Death in Adam, Life in Christ

As we turn to it, remember that this is God's word.

Proverbs chapter 30 verse 5 tells us,

Proverbs 30:5

! Every word of God proves true.

! He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

And so that's why we read now Romans chapter 5 starting at verse 12.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man,

and death through sin,

and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given,

but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses,

even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam,

who was a type of the one who was to come.

Verse 15.

But the free gift is not like the trespass.

For if many died through one man's trespass,

much more have the grace of God and the free gift

by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ,

abounded for many.

And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin.

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation,

but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

for if, because of one man's trespass,

death reigned through that one man,

much more will those who receive the abundance of grace

and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man,

Jesus Christ.

Verse 18.

Therefore,

as one trespass led to condemnation for all men,

so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

for as by the one man's disobedience,

the many were made sinners,

so by the one man's,

oh sorry,

for as by the one man's disobedience,

the many were made sinners,

so by the one man's obedience,

the many will be made righteous.

Now the law came in to increase the trespass,

but where sin increased,

grace abounded all the more,

so that as sin reigned in death,

grace also might reign through righteousness,

leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ,

our Lord.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven,

we do thank you and we praise you again this morning

that you speak to us in your word.

And we confess that we need your help.

We need the Holy Spirit to help us understand spiritual things.

And so we ask now that you would pour out your Holy Spirit

in a powerful and extra special way on us here and now,

in this room,

in this church,

that the Spirit would use ordinary words

and an ordinary man

to proclaim the extraordinary grace

that you offer in Jesus Christ.

That it would be clear in our minds

that we would understand it.

even more,

we would love it.

Most of all,

you would show us Jesus.

That we would see his beauty

and his glory

and his mercy

and his grace

and his love.

That you would use our time this morning

to grow our love and affection for him.

You'd increase our reverence

and our awe for him.

that you would make us even more and more obedient to him.

We thank you that we don't have to worry this morning

about whether we have earned

or deserved these things.

We know that we haven't and we don't.

And so we simply ask for them

in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

I want you to imagine with me

for a second

that you have a very wealthy father

and your wealthy father

is worth millions of dollars.

He comes to you one day

and he tells you,

he says,

you know,

I've written my will

and I've decided

you are not getting any of it.

I've decided that all of it

is going to go to charity.

There's nothing wrong relationally

between you and your dad.

He loves you deeply.

He's just decided

you're not going to get any of it.

Now this is a hypothetical

but it actually happened last month.

Broken the news

that Simon Cowell,

the TV personality,

may be best known

for being a judge

on American Idol.

He's worth $600 million

and he recently announced

he is not leaving any money

to his son Eric.

Instead of Eric,

his money,

his $600 million

is going to go to

children's charities

and dog charities.

So, you know,

I love you son.

I would just rather

the $600 million

go to help the dogs.

They're the ones who need it.

Poor Eric

is 11 years old,

hasn't done anything wrong.

That's you.

If that's Eric,

how do you feel?

$600 million

belongs to your dad.

It's going to the dog charities.

I think a lot of us

would be outraged.

A lot of the internet

was outraged

which is why

I know about this.

But why?

Why would you be so upset?

It's not your money.

It's your dad's money.

Do you get angry

when strangers

you don't know

don't leave you money?

Certainly hope not.

Why do you think

you deserve

your parents' money?

Why do you think

you're entitled to it?

Why would Eric

have any right

to be upset

that the dogs

are getting

the $600 million?

The reason you're upset

is this.

You know something.

You understand something

intuitively.

Theologians use

a variety of words

and terms

to describe it.

Some people call it

the concept

of solidarity.

Other people call it

corporate relationships.

One theologian calls it

the law of inheritance.

Whatever word you use

the idea is this.

We owe things

to one another.

Whatever term you like

we bear the consequences

of the choices

of other people.

Especially people

who are close to us.

We know this experientially.

Theologians pointed out

that we love

the consequences

of being close

to other people

when they're to our benefit.

We're more than happy

to receive

$600 million.

Your father

leaves you that?

No problem.

I'm not going to say

that's not my money.

I don't want to have that.

What about

when the consequences

are bad?

Of course,

we don't want to have

any of that, right?

We have our own

sort of double standard.

Now, I'm going to

drive this.

I'm going to give you

a general concept.

I'm going to drive it

a step further.

It's not just

that we're connected

with other people

and their decisions.

Sometimes,

other people

make decisions

for us.

They bind us.

There's many ways

to think about this.

Here's a couple.

politicians

make decisions

on our behalf.

That's why

they're called

representatives.

Because they

represent us.

Parents

make choices

for their children

that will have

consequences

for the rest

of their lives.

In the final analysis,

what I'm saying

is this.

We are not

isolated individuals.

individuals.

As much as we

love to think that,

especially in the

Western world,

we are deeply

tied up

and connected

and implicated

in the things

that other people do.

I'm going to

take this

beyond a general

principle now

when I give you

a particular

rule.

This is where

we get into

Romans chapter 5.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

God

chose

Adam

to officially

represent

all

mankind.

God

chose

Adam

to

officially

represent

all

of

mankind.

That takes us

to verse 12

where Paul

tells us

we are

guilty

before God

because

of what

Adam

did.

That's where

he says

here,

verse 12,

Therefore,

just as sin

came into

the world

through

one

man.

John

already read

it for us

this morning

in Genesis

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

chapters 2

and 3.

We saw

how sin

came into

the world

through

one man.

Chapter 2,

verse 17,

God

comes to

Adam

and he

says,

Do not

eat

the tree

of the

knowledge

of good

and evil.

Chapter 2,

don't eat.

what happens?

Chapter 3,

they ate

it.

And in

that one

act,

all of

mankind

is guilty

before

God.

That's what

he warned

them.

God warned

them in

chapter 2,

verse 17

again,

For in

the day

that you

eat of

it,

you

shall

surely

die.

That's

what we

see.

Also,

here,

Romans

Romans 5:12

chapter 5,

verse 12,

sin came

into the

world

through

one

man,

and

death

through

sin.

So,

what God

said is

true.

Adam

represents

all of

us,

he sinned,

we're

guilty,

and

death

is

the

consequence.

When

he says

there,

because

all

sinned,

we're

moving

there,

from

death

through

sin,

and so

death

spread

to

all

men

because

all

sinned,

he is

saying

because

all

sinned

in

that

moment

when

Adam

sinned.

Now,

that's

not

crystal

clear

if we

just

have

verse

12

with

us.

Thankfully,

Paul gives

us a bunch

of other

verses

that clarify

this.

We

sinned

when

Adam

sinned

because

Adam

represents

us.

Track

with me

here,

verse

15,

many

died

through

one

man's

trespass.

verse

16,

the

judgment

following

one

trespass

brought

condemnation.

If that

wasn't

clear enough,

it gets

even

clearer

in

verse

18,

one

trespass

led

to

condemnation

for

all

men.

And

then it

becomes

the

clearest

in

verse

19,

for

as

by

the

one

man's

disobedience,

the

many

were

made

sinners.

God

chose

Adam

to

officially

represent

all

mankind.

When

Adam

sinned,

all of

us

became

guilty

before

God.

When

Adam

sinned,

death

entered

the world.

You'll

see this

on page

8 of

your

worship

guide,

talking

about

these

two

concepts

that

are

important

for

us

to

understand

original

guilt

and

original

sin.

Because

all

humans

are

originally

in

Adam,

we

are

guilty

before

God.

That's

the

point

of

this

passage.

And

we

inherit

a

sinful

nature,

that's

original

sin.

Now

this

passage

is

actually

not

getting

straight

at

original

sin,

it's

getting

at

original

guilt,

but

those

are

two

concepts

we

need

to

have

in

mind

as

we

think

about

how

the

world

works.

And

the

world

works

in

this

way.

Death

comes

for

all.

And

death

comes

for

all

because

of

the

sin

of

Adam.

Now

if that

feels a

little bit

technical,

that's

because

it is.

I told

you at

the

beginning

we're

going to

get into

a

detailed

technical

passage

and

that's

the

point

there

verses

12

through

really

through

14

through

13

and

14

Adam

represents

us

when

Adam

sinned

we

sinned.

Paul

then

goes

on

to

prove

that

point

in

the

next

couple

verses

in

verse

13

and

14

and

as

we

come

into

this

I'm

encouraged

by

what

the

apostle

Peter

tells

us

in

2

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Peter

chapter

3

Peter

in

2

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Peter

chapter

3

makes

this

offhanded

comment

about

the

apostle

Paul

and

he

says

this

there

are

some

things

in

them

that's

in

Paul's

letters

there

are

some

things

in

Paul's

letters

that

are

hard

to

understand

and

I'm

here

to

tell

you

that

verses

13

and

14

of

Romans

Romans 5 · chapter mention

chapter

5

fit

that

category

they

are

in

fact

hard

to

understand

I've

been

wrestling

with

them

for

days

last

night

verses

13

and

14

finally

clicked

for

me

it

is a

brilliant

argument

here

that

Paul

uses

to

back up

his

claim

Paul

could

be a

lawyer

in a

certain

sense

he

is

and

the

argument

in

verses

13

and

14

in

one

sentence

is

this

the

fact

that

everyone

dies

proves

that

everyone

is

guilty

of

Adam's

sin

the

fact

that

everyone

dies

proves

that

everyone

is

guilty

of

Adam's

sin

Paul

is

acknowledging

an

objection

he's

recognizing

hey

I've

said

this

and

someone's

going to

come

at me

and

they're

going to

say

yeah

but

not

everyone

has

sinned

like

Adam

sinned

that's

the point

in

verse

14

he says

there are

those

whose

sinning

was

not

like

the

transgression

of

Adam

there's

all kinds

of

situations

we can

think

about

that

meet

that

category

all

sorts

of

people

who

can

say

yeah

Adam

disobeyed

here's

someone

who

didn't

here's

someone

who

didn't

have

the

same

access

to

God's

law

that

Adam

did

that's

why

in

verse

13

he talks

about

between

Adam

and

Moses

those

who

existed

before

the

Ten

Commandments

were

given

we can

think

of

some

other

categories

we can

think

of

someone

who

has

mental

limitations

They're

not

able

to

disobey

in

the

same

way

that

Adam

did

we

can

think

of

someone

who's

developmentally

incapable

of

disobeying

God

in

that

way

so that

way

it's

this

question

are

they

guilty

did

Adam's

sin

affect

them

too

that's

where Paul

says

verse

14

death

reigned

from

Adam

to

Moses

and so

Paul's

making

this

point

he says

everyone

dies

which

means

death

reigns

over

everyone

if

death

reigns

over

everyone

and

everyone's

guilty

about

him

sin

you

may

not

like

that

it

may

not

fit

into

your

western

mindset

but

to

disprove

that

everyone

is

guilty

about

him

sin

you

have

to

find

someone

who

hasn't

died

you

can

come

to

me

and

say

what

about

Luther

what

about

John

they

didn't

sin

like

Adam

sinned

Paul

would

say

this

did

they

die

will

they

die

if

they're

not

guilty

of

Adam's

sin

then

they

won't

die

because

they

do

they

are

so

again

put

this

argument

in

verses

13

and

14

in

one

sentence

we

could

say

this

if

death

reigns

over

everyone

and

it

does

then

everyone

sinned

when

Adam

sinned

the

point

is

not

that

everyone

sinned

like

Adam

Paul's

already

acknowledged

not

everyone

sinned

like

Adam

the

point

is

that

everyone

sinned

in

Adam

the

point

is

not

that

everyone

sinned

like

Adam

the

point

is

that

everyone

sinned

in

Adam

if

everyone

had

to

sin

like

Adam

not

everyone

would

die

but

death

reigns

so

all

are

guilty

of

Adam's

sin

we're

doing

some

heavy

lifting

this

morning

to

make

it

verses

12

through

14

14

is

where

we

pivot

we

get

to

turn

the

corner

a

little

bit

so

we've

done

some

heavy

sledding

here's

where

we've

been

God

appointed

Adam

to

represent

all

of

mankind

when

Adam

sinned

we

sin

we

have

original

guilt

because

Adam

is

guilty

therefore

we

are

guilty

the

proof

of

that

is

universal

death

if

we

weren't

all

guilty

of

Adam's

sin

we

wouldn't

all

die

because

not

everyone

sins

like

Adam

now

we

get to

pivot

here

verse

14

says

even

those

who

sinning

was

not

like

the

transgression

of

Adam

who

was

a

type

of

the

one

who

was

to

come

the

problem

is that

you are

in

Adam

there's

good

news

there's

a

solution

and

the

solution

is that

you can

switch

teams

he's

the

type

of the

one

to

come

and

type

that

word

means

there's

something

that

they

have

in

common

there's

something

Adam

and

Jesus

share

what

they

share

is that

both

of

them

can

represent

you

the

type

what

Adam

and

Jesus

share

is that

both

of

them

can

represent

you

you

are

not

doomed

to be

in

Adam

it's not

the only

option

the

problem

is all

sinned

in Adam

that's

verses

12

through

14

the

solution

is that

you can

be

in

Christ

that's

verses

15

through

21

verses

17

through

19

make

this

the

most

clear

verse

17

tells

us

this

death

reigned

in

Adam

you're

in

Christ

you

reign

in

life

verse

18

being

in

Adam

leads

to

condemnation

and

death

being

in

Christ

leads

to

justification

and

life

verse

19

if

you're

in

Adam

you're

made

a

sinner

if

you

are

in

Christ

you

are

made

righteous

death

in

Adam

life

in

Christ

who

do

you

belong

to

this

passage

tells

us

there

are

only

two

options

who

do you

belong

to

do

you

belong

to

Adam

or

do

you

belong

to

Christ

does

death

still

reign

over

you

or

do

you

reign

in

life

sometimes

I see

someone

who

is

rich

or

powerful

or

scary

or

beautiful

and

when

I'm

tempted

to be

intimidated

by that

when

I'm

tempted

to

worship

that

I

remind

myself

one

day

he

will

die

one

day

she

will

die

I'm

a big

biography

fan

the last

few

years

and

sometimes

I

read

biographies

of

people

who

were

people

who

were

rich

and

powerful

and

then

I

remember

why

did

they

write

a

book

about

that

person

because

he's

dead

I

remember

the

same

thing

for

myself

no

matter

what

great

and

glorious

things

there

are

in

this

life

no

matter

what

I

might

hope

for

or

long

for

one

day

I

will

die

death

does

reign

in

this

world

does

and

we

spend

an

enormous

amount

of

time

trying

to

distract

ourselves

from

that

fact

but

the

reign

of

death

the

reign

of

death

is

meant

to

push

us

to

Christ

the

reign

of

death

is

meant

to

remind

us

that

unless

we

are

in

him

nothing

else

matters

who

do

you

belong

to

are

you

in

Adam

or

are

you

in

Jesus

Christ

does

death

reign

over

you

or

do

you

reign

in

life

that's

the only

question

that

matters

I

often

pray

before

sermons

you've

heard

me

and

I

did

it

this

morning

that

we

as

we

look

into

God's

word

we

would

see

the

great

beauty

and

glory

of

Jesus

Christ

we've

done

some

tough

theological

work

this

morning

some

technical

work

talking

about

Adam

as

our

representative

that

when

he

sin

we

sin

and

that

Jesus

is

the

one

who

can

also

take

that

away

and

represent

us

in

a

different

way

what

Paul

ends

with

here

though

is

this

what

makes

Jesus

so

beautiful

what

is it

that

makes

Jesus

so

marvelous

why

should

Jesus

capture

our

attention

more

than

anything

and

anyone

else

that's

what

he's

getting

at

in

verse

15

he

says

the

free

gift

is

not

like

the

trespass

Adam

and

Eve

are

not

Adam

and

Christ

are

not

a

one

to

one

comparison

it's

not

like

yeah

Adam

is

A

and

Jesus

is

B

no

verse

15

he tells

us

uses

this phrase

much

more

if

many

died

through

one

man's

trespass

much

more

have

the

grace

of

God

and

the

free

gift

by

the

grace

of

that

one

man

Jesus

Christ

abounded

for

many

scholars

tell us

that

much

more

and

abounded

does

not

do

justice

to

what

is

happening

in

the

original

Greek

that

the

best

way

we

can

translate

this

is

that

grace

super

abounded

that

no

matter