MEMORY VERSE: ‘And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ Revelation 21:4.
LESSON AIM: To study the difference between the first death and the second death.
‘Oh, what a scene will we then see, some coming forth to life eternal at the first resurrection! Upon them the second death shall have no power. And then at the end of a thousand years the wicked dead come forth. I cannot endure to think of this. I dwell with pleasure upon the resurrection of the just, who shall come forth from all parts of the earth, from rocky caverns, from dungeons, from caves of the earth, from the waters of the deep, not one is overlooked. Every one shall hear His voice. They will come forth with triumph and victory. Then there is to be no more death, no more sin, no more sorrow.’ Manuscript Releases, volume 21, page 342.
1. According to the Bible, why did death enter the world? Romans 5:12.
NOTE: ‘All have sinned: and death came by sin. 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 in 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 sank 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.’ A. T. Jones: Review & Herald, October 9, 1900.
2. How many are subject to death and why? Romans 5:12, last part. Consider Psalm 89:48.
NOTE: ‘The wickedness that fills our world is the result of Adam’s refusal to take God’s word as supreme. He disobeyed, and fell under the temptation of the enemy. “Sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” God declared, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” And, apart from the plan of redemption, human beings are doomed to death. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”’ Review & Herald, March 15, 1906.
‘God tells us what is the condition of the dead. He created men that they might live, and therefore the tree of life was placed in the garden of Eden. The death, which comes by transgression, was never planned for by God. It is an absolute undoing of His work, and whoever becomes subject to death, returns to the dust from whence he came, while the breath by which God made him a living soul (Genesis 2:7), returns to its Giver. Ecclesiastes 12:7.’ E. J. Waggoner: Present Truth, June 22, 1899.