Serve Death or Reign In Life

Father, you know how it is to trust even people that we know very well, and we know that they're trustworthy.

And Father, you know how hard it can be for us to trust people, even trustworthy people.

And Father, you know how many times people have let us down, and we thought we could trust them,

but Father, we discovered we couldn't trust them.

Father, you know how many of us carry unforgiveness and wounds from people who have broken promises,

and just hurt us, and not been trustworthy.

And so, Father, you can see into our hearts as to how hard it is for us to trust you, you who is invisible,

and how hard it is for us to trust your word,

when your word seems to say things that our culture thinks doesn't make any sense.

And Father, you know the inward struggle we have on how in many ways we don't want to acknowledge that we don't trust your word,

yet still somehow we don't.

Father, we thank you that you know us so perfectly.

And we thank you that knowing us so perfectly, you don't turn your face away from us.

You don't mock us or scorn us.

You don't hate us.

But knowing us so perfectly, you loved us perfectly as well,

by sending your Son to die for us on the cross.

And that you pour out your Holy Spirit, Father, on ordinary people like us,

with the ordinary problems of trust, just like us.

You pour out your Holy Spirit, and you speak to us through your word.

So, Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us this morning,

that we might trust your word,

and that your word might come deep into who we are,

and so bear fruit for you that brings glory to you.

And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son, and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So, I don't know how many of you were able to follow Helen when she was reading,

but maybe some of you were thinking to yourself,

did the Bible, and you didn't have the Bible open yourself,

and you might say to yourself,

did Helen just read that the Bible says that this guy Adam,

that when he did something wrong,

it meant that I die because he did something wrong.

Did I just hear Helen say that because somehow or another,

I'm guilty of the thing that Adam did.

Is that what I just heard Helen say?

And some of you are thinking,

George, if I heard that she said,

like, come on, George, you're a university-educated guy,

and how on earth could you possibly believe that?

That just seems a bit kooky,

and it seems really unfair.

So, George, is it saying that somehow or another,

when Adam sinned, we're responsible,

as well,

or is it just saying that Adam's just sort of like an example of somebody who does bad things?

Which, you know what, we can sort of understand.

We all have examples of people who do bad things.

So, we're going to look at that question, okay?

So, get your Bibles out.

It can be very, very helpful.

So, you're not just taking my word for it,

but you're actually seeing what the Bible says,

and it's Romans chapter 5, verses 12 and following.

Romans 5:12

We're going to look at it.

And before I start reading this verse,

I'm just going to say one thing,

and I should have said this several weeks ago,

and actually, I've been meaning to do this for several years.

If we had a service of a different type,

especially after certain sermons,

I would have a Q&A time after the service where you could ask me questions.

And it just sort of doesn't really fit with the way we do things here.

So, I'm not going to discuss,

I'm going to talk as if Adam was a real person,

and I'm not going to try to explain that or anything.

I'm not going to do that right now.

But what I, I don't know, Shirley, I think, is doing coffee or the nursery

or something really helpful and important.

But I'm going to ask Shirley to set up a time within a month.

I don't know if it will be like a Saturday late morning

or maybe a Monday evening,

where anybody who wants can come,

and we'll have some refreshments, some muffins or something like that.

And we'll talk a little bit about the historical Adam.

And I'm going to maybe try to do that.

And if you ever come to a, I'll try to,

and you can send me a question or something like that.

Send me an email if you think it would be a good time to do it.

You know, I probably should have done it a few weeks ago

when we talked about homosexuality.

And, you know, in another couple of weeks,

you know, we're going to talk about, you know,

how can the potter, you know, God can do whatever we want with this.

Does the clay have any right to say to the potter,

don't do this to me?

So there's some hard texts.

And sometimes it's maybe just too hard to deal with in a sermon.

It's maybe better to do it over, you know, coffee or hot chocolate

or Coke or something like that and some snacks.

So I'm going to try to set up a time within a month.

And I'll try to, we can talk about the historical Adam.

So just so you know.

But for now, we're going to talk,

I'm going to talk as if Adam is a real person who really lived.

And is the Bible here saying that this real person who really lived

thousands and thousands of years ago,

that when he did something, in some way,

when he did it, you and I did it.

And when he did it, that's why we die.

Is that what the Bible is actually saying?

So let's listen.

Chapter 5, verse 12.

And it begins like this.

Sorry, just so you know what we were talking about yesterday,

because it begins with therefore.

So in the flow of the book, what Paul had just been talking about

was this idea that it's a very, very powerful series of ideas,

because sometimes we might think that if we're,

that it's a series of ideas to help us to understand

that when Jesus died on the cross for us,

he died on the cross for people that he knew were bad people,

and that in fact were his enemies.

And in fact, the 511 sort of ends with this idea,

if Jesus died for us when we were his enemy,

now that he's alive,

just imagine how much you're going to be blessed.

And that's now where verse 12 comes in.

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

and death through sin,

and so death spread to all men,

and here it means men and women,

because all sinned.

And then most of your Bibles are probably a hyphen.

Just a bit of an aside, I'm not going to dodge this.

You know, I mentioned to you several weeks ago,

and I've said it in other times as well,

that the Bible's witness about itself

is that it's actually God speaking.

And it's really important for us to understand something about that,

is that doesn't mean that Christians are claiming

that the Bible is perfect literature,

that we should all aspire to write like the Bible writes.

In fact, it's very, very interesting.

In the time that the Bible was written,

there were two different types of Greek

that was the common language.

There was the educated Greek, or formal Greek,

that to our ears would sound a little bit

as if people talked in King James Version English all the time.

And there was street Greek,

the type of Greek that carpenters and farmers

and tanners and soldiers talked.

And the Bible's written in street Greek,

not good Greek.

And here we see Paul actually doesn't complete his sentence.

In other words, if he was writing this for a university paper,

and the professor actually marked grammar,

that he or she would put a little circle there and say,

complete your sentences.

You're not going to get an A plus

if you don't complete your sentences.

You've just dropped a mark.

You're now looking at maybe at the best an A,

maybe even an A minus, Paul.

You missed ending the sentence properly.

It's a very important thing to notice,

is that Christians don't claim

that the Bible is perfect literature.

We just claim that when we read each word of the Bible,

and the Bible as a whole,

we're reading the words that God wanted to have spoken.

If he doesn't want to have perfect grammar,

take it up with him.

I don't know, you know.

So what did,

that was just a bit of an aside.

I like pointing those things out.

You know, I'm sorry,

just, oh gosh, I shouldn't do this.

Two things.

There's two reasons why I point this out.

It's because our friends who are Muslims

believe that the Koran

is the most perfect book ever written.

And it's easy for Christians

to try to think the same thing about the Bible,

but that's not what the Bible says about itself.

And the other thing is that

there's always been a bit of a,

especially for Anglicans,

this sense that speaking ordinary English

isn't good enough.

That we should be speaking special English

with special accents.

Some of you have maybe heard ministers

who have what's called,

I call it pulpit puberty.

They speak one way when they're normal,

but when they're up at the pulpit,

they start speaking with deeper voices

or they start speaking with a fake English accent

or something like that.

You know, in other words,

and it's like puberty, right?

Like for a guy going through puberty

and all of a sudden,

you know, their voices is going up and down, right?

So it's a very common temptation

for Christians to think that somehow or another,

that their English,

when it comes to God,

should be somehow special.

God just wants you to pour out his heart to him.

He's not up there like a professor

making sure you're going to get an A plus

in speaking, you know, diction to him.

Just pour out your heart.

He poured out his heart to us.

Every word is his,

and I think he made it not perfect on purpose

so we wouldn't think we have to speak perfectly

or a certain way to him.

So, sorry, that was a bit of an aside.

Probably an important aside.

Maybe for some of you that was the exact,

maybe that was one of those God asides.

Okay, back to this.

Okay, here's the bad news.

Well, it's not bad news.

You're going to see in a moment,

as the more I thought about it all week,

I've come to believe that this is the most spectacular news imaginable.

But it was a bit of a shock to me at first this week

to realize that, in fact,

the Bible is saying exactly what some of you might be worried that it's saying.

It is saying that when Adam sinned,

I sinned, you sinned,

and all of the little babies,

and all of the little babies,

I can't remember which side of the building they're being looked after,

all those cute little babies,

when Adam sinned,

each person, each human being is somehow in Adam

or involved with Adam,

and his sin was as if you and I sinned personally.

That's exactly what the Bible's teaching right here.

It's actually even clearer in the original language than it is in English.

For instance, in verse 12,

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

and death through sin,

and so death spread to all human beings,

all men,

because all sinned.

It's actually more literal to translate the because as in whom,

but it's terrible grammar.

But it's actually trying to emphasize that somehow or another,

every human being is in Adam.

And so now some of you are saying,

wow, that's a hard idea, George.

In fact, I don't know, George,

what do you think about that?

So I'll tell you.

On Tuesday afternoon, after my run,

because I've been thinking about this a lot,

I try to work on the sermon every day of the week,

at least a little bit.

And you know what?

I came to the conclusion on Tuesday

that I was just going to trust God on this one.

I'm just going to trust God on this one.

This is a profoundly non-Canadian,

non-Western,

non-first world idea

that we find as,

I'm going to explain in a moment why we're mistaken about this,

but we say it's completely and utterly unscientific,

and maybe even a completely abhorrent idea.

And at the end of the day,

at the end on Tuesday,

before I thought about it more,

I was going to say,

you know what?

I'm just going to believe God on this one.

I'm just going to trust him.

And some of you might say,

well, gosh, George,

that's sort of very anti-intellectual.

It's not anti-intellectual at all.

It's not anti-intellectual.

In the same way that, you know,

I've been married to Louise for 34 years,

and, you know,

like me,

she's not a perfect person,

but I,

she's a really good person,

and I trust her.

I trust her.

And I,

and,

and 34 years of marriage,

and I,

I knew her for four or five years before that,

I,

I have a lot of ground.

I have a lot of experience to trust her.

And so,

if she called me up and asked me to do something,

I,

that at first,

and then I said,

no, Louise,

you have to explain it to me.

She said,

no, just,

you just have to do this.

Just trust me.

I,

I,

I,

I hope I would trust her.

And that's not being anti-intellectual.

And,

you know,

so for me,

it was as if God spoke to me in the early part of the week.

And this might not mean anything to you,

but it really meant a lot.

It was as if God spoke to me,

and I'm not a very mystical person.

And,

you know,

I just thought about it.

I,

I,

the more I,

I study the Bible,

the wiser I think it is.

The more I've looked into things like the historical basis of the Christian faith,

in terms of how the documents were written and transmitted,

and,

and the apostolic witness,

and the integrity of scholars,

the more I trust the Bible,

and the more I look into Jesus and his resurrection,

the more I believe that he really rose from the dead.

And the more I think about how the Christian worldview makes sense of human experience,

the more I believe and trust and accept the Bible.

So why wouldn't I just trust God on this one?

And if I trust God on this one,

and now I look at the world,

in fact,

as I started to do that throughout the week,

the more and more and more I thought it was,

this was actually a very,

very,

that this is something that Canada needs,

and that Canadian Christians need,

and that in some ways,

I have been lapsed black in my ministry upon not maybe talking about this more,

that it's actually a very profound and deeply needed idea.

The more I thought about it,

the wiser I thought it became.

That's going to maybe surprise you.

George,

the more you thought about it,

the more you,

once you just trusted that this is true,

that you're just going to trust God that this is true,

that when Adam actually did something wrong,

whatever it was,

he ate of the fruit of the tree that God told him not to do,

that somehow or another,

because of that,

sin came into the world,

and death came into the world,

and every human being,

actually,

it's as if they ate the apple at the same time,

or whatever it was,

banana,

mango,

whatever it was,

that we all ate that fruit at the same time.

You believe that's a,

how,

here's the thing,

here's the first thing about this.

Some of you,

hopefully all of you know that this past weekend,

there was an apologetics conference,

and the theme of the conference was being human,

and we had a biochemist,

and a doctor,

and a philosopher,

and they came and talked about what it means to be human.

And at one of the breaks,

I went to one of my favorite Starbucks,

and there was a barista there

that I've talked to quite a few times,

and she knows that I'm a pastor,

and she said,

what are you doing today, George?

And I said,

I'm going to a conference on being human.

And it was really funny.

She was,

you know,

pouring,

I'm behind her,

and she's pouring my coffee,

and as soon as I said,

I went to a conference being human,

and she instantly turned around and looked at me.

Like,

she stopped doing what she did.

She instantly turned around and looked at me.

And she said,

well,

what have you concluded?

Which I wasn't expecting.

And so,

I very quickly thought,

well,

I think we're concluding

that,

you know,

a human,

to be a human

is a mystery,

a combination of things we know

and mystery.

And she said,

well,

I agree with that.

That's what I would say.

So,

you know,

here's the thing.

This idea that we're all in Adam,

and at first we say,

well,

that's just wrong,

that's just stupid.

Well,

why do we say that?

Why do we say that?

First of all,

it's not unscientific.

Science has nothing to say about that at all.

Well,

in terms of the historical Adam,

but we can talk about that.

I said,

well,

that's an off-ramp thing.

But this idea,

here's the thing.

If I was to say,

if some of you were to say to me

that there's a thousand-story office building in Ottawa,

I would say to you,

you don't know what you're talking about.

I know Ottawa,

and I know there's no thousand-story building in Ottawa.

You don't know what you're talking about.

I know Ottawa.

I've lived here for quite a few years.

It's not there.

Not here.

You don't know what you're talking about.

You're going against all of the evidence.

Just don't know what you're talking about.

If somebody was to say to me

that the national food,

the favorite food of Irish people,

is fried pussycat,

I would say,

I'm Irish.

Both of my parents are from Ireland.

All of my relatives are from Ireland.

I've been to Ireland,

and I know lots of Irish people,

and you're wrong.

It isn't what Irish people love to eat,

fried pussycat.

Irish people don't eat cats.

And I would just say,

you don't know what you're talking about.

But do we know what human beings are?

Do we really know what human beings are?

Wouldn't you all,

wouldn't most people,

other than the most extreme type of scientist types,

naturalists,

wouldn't you all acknowledge

that to be a human being is a mystery?

I mean,

there's things,

obviously,

we know,

you know,

we know that,

you know,

we know different things about our physiology,

and,

and we know,

you know,

we know,

you know,

doctors have a bit of an idea

about what a healthy body looks like

as opposed to a sick body,

and,

and we,

we know,

obviously,

we know things about human beings,

but at the same time,

isn't it the case that

there's huge parts about what it means to be a human

that's a complete and utter mystery?

Like,

human beings are deep,

and they have layers.

One of the things you discover

about being in a relationship

with a person

is that

they're not simple.

That

things that happened to them

in their past

that you don't even know about

have this profound effect on,

on you.

And,

and for some of us,

as we've gotten a little bit older,

I mean,

it's,

you know,

it's a bit different maybe

when you're just barreling through life

with a whole pile of,

you know,

in my case,

because I,

I'm a guy,

a whole pile of testosterone

and a whole pile of adrenaline,

and you just sort of barge through life.

You just sort of gallop through life,

when you're 20 or 21,

but you get a little bit older,

and all of a sudden,

you realize that something

that happened to you

when you were,

you were six,

or something that happened to you

when you were five,

or something that happened to you

when you were 30,

or something that happened to you

20 years ago,

or 30 years,

or 40 years ago,

that all of a sudden,

you realize that that's something

that's,

that's formed you,

and you didn't even know it.

I mean,

it's,

it's always had a,

a forming effect on you.

You didn't even know it.

You don't even know the depths

of yourself.

And,

and how is it,

like,

what is it,

you know,

we don't really understand,

in a sense,

how consciousness works.

We all have consciousness.

We don't understand that,

really.

How do we understand

how sometimes

we just know something?

How do we understand,

how do we figure out

why it is that somebody

can just pick up

a musical instrument,

and all of a sudden,

a melody comes?

Like,

I wish I could do that.

I've never had that experience,

but I,

how is it that

that happens to people?

How is it that somebody,

they can just say something,

and it's the exact right thing?

Why is it

that sometimes

you're sitting there,

and you feel somebody's eyes

on you,

and you turn around,

and they are looking at you?

How is it that we know that?

And if there's so much

about being a human being

that we don't know,

why is it that we would

reject the idea

that somehow or another,

that in Adam,

we sinned?

We can't reject that

because we know

human beings so well,

as we know that

there's no thousand-story

building in the city of Ottawa.

Now,

I know that if you're here

as a guest,

and you're an atheist,

or a Muslim,

or a Buddhist,

you don't have to accept

that just because the Bible

says that it's true.

That's fine.

I understand that.

That's a longer conversation,

but I still think

that if you think about it,

this is part of the

unbelievable power

of the Christian understanding

of the person,

the depth of what it means

to be a person.

And it explains so much,

I think,

because, you know,

science can't explain

why it is that there's

no perfect human being.

Like, you can't look

at human DNA

and say,

because of DNA,

we know that this human being

will someday tell a lie.

You can't discover that

from DNA.

Why?

Why is it that human beings,

that it's very rare

to meet a person

who's almost completely

and utterly evil,

and it's very rare

to meet a person

who's almost completely

and utterly perfectly

morally good.

Why is it that human beings

do bad things?

Why is it that something

about that's wrong

touches just about

every single thing,

if not every single thing

that human beings do?

Why is that the case?

But why is it at the same time

that human beings

do do good things?

And why is it at the same time

that not only that human beings

do good things,

but that they can appreciate beauty

and they can appreciate music?

Like, why is that,

that there's this complication

within human beings?

Well, maybe it's because

we aren't just

a separate individual,

and it's as if, you know,

there's an individual

pot, a piece of dough made,

and that's one pie,

and then you take

all new ingredients

and make another pie,

take all new ingredients

and make another pie,

and then, you know,

you wouldn't expect

all the pies

to be exactly the same,

especially if you're getting

all new ingredients

every time,

but why is it that

human beings aren't like that?

Maybe it's because

that in some way

that we're all in Adam,

and that when Adam fell,

that that touched

all of us.

And why is it that

human beings feel

compassion for each other?

There's three things

that are going on right now.

Every one of us

probably feels

some compassion

and concern

for what's going on in Paris.

I've never been to Paris.

And I'm not alone here

in saying,

I bet if you went out

into the streets,

unless there's people

who've just in some

drug-induced haze

didn't even know

there's anything going on,

but if you tell them,

they would have compassion.

Two of the movies,

one of the best-selling,

one of the top movies

right now

is called Martian.

The Martian,

I think,

or something,

yeah,

and at the heart of it

is the entire planet,

one of the aspects

of the movie,

is the entire planet

having compassion

and being concerned

about one person

left on the planet of Mars.

The Chilean miners film,

which just came

in the movies,

it's touching on the fact

that that crisis

in Chile,

that many people

were riveted by,

why is it that we feel

compassion for other

human beings?

Is it possible

that it's because

in a way that we

don't think about,

we're all in Adam?

And that at some level

we sense

that there's this,

not just individualism

about us,

but that there's something

common about us.

That there's something

common.

The biblical doctrine

is that Adam

is our covenant

head.

That Adam

is the covenant

head

of the human race.

And that in some ways

his actions

or failure

to act

does impact

and touch

and characterize

all human beings.

And we enter

that covenant,

so to speak,

with Adam

purely by birth,

by the fact that

human succession

goes from

the sperm

and the ovum

of a male

and a female

and they're put together

and there's a new

human life

and that is how

human life goes on

and all of us

are in that

human covenant

with Adam

as our head

just by biology.

And that's what,

but it's more than

just biology

because of this

whole thing of sin.

And it's a very

rich and deep idea.

Just one other thing

because I have to

move on with it.

I think you've got

the mystery

and maybe the power

of it.

You know,

I was thinking about

it a lot this week.

The more we grasp

that Adam

is our covenant

head,

then racism

makes no sense.

In fact,

it's an offense.

The more we

grasp

that we

have a covenant

head,

the more

that we would

have a fear

of people

who are different

than us,

just because

they're different

doesn't make any

sense.

It would mean,

it would undermine

those who are

transgendered

or experience

same-sex attraction

as basing

their identity

in that

if they understand

and we understand

with them

that there's this

one common

human covenant

with Adam

as our head.

It would undermine

caste systems

and class

systems

and sexism

and racism

if we all

grew in this

sense that there

is just one

covenant head

of all human

beings.

At a very

profound and

deep level,

it would make

all of these

things

abhorrent

and wrong.

And it

actually would

build,

it would make

deeper sense

why building

bonds of affection

in families

and communities

and across

families and

communities

is not just

some artificial

command that

God would

rest on us

but was

actually part

of the way

that God

created us

that it's

a sign

of health

when we

have a desire

for bonds

of affection

within communities

and across

economic barriers

and racial

barriers

and educational

levels

and that

compassion

should be

there.

It's woven

into our

DNA.

A.

I probably

lost my

place in

my notes.

Here's the

thing.

The doctrine

or the

idea of

human beings

as part

of a

covenant

that has

a head

does not

offend

science or

reason.

It offends

individualism.

that's what

I would say.

That's what

I just

tried to

demonstrate.

I don't

think it

offends

it.

You can't

prove it

from science

or reason.

It's one

of those

things that

once you

have

revelation

and then

you look

at and

then you

accept it

and then

you look

at the

world

you see

evidence

for it.

That it

fits.

That there's

some sense

to it.

It's something

maybe bigger

than our minds

can get our

but there's a

sense to it

and there's a

fittedness to it.

So it doesn't

offend reason.

It doesn't

offend science.

It deeply

offends

our individualism

and it

deeply

offends

our selfishness

and it

deeply

offends

our desire

to choose

race,

our race

over another

or our

politics

over another

or anything

our tribe

or our clan

over another.

It's deeply

offensive

to that

but it's

not

offensive

to science

or reason.

And it's

also then

something about

you know

here's another

thing about

being human

is that

this text

here has

a profound

explanation

about the

meaning of

death.

I mean

how do we

understand death?

It's really

funny.

You know

when we

listen to

different people

speak

if you go

to university

and you're

listening to

different

political

ideologies

and different

you know

different

sciences

and different

explanations

different types

of anthropology

sociology

psychologies

when you go

and you

talk to

different

religions

it's amazing

how often

they completely

and utterly

ignore the

reality

and the

significance

of death.

Yet if there

is one

single thing

we know

is that

we will

all die.

and it's

something we

want to

avert our

eyes from

usually

for most

of our

life

but it's

there

and how

do different

systems of

thought account

for it?

Look here again

at verse 12

and then we'll

keep reading

down to verse 14

it's very

very powerful

and very

very wise

it says again

therefore just

as sin

came into

the world

through one

man

and death

through sin

and so

death

spread

to all

men

this case

meaning the

human race

because all

sinned

for sin

indeed was

in the world

before the

law was

given

but the

sin is not

counted where

there is no

law

yet death

reigned from

Adam to

Moses

even those

whose sinning

was not like

the transgression

of Adam

was a type

of the one

to come

it's a bit

complicated

here's the

thing

what the

bible is

saying is

that death

is a

symptom

we have a

I don't know

if we have

many doctors

in the

congregation

I know we

have at least

one guy here

who's in

med school

and they

understand the

difference between

you know

you're going

to the doctor

and you know

I have this

pain over here

I have this

lump or whatever

or you know

and you tell

the doctor

your symptoms

and then you

hope that

the doctor

and then he

or she

will ask you

a range of

questions

to see what

other things

are going on

and you might

not connect

this lump

to that mole

or you know

that something

going on in

your eye

to that thing

going on in

your toe

I don't know

if there's a

connection there

and I just

made it up

but they look

at your

different symptoms

and they're

trained at least

we hope to

observe

and they look

at your

different symptoms

and they make

a prognosis

they make an

analysis of

what's causing

it

and so what

the bible

is saying here

is that death

is a symptom

that on a

very very

fundamental

it fits at a

very very

fundamental level

with I think

the most common

human experience

which is that

at a fundamental

on a strictly

biological level

death is natural

but at a human

level nobody

experiences death

of a loved one

is natural

we all know

when it touches

us closely

that there's

something unnatural

about death

and what

there's a bit

of an ongoing

thing that's all

the way through

the book of

Romans

that we're not

going to talk

about that much

right now

but if you go

back to Romans

2 or listen

to the sermon

that I did

on the first

part of Romans

2

is that

Paul knows

that

what Paul is

just saying

is that

if you want

to think

that somehow

or another

when the Bible

comes it's

going to make

things better

when the law

comes it's

going to make

things better

I think Jewish

people had a saying

the more Torah

the better it is

I got that wrong

but it's something

like that

and Paul is going

to keep saying

no no no

that's not the

case

the Bible

God's law

isn't the solution

and so it's just

another one of

these things

that yeah

the Bible

is just going

to actually

make us more

aware of the

things that we've

done wrong

but the fact

of the matter

is there's always

been death

we only know

a history of

death

and therefore

there's always

been a history

of everyone

being in Adam

because death

is a symptom

of a deeper

problem

and the deeper

problem

is our

separation

from God

and once

we chose

to be like

God

ourself

so that we

could at first

look God

eye to eye

but then look

down our nose

at God

because that was

ultimately

the human desire

that we would

be able to

look down

our nose

from God

that we

fell

and our

communion

and relationship

with God

was broken

and death

is a symptom

of that

and that's

why we can

understand

that on one

hand there

is something

natural now

about death

because there's

human covenant

which we all

experience

is a covenant

all with a

covenant head

but at the

same time

that there is

something profoundly

unnatural about it

but actually

and I'm not

going to talk

about this

much this week

I'm going to

talk about

in a couple

of weeks

in some ways

there's actually

some hope

in it

just as

if you come

to the doctor

if you recognize

that this lump

over here

isn't natural

you can go

to the doctor

and hopefully

the doctor

can say

okay this is

actually really

serious but we

caught it in time

and I can make

you better

and so that when

we recognize

that death

is a symptom

there is the hope

that

and in fact

this goes

with the whole

bible thing

is the bible

might be some

type of medicine

but it's not

health

it's not a cure

that the bible

is regularly

going to make us

realize

that we don't

need more

advice

that we need

a rescue

and the bible

and moral

instruction

will make us

aware that

only god

can rescue

not the state

not the tribe

not the clan

not affirming

our sexuality

not political

ideology

that only god

can rescue

and that we

can cry out

and call out

to him

that he would

rescue us

so death

follows

sin

death

is a symptom

of sin

death

follows

sin

death

is a symptom

symptom

of sin

we don't

need more

information

we need

rescue

rescue from

god

we don't

need more

information

about rules

take these

vitamins

memorize these

bible verses

do 15

jumping jacks

25 burpees

we don't

need more

rules

we need

rescue

not information

now some

people might

say

george

okay

now i can

maybe see

that there's

something powerful

about this

but it still

just doesn't

seem fair

and it still

doesn't seem

just

and surely

there's something

wrong

that adam

did this

and i didn't

choose him

and that just

doesn't seem

fair to me

it doesn't

seem just

and

we actually

see that

there

that there's

something to

this thing

but actually

considering the

question of

fairness

and justice

helps us to

understand the

rest of chapter

five actually

when we ask

this question

because what

the rest of

chapter five

is going to

tell us

is that we

need more

than justice

we need

mercy

and if we

are offered

mercy without

justice

that's actually

just god

showing favoritism

it's just god

picking favorites

it's just like

irish people

thinking that i'm

just gonna let all

the irish people

have the slack

and i don't know

the english people

oppressed us for a

long time so

you know

sucks to be english

but we like polish

people so i don't

know you know

we'll let poli

like if that's

that's not justice

and that's not

really mercy

that's just

favoritism

that's just

power politics

that's and

and so that

what what the

bible is going

to now go on

and say is

that in fact

yes we do

understand at a

fundamental level

we need justice

we want justice

but at the same

time if all we

have is justice

we are doomed

and we need

something more

than justice

that doesn't

transgress justice

or contradict

justice

or undermine

blind justice

or blind

justice

and make it

injustice

that we need

somehow to have

justice

and we need to

have at the same

time that which is

greater than justice

but coherent with

justice

we need mercy

and we need

grace

and that's exactly

what the gospel

gives us

because at the

first very thing

it's going to say

as as as Paul's

going to go through

this he's going to

outline what God

has done

he's going to say

at the end of the

day when you think

about all the things

that God has done

what you can know

and you can have

a great confidence

in is that God

picked a better

representative for

you than you

would pick for

yourself

that God

when he picked

Adam

he knows everything

he knew every human

being that was going

to follow and he

picked the best

person you could

possibly pick

and when that

didn't work

well what happened

let's look

verse

we'll read verse

14 again

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

to come

and Paul's

original hearers

they would have

seen type

type

has an

archetype

and

he is saying

when he says

that Adam

is a type

that even

though he's

the covenant

head

he is saying

that God

will provide

a true

and greater

Adam

that God

will provide

a true

and greater

Adam

Adam is a

type

those were some

philosophical

training

God will provide

the archetype

the true

and greater

Adam

and what

will God

do

through this

second

covenant

head

who is a

true

and greater

Adam

see God

will now

given that he's

made the human

race

that the human

race can have

a covenant

head

God is going

to provide

an option

for another

covenant

head

that we don't

enter into

by biology

but we

enter into

with empty

hands

by faith

and what's

going to be

characteristic

of this

true

and greater

Adam

that's what

Paul outlines

here in

verse 15

the thing

which is

going to

first

characterize

this true

and greater

Adam

is to

understand

it as a

free

gift

but the

free gift

is not like

the trespass

that's what

Adam did

our covenant

head

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

super

abounded

for many

that just

as

Jesus

is this

new

covenant

head

and what's

going to

cover

characterize

him

is that

it's

understood

as a

free

gift

it's

super

abounding

grace

coherent

and consistent

with

justice

that's

going to

characterize

this

second

covenant

head

is

abounding

grace

verse

16

and the

free

gift

that's

this

new

covenant

head

is not

like the

result

of that

one

man's

sin

for the

judgment

following

one

trespass

brought

condemnation

in other

words

it was

as if

we were

sentenced

and

found

guilty

justice

but the

free

gift

following

many

trespasses

the

free

gift

comes

to us

after

thousands

and

thousands

and

thousands

of

years

of

human

wrongdoing

and

even

though

it's

thousands

and

thousands

and

thousands

of

years

of

human

wrongdoing

that

not

only

did

we

share

in

Adam's

sin

that

we

sinned

like

Adam

ourselves

in

our

daily

lives

and

that

the

free

gift

that's

going

to be

accomplished

by

Jesus

upon

the

cross

for us

the

true

and

greater

Adam

is

super

abounding

more

grace

than

the

flood

the