Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

GOD'S FIRST MAN

1. One finds mankind of vastly different caliber:
   1. Some live on a much lower level than others.
   2. This raises the question - who and what is responsible for this great divergence?
      1. Did God make men so different?
      2. Or is it man's own deliberate choice?
2. The purpose of this sermon is to show that God neither willed it that way nor did He make men so different:
   1. Man was created with the powers of choice - good or evil; a higher level of living or a lower level of living.
   2. This fact is seen clearly in the experience of our first parents.
   3. The record of the creation of Adam and Eve will tell the story.

1. The substance of God's first man:
   1. God formed him of the dust of the ground - Gen. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:47; Eccl. 12:7
   2. He breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and man became a living soul - Gen. 2:7; Isa. 2:22; 1 Cor. 15:45
2. Thus we learn from the Bible record of the creation of man that he is composed of two components:
   1. Clay - Isa. 45:9
   2. Breath - Eccl. 3:19, 20
3. Man was made in the image and likeness of God:
   1. Adam reflected the Creator's likeness in his physical and moral makeup - Gen. 1:26, 27; 5:1-3; 1 Cor. 11:7
   2. He had been endowed with great mental power - Gen. 2:19; Eccl. 7:29
   3. He was crowned ruler over this world - Gen. 1:26, 27; Ps. 8:4-9

1. The result of departure from the principles that God laid down when man was created:
   1. Men ignored God's plan of living; they followed their own imagination -
      1. Adam and Eve ignored God's warning and believed a lie - Gen. 3:1-6
      2. Cain ignored the warning of God and killed his brother - Gen. 4:3-16
      3. The antediluvians, too, disregarded the warning of the Lord and perished in the flood - Gen. 6; 7; 9; Matt. 24:36-39
   2. Mens' rebellion against God caused the Lord to let them follow the imagination of their evil hearts - Rom. 1:18-20, 24-32
2. God has, in mercy, provided a way and a means to lift man on a high and level platform:
   1. Through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ - Rom. 1:26
   2. When people accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, all man-made partitions will disappear - all come upon the same level of living - Eph. 2:11-16; Gal. 3:26-29
   3. It is God's truth that changes man's concept of life. The missions in Africa and other third-world countries speak eloquently for the power that raises people up, brings them upon a higher plane of living.
3. God's first man was noble in stature and in moral character:
   1. Had our first parents resisted the lie brought to them by Lucifer, there would never have been a low level of life by any of Adam's descendants.
   2. It is God's purpose to bring mankind back upon the moral and mental platform He had placed our first parents in.
   3. All this will be consummated in due time through Jesus Christ our Lord.
   4. Will God succeed with you and with me? That depends upon our willingness to cooperate with our Creator and Redeemer.