Read Part I
Adam and Eve, however, did not die only physically. That is only part of the story. When a sinful being collides with a holy God, something else is happening.
Colossians 2.13–14
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Ephesians 4.17–18
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
Paul says that the sinful man is “excluded from the life of God”. This is what Christians call spiritual death. The sinful man dies spiritually. It is this spiritual death that is infinitely more devastating than physical death, and the reason is not hard to understand. Our physical death is within a moment. Our spiritual death is for all eternity. However, it is not all bad news. Our physical death is unavoidable. It comes to everyone. Not so with our spiritual death. The Bible says we have been offered a way to avoid it. Everyone has to go through physical death, but not everyone has to go through spiritual death. The God who loves us gave each one of us a way out of it. If we have received God’s gift of his Son, and accepted that the holy Christ took our place, and that he is our Savior, our sins have been forgiven. Christ has taken care of our biggest problem in life. We don’t have to go through spiritual death.
Romans 7:24–25
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
When we trust in Christ, our faith is credited as righteousness. We found a Savior to take our place, and it is most wonderful. But we should not come to place our trust in the work of Jesus Christ only because we don’t want to perish. I never want you to think what we are talking about in here is the avoidance of spiritual death. It is about avoiding spiritual death, for sure. But it is much more than that. God who came in the flesh of Jesus Christ, and Christ’s work on the cross, is a component (albeit the climactic component) of God’s overall plan to save Man. The narrative of God’s rescue plan is not the person and works of Christ. It is even incorrect to say it began with the person and works of Christ. It actually began way back in Genesis, and it extends through Revelation. You and I can be a part of this plan if we place our faith in God.
It is a true statement it is every man’s belief he is living in the truth. It makes no sense to say here is a man who believes he is living from day to day in the untruth. If that were the case, he would have already done something about it. Our Bibles teach us that living under God’s overall plan is living in the truth. Believe in God’s plan for you. If you have not yet come to the place in your life where you have made a decision to trust in God, trust in God, and don’t live one more day in the untruth. God saved us, and he is bringing us home. You and I can absolutely trust in God’s love for us.
In summary, both physical death and spiritual death are consequences of Adam’s sin. We die physically. Our physical bodies are dying slowly every day (I know! I turn 60 next month). Each one of us will cease to have life one day, and die. We die spiritually. If we do nothing about our sin and trespasses, the Bible says we will perish in our spiritual death, and face judgment of God for our sin. Because God loves us, he gave us a way out of spiritual death.
1Corinthians 15.54–57
“Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.