Evening Sermon

Okay, tonight we're going to be looking at Romans chapter 5, verses, we'll be focusing on verses 18 to 21, but I'm going to read from verse 12.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

But first of all, I think it's important when we're looking at Romans to kind of give an overview of the previous chapters.

Because in Romans, everything Paul says is like one long, continuous argument from the first chapter to the next to the next.

And it's quite important for this chapter.

So for the first two and a half chapters of Romans, Paul kind of describes that the problem we have as humanity, that we've been, no matter who we are, all humans have been separated from God.

We've turned away from Him, and we've done what is evil, and therefore God is bringing judgment upon everyone.

Then for the next couple of chapters, Paul reveals that there's been another way that God has chosen to bring us back to Him.

And that's through faith in Jesus Christ.

And now in chapter 5, he's stepping back a bit and giving a more in-depth explanation of how did humanity end up in this situation in the first place.

And why is it out of all the people in the world that Jesus is the only one who can bring salvation?

So, from verse 12 in Romans chapter 5,

Romans 5 · chapter mention

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin,

and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given,

but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law.

Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses,

even over those who did not sin by breaking a command as Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

But the gift is not like the trespass.

For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,

how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,

overflow to the many?

Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man's sin.

The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation,

but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

For if by the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man,

how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace

and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people,

so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners,

so also through the obedience of the one man, the many will be made righteous.

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase.

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

so that just as sin reigned in death,

so also grace might reign through righteousness

to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, if you went up to someone on the street and you asked them,

who are the two most important people in history,

the most influential, you might get a few different answers.

So one group of people might mention a great political or military hero

who brought massive change to society,

someone like Julius Caesar or Napoleon.

Other people might mention a great religious leader like Buddha or Mohammed,

or maybe you'll have a great moral example like Gandhi or Martin Luther King.

But for Paul, really there's only two answers to that question.

The two most important people in world history are Adam, the first man, and Jesus Christ.

And so we're going to think about who is Adam?

Why is it that Adam's actions had this drastic effect on all the rest of humanity?

And then we're going to think,

if Jesus Christ is a solution to the actions of Adam,

why does it have to be Jesus?

Why can't it be some other person, some other great leader, some other great hero?

So firstly, who is Adam?

So when God created the world, he created the world good.

He created Adam in the image of God.

When we say Adam is created image of God, what does that mean?

Well, an image is a representation or a copy.

So Adam, if you like, is God's representative on earth.

He's almost like God's ambassador to the rest of creation.

He's supposed to look after it, to rule over it.

But that's not all Adam is.

Because Adam isn't just a regular person.

Because he's not just an ambassador from God to creation.

He's also, if you like, the ambassador of humanity to God.

He's like the ruler or the king of humanity.

So for example, if the ruler of one kingdom or country travels to another one,

whatever actions he takes in that country,

his conduct, how he carries himself,

will reflect back on his own country and every single person in that country.

So when Adam is before God,

Adam's actions before God have consequences for all the rest of us,

all the rest of humanity who are descended from Adam.

So what exactly did Adam do that caused the situation that humanity is in?

So if we recall the passage that Arthur read,

there is a chain of events that happen that have this result.

Firstly, Adam misjudges the situation.

Secondly, he uses the wrong method.

He takes the wrong set of actions.

And so he ends up with the wrong result.

So his misjudgment of the situation came about

because he didn't listen to God.

So God's plan for the world would be that through Adam,

there's a connection.

There's harmony between God and between humanity

and between the rest of creation.

But the snake said, that's not how it works.

God's lying to you.

Really, what you need to do is,

he's trying to stop you from eating from this tree.

And if you eat from the tree, you'll be like God.

You don't have to accept your place in this world.

You can rise up higher.

And so because of that, Adam takes the wrong action.

Instead of living in harmony with God

and with the rest of creation,

he breaks away from God's plan.

And the end result is that the whole of humanity

is cursed because of Adam's actions.

And this seems like maybe a bit of an overreaction on God's part.

Well, I mean, all Adam did was eat some fruit, right?

But when we look at how Paul thinks about sin,

it's not just that you do one or two bad things.

It's about being in different categories.

Either you're living in perfect harmony with God

or you're completely separated from him.

What Adam did wasn't just he did one bad thing,

but he turned himself and with him all of humanity

on a course away from God.

No longer was he following God's plan for the world,

but he was following his own plan.

He was putting himself first

and putting himself in the place of God.

Therefore, this is consequences.

Because God is life,

when Adam turns away

and breaks the connection between humanity and God,

humanity is cut off from the source of life itself.

So the natural consequence of that is that we will die.

But not only that, God is also good.

And when God sees that there's this disarray in society,

there's this evil,

this turning away from his plan,

he wants to put things right.

And so when Paul talks about in the earlier chapters of Romans,

God bringing righteousness and justice,

he's talking about God's plan to fix the world.

In the first few chapters, he says,

well, humanity is evil.

So God has a way of fixing the world,

a way of removing all the evil from the world,

and that's to bring judgment

and to destroy all evil,

including humanity.

So that's the situation that we're in.

But then in the next few chapters,

Paul again says that,

well, there's another way.

One man has brought us into this situation,

and so one man can bring us out.

And that man is Jesus Christ.

So if you look in verse 18,

just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people,

so also one righteous act resulted in justification

and life for all people.

For just as through the disobedience of one man,

the many were made sinners,

sinners.

So also through the obedience of one man,

the many will be made righteous.

And so a lot of people have,

like Paul,

seen that there's problems in the world.

They've seen that there's evil,

there's injustice,

there's a breaking of the relationship

between us and God,

there's a breaking of the relationship

between us and one another.

And this results in death,

in evil,

in conflict.

And so many people have come to the same conclusion

that Paul's come to.

They've said,

we need someone to come fix our problems.

And roughly,

you can group these people into two different camps.

One group says,

well,

the problem is that society is messed up.

They're not very concerned about their relationship with God.

They think,

okay,

society's messed up.

There's a system in place as humans with God.

But it's not working.

And the roots of the evil in society are so deep

that we can't just get it out using the system.

There's this oppression of the poor by the rich.

One group's privileged over another.

And so what we need is we need someone to come along

and he needs to break the system,

smash it up,

and fix everything.

So you have,

those are people looking for some kind of military leader

or a political leader

who'll bring big change to society.

Then your second group of people say,

well,

we want someone

who fixes,

who doesn't,

I mean,

the problem's not just out here in society,

but the problem's in here in our hearts

and between us and God.

So what we need is someone to come from God

to tell us how to live.

We need to be showing the right path.

And if we all just get together

and follow this right path that God gives us,

then everything will be sorted out.

Now there's big problems with both of these groups.

And so if we compare and contrast both these groups

with Jesus,

we see that in fact,

it's only Jesus that can bring the solution we need.

So the first group

who are looking for one man

to be their great military or political leader.

Now,

the Book of Romans is of course

written to people living in Rome,

in the middle of the Roman Empire.

And they were very,

they had a very good idea of this sort of notion

of one man coming to fix

all of society's problems.

Because,

in fact,

the Roman Empire

wasn't always an empire.

So originally,

they were a republic.

And they thought,

okay,

we don't like kings.

They're,

we can't have one guy ruling the place.

It's unjust.

It's unfair.

What's better is if every year

we vote in a couple of people

and they'll keep society fair

and people are voting.

And so if they're bad,

we can remove them the next year.

But over time,

in Roman society,

it became apparent

that there were still problems with the system.

Because people are evil,

the slowly and slowly problems seep in.

And people began to realize

that even in their system,

the people in control

were still the rich aristocrats.

And those who were poor

didn't really stand much of a chance.

For example,

if you're an Italian farmer,

a poor Italian farmer,

it's quite likely

that you can outcompete

the rich Italian farmers

who could use slaves

without paying them

to grow loads of crops.

So they'd buy your farm.

You'd have to go to Rome,

try and find a job,

not find a job.

You'd be out begging on the streets.

And so you have this building

kind of chaos in Roman society.

But the Romans had a solution for this.

Because they realized

that sometimes systems don't really work.

So you need one guy

with absolute power

to come in,

fix the problem.

And then once the problem's fixed,

he goes,

okay, I'll give up my absolute power

and we'll go back to normal.

And the Romans used to call

these guys dictators.

Which if you know

the modern English meaning of the word,

you can probably tell

where this is going to go.

So originally dictators,

that's how it worked.

Everything was fine.

They'd take power.

They'd give it up.

No problems.

But then about 50 years

before the birth of Jesus,

again, you have these problems

in Roman society.

And so one man,

Julius Caesar, comes along.

And he says,

you know,

he's a very popular general.

And he says,

okay,

I'm going to stand up

for the rights of the people.

I've got the people,

these people are oppressed

by the rich.

I'm going to come along

and I'm going to fix society.

I'm going to bring justice.

I'm going to bring equality.

But he couldn't do it

by using the system

because all the rich aristocrats

were against him.

So instead,

he brings in an army,

takes over Rome

by military might,

and he says,

you know what,

you make me dictator

for a few years,

I'll fix everything.

But then he says,

well,

okay,

I've been dictator

for a few years.

Maybe you can make me

dictator for life.

That would be a bit better.

And then he says,

maybe I could go around

wearing a nice purple robe

with a crown of leaves

on my head.

And if you remember

Jesus' crucifixion

or the trial

James was talking about

this morning,

where they make Jesus

wear purple

and have a crown of thorns,

these sort of things

in Roman society

represent royalty.

Then Caesar says,

oh,

maybe I could have

a nice big golden chair

I can sit into.

And then all the Romans

are suddenly thinking,

hold on a second,

this guy doesn't care

about helping people at all.

He just wants

to make himself king.

But actually,

Caesar went further

than that

because Caesar

then got the Roman society

to declare himself a god

and to build him a temple.

And eventually,

the people had enough

and some of his

previous followers

assassinated him.

So,

if we compare

Caesar with Jesus,

if we compare

the situation,

the methods used,

the end result,

and then finally,

the difference

between the two people.

Firstly,

the situation.

The Romans assumed

that their main problem

was just that there's

a few bad eggs

in society.

There's a few rich people

who are causing an issue.

And if that could be sorted out,

there'd be peace,

there'd be prosperity.

But what Paul says

in Romans

is that,

well, actually,

no,

the problem goes way back.

And it's in every single

human being.

Every single human heart

has been corrupted

by sin.

And therefore,

the methods that they use

are very different.

Because if you think,

well, the problem

isn't really in here,

it's not about

us walking right before God,

you justify any sort of

actions in order to bring

about your necessary

desired results.

So Caesar, for example,

was no better than any

of the other politicians.

He was perfectly happy

to bribe people,

to lock people up

who disagree with him.

I mean, Caesar himself

previously committed genocide.

He fought a whole civil war

to bring about

his desired conclusions.

But this isn't

the actions of Jesus.

Jesus comes and he says,

my kingdom's not of this world.

He doesn't come with an army.

He comes by himself.

And this isn't due to,

like, a lack of power.

Because, you know,

Caesar had his legions

of Roman soldiers.

But Jesus at any moment

in his life

could have called down

legions of angels.

And in fact,

Jesus didn't even need

his angels.

Because as we recall

in the Gospels,

Jesus meets the man

who's possessed

by a legion of demons.

And simply by speaking to him,

he defeats them

and casts them out.

Jesus comes with absolute power.

But he doesn't use it.

Where Caesar comes

only to claim power.

He came,

Caesar came

with these promises

that he would serve the people.

But instead,

he really just wanted

to be served as king.

But Jesus comes

and he says,

I've come

not to be served,

but to serve

and to give my life

as a ransom for many.

And that's the difference

is that

even in the end results,

Caesar

didn't even get

what he wanted.

His life was taken

from him.

But Jesus did succeed

by giving up

his own life

for the sake

of other people.

And that's the difference

between the two

is that

really Caesar actually

is a lot more like Adam

than we thought.

because

as Paul says,

in order to undo

what Adam did,

you can't have

another evil person

come in

who's just going

to smash things up.

Because what you need

is not just another Adam,

you need almost like

a new Adam,

a reversal

of who Adam is.

Because

if the condemnation

comes through one trespass,

there must be

a righteous act

to undo

what Adam has done.

If Adam was disobedient,

the new Adam

has to be obedient.

But Caesar simply

copied Adam.

Adam in the garden

said,

okay,

I'm going to become

like God.

And Caesar did

the exact same thing.

He was a man

who wished to become God.

But Jesus is a God

who became man.

He's the perfect one

who came down.

And

he has this

connection

between him

and the father.

You see,

for Paul,

you can't move

from being disconnected

from God

back to being connected

by God

simply by

trying your best

or doing enough

good things.

You must already

have that previous

connection.

And that's where

we come

to the second group

of people.

because the second

group of people

say,

okay,

this is our way

Caesar or these

political leaders

are doing things

isn't right.

What we need

is someone to come

from God

and to come to us

and say,

here's the way

you need to live.

We need a religious

leader.

And so these people,

you know,

they might follow

Buddha or Mohammed.

and some of these

people even claim

to follow Jesus.

And they think,

well,

what Jesus has done

is he comes from God

and he says,

you have to do

X, Y, Z

and then you'll get

back into God's

good books.

And the way Paul

talks about this

is he says,

describes this

as the law,

the way you're

supposed to live

before God.

But the problem

is these people

don't understand

the situation

either.

For them,

they think that

simply by doing

enough good things

we can move

from being separated

from God

back into

relationship

with Him.

But

if we read

what Paul

is saying,

he's saying,

so if you go back

to in chapter 3,

he says,

you know,

whatever the law says,

it says to those

who are under the law

so that every mouth

may be silenced

and the whole world

held accountable

to God.

Therefore,

no one will be declared

righteous in God's sight

by the works of the law.

Rather,

through the law

we become conscious

of our sin.

So the reason

people

make this mistake

is that they

think that God

gave us the law

in order that we

follow its rules

and make our way

back to God.

So they would think,

well,

if we just get together

and obey the works

of the law,

then the most sin

in the world

will decrease

and the world

will improve.

But when Paul

looks at this,

he says in verse 20,

the law was brought

in so that the trespass

might increase.

And you might think,

well, hold on, Paul.

That's the opposite

of what's happening.

Why would God

give us the law

to increase the amount

of sin in the world?

It doesn't make any sense.

But what Paul's

really saying here

is that the law

simply reveals

how bad our situation is.

it tells us

that there's no way

you can do enough

to get back

into God's good books.

When we see this

between,

but when we

look at the example

of the Pharisees,

so the Pharisees

are this same example

and they thought,

look, we've got

the law of Moses.

If we obey the law,

then God,

then we'll earn

our place before God.

And sometimes people

make a mistake

and they think,

well, the problem

with the Pharisees

is they're too

big on law.

Where Jesus is about love

and he's not so,

like, hardcore

about all these

specific rules.

But actually,

for Jesus,

the law of Moses

is about love.

He sums up the law

by saying,

you should love

the Lord your God

with all your heart,

mind, soul, and strength,

and you should love

your neighbor

as yourself.

And what happens

is there's just

this natural consequence

of how people

treat the law.

And what they do

is like the Pharisees,

they change the law.

So the Pharisees

would actually make

some of the commandments

easier.

So for example,

when it says,

honor your father and mother,

they'd come up

with all these sort of

excuses and reasoning

where they don't really

have to follow that rule.

Or they'd invent

some new rules

that they could follow

that other people couldn't.

So when Jesus comes to them,

he says,

he doesn't say,

you know,

the problem with you guys

is you're too hardcore

about the rules.

He actually says,

you guys aren't being

hardcore enough

about the rules.

Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount,

he says,

you know,

you think you've not

killed anyone.

But if you're angry at anyone,

you've broken that law.

You think,

you said,

I've not cheated on my wife.

And he says,

well,

if you've looked at anyone

with lust,

you've committed adultery.

And so when Jesus

came,

he didn't come to say,

okay,

the law is a bad thing.

We're going to get rid of that.

He came to reveal

the true purpose of the law,

which is why

when he speaks to the people

and he says,

you know,

I didn't come

for the righteous,

but for sinners.

And it's not those who are,

well,

you need a doctor,

but those who are sick.

What he's saying is not that

there are two categories of people.

There's those who've obeyed the law

and those who haven't.

And I've just come for those who haven't.

He said,

well,

actually,

there's only people who haven't.

There's only people

who haven't obeyed the law.

And if anyone thinks,

oh,

they have obeyed the law,

really,

they've not understood

its commandments correctly.

So that's

the problem

with using

the method

of obeying the law.

But then Paul says

that there's another method.

in chapter 3,

verse 21,

But now,

apart from the law,

the righteousness of God

has been made known,

to which the law

and the prophets testify.

This righteousness

is given through faith

in Jesus Christ

to all who believe.

So,

this,

the method

of going by the law

doesn't work,

but God

has,

through Jesus Christ,

has

shown us another way.

So,

and,

and this is the reality

is that

when we say,

okay,

we need someone

to come and save us,

whether that's

Buddha

or Muhammad

or even when we say

it's Jesus,

and what they're doing

is they're giving us

a rule book

to follow.

We follow these steps

and we get to God.

We're not really following

those people.

We're not really saying,

oh,

they're,

oh,

Jesus is bringing me

to God.

Really,

we're saying,

oh,

I'm doing it.

So,

Adam has brought us into,

has broken the connection,

but I,

and I alone

can do enough

to bring us back over.

But,

really,

if that,

if that happens,

this only has two consequences

and end results.

Either we're going to despair.

If we try our hardest,

oh,

thanks.

Yeah,

so,

the end result

of going by the law

is that either we'll despair

of our sin

and realize that we can't

make it ourselves

or we'll become self-righteous

and say,

well,

I'm not that great,

but at least I'm better

than that guy over there.

Because,

ultimately,

all that does is

set us back on the treadmill

of trying to work

our way up to God.

world.

But,

Jesus Christ

offers us

something different.

He doesn't offer us,

sorry,

hold a second.

But,

Jesus Christ offers us

something different.

He's not like

the political leaders,

the Caesars,

who come with

their false promises

and come with

their evil actions

only to kill and destroy.

but he came to save

and to rescue

and to heal.

And he's also not like

the religious teachers

who simply say,

here's some rules to follow.

If you try your hardest,

maybe you'll make it back.

But,

instead,

Jesus comes

and he says,

I've done it for you.

Jesus is the only one

who can obey the law

in our place.

And so,

if we look at what Paul is saying,

through all of chapter five,

over and over,

he repeats the word gift.

It's a gift of God,

a gift of righteousness

through one man,

Jesus Christ.

And what we need

to understand

is that

when we see

the reality

of our situation,

that in Adam

we're completely cut off.

We're separated

from God

by our sins.

It's only then

that we really realize

the true

message of the gospel.

That,

as Paul says,

where sin increased,

grace increased

all the more.

So that just as

sin reigned in death,

so also grace

might reign

through righteousness

to bring eternal life

through Jesus Christ,

our Lord.

Because,

Jesus Christ

has,

sorry,

God,

a chance

to try again,

to try hard.

It offers us

a way back

to God.

It's not

him saying,

like Adam,

you have to work

and try your best.

You,

as a man,

have to work your way

up to me as God.

But in Jesus Christ, God came down to us.

He came down to fix the problems that we caused.

The message that Paul is bringing is not a new set of rules by which us as humans can fix our relationship with God.

Instead, Paul's message is a message of good news.

It's saying that Jesus Christ has come and he's already fixed this relationship.

He's already done it for us.

There's nothing we can do to change that.

And if we think that we need to fix it ourselves, we don't have the gospel.

We don't understand who Jesus is.

And we're trying to replace him with a substitute, something different.

But when we realize that there's no other human being who can do what Jesus did, not us, not me, not you,

that's when we really realize the unique value of Jesus.

And that's the emphasis of what Paul is saying here.

So let's thank God for that.

Lord, you've shown us that we are so far away from you.

Ever since Adam sinned and turned from you and done what was wrong, we've been separated from you and from one another.

We've done what is evil and we've turned far from you.

But Lord, we also thank you that you have given us our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Savior who is perfect and righteous.

And that you've given him freely as a gift.

There's nothing that we have to do to earn it.

There's nothing we can do to win our way back to you.

But it's only by grace that you've given him to us.

We thank you.

We thank you for this.

And may, in Jesus' name, amen.

And now I think we're going to sing our final hymn,

Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me.