Transcript: Episode 0067
This transcript:
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WEBVTT 00:00:37.292 --> 00:00:39.472Welcome to the Stone Choir Podcast. 00:00:39.772 --> 00:00:40.752 I am Corey J. 00:00:40.772 --> 00:00:41.192 Mahler. 00:00:41.792 --> 00:00:43.012 And I'm still Woe. 00:00:44.692 --> 00:00:48.752 On today's Stone Choir, we're going to be discussing the subject of inheritance. 00:00:49.512 --> 00:01:04.092 As we began this many two-part series last week discussing jealousy and zealousness, we are continuing now with notions of how God and how man deals with subject of inheritance. 00:01:04.112 --> 00:01:06.272 What does it mean to inherit something? 00:01:06.632 --> 00:01:08.952 What are the systems by which that operates? 00:01:09.012 --> 00:01:09.952 Why do we do it? 00:01:10.472 --> 00:01:11.332 Why does God do it? 00:01:11.992 --> 00:01:13.232 When and where does that occur? 00:01:14.752 --> 00:01:18.812 Before we get into it properly, just a brief update on the challenge coins. 00:01:19.372 --> 00:01:21.552 Corey has pictures of the samples. 00:01:21.552 --> 00:01:23.712 The physical samples are en route to his house. 00:01:24.092 --> 00:01:26.312 Should be getting them hopefully by the end of this week. 00:01:26.332 --> 00:01:30.732 As soon as we get those, we'll post some pictures online so everyone can see them. 00:01:31.432 --> 00:01:34.912 Probably making a couple tiny tweaks and then placing that order. 00:01:34.932 --> 00:01:36.572 So thank you to everyone for your patience. 00:01:37.232 --> 00:01:42.552 Also, I've noticed in the download stats in the last 10 days, we have a ton of new listeners. 00:01:42.952 --> 00:01:44.812 I honestly have no idea from where. 00:01:45.252 --> 00:01:50.572 We didn't see any bump in any of the places that we would expect to find incoming traffic from. 00:01:50.572 --> 00:01:52.812 So if you're a new listener, joined recently. 00:01:53.292 --> 00:01:54.352 Thank you very much for joining. 00:01:54.372 --> 00:01:55.212 We're happy to have you. 00:01:55.732 --> 00:02:03.392 As we routinely say, if you're enjoying these shows, we highly recommend that you go back to the beginning and start with all of them. 00:02:04.612 --> 00:02:07.772 We don't really do timely episodes as much as possible. 00:02:08.072 --> 00:02:09.852 We're trying to create a catalog here. 00:02:09.872 --> 00:02:18.192 So it's worth listening to an episode from a year or so ago because it's still going to be fresh because, you know, it's not current events as much as we can help it. 00:02:18.472 --> 00:02:24.592 And even when we do tackle current events, it's because those are examples of broader issues that are affecting all of us. 00:02:24.652 --> 00:02:29.252 So if you're enjoying it, random episodes, highly recommend you listen to order. 00:02:29.492 --> 00:02:30.712 It works better that way. 00:02:30.732 --> 00:02:34.872 There are a lot of foundational concepts that we rely on from PAP episodes. 00:02:35.172 --> 00:02:37.412 So just something to keep in mind and welcome. 00:02:38.012 --> 00:02:43.652 If you're listening, please leave a five-star review on Spotify or Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. 00:02:43.932 --> 00:02:52.712 It helps with discoverability and it also helps to overwhelm the hate listeners who like to leave one-star reviews just because they hate us so much. 00:02:52.952 --> 00:02:55.652 It's pretty comical how mad people get when they don't agree. 00:02:57.072 --> 00:03:16.192 On the subject of inheritance, to begin with, I want to distinguish between when we're talking about what we think of as manmade customs and we're talking about things that are from God, that are godly, or that are biblical commandments in some cases, because this subject really kind of overlaps all of that. 00:03:17.252 --> 00:03:30.092 And I think it's important for us, whenever we're approaching really any subject in human life, is to consider that God created us, He created man in His image. 00:03:30.472 --> 00:03:35.612 We have the fallen image of God now that is restored through sanctification. 00:03:37.312 --> 00:03:45.812 As creatures made in God's image, there are things that we do because we are like Him. 00:03:46.332 --> 00:03:53.232 There are certain things that are typological that naturally occur to man, that we simply do it because this is how God does things. 00:03:53.632 --> 00:03:55.892 And inheritance is one of the examples of that. 00:03:56.132 --> 00:04:00.472 So we make the case today for why inheritance is interesting and important. 00:04:01.392 --> 00:04:11.212 I wanna distinguish between things that we think of as manmade human procedures or customs or laws and things that we do because God established them. 00:04:11.752 --> 00:04:23.732 And so when we look at the passages about inheritance in scripture, it's clear that God establishes inheritance just as He establishes the legal system, which is to be clear, there's not synonymous with the Levitical law. 00:04:23.912 --> 00:04:26.092 I'm not saying God has given us a list of laws. 00:04:26.392 --> 00:04:28.832 I'm saying that God invented the concept of laws. 00:04:29.212 --> 00:04:34.012 God invented the concept of a judge, of evidence, of witnesses. 00:04:34.392 --> 00:04:37.592 These are all things that God baked into creation. 00:04:37.912 --> 00:04:42.932 And so when humans do those things, it's not because we made them up ourselves. 00:04:43.152 --> 00:04:52.392 This is a lie that comes from the secular humanist camp where really I think kind of beginning with guys like Jung and then there are acolytes down the road in history. 00:04:53.532 --> 00:05:09.792 The secular humanists want everyone to think that the reason that all these various cultures all around the world have things like a flood narrative or have various types of legal systems or have some sort of patriarchy or matriarchy, if it's an evil society. 00:05:10.852 --> 00:05:16.012 Secular humanists want you to think that man invented all of these things as an upwelling of our own spirit. 00:05:16.372 --> 00:05:18.392 And there's no supernatural connection to any of it. 00:05:18.652 --> 00:05:21.412 It's all just entirely man and there's no God. 00:05:22.192 --> 00:05:25.172 That's their goal for talking about things in that way. 00:05:25.972 --> 00:05:36.812 As Christians, we have to understand that all the things that we do, we do because God made us to do them, or we do because we're rebelling against the way God made us to do things. 00:05:37.092 --> 00:05:39.412 Both of those happen, but it's always one or the other. 00:05:39.432 --> 00:05:46.052 When God is your creator, either you're doing what He created you to do, or you're rebelling against the purpose for what you were created. 00:05:46.612 --> 00:05:58.372 And in our fallen sinful nature, it's always rebelling against the purpose which God created us, which is why things like judicial systems and all these other things always have serious problems. 00:05:58.752 --> 00:06:00.932 But they don't have problems because they're manmade. 00:06:01.232 --> 00:06:04.772 They have problems because sinners are using the tool. 00:06:05.112 --> 00:06:13.972 But the tool itself, whether it's the legal system or even something like poetry, there's lots of poetry in scripture, and men naturally create poetry and other art. 00:06:14.832 --> 00:06:26.892 And I think when we read the Bible and we recognize that there are different genres of literature in the Bible, we think that that's because that's God talking to us in our language. 00:06:27.452 --> 00:06:34.012 I think it makes a lot more sense to recognize that that is us recognizing God speaking his own language. 00:06:34.432 --> 00:06:41.852 There are times when God has facts and figures and entire chapters that are nothing but numbers, basically a spreadsheet. 00:06:42.432 --> 00:06:43.912 And then there are times where there's poetry. 00:06:44.612 --> 00:06:46.412 And we also see this in creation. 00:06:46.432 --> 00:06:56.792 You know, if you see a beautiful mountain vista or you see a sunset, the ephemeral beauty of that sort of thing can't be captured in a spreadsheet. 00:06:56.812 --> 00:06:58.612 You can't capture it quantitatively. 00:06:59.112 --> 00:07:06.612 And even to try to describe it in clinical terms really does a great violence to the beauty of what you're seeing. 00:07:07.092 --> 00:07:14.772 And so things like poetry are how we, like a God, communicate certain types of beauty that you can't capture any other way. 00:07:14.792 --> 00:07:19.832 It's not, part of the beauty of a sunset is that it's passing. 00:07:20.312 --> 00:07:24.832 Its beauty is that you are witnessing something beautiful even as you're losing it. 00:07:25.112 --> 00:07:27.892 You're watching this beautiful moment slip away. 00:07:28.332 --> 00:07:31.692 And then when the sun goes beneath the horizon, it's over, that's it. 00:07:32.352 --> 00:07:35.692 And the beauty is in the passage and the loss of that thing. 00:07:36.192 --> 00:07:49.312 So when we as humans appreciate or engage in all these things, you know, whether it's poetry or inheritance or anything, we're doing something because it's typologically what God has given us to do. 00:07:49.332 --> 00:08:02.092 Now, it's not always 100% the case, but I think that when you think in those terms and you look in scripture and you find these same sorts of things, it's not just guys living, men living together in societies and coming up with rules. 00:08:02.812 --> 00:08:21.492 You know, as I was looking at some of the history of things like inheritance and dowry, once again, Babylon came up, you know, 4,000 years ago, when you look at things like the Code of Habarabi, there are very similar rules and processes that pagan society was using, that you also find in believing societies throughout time. 00:08:21.812 --> 00:08:23.532 And the rules vary and the details vary. 00:08:23.572 --> 00:08:34.652 And as we talk about inheritance today, I want to make clear upfront, we're not giving a prescription for, here are exactly what we must do with inheritance and our own families. 00:08:34.832 --> 00:08:56.512 We're going to give some examples, and I'll point out specifically what I mean then, but we want to appreciate God's creation and giving us these tools, because God not only talks about the blessings of material wealth and temporal things that are given to us for our benefit and our aid, but our salvation is also an inheritance. 00:08:56.732 --> 00:08:59.672 It's the most important one, but it's not the only one. 00:09:00.212 --> 00:09:12.932 And so there are times where, when we're looking at this subject in particular, we have to recognize that, as God is operating in these terms, it's for our benefit, and it's not something we came up with. 00:09:12.952 --> 00:09:19.992 And so as we discuss inheritance today, don't get plugged into the legal thinking about it, even though we discuss some of those things. 00:09:20.012 --> 00:09:26.552 Just keep in mind that this is fundamentally God giving us something and showing us how his world works. 00:09:26.992 --> 00:09:42.632 And so when we're participating in the concept of inheritance and of property and of jealously possessing our property and having zeal for those property rights, it's not greed, it's not mind, mind, mind. 00:09:43.252 --> 00:09:44.652 It is properly ordered. 00:09:44.672 --> 00:09:47.732 It is a stewardship of that which God has blessed us with. 00:09:48.252 --> 00:09:52.872 And inheritance is a means by which those blessings propagate through generations. 00:09:54.292 --> 00:10:02.832 As we pointed out last week, inheritance ties in intricately and extensively to the idea of jealousy. 00:10:03.052 --> 00:10:09.352 And that is why we did the jealousy episode first, and why this is really sort of a two-part episode. 00:10:10.672 --> 00:10:13.832 Fundamentally, that is how God has structured things. 00:10:15.012 --> 00:10:20.912 Because the things of which you are jealous, in large part, are the things that you have inherited. 00:10:20.932 --> 00:10:23.992 They are the things that constitute your inheritance. 00:10:24.652 --> 00:10:30.772 And in fact, the things that God gives you, then become part of the inheritance that you pass forward. 00:10:31.532 --> 00:10:35.332 And we see this concern in many places in Scripture. 00:10:35.912 --> 00:10:39.672 And obviously, children are mentioned many times in Scripture as being a blessing. 00:10:40.332 --> 00:10:49.592 But part of the reason that children are that blessing is that children are what enable you to pass forward the inheritance that God has given you. 00:10:50.612 --> 00:10:58.972 And so, of course, as those children who have received that inheritance from our forefathers, we are to be jealous of that because God has given that to us. 00:10:58.992 --> 00:11:01.112 It is a blessing from God. 00:11:02.012 --> 00:11:17.112 One of the examples in Scripture that should very clearly come to mind is, of course, Abraham, called Abram at the time of this particular instance in Scripture, but we'll just use Abraham, except when I'm reading it, because that's easier to understand and remember. 00:11:17.732 --> 00:11:22.892 But from Genesis 15, After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. 00:11:23.292 --> 00:11:27.312 Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, your reward shall be very great. 00:11:27.912 --> 00:11:36.552 But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless in the heir of my house as Eleazar of Damascus. 00:11:37.152 --> 00:11:43.352 And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir. 00:11:44.072 --> 00:11:46.152 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. 00:11:46.732 --> 00:11:50.932 This man shall not be your heir, your very own son shall be your heir. 00:11:51.472 --> 00:11:57.092 And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them. 00:11:57.792 --> 00:12:00.572 Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. 00:12:01.292 --> 00:12:04.932 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 00:12:06.692 --> 00:12:20.352 We can see here one of the fundamental aspects of inheritance, as I just mentioned, is this giving forward of what God has given to us to those who come after us. 00:12:20.372 --> 00:12:23.932 And obviously that means first and foremost to children. 00:12:24.672 --> 00:12:28.332 Yes, there are others to whom an inheritance can be given. 00:12:28.872 --> 00:12:31.592 Obviously it benefits the larger family as well. 00:12:31.612 --> 00:12:35.812 Your cousins and others are going to benefit if you leave behind a large inheritance. 00:12:36.152 --> 00:12:40.792 But first and foremost, it is a matter of what you are giving to your children. 00:12:40.812 --> 00:12:45.952 And there are some specifics about this in Scripture and in human custom. 00:12:45.972 --> 00:12:47.652 We'll get into those later in the episode. 00:12:49.112 --> 00:12:51.952 But fundamentally, this needs to be borne in mind. 00:12:52.792 --> 00:12:55.912 An inheritance belongs to your children. 00:12:55.992 --> 00:13:01.192 It is something that you are holding in trust, after a fashion, for those children. 00:13:01.972 --> 00:13:13.832 And so we like to think in the modern context, particularly living under the sort of political and economic systems we do, that this is mine and I can do whatever I want with it. 00:13:15.252 --> 00:13:17.632 And that's simply not true. 00:13:18.172 --> 00:13:20.272 That's not the reality of the situation. 00:13:20.812 --> 00:13:29.592 Because the things that you have, by and large, were inherited, you inherited them from previous generations. 00:13:30.892 --> 00:13:35.692 You didn't necessarily earn them, so to speak, and they are not really yours. 00:13:36.832 --> 00:13:44.852 They will be carried forward, they will be given, they will be bequeathed to the next generation as part of the inheritance you leave behind. 00:13:45.312 --> 00:13:48.412 It's that unbroken chain all the way down through history. 00:13:49.032 --> 00:13:56.752 And of course, it has to be an unbroken chain, because if there's any break in that chain, there's nothing to carry forward. 00:13:57.712 --> 00:14:02.312 This is most clear when it comes to children, when it comes to biological descent. 00:14:03.632 --> 00:14:11.812 All of us can trace our ancestry directly back to Noah, and then from Noah back to Adam, of course. 00:14:12.492 --> 00:14:17.152 That is an unbroken chain, because a break in the chain would mean someone did not have children. 00:14:17.832 --> 00:14:18.992 You wouldn't exist. 00:14:19.452 --> 00:14:24.452 If any one of your ancestors were removed from that chain, you would not exist. 00:14:25.612 --> 00:14:33.312 And so think about that if you are thinking about the scope of inheritance, because inheritance is not just property. 00:14:33.332 --> 00:14:44.832 We like to think that, oh, inheritance is the real estate that our parents passed to us or the bank account they passed to us or any of these material possessions, as it were. 00:14:46.252 --> 00:14:50.872 But first and foremost, your first possession really is your body. 00:14:51.352 --> 00:14:52.872 It is who and what you are. 00:14:54.172 --> 00:14:59.192 And that is also an inheritance, because that is something that was given to you by your parents. 00:14:59.672 --> 00:15:08.732 It is something they received from their parents, and their parents from their grandparents, and so on and so forth, again, all the way back to Noah and Adam. 00:15:09.432 --> 00:15:21.552 And we see this also in Scripture, because Scripture speaks of the fact that the Levites, who were still in the loins of their ancestor in Abraham, tithe to Melchizedek. 00:15:22.192 --> 00:15:25.832 Well, that's because they are part of that inheritance. 00:15:26.412 --> 00:15:30.972 They are what Abraham passed forward genetically, biologically in this case. 00:15:31.772 --> 00:15:38.392 And so it's not just material possessions that constitute the inheritance one receives and one transmits. 00:15:39.132 --> 00:15:43.152 It is also all of these other and, quite frankly, more important things. 00:15:44.052 --> 00:15:48.132 And so in a very real sense, your nation is an inheritance. 00:15:48.632 --> 00:15:56.112 Yes, it is something of which you should be jealous, as we discussed in last week's episode, but it is also part of your inheritance. 00:15:56.132 --> 00:15:58.892 And of course, that is part of the reason you should be jealous of it. 00:15:59.692 --> 00:16:01.112 It is yours. 00:16:01.752 --> 00:16:10.992 It belongs to you and to your fellow members of your nation, because it was given to you by your ancestors, because it was given to them by God. 00:16:11.952 --> 00:16:17.672 And so we're not saying that you have your genetic makeup and it's yours and you possess it, and it's... 00:16:19.192 --> 00:16:25.652 Yes, that's true, but on a higher and more important level, that is true because it was given to you by God. 00:16:26.212 --> 00:16:38.712 And that is why, as we went over in last week's episode, it is something of which you should be jealous, because it is rightfully yours, because it was given to you by God as a blessing, and you should be protective of that. 00:16:39.332 --> 00:16:42.272 You should be jealous of that. 00:16:43.232 --> 00:16:44.312 You should be proud of that. 00:16:44.332 --> 00:16:46.832 That's something given you by God. 00:16:48.212 --> 00:16:59.332 And so when someone tells you that you can't be proud of, say, your ancestry, and this is one of the best examples, because we hear this all the time in the modern world, that's simply wrong. 00:17:00.192 --> 00:17:04.132 That's telling you to be ashamed of something God gave you. 00:17:04.772 --> 00:17:07.652 It's telling you to denigrate one of God's good gifts. 00:17:08.572 --> 00:17:10.332 That's not something that a Christian does. 00:17:10.352 --> 00:17:11.972 That's something the modern world does. 00:17:12.312 --> 00:17:14.992 That's something the people who argue for the blank slate do. 00:17:15.492 --> 00:17:16.672 There's no blank slate. 00:17:17.072 --> 00:17:26.052 You are not a blank slate, because you received an inheritance biologically, genetically, and yes, also culturally in all these other ways. 00:17:27.512 --> 00:17:34.672 So you are not a blank slate, because all of those things were there from the beginning, because that is how God designed humanity. 00:17:34.972 --> 00:17:36.512 That is how God designed you. 00:17:36.532 --> 00:17:39.612 As Scripture says, He knew you in the womb when He knitted you together. 00:17:40.632 --> 00:17:47.892 God intended you to be who and what you are, and in large part, that is a function of inheritance. 00:17:49.412 --> 00:17:55.972 The single most obvious example in Scripture of an inheritance that we all share is original sin. 00:17:56.992 --> 00:17:58.672 You can go back to, I think, Episode 2. 00:17:59.212 --> 00:18:01.292 We talk about election in view of headship. 00:18:01.872 --> 00:18:12.832 We discuss the nature of inherited sin, and this is something that different denominations treat somewhat differently, and it's really important to get it right. 00:18:12.912 --> 00:18:40.632 And although we're not going to talk about it here today, once you understand that you die, as Scripture says, because you inherit Adam's sin, you must understand that there are generational curses and generational blessings, that the post-enlightenment notion that we are atomized individuals, and when you're born, you're basically starting from scratch, and you live your best life, and then you vanish, and you try to zero your bank account on the day you die. 00:18:41.232 --> 00:18:44.972 That's kind of the boomer ethos today, but it's not human. 00:18:45.492 --> 00:18:46.892 It's certainly not Christian. 00:18:47.652 --> 00:18:54.512 It's never been true, and it doesn't work, but it doesn't work because it's contrary to God's design for the universe. 00:18:55.892 --> 00:19:02.532 So when you're looking at inheritance in any sense, you have to acknowledge that it's a real thing. 00:19:03.092 --> 00:19:11.772 If you deny that inheritance is real and substantial, at some point you're going to say something that forces you to deny original sin. 00:19:12.752 --> 00:19:37.292 And the useful thing about speaking honestly and directly and precisely about these matters is that when you treat each of the individual little details, like inheritance law or the proper structure of things, and you order it according to the way God says these things should operate, you're never going to fall into the trap of saying, well, there's no such thing as a generational curse because there are no generations, because there's no inheritance. 00:19:37.712 --> 00:19:47.112 Well, as Corey just said, the man who denies race is also going to eventually have to deny original sin. 00:19:47.512 --> 00:20:07.092 He's going to have to deny his creator at some point, because as you work back through the generations, you find that all sorts of things are passed on from one generation to the next, but they don't necessarily, genetically speaking, they don't necessarily go down, you know, five, ten generations, they may fade away. 00:20:07.532 --> 00:20:21.512 But when you're talking about something that is not material, something that's spiritual, particularly something like original sin, yes, it propagates until the last man is born, because that is the way the world is designed. 00:20:22.012 --> 00:20:28.252 Now, God didn't design man to inherit sin, God designed man to inherit the image of God. 00:20:28.892 --> 00:20:35.552 Adam was made in the perfect image of God, and Adam destroyed it by listening to his wife and disobeying God. 00:20:36.172 --> 00:20:42.972 And that sin is the reason that I die and you die, and everyone we've ever known and loved has or will die. 00:20:43.812 --> 00:20:48.932 And there's something I said a week or two ago that as I was re-listening to the episode, I wanted to clarify. 00:20:49.612 --> 00:20:52.392 First, let me give you just a couple of passages from Proverbs. 00:20:52.792 --> 00:21:00.412 Proverbs 13, 22 says, A good man leaves inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. 00:21:01.372 --> 00:21:06.532 So I looked that up, you know, that's obviously just directly to material wealth, which is a good thing. 00:21:06.552 --> 00:21:07.792 It's a blessing from God. 00:21:08.692 --> 00:21:14.172 Two verses later, it says, Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. 00:21:14.892 --> 00:21:20.012 And so a week or two ago, I said that it is good news that we die. 00:21:20.032 --> 00:21:23.752 I think I basically called our death, in essence, the gospel. 00:21:24.292 --> 00:21:27.692 I realized I was listening to that, that there was a lot of thought behind it that I didn't explain at the time. 00:21:27.952 --> 00:21:29.832 That probably sounded weird if you're paying attention. 00:21:30.012 --> 00:21:31.412 It may have sounded blasphemous to you. 00:21:32.072 --> 00:21:32.692 It's not. 00:21:32.832 --> 00:21:35.152 What I was talking about is what we're talking about here today. 00:21:36.952 --> 00:21:39.732 The fact that we die is because we inherit Adam's sin. 00:21:41.212 --> 00:21:42.892 And that is a bad thing. 00:21:42.912 --> 00:21:44.912 I'm not saying it's a good thing that we die. 00:21:45.512 --> 00:21:49.692 But I am saying it's also a good thing that we die. 00:21:49.712 --> 00:22:02.592 And it's one of the really difficult parts for people to wrap their heads around in Christianity is that there are certain times and places where God is operating in creation where both and applies. 00:22:02.952 --> 00:22:15.792 Where two contrary things, not even seemingly contrary, but actually explicitly mutually exclusive things are simultaneously true, as we did in the episode on the Eucharist on communion. 00:22:16.172 --> 00:22:26.232 If you agree with the Lutheran conception of what scripture says about communion, it is simultaneously bread and his body, it's blood and it's wine. 00:22:26.452 --> 00:22:28.432 It's both of those things at the same time. 00:22:28.912 --> 00:22:30.832 The Calvinists say it can only be one or the other. 00:22:30.852 --> 00:22:32.912 The Chroma Catholics say it can only be one or the other. 00:22:33.152 --> 00:22:35.752 And they disagree about which one it has to be. 00:22:36.632 --> 00:22:40.072 When you look at the passages and scriptures we went over in that episode, it's clearly both. 00:22:40.292 --> 00:22:42.412 Even though it's contradictory, it doesn't make sense. 00:22:42.712 --> 00:22:45.072 You look at it like, I can't reconcile that. 00:22:45.872 --> 00:22:51.792 Which is why it's important to, as a predicate to any of these discussions, trusting in God. 00:22:52.112 --> 00:22:58.572 And when you clearly look at God's Word and He says it's one thing and it's the other at the same time, you have to believe Him. 00:22:59.212 --> 00:23:06.532 Because the God who spoke the universe into existence, when He says something is true, it is true, even when our brains can't handle it. 00:23:07.012 --> 00:23:18.852 Now, we've said this before, you have to be careful of that sort of sales pitch, because any manner of garbage could be fed to someone, say, oh yeah, don't worry about the fact that it seems insane and doesn't make any sense. 00:23:19.252 --> 00:23:23.712 That's potentially a setup for you to digest all manner of wicked teachings. 00:23:24.352 --> 00:23:27.032 So, Scripture is the judge. 00:23:27.532 --> 00:23:32.692 When Scripture says it's one thing and it's another thing and they contradict each other, Scripture is still right. 00:23:33.112 --> 00:23:37.152 Because God is not contradicting himself, He's giving us a hard teaching. 00:23:37.692 --> 00:23:39.232 And that is the case with death. 00:23:39.912 --> 00:23:46.932 Death is our punishment for Adam's sin and for our sin, because Adam's sin, as we inherit it, is our sin. 00:23:47.192 --> 00:23:50.252 We're guilty of our own sin because we're Adam's sons. 00:23:50.712 --> 00:23:56.632 And on top of that inherited guilt, we pile on a lifetime of brand new sins that we add to the pile. 00:23:57.412 --> 00:24:07.372 As we're recording this, this is just after Holy Week, which culminated in Good Friday and Easter, God paid the price for all those sins on the cross. 00:24:07.872 --> 00:24:14.592 And He paid the price for our sins, loving us before we were created, knowing that we were going to commit those sins. 00:24:15.232 --> 00:24:22.512 So, as we said in a recent episode, when you point to the cross, it is simultaneously the law and the gospel. 00:24:22.992 --> 00:24:28.672 You point to Christ's crucified body on Good Friday, the law is that my sins did that. 00:24:29.172 --> 00:24:30.692 My sins killed God. 00:24:31.492 --> 00:24:35.912 And you point to that very same body hanging on the cross and say, this is the gospel. 00:24:36.252 --> 00:24:40.212 God loved me so much that while I was His enemy, He died for me. 00:24:40.652 --> 00:24:41.972 That is the love that He had. 00:24:42.232 --> 00:24:45.932 And He died to cancel out my sin, so that it's wiped away forever. 00:24:46.872 --> 00:24:48.692 It's both of those things at the same time. 00:24:48.912 --> 00:24:51.092 So is the crucifixion a good thing or a bad thing? 00:24:51.632 --> 00:24:58.052 It's the worst, most evil crime ever committed in history, and it's the greatest act of love ever committed in history, too. 00:24:58.652 --> 00:25:00.092 It's both at the same time. 00:25:00.512 --> 00:25:16.192 So while Adam was cast out of the garden because he sinned against God, the specific reason he was removed, because God says very clearly in Genesis, if he was still able to eat from the tree of life, he wouldn't die. 00:25:16.872 --> 00:25:18.112 And then what would happen to him? 00:25:18.352 --> 00:25:20.172 He would be God's enemy forever. 00:25:20.672 --> 00:25:24.632 An immortal, fallen Adam is a horrendous curse. 00:25:24.652 --> 00:25:26.092 It's an unimaginable curse. 00:25:26.592 --> 00:25:29.012 It's worse than any transhumanist fantasy. 00:25:29.452 --> 00:25:36.812 The idea that we would live in enmity with God for eternity without dying, I can't think of anything more horrible than that. 00:25:37.472 --> 00:26:02.452 And so it's simultaneously true that Adam's death was a blessing from God because in death, the Christian death, where we have already been baptized into Christ, where we go into the water with him and we die and we arise a new man, the new regenerate man, when his death occurs, his bodily death, it is an entry into eternal life. 00:26:03.232 --> 00:26:04.572 Again, that's a thing that's contradictory. 00:26:04.592 --> 00:26:07.632