Introduction:
A. Today we return to our series on Paul’s Letter to the Romans called “Pursing Righteousness From God” and we will focus our attention on the second half of chapter 5.
B. One day a little girl was flipping through the old family Bible, when a leaf, that someone long ago had pressed between its pages, came fluttering out.
1. As the little girl watched the leaf fall, she exclaimed with delight, “Oh, look! Adam's clothes!”
2. As amusing as that little girl might be, the legacy of Adam that we do find between the pages of the Bible is anything but funny.
3. Our original ancestors were wearing those pitifully inadequate fig leaves because they were ashamed of the guilt of their sin, with a shame that could never be covered by their makeshift wardrobe.
C. Just think of the unwelcome heritage we have as a direct result of the disobedience of Adam.
1. Our first forefather, through the calamity of his sin, left us a bitter birthright.
2. Thanks to Adam we live in a fallen world, with all its disappointments, diseases, despair, decline, and death.
3. Once mankind’s parents were booted out of their earthly paradise, mankind was forced to struggle along without the physical presence of a loving Father.
4. From the days of Cain and Abel this world has known nothing but centuries of ceaseless strife, bloodshed, and war.
5. Ever since Eden the human race has groaned under the weary burden of toil and trouble.
6. And worst of all, once sin entered our world, in all its ugliness and malignancy, it has reigned supreme.
D. If you have any question about the sinfulness of the human race, all you have to do is go anywhere in the world and pick up any newspaper you want, in any language, and read about what human beings are up to.
1. What we discover in any place and any time, not just in our present place and time, is selfish, sinful existence – murder and adultery, abuse and exploitation, corruption and crime.
2. The details change, the faces come and go, but the story is always the same.
3. Something has gone wrong with the human race.
4. Something evil lurks inside the heart of every person – no one is immune, no one is exempt, and no one is truly innocent.
5. People might call it different things – a twist, a taint, a bent to do wrong, but we know what it is – it is sin.
6. The hymn writer of the 18th century, Robert Robinson who wrote the famous hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” powerfully captured our challenge in the words: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.”
E. In our text today, Paul surveys the grim landscape of a fallen world with a series of somber phrases that emphasize the far-reaching consequences of Adam's actions.
1. Look at them with me and see if you detect a pattern:
• Verse 12: “…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.”
• Verse 15: “…by the one man’s trespass the many died…”
• Verse 16: “…because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation…”
• Verse 17: “…by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man…”
• Verse 18: “…through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone…”
• Verse 19: “…through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…”
2. Do you notice the pattern? ONE man, ONE trespass, ONE wrong decision opened the door to sin and death for every human being!
3. We live in a world that has been completely contaminated by sin.
4. When Adam and Eve sinned, it not only affected them personally, all of creation fell with them.
F. Most of us are familiar with the account of the fall of Adam and Eve.
1. As a result of their sin, God cursed the snake, who had tempted the couple – then He pronounced the judgment for Adam and Eve, taking away the tree of life, and expelling them from the Garden of Eden, and then the Lord also put a curse on the ground.
2. The result of that last penalty is painfully plain to all of us: from then on, life would be hard.
3. Before the fall, the first family had enjoyed an effortless bounty from the earth, but forever afterwards, the ground would give up its gifts grudgingly.
G. Apologists, evangelists and Bible teachers often talk about the “argument from creation” as they try to prove God’s existence.
1. Their point is that in the beauty and design and order of our world we can see the handiwork of God.
2. And all of that is true - the universe is so overwhelmingly wonderful that it’s hard not to see the greatness of God.
3. But it’s not the whole story, because as marvelous as the creation is, earth is no paradise!
4. Our world is also filled with more than enough imperfections to make us long for heaven, and the something more and perfect that it will deliver.
5. After all, we live in a world where innocent little children suffer from birth defects, and good folks die from strange diseases, and thousands are killed every year by tornados and car accidents, from lightning and violence.
6. And so, we have plenty of evidence that this world is not the way its supposed to be.
7. That’s why God paints us a beautiful picture in Revelation 22:1-3, telling us that heaven is a place where the “tree of life” stands, and “the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations,” and “no longer will there be any curse.”
H. We will never understand the world we live in unless we recognize that it is under a “curse”!
1. Later in our study of Romans, Paul will tell us: 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. (Romans 8:18-22)
2. Did you notice the phrase “bondage to decay” in verse 21?
a. What an accurate and descriptive phrase for our present experience!
b. In this world, nothing lasts forever.
c. Everything we’ve ever known falls apart, grows old, and decays.
I. And so, on a universal level, Adam’s sin affected the whole world, but on a personal level, it means that you and I are not only born into a sinful world, we are born to become sinners.
1. Here we encounter one of the most debated topics in the Bible – the topic of original sin.
2. While Romans 5:12-21 does not have “original sin” as its focus, it still remains the most important text in the Bible on this challenging theological topic.
3. We generally use the expression “original sin” to refer to the biblical teaching about the relationship between the first or original sin of Adam and the sin and death of all other people as a result of Adam’s sin.
4. Allow me to try to summarize the views that Christians hold on this issue into three general categories.
a. The first explanation category is called - Imitation – Some people believe that there is not any real connection between our sin and Adam’s sin, but that what Adam did was to set a bad example for us that the rest of us have followed.
1. This view is generally considered to be sub-orthodox, if not heretical.
2. Paul clearly teaches that there is some relationship between Adam’s sin and ours.
3. It is ridiculous to think that everyone has become a sinner simply because of Adam’s example, when the vast majority of people in history may never have heard of Adam.
b. The second explanation category is called - Infection – Many, if not most, Christians agree that Adam’s sin introduced a stain into the human race itself, a stain on the human nature that inevitably leads people to turn away from God rather than toward God.
1. What Paul gives in verses 18 and 19 is a condensed statement of original cause and the ultimate end, but what is missing is the process that connects them.
2. Just how did the one trespass contaminate human nature, and how is this “infection” passed down to all Adam’s descendants, so that everyone ends up sinning and facing condemnation.
c. The third explanation category is called – Inclusion – Other Christians see a closer relationship between the sin of Adam and the sin of all people.
1. They would conclude that Adam’s sin is, at the same time, the sin of everyone else as well.
2. The language that Paul uses here does imply an inclusion, but he may have used that language to help in the parallel it creates between Adam and Christ.
3. The contrasting acts of “one man” and the contrasting results for all people.
J. Let’s bring up the important question of original sin and children.
1. Allow me to make an important clarification: Children are not born guilty simply because they share a genetic link to the original sinner.
a. Jesus said: “Leave the children alone, and don’t try to keep them from coming to me, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14).
2. We must understand that until children reach a point of intellectual and spiritual maturity, when they can accept responsibility for their actions, they are not held accountable before God.
a. Little children may misbehave, but they don’t sin.
3. The phrase “age of accountability” is not found in the Bible, but the concept is.
a. An example of this is found in the incident when the faithless multitude of Israelites rebelled against God, and refused to enter the land, the Lord punished them - but God did not hold their children accountable – because as children they had not yet attained the moral discernment to be fully responsible to God
b. Moses explained this to them in Deuteronomy 1:39, “Your children, whom you said would be plunder, your sons who don’t yet know good from evil, will enter there. I will give them the land, and they will take possession of it.”
4. How, then, are we affected by Adam's sin?
a. In Hebrew the word “Adam” means “mankind” and so that ought to be our clue that the story of Adam and Eve is more than a simple account of two obscure, ancient characters.
b. Their story is our story, because all of us will undergo the same progression: from innocence to awareness to temptation to sin and shame.
c. And so we don’t just “relate” to Adam – we are Adam!
5. As I say that, please don’t misunderstand me – I believe that Adam and Eve were real people!
a. I believe that every human being on the face of the earth shares the same genetic heritage, are all physically descended from the real Adam and Eve.
b. But unfortunately, in addition to sharing their biological heritage, we also share the same spiritual heritage: to be human is to be imperfect and sinful.
c. It’s not that when Adam sinned, I became guilty of Adam’s sin, but that when I sin, I become Adam, just like Adam.
d. It’s more than imitation, it’s participation.
e. When we sin, we sin with Adam, because we share his fallen nature.
K. Although these things may be debated, there are three important implications we need to wrestle with.
1. First, to explain the universality of sin, we must assume at least that Adam’s sin has somehow predisposed every person to sin.
a. And to that extent, we end up being condemned because of something Adam did.
2. But, Secondly, we ultimately die spiritually when we sin personally.
a. We don’t die because of the sin of Adam, we die because of the sins we commit.
3. And, Thirdly, when the dust of the debates settles, we need to have a sober recognition of the reality of sin and death.
a. Basic to the Christian worldview is a view of humanity as inherently bent away from God, with all the tragedy that comes from our sinful condition.
b. Christianity offers a convincing explanation for the human misery and hatred we see in the world around us.
c. But thankfully, Christianity doesn’t just offer a convincing explanation, Christianity offers the only effective solution for our sinful condition.
L. And here’s the good news: Adam’s sin can be “undone”!
1. The real focus of Romans chapter 5:12-21 is not really about the devastation of Adam's sin.
a. I know, that's what we’ve been talking about up until now, and that’s how this passage begins, but that’s because Paul, like many preachers before and since, had gotten off track.
b. We note that verse 12 begins with “Therefore…”
c. That means that Paul was intending to build on what he had just said.
d. So what does the previous verse say? It has been a number of weeks since we studied it.
2. Verse 11 says: “And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.”
3. Paul's real purpose in this passage is to explain how it can be that the death of Jesus can bring about our salvation.
4. And the main point of this passage is that, just as the disobedience of one man brought sin into the world, so now the obedience of one man has brought salvation.
5. Or to put it another way, Jesus has undone the awful consequences of the fall of Adam.
M. The really good news is that Jesus has more than just “undone” the consequences of Adam’s sin.
1. Romans 5:15-17 says: 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many. 16 And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification. 17 Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
2. Notice the superlatives: What Jesus accomplished for us is “much more…much more…overflow of grace…gift of righteousness…reign in life.”
3. All of this is the basis of our hope and also gives us the motivation to share the good news.
4. Sin’s destructive power is great, but God’s redeeming grace is greater by far.
5. This old world we live in is not what it ought to be, and the people who live on this planet are prone to decadent and destructive sin, but thank God through His grace we can be made right, we can become what we ought to be!
N. You and I didn’t get a choice about being a child of Adam: we were born with his nature.
1. But we do have the opportunity to choose whether or not we will be reborn with a new nature: as a child of God!
2. Because we are the physical children of Adam, we will be sinful, but when we become spiritual children of God related to Christ, we are forgiven and transformed.
O. The choice belongs to every single one of us – God has given us a gift in Christ, but each of us must decide to accept it and abide in it.
1. If any of us decide continue to be lost, and continue to live in rebellion to God, and therefore go to hell, then we can’t blame Adam, because in the end our lost-ness is our fault not his.
2. The eternal life that Jesus has ushered in and that is available to everyone must be received and appropriated in each person’s life.
P. One of the strongest winds blowing in our present theological climate consists of the twin currents of tolerance and pluralism.
1. As our world grows smaller, we become better acquainted with people of other religions.
2. Human charity, fanned by the emphasis on tolerance in our multicultural environment, makes it more and more difficult to assert that Christ is the only way to salvation.
3. In such a climate, it is not surprising that a belief in universalism is growing among Christians.
4. Universalism is the belief that all people will eventually be saved, no matter how they have lived or what religion they have followed.
5. Universalism flies in the face of plain biblical teaching that some people, perhaps the majority of people, will not be saved, and that hell will never be unpopulated.
6. Universalism certainly has both a strong emotional and theological attraction.
7. Most of us would like to think that our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers are going to heaven.
8. Many of us tend to be “unconscious” universalists because we struggle in our hearts to accept that even the nice people we know are headed for hell if they don’t become Christ followers.
9. This “unconscious universalism” saps our zeal to share the gospel with others.
10. Evangelistic zeal should be rooted in a love for people and a desire to glorify God by bringing people into a saving relationship with God.
Q. A deep sense of the fact that people without the Lord are, indeed, lost will keep us doing what we can to be ambassadors for Christ.
1. Let’s end with Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 5: 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people… 18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.” 21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:10-11, 18-21)
2. Praise God that even though death came through Adam, life and reconciliation have come through Christ.
3. I plead with you on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled with God.
4. I plead with you, for the sake of the lost, share the good news of salvation in Christ with them.
5. Let’s do our best to be ambassadors for Christ and to try to persuade people.
Resources:
Romans: Be Right, The Bible Exposition Commentary, by Warren Wiersbe
Romans, The NIV Application Commentary, by Douglas Moo
“Adam Undone” Sermon by Dan Williams
Sermons “Paradise Lost” and “Paradise Found” by Ray Pritchard
