“BY one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 709.1

Whosoever believes that, and grasps the fast there stated, is prepared to understand the fulness of the salvation that the Lord Jesus brought to the world. And whosoever does not so grasp that which is stated in this verse as to recognise it constantly, cannot grasp, in its truth, in its sincerity, the salvation that Christ has brought.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 709.2

All have sinned: and death came by sin. But all of us have sinned as the consequence of that which was brought to the world,—because of our being in that vortex into which the world was plunged by the sin of that “one man” to whom God gave the world in the beginning. “By one man sin entered into the world.” When sin had so entered by that one man, it was impossible for any of his, of themselves, to rise above that—which he had entailed. It was impossible for any of us to receive from him more than he had. And after he had sinned, sin only was that which he had. Consequently, he sunk the human race under the power of sin—in the sea of sin; and because of that sin we all have sinned; and so death has passed upon all. When that one man sinned, death passed upon him; and he never could draw any of us, any of his posterity, higher than he was. Consequently, when he became subject to death, by sin, we all became subject to death, because, being thus crippled, we all have sinned.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 709.3

The deception of thinking that they have life in themselves has been for ages, and is still, the bane of mankind. This deception is couched in the conception of the immortality of the soul. Vast multitudes of the human race, and indeed the whole human race, naturally, as it is, have come under the power of that deception—of thinking that they have life themselves so certainly that even the Lord Himself cannot deprive them of it. Through the deception in which they are involved, they have come to believe that a part of themselves is “immortal,” and, logically enough, that therefore it is “a part of God”—and then the conclusion, “How can God destroy a part of Himself?” By that argument they convince themselves that the Lord Himself could not destroy them, if He wished to.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 709.4

The whole human race is naturally under that deception. And the way in which they came under this deception is precisely the way in which they came under the deception of sin. It is a part of the original deception; yea, rather, it is the very kernel of the original deception. For what was it that the deceiver said to the woman, to get her to depart from God into sin?—“Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be like God.” You will be like the Divine, and not subject to death. That was the original proposition in the original deception into which the race went by that “one man,” by whom came sin and death; and it is not strange that this deception of men’s thinking that they have life in themselves should be as widely disseminated as is sin. The two things came in together; and they belong together for ever.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 709.5

But the Lord spoke otherwise. Before this deceiver spoke, the Lord had said: “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:17. And this was the truth. It was the truth when He spoke it; it was the truth the day they ate of the tree; and it is the truth for ever. And the only reason that Adam and Eve did not die in the very hour that they ate, is that Jesus Christ stepped in between, and took upon Himself the curse of sin, and its penalty of death. And this He did in order that mankind might be delivered from the death into which they had been plunged by that “one man.” Therefore, since the Lord Jesus stepped in between, and Himself received the stroke of death that must come upon the man the day he sinned; and since the Lord Jesus did this solely in order that the man might have the opportunity to receive life instead of death, it became essential, and in the gift of Christ that day it was given, that the man and all mankind should have sufficient space in which to breathe to allow them to live long enough to fix, each his choice of life or death.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 709.6

That is the origin, that is the source, and that is the philosophy, of the life which now we have in the breath that we draw moment by moment. It all lies solely in the gift of Christ: it is indeed Christ, and only Christ. Each person to-day and ever is directly indebted to Christ for the life which he has in the breath that he draws moment by moment.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 709.7

Surely, if it were not that this life, even though it be truly a vapour, were given us, mankind would never have had any opportunity to breathe at all after Adam sinned. And let it be repeated, for it cannot possibly be repeated too often, this breath itself is given us by the gift of the Lord Jesus; and for the breath drawn moment by moment, every soul in the world to-day, and ever, is dependent upon the gift of Christ, which He made when man had sinned.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 709.8

The word that Jesus spoke, therefore, is literally true,—true in every sense,—when He spoke of Himself as “the living Bread which came down from heaven,” and “giveth life unto the world.” For all the life that the world has to-day, is because the Lord Jesus gave Himself to receive the stroke of death that otherwise must have some upon the man at the beginning, because of the sin that he had sinned. And, in another place, Christ Himself said “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”PTUK November 8, 1900, page 710.1

Oh, that tells the whole story again! When did Jesus Dome, in the meaning of that text? When was His coming? When was He offered? At what time was the offering of Christ made? He is the Lamb “slain from the foundation of the world.” The offering of Christ, in its very substance, was when, in the beginning, the man had sinned, and had become subject to death because of the sin. Then and there Christ gave Himself: there He set Himself forth as the offering. The gift was as certainly made then as it is now. Consequently, when He came thus at the beginning, He came that mankind might have life; because just then mankind needed life.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 710.2

Adam and Eve needed life from that day in the garden; for if Jesus had not then offered Himself, if He had not than thus “come,” death would have come to them the day that they sinned. But the Lord Jesus came and gave Himself, and thus took upon Himself all that was to fall upon them, or upon us, that Adam and Eve might receive what was better. And in the nature of things, they meat have breath to enable them to live long enough to give them time to choose that which God had brought,—the gift of Himself, which is life. Consequently, at that point He came, that mankind might have life, even life enough to allow us to breathe, in order that we might make use of this breathing spell of life in such a way that we should have life more abundantly, even the life which is eternal substance, even as the fulness of the life of God.PTUK November 8, 1900, page 710.3

A. T. JONES.

October 4, 1900

November 15, 1900