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Adamic Administration - Hamartology - Fall of Man
John Murray

John Murray (1898–1975). Born on October 14, 1898, in Badbea, Scotland, John Murray was a Presbyterian theologian and preacher renowned for his Reformed theology. Raised in a devout Free Presbyterian home, he served in World War I with the Black Watch, losing an eye at Arras in 1917. He studied at the University of Glasgow (MA, 1923) and Princeton Theological Seminary (ThB, ThM, 1927), later earning a ThM from New College, Edinburgh. Ordained in 1927, he briefly ministered in Scotland before joining Princeton’s faculty in 1929, then Westminster Theological Seminary in 1930, where he taught systematic theology until 1966. His preaching, marked by precision and reverence, was secondary to his scholarship, though he pastored congregations like First Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Murray authored Redemption Accomplished and Applied and The Imputation of Adam’s Sin, shaping Reformed thought with clarity on justification and covenant theology. Married to Valerie Knowlton in 1937, he had no children and retired to Scotland, dying on May 8, 1975, in Dornoch. He said, “The fear of God is the soul of godliness.”
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In this sermon, the speaker discusses the radical revolution that occurred in the relationship between man and God after the events in the Garden of Eden. The speaker emphasizes the change in man's attitude towards God, as seen in Adam's fear and shame when he heard God's voice. This change in attitude resulted in a radical internal revolution within man, affecting his heart and mind. The speaker also highlights the consequences of this revolution, including the opening of man's eyes to their nakedness and the subsequent hiding from God's presence.
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O Lord, our God, how great and marvellous are Thy works, in wisdom hast Thou made them all. The earth is full of Thy riches, so is this great and spacious sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable. May we know, O Lord, that this is Thy handiwork, and may we behold the glory of Thy great name, for how excellent, O Lord, is Thy name in all the earth. And as is Thy name, so is Thy praise. May we always feel the stations of Thy merciless hand above all, that we may be humble, contrite, confident believers, in the name of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, so that we shall have confidence in all our journeys in this world, that it may be a pilgrimage of faith for life. Now there is an observation that I want to make, that the fact of sin in the world, the fact as universal, I say the excellent, the Adamic administration, that by one man and death by sin, the basis of sin and death, explaining the universal historical basis, defines the city, defines the first deal, is the kind of institution, and so in Christ, all are made alike, their thinking to the solidarity which the Adamic administration involves, makes us all look to the solidarity in terms of which our redemption has been ordered first. Explained by the identity by which belong, and therefore constitute, the element of all, to be as man, that our first appearance test. Sin did not to all, the kingdom of sin, the origin of sin, beyond the sin, give us any reason. Sin origin, sin origin, is the reality of unseen, sin and, but here we must have no external power, and cause of rational being, so the sin of Adam, the sin of Adam, action and deposit, and will of our first appearance, they were, that God sinned, acquiesced, I know it, has been endowed, be, with, unit, can never be regarded as an isolated unit, like every overt act of sin, in our first appearance. Another way of, change of, that further stage of analysis, that analysis, subjectical grounds, as well as on site, three, ten, et cetera, ten, movements, all, of excitement, of unbelief, of lust, which comes to expression, in the overt act. Only, point of view of the radical change, in our first appearance, we must bear in connection, in that prohibition, there was, epitomized, summed up, the sovereignty, the authority, the wisdom, the justice, the goodness, and the truth of God. Because God, supreme authority, that he had the right to give it, of all that we have, in that, very prohibition, the justice, the wisdom, revelation, supreme revelation, revelation, all that God was, in that supreme relation, consequently, creation, and it was contained, now, looking, too badly, made the grave, comes to expression, for the regulation, of behavior, consonant, with, God, Lord. Now, therefore, we find, in the very first thing, we find, that it consists, in contradiction of God, all along the line of history, contradiction of God, all along the line of history, sovereignty, consequently, and, I, I, I like the word revolution, in terms of, of revolution, first of all, then, in terms, now, what I mean by this, is, as, applying, to, the, heritage, now, it appears, Genesis 3, this man, changed, attitude, to God, changed, attitude, to God, and the eyes, of them all, were opened, and they knew, that they were naked, and the man, and his wife, hid themselves, from the presence, of the Lord God, among the trees, of the garden, I heard, thy voice, in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I, this changed attitude, betrays the fact, that there was, a radical change, a radical change, in that, constituted, man's, relationship, namely, his relationship to God, a radical change, in that, basic relationship, man was made, for the presence, and fellowship, of God, the presence of God, would have been, the contemplation, of God's glory, His glory, and we now please, from the face of God, striking wisdom, striking wisdom, to this new complex, of disposition, feeling, and emotion, which took possession, of Adam's heart and mind, shame, and fear, shame, and fear, but of the name of the Lord, He is New Testament, through His truths, enunciated in New Testament, God is light, God is light, but then, he that doeth evil, he toucheth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest this deed, should be approved. Well, there is, this big, radical change, in that, radical, to what, why, how, there is a chapter, yes sir, the revolution, in God's religion, revolution, it is, what, simply, that man, that he took to God, that's it, man. I'll stop at that point today, as far as we get to, remarkable, consisting, mainly, in, into, the execution, that is, emotional attitude, in the heart, of man, well, I think that is, basically, one, how, with, how, execution, all, say, how is that compatible, with God's immutability, well, with that,
Adamic Administration - Hamartology - Fall of Man
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John Murray (1898–1975). Born on October 14, 1898, in Badbea, Scotland, John Murray was a Presbyterian theologian and preacher renowned for his Reformed theology. Raised in a devout Free Presbyterian home, he served in World War I with the Black Watch, losing an eye at Arras in 1917. He studied at the University of Glasgow (MA, 1923) and Princeton Theological Seminary (ThB, ThM, 1927), later earning a ThM from New College, Edinburgh. Ordained in 1927, he briefly ministered in Scotland before joining Princeton’s faculty in 1929, then Westminster Theological Seminary in 1930, where he taught systematic theology until 1966. His preaching, marked by precision and reverence, was secondary to his scholarship, though he pastored congregations like First Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Murray authored Redemption Accomplished and Applied and The Imputation of Adam’s Sin, shaping Reformed thought with clarity on justification and covenant theology. Married to Valerie Knowlton in 1937, he had no children and retired to Scotland, dying on May 8, 1975, in Dornoch. He said, “The fear of God is the soul of godliness.”