Niagara Falls Church of Christ

(716)285-6534 (716)285-6534 (for phone and fax)

James Lawrence, Herschel Walker - Elders

For every cause there is an effect. For every effect there is an underlying cause. For the purposes of this study, we know what the cause is. The cause is man's fall from God's favor. The question we will attempt to study is; what are the effects of this cause? From Romans 5 we notice the following effects:

:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;

:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,

The first thing we notice is that sin and death go hand in hand. God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" on pain of death. "Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Adam and Eve broke the law and the necessary penalty was death. The consequences of Adam's sin, not his sin, passed on to all of his descendants. As a result of being descended from Adam all people die, all people are born with a nature that tends to sin, but people are not born sinners bearing Adam's sin. Sin cannot be inherited, but comes as a result of transgressing God's commandments.

Another result of Adam's fall is judgment. Once Adam demonstrated that he and his descendants were willing to disobey God, it became necessary to judge their guilt according to the commandment that had been given. Adam and Eve were judged according to the commandment given them, Noah was judged according to the commandments given him, those who lived under the law of Moses will be judged according to that law, and those of us who live in the Christian dispensation will be judged according to the law of Christ. Rev. 20:11-15 depicts the judgment to take place before the "great white throne". We are told of "books" being opened and those before the throne, "both great and small" being judged out of the "books". I believe this refers to the Bible, which is made up of many different books. The Bible contains those things by which men of all ages will be judged.

A third result of Adam's sin is condemnation. When Adam showed his proclivity toward sin, it became necessary to set in place a system by which men could be either justified or condemned. Every human being ever born, with the notable exception of Jesus the Christ, failed when confronted with the choice of obeying God or pleasing self. Therefore every human being ever born has been judged a sinner according to the laws of God for his time. Paul expressed the seriousness of this fact in Rom. 3:9-12. You should take time to read it carefully.