don't come into this world as a morally neutral person. You come into this world not only counted as a sinner because you were in Adam when he sinned, but because by your own nature you have inherited original sin. Now somebody tell me what original sin is. Yes. Not quite. Not quite. Good guess though. Original sin isn't referring to the first sin. Instead, it is referring to the place in you that originates sin. Original sin is the originator of your sins, plural. It is what we call our sin nature. And we inherit that from Adam. So when we talk about original sin, we are saying that not only are we counted as a sinner in Adam, but we really are a sinner. There is something defective in our nature. It has been corrupted, it has fallen. Why do we talk about the fall? Because here's Adam and Eve on their throne, wearing their crown, expressing God's rule on earth, saying, you'll be an aardvark, you'll be a baboon, you'll be a camel, and all the way down to zebra. expressing God's authority over the creation, because whoever names is the authority, right? So they're on this peak, this place of great authority, and then they threw away it all and fell into sin. And that corrupted nature gets passed on to all of us. So you don't come into this world as a morally neutral person who could go right or could go wrong. And it just so happens that 100% of all people have always gone wrong with the exception of Jesus. That's what Pelagius believed. That's not what Paul teaches. OK? So he passes on his judgment and he passes on his condition, which is spiritual death. Ephesians chapter two, verse one. Pelagius said, you're well. And then you drink poison and become sick. Arminius said, you're sick, and you're in pretty bad shape. Paul says, you're dead. There's no life in you. And you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked. I think that's kind of interesting, right? What do we call the dead that walk around? Zombies. That's right. Zombies, right? That's what we were. We give the appearance that we're alive, but we're really the living dead. We're just dead people. We just give appearance. We sing the songs in church. We pass the offering plate and put a little money in. We do good and walk little ladies across the street. We give some appearance that we are alive, but Paul says, unless the spirit has brought about a supernatural rebirth in you, you are dead. Following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sense of disobedience, among whom we were all, we once all lived. This isn't something that just a, you know, the Jeffrey Dahmers of history, the Hitlers, the Genghis Khans, you know, they were dead in trespasses and sins. No, Paul says we were all in this condition, every one of us, even good, outwardly moral people, church-going people. This is the condition of all of us. among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of, what's the word? Wrath, who's wrath? God's wrath. Children of wrath. Under wrath, what does it mean to be a child of wrath? Remember Satan, he was called a son of perdition, right? Jesus is a son of man. This is just a Semitic way of saying who your father is. Your father is wrath. That's who you belong to, God's wrath. Then there is this wonderful three-letter word that begins verse four. One of the most wonderful words in all of the Bible. What is it? But God. Martin Lloyd-Jones, by the way, has a great message from this passage. Preaches the entire message on those two words. But God. You should look it up and listen to it. It's a great, great sermon. So man's real problem then stems not from his sins, but his sin. This is why Pauline theology is not the kind of theology that you would get, let's say, from Freud or from Dewey, where if you just educate people, you'll make them better. Or if you just help them understand all of their mommy problems or their daddy problems and get them to work through those issues, they'll become much better people. They might be more functioning people, but there's only one thing that will make you better. What does Jesus say? Jesus says, you know a tree by its what? Fruit. And if a tree is producing bad fruit, what does that tell you about the tree? There's nothing that you can do to that tree to suddenly make it give good fruit. Tree has to be completely and totally changed from the inside out. That's you and me. That's us. Sin and bondage. Number two under letter two, under little b there, under sins and sin, For Paul, the real problem man faces is that humanity, in his words, is under sin. That is, that man's sinful nature rules over him. We don't have time to think about this today, but we'll probably talk about this when we kind of do a flyover of the book of Romans. There's this wonderful section in the middle of Romans, Romans 5, 6, and 7. where Paul introduces humanity prior to Christ, before Christ, B.C., right? And he says humanity is living under the authorities and the powers of the old age, the age of Adam, the age of who we were in Adam. Those authorities are sin, law, and death. We're under sin, we're under law, we're under death. Those are the rulers that rule over us. Now, what's the relationship of law to those things? Well, Paul makes it clear that when you're an unregenerate, the law comes and what does it do to you? It convicts you and it condemns you, right? It stands over you. like a legal judge that is unbending and without mercy and says to you, you have fallen short of the glory of God. It does something else. It actually provokes within you more sin. Right? Did your little guy start walking yet? OK. So he's so cute, right? Like all little babies, they're little children, little toddlers. They're so cute. And he's walking around, and he walks over, and he's kind of examining the wall. And his dad, being a good dad, comes over and says, see that, pointing to a plug on the wall? Stay away. No, no. Hurts. Ow, ow, ow. He does all of that. Now, he hadn't even really paid attention to that plug in the wall until somebody told him what the law was. The law said no, and so what becomes the most attractive thing in the room? That's what the law does. Paul says, I didn't know what it was like to covet until the law said, you shall not covet. And all of a sudden, I start coveting everything. That's what it's like to live under the law as an unbeliever, as an unconverted person. It doesn't just condemn you. It actually inflames your passions for things that you're not supposed to do. This is quite a condition we find ourselves in, right? Man's whole nature is corrupted by sin. There isn't a part of you that isn't tainted by sin. That's what total depravity means. It doesn't mean you're as depraved as you possibly could. Nobody in this room has ever done all of the sins you could possibly ever do. There are always people that you're going to be able to point to that go, well, they're a worse person than I am. Well, that's true. No doubt about that. That doesn't help you out any, because God isn't judging you by them. He's not grading on a curve. And he says, you know what, Tony? Tony is the C plus. And everybody here, if you'll just do better than Tony, you're going to get a B or an A, and you're going to be all right. God doesn't grade on a curve. And he doesn't judge you by other people. So you might as well stop looking around and seeing other people that are worse than you and going, well, I can comfort my own heart that at least I'm not like them. Problem is, God judges you by the righteousness of his own character and nature as it's personified in Jesus Christ. So if you have fallen short of him, you've fallen short of the glory of God. And Paul says in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23, how many people does that include? All have sinned, and all have fallen short of the glory of God. Paul quotes, in Romans chapter 3, a series of verses from the Psalms saying, nobody seeks God. There are none righteous, no, not one, not even one. According to 1 Corinthians 2.14, he's unable to understand spiritual truths, blindness and deafness. This is almost a redundancy, right? Deaf people by nature are blind and deaf and mute, right? But he just keeps piling on these metaphors to help us understand how, utterly unable we are to bring ourself to God. All right, so that's why we say, number two there, Aaron, is non passe, non peccare, not able to not sin, which is a double negative, but you understand what it means. All right, we gotta move along. Again, I'm not sure we're gonna get to Galatians tonight, Number three, what does it mean to be redeemed? Well, first of all, according to Paul, it means a work of regeneration. The supernatural work of the spirit by which he gives new birth, that's what we mean by regeneration. To regenerate is to be born again. Again. Re is again. Generate is to live. So to regenerate is to live again. So when did you stop living? If you're now living again because of the work of the Holy Spirit, when did you stop living? Genesis chapter 3. That's when you died. You said, well, I wasn't there. That's when you died. You died in Adam. And so the last Adam comes to bring about new life. Nicodemus meets with Jesus, you know, in John chapter three. And he is just befuddled by this conversation. He just doesn't understand it. Can I go back into my mother's womb and be born a second time? And Jesus says, Nicodemus, you're missing the point. You have to be born from above. And he goes to the Old Testament, which Nicodemus understood. He knew. He goes to the prophet Ezekiel. And he says, you need to be born of the Spirit, born of water. The Spirit is the water there, by the way. So the Spirit does the washing of regeneration inside of you. That's what you've got to have, Nicodemus, that's regeneration. Titus 3.5, anybody can quote that? Let me start it for you. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to your mercy you have saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the spirit ensures that the believer is no longer mastered by sin. So back to Romans chapter 8. Look at verse 12. So then brothers, We are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. The flesh in Paul means who you were in Adam. Fallen, corrupted, sinful, depraved. That's what he means by flesh. He doesn't mean the stuff right now that's covering your bones. That's not what he's talking about. He says you're not a debtor to that. In other words, you don't owe the old you Anything. Nothing. What did the old you do for you? What did he ever do for you? Nothing. You owe him nothing, right? But when you sin, and when I sin, we act like we owe him everything. We act like, OK, I want to go back and be you again. I want to live under your rules again. And Paul says, you're not a debtor to him anymore. Verse 13, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Who are sons of God according to that verse, verse 14? Those who are led by the Spirit. Not those who walked an aisle one day, prayed a prayer, signed a card, got baptized, and joined a church. Not all those who made a public profession of faith. The people who are the sons of God are those who give evidence that their life is being led by the Spirit. That's what he says. Verse 15, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery, notice little s there, spirit, the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you've received the Spirit, capital S, of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be also glorified with him. Isn't that something? Isn't that amazing phrase there? How many of these poor folks that have fallen under the spell of the prosperity preachers and who have bought the lie that following Jesus means you never have to suffer. How many of them are still in their sins because they have been preached a false gospel? Paul says, we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. You see, his path to glory Went through what? The cross, Gethsemane, Pilate's hall, the beatings of the Sanhedrin, what is known as the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering. You think we're going to get there otherwise like that hymn that I always, we never sing it, but I quote it with some frequency. Shall I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Doesn't mean that you're going to suffer in exactly the way that other believers have suffered throughout history, thank goodness. Many of us don't have to. But if you think you're going to get to heaven without any suffering, you're wrong. That's what Paul says. Why? We'll talk about that in just a moment. All right. Letter B, a new creation. All right. So I want to try to paint this picture. I wish I'd thrown this up on the video board so that you could have seen this. So let's get a mental picture here, all right? Let's try to think you're looking from left to right. So let's start over here. This is the Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden right here where I'm standing. This music stand where my Bible is resting is the cross. So everything from that point to this point is what we will call the old age of Adam. when humanity lived under those powers that we talked about a moment ago. Powers like death, sin, and law. We lived under those things. This is the old age, or the Bible calls the former days. Out here is the second coming of Jesus. All right, so the music stand is His first coming and the cross. Out here is the second coming. From that little podium to here in the New Testament is known as what? What's this entire epoch of time known as? The last days. The last days. Not to be confused with a non-biblical term called the end times. The phrase in times is not used in the Bible, last days is used all the time. Now how do we know this entire period of time from the first coming of Jesus until his second coming is known as the last days? How do we know that's the case? Because right after this event is the day of Pentecost. And all the people are watching what's going on on the day of Pentecost and many of them are going, Are they drunk? What in the world's happening? And Peter stands up and he says, we're not drunk with wine as you think. Instead, this is what was spoken of by Joel the prophet. He's quoting Joel 2. In the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, right? What does the book of Hebrews say in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1? In former times, God spoke for whom? The prophets, many different people at different times in different ways, God spoke to us through the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed the heir of all things. So why is it called the last days? Now, this is what we mean by inaugurated eschatology. Because in the former days, the prophets like Ezekiel and Joel and Jeremiah, they're looking forward through this prophetic vision that they're given by the Lord to this great day of God-saving work that he is going to accomplish. When his kingdom is going to come, when the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth the way the waters cover the sea, when no one will have to say, know the Lord, because they will all know him from the least to the greatest, right? So these prophets are prophesying all of this about the last days. And they're no doubt thinking that the last days last for about like that long. They have no way of knowing how long the last days are going to come. And they don't understand or realize the disciples on the Mount of Olives just before Jesus leaves, they don't understand it. What's the question they ask Jesus just before he ascends back to the Father? What is it? Exactly. Will you now, at this moment, restore the kingdom to Israel? And what does Jesus say? It's not yours to know the day or the hour. Just stay in the upper room. Just hang out for a while. You've got like 10 days to go. Just be patient for 10 days. And the Spirit is going to fall on you, and you're going to suddenly understand things that you don't understand now. John the Baptist didn't understand it. So they're thinking, these prophets are thinking, this is all going to culminate in one major work. Saul of Tarsus believed this. Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee and believed in the resurrection of the dead. Saul believes that the last day is going to be the resurrection of the dead and then the coming of the Messiah, the establishment of God's eternal kingdom that will be centered upon Israel. He's looking forward to that day. And then his mind is blown on the road to Damascus as he sees Jesus. And it suddenly dawns on him. The resurrection's happened. The resurrection has happened. And if the resurrection has happened, then the new creation is already here. Now the Corinthians later will write him and say, so when you're saying the resurrection happened, does that mean that there will no longer be a future resurrection of the dead? And he writes, no. He said the resurrection of Jesus is the firstfruits of a greater resurrection that's going to take place, but make no mistake about it, if you are in Christ, you are already a new creation. Old things have passed away, and behold, all things are already becoming new. Already, but not yet. Not yet. You take off from St. Joseph, Missouri, and you motor down to I-70, and you point your car west, and you get out in the middle of Kansas. You've never seen a more boring drive in your life. And you get to western Kansas, and you think it can't get any worse. And you get to eastern Colorado, and you're going, this isn't better than western Kansas. And then all of a sudden, off into the distance, you start seeing peaks. And you get closer and closer, you get to Denver. You don't realize it. But you're gradually getting higher and higher. It's imperceptible to you. It's not like your car's going like that. You're just barely getting higher and higher. But the closer and closer you get to those mountains, the more you're able to see those peaks. And from a distance, they look like they're right next to each other. And it's only until you climb up in the mountains you realize that those peaks are a long way away. You get up to this peak, and then you come down, and then you go up to the next peak, and you come down. That's what the prophets were seeing. The prophets were looking into the future and saying, the last days, Messiah is going to come. The kingdom is going to come. The resurrection of the dead is going to come. All of those things are going to happen. And it's only after Christ that we realize those peaks are at least 2,000 years apart. Already, not yet. You get that? You see that? That's what we mean by inaugurated eschatology. The last days have been inaugurated. They haven't been consummated. Thessalonians were confused about this. They thought maybe the Lord had already come and they'd missed him. Paul is right to them and says, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those that are asleep, that you don't sorrow as people that have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we believe also that God will bring with him those who have died in Jesus. And they talked about a trump sounding, and an angel yelling, and the dead in Christ rising first, and we who are alive and remain, caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will ever be with the Lord. The peaks, it's separated. So that's at the heart of Paul's understanding of salvation. We are a new creation, already but not yet. The new age of God's salvation has dawned. It hasn't yet been completed. Romans chapter 8, Paul says there's a lot of groaning going on. Who's groaning in Romans chapter 8? Creation's groaning. Why is it groaning? What's that? Under sin. And what's it waiting for? The adoption of sons, which is the redemption of our bodies. It's waiting for that last peak. It's groaning in the meantime. Who else is groaning in Romans chapter eight? We are. We're groaning. Who else is groaning? Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 8. Words that are inexpressible coming alongside of us. It doesn't sound like the new creation yet, does it? Already, not yet. Even now, we have, according to Colossians 3, 1 and 2, we have died and we have been raised with Christ. If you have been raised with Christ, set your mind on things above where Christ is. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. You go, wow, thank goodness, I don't have to die now. Well, no, you probably will. You probably will. but you've already died with him. You've already been raised with him positionally as your federal head, your covenantal head. So when he died, God says, Sarah died. And when Jesus was raised, God said, Sarah has been raised. So now all she has to do is just wait till the heart stops The brainwaves go, and her body goes to the grave. But her spirit, bam, immediately goes to be with the Lord. Yeah. And the spirit waits around with all of the other spiritual saints that are up there. And what are they waiting for? They're waiting for the trumpet to sound, and the cry of the archangel, and the dead in Christ to rise, meaning the body. And her body is going to come right back out of that grave, be reunited with that spirit, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. You're already raised with him because his work is your work if you are in him. He's already accomplished it for you. The believer struggles with who he is now in Christ. We'll get into this more when we talk about sanctification. but who we are as the new man and who we once were as the old man, Ephesians chapter 4, verses 20 and 24. He's not talking about that you have two natures in you. This was an erroneous teaching that I was taught when I was a boy, that you're kind of like Jesus. One person, two natures, you know, human and divine, and you've got two natures inside of you. The old nature, who you once were, and the new nature, and this one's always good and this one's always bad, and you're kind of fighting back and forth between those two natures. God isn't replacing your nature, he's renewing your nature. The old man is who you were, and all of the vestiges of those habits are still very much a part of who you are. The new man is who you are in Christ. So you're in this transition stage, a transition from who you were in Adam to who you are in Christ. So you've got impulses that still draw on you from the old man, who you once were, and impulses that now pull on you for who you now are in Christ. And there is this battle that is taking place inside every believer. If there's no battle going on inside you, you're not a Christian. Because the only time the battle ends is errand, non passe baccare, not able to sin. And that brings us to the last point down here. Glorified, the completion of our re-imaging, the finishing of our adoption. Again, Romans chapter eight, look at verses 28 and 30. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. So just as he is the firstfruits of the resurrection, he is also the firstborn among many brothers. Now look at verse 30. This is known as the golden chain. Those whom he predestined, he also called. Those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. Does something strike you strange about the grammar of verse 30? Look at it. Yeah. Makes sense, doesn't it, Arthur? That predestined would be past tense. Called would be past tense. Justified would be past tense. But he also says glorified, past tense. Does that make sense to you? Jan, have you been glorified yet? That's right. Not so as I can tell. Me either. What is Paul saying? He's saying, as far as the eternal purposes of God are concerned, it's as good as done. if he foreknew you, that is, he loved you before the world began, so that he predestined you to be conformed to the image of the Son. Is there any possibility you're not gonna be conformed to the image of the Son? Is there anything that you can do to thwart the predestination of God? No. So if that's true, then it's only a matter of time until he calls you. We call that regeneration. And if he called you, then he is going to justify you. And Paul just skips right over sanctification, that's okay. It's his book, he can do what he wants to. And it is a certainty that he will one day glorify you. So as Adam, or as Wesley put it, he says here we are, in Adam, the first Adam, part of the old creation. Then in a little town south of Jerusalem called Bethlehem, only noteworthy because the greatest of David's kings were born there, the city of David, Bethlehem, there is a child that is born. And on and around December 25th, we celebrate his birth. And Wesley's thinking about that birth. And he's thinking about this theology that we have been talking about. He's thinking about this entire spectrum of this. And he writes these words. He says, Adam's likeness now efface. stamp thine image in its place. Second Adam from above, reinstate us in thy love. Hark, the herald angel sings, glory to the newborn king. That's good theology. That's a man who understands what's going on here. He's drunk deeply at Paul's understanding of these two ages, these two men, and what they did on behalf of their people. The first Adam and the old creation. the last Adam and the new creation. And if you have come to trust in Jesus, you have passed from the old and you have entered into the new and old things are already passing away. And behold, all things are already becoming new. There are still peaks out in the future that we have to get to. But it is not possible for us to turn around and head back to western Kansas. We're continuing on this path. And we're climbing. And we're going to get there. OK. So. What have I missed tonight that I didn't make clear? I'll tell you what I missed. I missed Galatians, which we were going to get to again. So maybe that's not going to happen. What did I miss tonight that I didn't make clear that I should in the next five minutes before we dismiss? Yeah, peccaries, OK. So in case you don't know, the Latin word peccary means sin. We call little sins peccadillos. It comes from that root, right? Peccary. OK, so peccary means the sin. Passe is Latin for able, like possibility, right, in English and so forth. So able or can do. And non, of course, is the negative. It's no. Okay, so let's go back to our illustration here. Adam is created. He's created in the image of God. He is created righteous. He's holy. but he isn't confirmed in that holiness. That's the difference between Adam and what you're going to be when we get to that last peak. You're not going to be like Adam in the Garden of Eden, you're going to be like Jesus. You haven't been saved by Adam, you have been saved by the last Adam. So he's not remaking you into the first Adam, he's remaking you into the last. So Adam is perfectly righteous and holy, but he isn't confirmed in that. So he is passe pacari. He is able to sin, and he does. So as soon as that happens, now he is so corrupted by sin that Paul in particular, but the rest of the Bible also says that he can't do good. There's none righteous, no, not one. Nobody seeks after God. Nobody does what is right in God's eyes. We are non passe, non peccare, not able to not sin, which is a double negative. It just means we're unable to do anything except sin. You go, well, I mean, I got a neighbor that's a pretty good guy. Yeah, of course. You know, a lot of people who We would characterize as good, upstanding neighbors, people that walk little ladies across the street, you know? I mean, but their heart before God is sinful in their totality. It doesn't mean that they can't do acts of heroic deeds. I mean, what was yesterday? D-Day, right? 73 years. 73 years since D-Day. I mean, on Omaha Beach, Normandy, there was a lot of heroism being exhibited there. But it doesn't, that's as you and I see it, not as God himself sees it. Okay, so then we become a Christian. And we pass from being non-passe pacari to being passe non-pacari, able to not sin, which is another way of saying now we can actually obey the Lord. We can please him by our obedience. And then when you die, your soul immediately goes to be with the Lord. And what is the condition of that soul? non passe paccare, not able to sin. You're confirmed in righteousness. There's a lot of speculation as to what would have happened if Adam had obeyed. And I think the answer to that question is that Adam would have passed the test and Adam would have been confirmed in righteousness at that point. So he was at a fork in the road where he could be confirmed in unrighteousness or confirmed in righteousness. He chooses the wrong path and he becomes confirmed in unrighteousness. Jesus, on the other hand, is born without sin and is tempted in ways that you and I just can't even comprehend. and passes every one of those tests, confirmed in righteousness forever. I heard an illustration of this, because somebody can say, well, yeah, but, you know, I mean, if you can't sin, if you're impeccable by your very nature, can you really understand what testing is like? And the way I heard this illustrated some years ago, I wish I could tell you who it was, because I'd like to give them credit for it, is ask yourself this. So if Tony goes in to a gym and sits down on a bench, and somebody puts 275 pounds on a bar and says, OK, Tony, press that 275 pounds off the bar down to your chest and back up. Tony's going to huff, and he is going to puff. And he's going to strain, and he might strain all kinds of muscles, and he isn't going to get it done. But if an offensive lineman from Kansas City Chiefs lays down on that same bar and grabs it, he's going to push it up, he's going to bring it down, and he's going to push it up. Now, who really felt the weight? Tony or that offensive lineman? Jesus felt the weight in a way that you and I never have, because we wouldn't have gotten through 40 days of wilderness testing. First hour, Tony's done. Jesus presses it 40 days, 40 nights, over and over and over again. He feels the weight of that temptation in a way that you and I can't possibly imagine. So when you're tested and you're tempted, you have a high priest who understands it better than you know. He really knows it, okay? All right, that was a long-winded answer to a good question. Anything else? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So that's a really good question. And if you're listening, if you're listening by, uh, on sermon audio, the question is this since, since the spirit comes in a unique way at Pentecost, that brings about the dawn of the new age? Does that mean that believers in the Old Testament were not regenerated in the way that we are? And I think the answer to that question is no. I think they were regenerated. I think the only way that anybody from Adam forward could ever trust and believe the promises of God would be to be brought from death to life and given new life. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness. He had plenty of other neighbors in Ur of the Chaldees that never believed in God. What was the difference between the two of them? And the answer is that the spirit of God would have had to move on his soul and bring him to spiritual life so that he could believe. At that point, it gets really foggy. Because you see people that the New Testament calls righteous, that we would go, lot. Lots of righteous, man. David. I mean, there's much to be admired in David, but if you were here when we went through the story of Samuel, Saul, and David, I mean, if you compared David's life to the test given in 1 John, you'd come away going, I'm not sure. I'm not sure if he's a Christian. So there is something, Ryan, there is something that is unique and qualitatively different post-Pentecost. But I wouldn't want to say that the believers pre-Pentecost did not have a work of the Spirit that brought them from death to life and brought about saving faith in them. But qualitatively, the presence of the spirit in their life is somehow uniquely different for us on this side. And that's why it's a little dangerous to go back and do biographical studies of the Old Testament and use them as paragons of what we would expect post-Pentecost believers to be. I think you have to be careful about that, because you're going to have a hard time reading the story of Lot and coming away and saying, this guy's a righteous man. And yet, Peter says that he is. So I don't know if that answered your question, but it's about as good as I can do. Yeah. Good question, though. He is. He is. Same thing about Jacob. Jesus says that many are going to come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom. He's there. But if you read the story of Jacob in the Old Testament, you'd wonder if he actually got there. All right. Okay, so two weeks from now, We'll get back together at seven o'clock, and we're going to do study three, which I believe is the doctrine of Christ, Paul's Christology. Who is Jesus, according to Paul? So we'll talk about Christology in that time. Thank you, everybody.