Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. It doesn't seem fair, and it wasn't fair, that because of one man's sin, death came into the world to all. But I'll tell you what's even more unfair and far more glorious, and that is by one man's righteousness, all who trust in Him have life eternal.
The second Adam, the last Adam, the perfect Adam. He alone is worthy. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. Merry Christmas.
I'm Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, He Alone is Worthy, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.
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Like John, who was letting his soul feel it and the vision, it was so overcoming that he was just weeping. No one. No one.
Because each tries his or her best, and all the skill and all the intelligence and all the earthly riches and all the physical strength and all of the mortal beauty in the world. No one! No one, no human, no angel can open up the way of salvation because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Who will open it but wait? Verse 5 of Revelation 5. One of the elders said to me, Weep no more.
Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so he can open the scroll and its seven seals. He saw a lamb, looked like it had been slain. The language means a little lamb, a lambkin, a bloodied lambkin that took the scroll. The little innocent bloodied lamb was qualified. And then verse 11, I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the lamb who was slain. To receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing, he alone is worthy.
To long for someone who is worthy and to say who is worthy and to say he alone is worthy is to acknowledge the unworthiness of all of humanity. And this is what the Bible teaches, is because of Adam, the first Adam sin, we are all born into that condition and thus unworthy. Look back at the story again, Genesis 3 17. God said to Adam, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it.
Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life, thorns and thistles that you'll bring forth for you. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for you are dust and to dust you shall return. And I want you to notice that phrase, for you are dust and to dust you shall return, because this is the link that Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 15, when he is pointing towards just how much we are made, remade in the image of Christ and will one day be like him fully.
But he says this in 1 Corinthians 15, 47. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. So you see, he's hearkening back to Genesis 3. And the second man, he's speaking of Jesus, is from heaven, as was the man of dust, Adam. So also are those who are of the dust. All who are born into this world are born from Adam and are likewise, we're of dust and apart from Christ, we return to dust and death. And as the man of heaven, Christ, so also are those who are of heaven.
So you've changed, Christian, you've changed your position, you've changed your inheritance, you've changed who you are. Our earliest father, the first human, sinned, and ever since we've all been born in that sin. Let me just show you again in Romans 5.
This is what Paul is hearkening to. Verse 12, just as sin came in the world through one man, that's Adam, and death through sin. So it wasn't God's plan, it was in paradise.
It wasn't planned for him just to return to the dust. But in his disobedience, that's what he brought into the world, death. So death spread to all because all sinned. Same thing in verse 15. Many died through one man's trespass. Verse 16, the judgment following one trespass, condemnation. Verse 17, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man. Verse 18, one trespass led to condemnation for all men. Verse 19, one man's disobedient. The many were made sinners.
This is just what it is. God made a paradise, put humanity into the midst of it. They would live and eat of the tree of life and every other good thing, and instead they disobeyed. And with it came, just as God had said, came death. And thus all are born into that. We're all born into that broken world. We're all born into that which has borne the fruit of Adam's first sin. It doesn't mean that we ourselves are not culpable for sin because we also all sin. Therefore Paul had taught in Romans 3.23, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So we're culpable, we're all guilty, but we are indeed born in a condition of sin because of Adam's sin.
So you were born in that first Adam. And this is an offensive idea to the individualistic philosophy of Western civilization. We think that we are islands, individuals that are disconnected from others and we're masters of our own fate, and we're just not.
Beloved, as much as we might dislike it, the first thing I would say about this is that it is what it is. It's the world we're born into. And others' sin affects us, doesn't it?
Every day. The whole brokenness of the world is affecting us. And sometimes someone else's unique sin, either against us or just in our vicinity, affects us. That's why every time we get in the car to take a trip, Lord, bless and watch over and put angels around this car, and then my prayer really shifts. And Lord, let everybody that drives anywhere near me be on their best behavior.
Not texting, not looking around, not looking down. Let them be safe, Lord, because that's what I, you know, it's like, I know I'm gonna drive safe, but what about everybody else? I was sitting at a stoplight just this week, and I just, you know, in the South, we don't toot our horn unless we absolutely have to. But I absolutely had to because he was at a left green arrow that we were gonna miss if he didn't move on because he was sitting there texting or something, you know? And so finally I just sat on the, you know, didn't sit on it, just tooted the horn.
There's no light. He turned left, he made his turn, and I thought, well, that'll teach him to be texting, sitting there. And y'all, within 100 yards, he ran into the curb on the right. Just ran right into it. Almost ran up and ran into a tree, but he yanked himself back.
He'd just been honked at 10 seconds earlier, and he's all ready. I'm telling you, everybody else sin affects us. It's all connected, isn't it? And if you trace everything back to your father, your grandfather, your grandfather's grandfather, your grandfather's grandfather, your grandfather's great-great-great-grandfather, the great-grand, you go far about it.
Guess what? We all descended from Adam, who sinned. And we don't like that idea. But it's just the fact, we're connected. And we reap, listen, we reap benefits from the righteous that have gone before us, and we reap the pain from the unrighteousness that's gone before us. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. In a world that often feels overwhelming, we all seek moments of encouragement and hope. As a heartfelt thank you for becoming a monthly partner with Alan Wright Ministries, we're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope, strength, your identity in Christ, Thanksgiving, and much more.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit, providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. This unique resource can be yours with our thanks as we welcome new monthly partners to the support family of Alan Wright Ministries. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. I'm reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln, just a fascinating human being, almost legendary, of course, in our country. And he wasn't by no means perfect, but certainly a remarkable man whose leadership preserved the union, ended slavery, and created the possibility of civil and social freedom that people increasingly enjoy today, regardless of race.
So one leader, just think about it, who lived 150 years ago, he's still impacting our lives for good right now. But so it goes with the unrighteous. And it's sad. It's sad and unfortunate and grievous. Right, I know it's a sensitive thing to speak of, but the horrors of war in the Middle East, and it was just horrible what Hamas did. I think most all the world agrees that Israel's just and retaliating. But it is also exceedingly sad, and I think every Christian would say so, to think of any Palestinians in the Gaza strip who did not attack Israel and maybe didn't want to attack Israel. I had a friend who's set up a fundraising effort for a Palestinian pastor in Gaza. You know, his family's affected by this, right? They're homeless now.
Sad. You know, but demonically inspired, ungodly leadership that is the head of your, it affects what happens in your life. We think individualistically in Western culture, but that's not been the way people think in the history of the world. And we were born in Adam, and that's why there's sickness and death and pain and brokenness. We ourselves are culpable of our own sin, but that's how sin got here. And if you are offended by such a notion and think it unfair, then good, because now you're poised to understand the gospel. Because there's nothing more unfair than the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Because as much as we dislike the idea of another person who has authority or goes before us or represents us being connected to our guilt or to our curse, we should love the concept of such a notion, because if someone else's sin can bring condemnation, then it must be possible that someone else's righteousness could bring us liberation. It means there's a way out. It means there's a way forward, a real path to joy and freedom and security and blessedness. And it is the only way forward.
It is a worthy one. So back to Romans 5, this is the way forward. So back to Romans 5, this is what he says. He says that the free gift is not like, in verse 15, the free gift's not like the trespass. Oh, if many died through one man's trespass, that's what happened, but much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many.
He's saying something is like it, but categorically better. Verse 17 of Romans 5, if because of one man's trespass death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. And again in verse 18, as one trespass led to condemnation for all, so one act of righteousness, speaking of Jesus's righteousness and going to the cross and his resurrection, one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. And in verse 19, by the one man's disobedient, the many were made sinners.
So by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. We got to believe in the problem of Adam's headship that brought sin and death into the world so that we can believe in the headship of the second Adam who brought righteousness into the world and liberation and life eternal that we don't deserve. Oh, Charles Spurgeon, Prince of Preachers said it so well, though to us it is a most unhappy thing that we should all have fallen by virtue of our being represented by Adam, yet here is the mercy of it. It left a way open by which we might be restored. For if we fell by one Adam, there remained a possibility of rising by another Adam.
And listen to this, listen to these sweet words, savor these words from Charles Spurgeon. I dare not question the perfect justice of my fall in Adam. I should be most unwise if I did, for by so doing, I might cast some doubt upon the justice of my rising in the second Adam.
In other words, it doesn't seem fair and it wasn't fair that because of one man's sin, death came into the world to all, but I'll tell you what's even more unfair and far more glorious, and that is by one man's righteousness, all who trust in him have life eternal. The second Adam, the last Adam, the perfect Adam, he alone is worthy. So the first Adam and the last Adam are similar. This is what Paul said in Romans 5.14, Adam who was a type of the one who was to come. So the New Testament says of the old, that the old is full of types and shadows, prefiguring Christ.
God in his infinite wisdom unveiled the coming of Christ in a mystery through prophetic utterances, but also through real history where people and events were prefiguring Jesus, he tied it all together. And so Adam in a sense is a type or a prefiguring or a foreshadowing. Think about how similar, there's so many things we could list about the first Adam and the last Adam, Jesus. In the first place, both are human, and that's what Christmas is all about. Adam in Hebrew simply means man, Adam, man. That's his name, human. And Jesus was human, that's the mystery of Christmas. He's from heaven, but he's a man, he's a man of heaven. John 1.14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Hebrews 2.14, since therefore the children share in the flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. There was something that was essential about Jesus being human. In other words, we can't have someone that is worthy to represent humanity who isn't also human.
That's what representation is, one of you. That's why he came. And Adam, the first Adam and the second Adam had this in common. Both were sent into the world as the image of God.
Remember that? Genesis 1.27, God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him, male and female he created them, and this is who Jesus is perfectly.
Colossians, Paul said, he is the image of the invisible God. And both Adams were assigned dominion in the earth. You understand, humanity in God's design was given dominion in the earth. Genesis 1.28, God blessed them, and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion. That's what Adam and Eve forfeited. This is the reason that Christ came, is the perfect Adam. Have dominion, Ephesians 1.20. He worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. That's what Jesus came and he said, if you see me casting out demons by the finger of God, you'll know the kingdom of God is upon you.
Dominion restored to humanity. And there's so many things to mention about how Adam is a type of Christ, but do you ever think about this, that the pivotal moment of each one's life centered around a tree, Adam who ate from the forbidden tree and Jesus who was hung on a tree. So they're very alike, but oh, they're so different. And that's what Paul's saying. 1 Corinthians 15, 47 again, he's saying the first man was of the earth, a man of dust. And the second man is also a man, but a man of heaven.
So they're both human. And when Adam sinned, he violated his humanity. He violated what a human really was designed to be. But Jesus who never sinned, showed us what a true human is. Adam made in the image of God, but sin marred the image. Jesus, the image of the invisible God. He lived perfectly. He lived perfectly, showed us who God is. Allen Wright, our Good News message, worthy is the man of heaven.
From the series, He alone is worthy. Please stay with us. Pastor Alan is back joining me in the studio, sharing his parting Good News thought for the day in just a moment. In a world that often feels overwhelming, we all seek moments of encouragement and hope as a heartfelt thank you for becoming a monthly partner with Allen Wright Ministries. We're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope, strength, your identity in Christ, Thanksgiving and much more.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit, providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. This unique resource can be yours with our thanks as we welcome new monthly partners to the support family of Allen Wright Ministries. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries.
Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Back here in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day with Worthy is the Man of Heaven. And of course there've been many, many theological books written, books on theology written about God being fully man, fully God. But when you talk about the worthy man of heaven, why is this good news for us? Well, it's so good because all of us are unworthy. So none of us is righteous. And so no one could do what Jesus did for us. And this is so important, not just to our theology, but just to our joy and our life and our assurance this Christmas season and always is that what is the ultimate unfairness is that unworthy people should be given such unlimited blessing, so much so that we're blessed with every spiritual blessing. But it came because there is a worthy human.
Jesus, who is God, is also human. Worthy is this man of heaven. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
