Sermon 2
Dr. Randy White
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Download the sermon notes here:
Tracking Deaths Dominion - Sermon 2.pdf
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This study explores how death's role has changed throughout biblical history, from its beginning at Adam's fall to its final defeat. Using a dispensational framework, we'll trace God's progressive revelation of His plan for victory over death through Christ.
We'll examine how death functioned differently across key periods: Eden, pre-law, Mosaic Law, the current age of grace, the Millennium, and its ultimate end. This perspective illuminates God's consistent character and unfolding redemptive plan.
God had declared, “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die” (Genesis 3:3). The Hebrew term for “die” is מוּת (mûth), reflecting both physical death and broader mortality. When Adam sinned, death was introduced to humanity just as God had said. If we take Genesis literally, this means human death did not exist prior to Adam’s disobedience.
A consistent biblical worldview does not place human death before Adam’s fall. Any position claiming humans died before Adam stands at odds with the biblical text. This naturally excludes a standard evolutionary framework, which depends on countless generations of mortality prior to humanity’s appearance.
From the late 19th century until around 1930, many scientists pictured a static or eternal universe with no definitive beginning. In the 1930s, evidence for an expanding universe led to the “Big Bang” concept. Subsequent decades brought forward ideas like steady state or oscillating models, and now some favor inflationary or multiverse theories. Scientific consensus continually morphs as new data emerges, showcasing both admirable investigation and inherent uncertainty.
One can rely on scientific theories, which often evolve every generation or so. Alternatively, the Bible has remained fixed in its assertions and has proven reliable in its spiritual claims. Though scientific exploration offers valuable insights, it cannot guarantee permanence of interpretation. Scripture, however, presents a coherent narrative about origins, humanity, and the entrance of death.
Romans 5:14 notes that “death reigned from Adam to Moses.” During this era, no formal code was in place to define sin with specific penalties, except for Genesis 3:3, which only Adam and Eve directly violated. Nevertheless, all people died even though they did not commit the identical transgression. This demonstrates that physical mortality was inherited rather than individually “earned” by the same breach of divine command.
From Genesis 5 onward, genealogical records underscore the repeated phrase “and he died,” revealing that humanity was ensnared by the effects of a fallen creation. Death extended to everyone, not only those who mimicked Adam’s exact sin. Its universal presence signified the curse’s hold on humankind.