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This article originally
appeared in the January/February 1997 issue of Living Presence. For a
complete version of this article with footnotes included, order this
back issue (Vol. 8, No. 1).
What happens when the surgery
is successful, but the patient dies anyway?
The Bible portrays sin -- and
"death through sin" (Romans 5:12) -- as a fatal disease from which there
is no recovery: "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is
desperately sick; Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9, NASB). The
marginal rendering of this verse in the New King James Version describes
the heart as "incurably sick," a terminal condition. Apart from God the
present human predicament remains unresolved.
Humanity was created in the
image and likeness of God: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness'. . . And God created man in His own
image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created
them" (Genesis 1:26-27). Adam and Eve shared the nature and character
attributes of God, being a grand representation of divine craftsmanship
(Genesis 2:7). The spiritual nature of Adam and Eve gave them continual
access to the abiding presence of God. Only the entrance of something
sinister could ruin such an ideal environment.
Along with the sweeping
entrance of sin came the ultimate consequence of death (Romans 5:12;
6:23) -- not "death" in the sense of physical cessation but "death
through sin" resulting in eternal banishment from the face of God: "But
your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And
your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear"
(Isaiah 59:2).
In the case of Adam and Eve,
"death through sin" was immediate. This came as no surprise because God
had warned them in advance what would happen should they break His law:
"From every tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat from it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17).
From a physical standpoint,
Adam and Eve did not experience death "in the day" of their
transgression. The historical account records the lifespan of Adam to
have been 930 years (Genesis 5:5). Therefore, the "death" Adam and Eve
would face "in the day" of their transgression must have had reference
to something other than biological cessation. Their eventual return to
the "ground" from which they had been created would occur long after the
"death through sin" had taken its toll (Genesis 3:19).
The "image" and "likeness of
God" created within Adam and Eve was now tarnished as a result of their
disobedience. Like a cancer, this "death through sin" was passed on to
everyone who descended from Adam: "Therefore, just as through one man
sin entered the world, and death through sin, so death spread to all
men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).
The natural offspring of Adam
and Eve were no reflection of the "image" and "likeness of God," but
instead arrived in the tarnished "likeness" of their father Adam: "This
is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man,
He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and
He blessed them and named them Adam in the day when they were created.
When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father
of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him
Seth" (Genesis 5:1-3).
God named humanity "Adam
[man]" because he represented the head of the human family. Thus,
everyone born into the human family would find his identity "in Adam"
and in the "death through sin" that he brought into the world (1
Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12).
God is Spirit (John 4:24).
Communion and Fellowship with God take place according to His nature --
in the sphere or realm of that which is "spiritual." Therefore,
spiritual death resulted in eternal separation from the face of God, and
the human family was considered dead in His sight (Isaiah 59:2; Romans
6:23). "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1;
see also Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 2:13).
The problem of "death through
sin" was universal in its scope and effects: "For all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The "glory of God" refers
to the imparted "image" and "likeness of God," which Adam and Eve
received at the point of their creation. From a human standpoint, no
possibility of recovery existed. Only God could restore what had been
lost "in Adam."
Operation Eradication
The doctor must treat not
only the symptoms but the disease itself. "Death through sin" demanded
eradication at its very core. The soiled "image" and "likeness of God"
had to be restored in the same realm in which it had been lost.
God's solution would be to
interject Himself into the physical realm to defeat sin and "death
through sin" in its own arena: "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word became
flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 14). "But when the fullness of the
time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law"
(Galatians 4:4). "So then as through one transgression there resulted in
condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there
resulted in justification of life to all men. For through one man's
disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience
of the One the many were made righteous" (Romans 5:18-19).
The empowering effects of the
Cross of Jesus were the human restoration of what had been lost "in
Adam": "But now once at the consummation of the ages He has been
manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26).
The chasm of separation existing between a Holy God and a fallen
humanity was bridged through the payment of ransom (Matthew 20:28): "For
there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the
proper time" (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Humanity lost "in Adam" was purchased
and ransomed "in Christ."
What once seemed dead,
hopeless and incurable "in Adam" was now alive and healthy "in Christ"
(Ephesians 2:1). Resurrection "life" entered to replace the effects of
"death through sin" (John 5:24; Romans 6:3-5). "For since by a man came
death, by a man came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Corinthians
15:21-22). Once again the "image" and "likeness of God" -- and full
restoration to the presence of God -- was made possible through the
transforming power of the Cross: "And just as we have borne the image of
the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (1
Corinthians 15:49).
The Surgery Completed
The story of redemption,
begun so long ago amid the trees of the Garden of Eden, was not
completed until the second coming of Jesus Christ. The redemptive power
of the Cross was carried through and validated when the Savior appeared
the second time, having already defeated sin and death (Hebrews
2:14-18).
"But now once at the
consummation of the ages, He has been manifested to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself . . . so Christ also, having been offered once to
bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without
reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him" (Hebrews 9:26, 28).
The implication is evident: no second coming, no completed salvation. No
completed salvation, no release from spiritual death. No release from
spiritual death, no restoration to the "image" and "likeness of God."
Each element of redemption depends on each other element for its
effectiveness.
Physical death cannot be the
penalty for sin because 2,000 years beyond the Cross, people still
experience biological cessation. A physical, bodily resurrection cannot
be the determining release from the penalty of death because people
2,000 years beyond the Cross have yet to experience such an event. Under
such a "physical" belief system, salvation is on hold and is deferred
until some future, yet-to-be-determined date. The benefits of the shed
blood of Jesus Christ are postponed. In effect, the "surgery" God
performed through Jesus on the Cross was successful, but the patient --
fallen humanity -- continues to die anyway.
God has brought salvation to
its completion "in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2 Timothy 2:10).
Salvation and eternal life are available now, not deferred until some
future "age" beyond this one (John 5:24; 1 John 5:11, 13). What Jesus
promised and His apostles expected, believers now possess in reality.
The "image" and "likeness of God" radiates from within those who are "in
Christ," now seated in the "heavenly places" (Ephesians 2:6).
No Jesus, no life. Know
Jesus, know life (John 17:3).
Larry D. Siegle is the pulpit
minister of the West County Church of Christ in Rodeo, Calif.
Email:
ldsiegle@home.com |
