Wesley Corpus

God's Love To Fallen Man "Not as the offence, so also is the free gift." Rom. 5:15. 1. How exceeding common, and how bitter, is the outcry against our first parent for the mischief which he not only brought upon himself, but entailed upon his latest posterity! It was by his wilful rebellion against God that "sin entered into the world." "By one man's disobedience," as the Apostle observes, the many, oi polloi, as many as were then in the loins of their forefather, "were made," or constituted, "sinners:" Not only deprived of the favour of God, but also of this image, of all virtue, righteousness, and true holiness; and sunk, partly into the image of the devil, -- in pride, malice, and all other diabolical tempers ; partly into the image of the brute, being fallen under the dominion of brutal passions and grovelling appetites. Hence also death entered into the world, with all his forerunners and attendants, -- pain, sickness, and a whole train of uneasy, as well as unholy passions and tempers. 2. "For all this we may thank Adam," has echoed down from generation to generation. The self-same charge has been repeated in every age and every nation, where the oracles of God are known; in which alone this grand and important event has been discovered to the children of men. Has not your heart, and probably your lips too, joined in the general charge How few are there of those who believe the scriptural relation of the fall of man that have not entertained the same thought concerning our first parent; severely condemning him that, through wilful disobedience to the sole command of his Creator, Brought death into the world, and all our woe!