If you’ve ever flown Southwest airlines you know how fun their employees can be during the flight. I’ve been on flights when the captain comes on the sound system and says something like, "This is your captain speaking. I have some good news and some bad news for you today. The good news is that we’re ahead of schedule. The bad news is that our navigational equipment has failed and we have no idea where we are."
I came across this one the other day. “So yesterday my son comes home and says he has good news and bad news. "What’s the good news I asked?” “The good news is that I got 18 out of 20 on my driving test." “That’s great son! So, what’s the bad news?" "They were pedestrians."
When it comes to the Scripture I’m going to read today there is some good news and then there is some bad news. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said to the congregation in Rome.
[S] In other words, just as it was through one offense that all people came under condemnation, so also it is through one righteous act that all people come to be considered righteous. For just as through the disobedience of the one man, many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the other man, many will be made righteous. And the Torah came into the picture so that the offense would proliferate; but where sin proliferated, grace proliferated even more. All this happened so that just as sin ruled by means of death, so also grace might rule through causing people to be considered righteous, so that they might have eternal life, through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord.” (Romans 5.12-21, CJB) [S]
The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
In Romans chapter 5 Paul reveals some good news and some bad news.
The bad news is that everyone is a sinner. And according to Paul we all have Adam to thank for that. Adam and his precious wife Eve committed the first recorded sin in the bible which was? Eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Something God told them not to do. They could eat of any other tree in the garden, including the Tree of Life, but not the Tree of knowledge of good and evil. Why? Because he knew it would bring about a death.
Adam and Eve had a choice, to choose life or to choose death. God wanted them to choose life so he told them not to eat of this other tree. But for whatever reasons, they ate of the fruit from the tree God told them not to. And they died. They didn’t die physically right away, though death was now definitely going to be part of humanities life cycle. But they died in the sense that they died to God that day.
You see their eating was an act of apostasy, an act of disobedience, an act of opposition, an act of pride, an act of rebellion, an act of the will to do what they wanted instead of what God wanted. The result was that they were cast out of God’s dwelling place the Garden of Eden. Their sin resulted in being separated from God.
The bible also tells us that ever since Adam and Eve ate of the fruit in the garden humanity has been infected with sin. Ever since then sin has become a part of life and a way of life for some. We learned in Disciple Bible Study this last week that Genesis chapters 3-11 highlight sin and its effect on the human population. Sin that began with Adam and Eve is seen in their two wonderful boys Cain and Abel when Cain kills his brother. Sin becomes rampant in the world so God has Noah build an Ark before he floods the world. And then there is the Tower of Babel where the builders are motivated to build a grand tower to make their names great, which is another way of saying to feed their pride.
Whether we like it or not, the bible teaches that we have a sinful nature. That means ever since birth we gravitate to sinning, we lean towards sinning, we are inclined to sin. That doesn’t mean we are not capable of doing some good, but our tendency is to live and love ourselves more than God. That’s why one of the great lines in Charles Wesley’s hymn Love Divine All Love Excelling is “…take away my bent to sinning.” Sin has defiled us. Sin has distorted us. Sin has disfigured us. Sin has damaged us. (Eddie Fox and George Morris, The Faith Sharing New Testament with the Psalms, NRSV)
The sin of Adam has acted like a mutated gene that has found its way into the spiritual DNA of humanity so that we now have a “congenital disease” (Jewish New Testament Commentary, David H Stern, pg. 360) A disease we’re born with and can do nothing about. Listen to the words of King David. King David wrote, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51.2). “Behold I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51.7) We are born with a sinful nature and that’s not good news.
Now if that’s not enough bad news there is more. The wages of sin according to the bible is death according to Romans 6.23. Physical death which we’re aware of. A spiritual death which is a break in communion with God. And for those who do not deal with the sin in their lives according to scripture there is an eternal death in a state of Christless eternity that the church refers to as hell. So as you can probably deduce, humanity was and is in a heap of trouble.
Are you ready for some good news? Hear the text again. “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man many will be made righteous…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.”
Paul tells us that what Jesus did through his obedience to God is far greater than anything Adam did through his disobedience. And that means what Christ has done in his obedience to God is greater than anything you have done through your disobedience. Paul wrote, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.” Hear this, the bad news is that we’re sinners at heart. The good news is that God still loves us NEVERTHELESS. The bad news is that we were powerless to do anything about our sin, the good news is that NEVERTHELESS God acted on our behalf. The bad news is that we’re ungodly sinners, NEVERTHELESS God justifies us through the life and death of Jesus the Christ on the cross!
Bill Hybels has a great story that illustrates what Paul is driving at here. Imagine there is a new honor being offered to professional baseball players called the “All Universe Hall of Fame”. To enjoy the prestige and rewards only takes three requirements.
First, the person must play consistently for at least five consecutive years which would be almost 1,000 games. Secondly, they would have to play error free ball the entire time. And third, they must bat 1.000 which means they must get a hit every time they are up to bat. That’s it. Do you think anybody could do it? Why not? Because it’s impossible.
This is what the bible says about trying to earn our way into heaven. No matter how hard we try, we’ll always fall short of God’s standard because of what Sin does in our life. Jesus’ brother James says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2.10)
But here’s the good news. That even though we could never do this for ourselves God has done it for us through Jesus. Like a pinch hitter who bats for another player, Jesus lived the perfect life and then voluntarily stepped in and covered what we owed for our sin. In essence Jesus played error-free ball and batted 1.000. by living the sinless righteous life required by God’s holiness and justice.
I love these words of Paul in Romans 5.-8. [S] “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5.6-8)
This, this is the Great NEVERTHELESS.
Nonetheless, to appropriate the great nevertheless requires a person to place their trust in Jesus as their SaviorLord. You see, even though this saving grace of God is available to all, it has to be accepted and received.
God has given us a free will to choose our destiny. God loves us so much that he will not force us to make the decision or make the decision for us. By God’s grace every person has the option to accept what God offers in Christ or to refuse it. But why would someone want to do that?
If you’ve never accepted what Jesus has done for you and confessed Jesus as your SaviorLord why not do so today? Don’t think about it anymore. Receive the abundant life Jesus offers you in the present and in the life to come! I’m going to lead all of us in a prayer of thanksgiving for the salvation we have received in Christ. If you are a believer you can pray this as a prayer of thanksgiving for your salvation. And it’s a prayer that someone who is making a first time profession of faith in Christ can make as well. But note, that by doing so you are also expected to become his disciple which means becoming associated with a local church and growing up into Christlikeness. If this is your desire today, then I invite you to pray silently after me.
“Dear God, I thank you that you love me even though I’m a sinner. I admit I have not followed your will for me. I accept the forgiveness and righteousness you offer me through Jesus and I turn from my life of sin to live for you. Now through the power of the Holy Spirit, enable me to live as a faithful disciple of yours. In the name of my SaviorLord, Jesus the Christ, amen.
