The online
Bible teaching ministry of Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Home About Us Free email subscription ![]() Follow Daily Encouragement on ![]() ![]() ![]() <Previous Message Next Message> Message Summary: Today we urge all our readers to accept the divinely appointed means that God provided in Christ to the problem we all have due to Adam's "apple". ![]() "But God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "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" (Romans 5:19). God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong; Redeeming grace to Adam’s race The saints’ and angels’ song. ![]() When I got my first car I had recently committed my life to Christ and was beginning to learn spiritual truths. I decided I wanted others to know of my new found faith so I wanted a cool bumper sticker with a profound message like, "HONK IF YOU LOVE JESUS" or an even neater one, "IN CASE OF RAPTURE DRIVER WILL DISAPPEAR". In my youthful innocence and enthusiasm I thought this message would surely cause all who saw it want to be Christian. Now my witness in regard to these types of expressions is limited to my spiritually-themed tie collection which I almost inevitably get comments on, although these days it could just be the novelty that some people still wear ties. ![]() Now lest I seem technologically uninformed I am quite sure the wearer was an Apple device fan. Steve Jobs developed this Apple. Isaac's apple refers to Isaac Newton and gravity. Legend has it that a young Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree when he was bonked on the head by a falling apple, a 17th-century “aha moment” that prompted him to suddenly come up with his law of gravity. ![]() Now to be sure the Bible doesn't specify that the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden was an apple although for some reason that's what artists usually draw. As a child I recall wondering why we ate apples if that's was the forbidden fruit. If the fruit had been identified in Scripture and, and forbidden for all times, I would want it to be the persimmon since that's about the only fruit I don't like! But the sense that Adam's apple changed the world was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. In this sense Adam's apple had a world changing impact far, far greater than Isaac Newton or Steve Jobs. The original record concerning Adam's disobedience is recorded in Genesis 3 but today let us consider the teaching by Paul in Romans 5 where he contrasts Adam and Christ. Our daily text states, "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." Bible teacher William Newell writes, "We were so connected with the first Adam that we did not have to wait to be born, or to have a sinful nature; but when Adam, our representative, acted, we acted… The great truth of Romans 5.12-21 is that a representative acted, involving those connected with him (Romans 5)." This is what theologians refer to as "original sin". Adam’s sin constituted them as sinners. They were born as members of a race already separated from God." Indeed Adam's "apple" really, really changed the world! But the supreme act of God's love and mercy is expressed in the latter part of the verse "so by the one man's (Jesus Christ) obedience the many will be made righteous." Stanley Horton, one of my professors in Bible College calls this "The Adam-Christ Parallel." Pastor David Guzik writes, "Only a sinless person acting on our behalf can save us, and it is fair for Him to act on our behalf because another man put us in this mess by acting on our behalf… The person who says, “I don’t want to be represented by Adam or Jesus; I want to represent myself” doesn’t understand two things. First, they don’t understand that it really isn’t up to us. We didn’t write the rules, God did. We simply must choose to follow or ignore them. Secondly, they don’t understand that our personal righteousness before God is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Today we urge all our readers to accept the divinely appointed means that God provided in Christ to the problem we all have due to Adam's "apple". One with Adam are we all,
One with Adam in his fall; But another Adam came— Fallen sinners to reclaim. D. De Haan
Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber ![]() Today's
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"The Love Of God" Video Homecoming Singers To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.) ![]() ![]() Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact. Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." © Copyright 2016 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA |