ADAM THE FIRST HUMAN TO ENCOUNTER GOD

SERIES: CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

TEXT: GENESIS 2:7

We are doing a new series of messages on Bible characters entitled “Close encounters.” Despite their problems, sins, terrible mistakes and circumstances, turned out to have close encounters with God.

Everyone of us, be it a parent, teenager, church worker and every member needs a close encounter with God. We are living in the last days, very soon the church is going to be raptured, the anti-Christ is about to be revealed, the church needs revival. This is the day that each one of us needs a close encounter with the living God. No matter your past, your pain, your failures, your problems, we can all have close encounters with God. Just like the people we are going to look at, they were people:-

Who struggled with their faith like Abraham.

Who made tragic choices like David.

Who had had bad past, like Paul the apostle.

Whose world had taken apart, like Job.

Who ran from God, like Jonah.

They were ordinary, average, scarred, marred, every day people like you and me.

Adam was the very first human being to encounter God in Genesis 2:7.

Adam and Eve had an unhindered access with God.

• They literally walked with God face to face. God came down to talk with them in the cool of the day.
• There was a literal creation and God literally formed man out of the dust of the ground and God literally made woman out of man’s rib and no one has ever had a greater close encounter with God than Adam and Eve.
• We also need to remember that there are two Adams-the first Adam and the second Adam.
• The first Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam is a quickening (life giving) spirit- 1^st15:45-49.
• The first Adam was natural, the last Adam was spiritual.
• The first Adam of the earth and therefore earthly, the last Adam is from heaven and therefore heavenly.
• We have borne the image of the earthly Adam but in Christ, the last Adam we shall bear the heavenly image also.
• The first Adam was earthly of the ground, carnal minded and at enmity with God.
• The first Adam was made a living soul with the ability to make choices of his own, he later sinned causing the fall of all mankind.
• This earthly Adam has existed throughout human history, rebellious and disrespectable having a sinful heart and behavior, always fighting and never attaining, learning and never being able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
• Always seeking and not finding true peace.
• The last Adam is the last and no other will ever come. He is the life giving spirit. He gave new life to me.
• There are only two different people on earth now, those who are in the first Adam and those who are in the last Adam. The natural and the spiritual man- 1^st2:14-16.

Let us learn:-

HOW ADAM WALKED WITH GOD IS HOW GOD INTENDS ALL MANKIND TO WALK FOR ALL TIME.

• Literally God intended to walk and talk with man face to face, just like He did with Adam and Eve.
• Just as we walk with family, God intend to walk with me and you.
• God wants intimacy, detailed, face to face contact with us as human beings.
• You and I were not meant to die, go to hell, be sick, be bond to drugs, God did not intend funeral homes, prisons, war, death, but to walk hand in hand, heart to heart, face to face with the Almighty God.
• There is a God shaped vacuum in the human heart that only God can fill. This vacuum cannot be filled by people, drugs, sex, money, wealth, fame, alcohol and religion.
• The moment you come to Jesus, something happens in your heart that you know is new.
• King David of the Bible had all that-many wives, much wealth, power, position and beauty, but here is what he said;
• Psalm 73:25- “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”
• Psalm 34:8- “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

ADAM BLEW IT!!

• You remember what happened? God told them there was a forbidden tree that they should not eat.
• And Satan came in and deceived Eve and then Adam ate and their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked.
• Sin is disobedience- no one has ever sinned like Adam and Eve.
• There before, they had no sin nature, they were in perfect environment, perfect bodies and they committed a perfect crime.
• God’s first words to the sinful man were- WHERE ARE YOU?
• God’s word to the sinner is- WHERE ARE YOU?
• This tells us that God wants us to have close ENCOUNTERS.
• God’s question to us today is- “WHERE ARE YOU?”
• God is saying,
• I want fellowship with you.
• I want you to really know me.
• And God said to Adam, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”
• And Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent and the serpent did not have a leg to stand on!!
• As a result of sin;
• Driven from the intimate access to God.
• Driven from the garden.
• It will be hard to make a living.
• The woman would remember the pain she helped bring into the world when giving birth.
• But at the same time God gave a promise- Gen.3:15.
• When man had done his worst, God promised His best.

THERE WAS ANOTHER “ADAM”- A SECOND ADAM

• This last Adam is called a ‘Second Adam”- 1^st15:45.
• This last Adam, His name is JESUS.
• The first Adam caused all mankind to be lost in a garden.
• The second Adam prayed in another garden- “Not my will but yours be done.”
• The first Adam’s side was opened and a bride was made for him.
• The second Adam died on the cross, His side was pierced, out came blood and water and that formed another bride- “The Church.”
• The first Adam failed, the last Adam won the victory.
• The first Adam died and became dust, the last Adam died, was buried but He rose from the dead on the third day- 1^st15:22; Rom.5:12-19.
• The first Adam brought death, the second Adam brings life.
• Through the first Adam communion was lost, through the second Adam we can have close encounter with God.

CONCLUSION

• God is seeking for close encounter with you and me today.
• A close encounter for you and God is called salvation.
• A continuous encounter with God is called eternal fellowship.
• Are you saved? Do you walk closely with God? Both are made possible through the Last Adam.