The Fall of Man: Dying in Adam, Living in Christ
Bob Yandian
Today we’re digging into one of the most important foundational truths in all of Scripture—the fall of man. We're going to see how Adam’s decision to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought the nature of sin into every one of us, and how Jesus came to reverse that curse through the new birth. It's not just about history—this truth affects every part of your life today.
When Adam ate of that tree in the garden, the tree entered into him. It didn’t just affect his thinking or his surroundings—it entered him. And when the tree entered Adam, it entered all of us. The Bible says in Romans 5:12, “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” That’s not referring to the sins we commit day-to-day. It’s talking about the nature of sin—the sin of Adam—that we all inherited because we were in him when he sinned.
That tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, had both good and evil in it. But it wasn’t God’s good. It was human good. The Hebrew word for “good” here is not the same kind of good we find in God. It’s good that originates from man’s own efforts. It’s the kind of good we find in religion—fig leaves that try to cover sin, but don’t remove it. It’s what people today rely on when they think they can go to heaven by just being a good person, helping others, or giving to charity. God doesn’t accept human good. He only accepts divine good—the kind that comes through grace and through Jesus Christ.
Adam and Eve were surrounded by thousands of “yes” trees and only one “no” tree. Isn’t that something? Thousands of trees they could eat from freely, and one tree God said not to touch. But they chose the one thing God said not to do. That tree introduced spiritual death instantly. And eventually, physical death followed. God said, “In the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” The Hebrew says it like this: “Dying, you shall die.” That means two deaths—spiritual first, then physical.
The moment Adam ate, the nature of the flesh—what the Bible also calls the sin nature—entered into him and into the human race. Romans 6:6 calls it “the old man.” Romans 8:12 calls it “the flesh.” Colossians 3:9 refers to it again as “the old man.” And then in the New Testament epistles—especially Romans—we see it called simply “sin.” Not sins, plural, but sin—singular. The nature of sin.
This nature is located in our bodies. That’s why Paul says in Romans 6:12, “Let not sin reign in your mortal body.” It’s in your members, in your flesh. It wars against your spirit and your soul. James 4:1 says, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” That nature is still in you, even after you're born again. It doesn’t get removed until you receive your resurrection body.
That’s why even as believers, we struggle. But the power of God gives us the ability to overcome. We don’t overcome the sin nature by trying harder. We overcome by walking in the Spirit. And here’s where the soul—your mind, your will, and your emotions—becomes the swing vote. It can lean toward the flesh or toward the spirit. And the determining factor is whether or not your mind is being renewed by the Word of God. Romans 8:6 says, “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Who's he talking to? Christians. So that means Christians can still choose to walk in the flesh or in the spirit.
If your mind is not renewed, even though your spirit is born again, you’ll still walk like someone who’s spiritually dead. You’ll still operate out of the same anger, jealousy, fear, insecurity, or pride you had before you got saved. But as you renew your mind, the Holy Spirit partners with you to bring that flesh under control.
Let’s go back to the garden again. Adam blamed Eve. Eve told the truth—she was deceived. But Adam wasn’t deceived. He knowingly disobeyed God. That’s why the Bible doesn’t say, “In Eve all die.” It says, “In Adam all die.” Even though Eve was the first to eat, the responsibility was on Adam’s shoulders. And with him, the entire human race fell.
But God immediately pointed to a solution. He said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” That Seed is Jesus Christ. God was announcing the virgin birth—the way He would bypass the sin nature passed down through Adam and bring forth a man born without sin.
Jesus was the only human born into this world without the sin nature. Mary had the nature of the flesh, but because God was His Father, Jesus was born outside the curse. He could have sinned. He had free will. But He didn’t. He lived a sinless life. And because of that, He became the only One qualified to redeem us.
So when we stand before God, it won’t be about our good works. The sinner will fall back on the book of works, listing every good thing they ever did, but God will say, “It’s not enough.” They’ll say, “I gave to charity. I went to church. I lived a good life.” But it won’t matter. The standard is 100%. Anything less than a perfect score is failure. Jesus is the only one who ever scored a 100. And the only way to pass is to receive His score.
Believers fall back on the Lamb’s Book of Life. Our name is there because one day we accepted Jesus. Our salvation doesn’t come from what we did—it comes from what He did. And the good works we do after salvation? Those are divine good. Those are the works we’ll be rewarded for at the judgment seat of Christ.
One tree in the garden brought death. One tree on a hill outside Jerusalem brought life. The first tree was disobedience in Adam. The second tree was obedience in Christ. The first brought in sin and death. The second brings in righteousness and life. And today, every person is either attached to Adam or to Jesus. You’re either a branch in a dead tree or a branch in the living tree.
If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ, now is the time. Say, “Jesus, I believe in You. I believe You died for me and rose again. I accept You as my Lord and Savior.” And when you do that, you are taken out of Adam and placed into Christ. You die in Adam and are made alive in Christ.
You may not feel any different at first, but something has changed inside you. You’re spiritually alive. Now you’ve got a new nature—God’s divine nature—and you can begin to walk in that every day. Feed on the Word of God, renew your mind, and let the Spirit lead you.
