1. “Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden...and there He put the man...the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:8-9).
After God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, He placed him before two trees in the garden of Eden. One tree was the tree of life, and the other was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. According to the Bible, these two trees have symbolic meaning. The tree of life refers to God, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil refers to Satan. Adam represents man. Therefore, the picture of Adam and the two trees symbolizes that man stands before both God and Satan. In the garden there was man, God, and Satan, and even in the universe now, there is man, God, and Satan. In the garden the created life of man was good, the uncreated life of God was divine, and the fallen life of Satan was corrupted. The Bible speaks of Satan as God’s enemy, and it reveals that there is a struggle between Satan and God over man. Both Satan and God want to gain man. God wants to gain man to accomplish His purpose, and Satan wants to gain man to destroy God’s purpose. God gains man by giving him His uncreated, divine life, causing man to be one with Him. Satan gains man by injecting his fallen, corrupted life into man, causing man to be fallen and corrupted.
Man has three parts—spirit, soul, and body, and in the universe there are three kinds of life—the good created life of man, the uncreated divine life of God, and the fallen corrupted life of Satan. God desires to impart His uncreated life into man, and Satan wants to inject his fallen life into man.
1. “God created man in His own image” (Gen. 1:27).
Every believer is related to three great events. The first event is creation. Every man has been created by God in His image and according to His likeness. Apart from God’s creation, man would not exist. God’s creation is the first great event in the history of man.
1. “Through one man sin entered into the world” (Rom. 5:12).
The second great event in the history of man is the fall. Man was created but he became fallen. With Adam there was a great fall, and sin entered into the world and into all of mankind through Adam. Every man has sin because every man is in Adam. When Adam fell, we fell. We were created by God, but we became fallen through Adam.
2. “Through the disobedience of one man the many were constituted sinners” (Rom. 5:19).
Through the disobedience of one man, Adam, the many, that is, all mankind, fell and became sinners. We do not need to commit a sin in order to be a sinner. We became sinners when we fell in Adam long ago.
3. “Through one offense unto condemnation to all men” (Rom. 5:18).
All of mankind has been condemned because of Adam’s one offense in the garden of Eden. We have not been condemned because of the sins we have committed but because of the one offense of Adam. As men in Adam, we share in his fall and in his condemnation.
1. “Through the obedience of the One the many will be constituted righteous” (Rom. 5:19).
The third great event in the history of man is salvation. Every believer is related not only to God’s creation and to Adam’s fall but also to Christ’s salvation. Although we were created and then fell, we were also saved. After being created by God, we became fallen in Adam, but then we were joined to Christ through His salvation. From God we passed through Adam into Christ. By passing through Adam we became fallen, and by entering into Christ we were saved. Just as the disobedience of Adam made all who are in him sinners, the obedience of Christ made all who are in Him righteous. Just as we fell in Adam, we were saved in Christ.
2. “Through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men” (Rom. 5:18).
We were condemned to death in Adam because of his one offense in the garden, and we have been justified unto life in Christ because of His one righteous act on the cross. Just as Adam’s one offense caused all men to be condemned to death as sinners, Christ’s one righteous act caused all men in Him to be justified to life as righteous. We fell in Adam, and we were saved in Christ. Salvation is the third great event in the history of a believer.