Paul started Romans telling us of the depravity of man and the wrath of God against sinful mankind.
• This is the true state of man, whether Jews or Greeks, religious or non-religious, those with or without the Law.
In chapter 3 Paul declares the good news that God has provided sinners with the salvation they need in Jesus Christ.
• This righteousness is from God who through Christ provided man with the forgiveness of sin. Man can now be justified by faith in Jesus. This is the grace of God.
Chapter 4 Paul stressed the importance of faith in God, exemplified by Abraham.
• Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, so are we when we believe Christ.
• Our faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross puts us in right standing with God.
Chapter 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• The result of a reconciled relationship with God is that we have peace, joy and hope in life. We are secured in Christ.
From the depravity of man, to the judgment of God against sin, to the salvation He provides by grace through faith in Christ, to the blessings of a new life in Christ.
• Today in our passage we will cover Paul’s final comment on this salvation we have in Christ - Romans 5:12-21.
• After that, from Rom 6 onwards, Paul talks about sanctification, the fruit of this new life; how in Christ we experience a transformation in the way we live.
In today’s text, Paul gives us a detailed (and difficult) comparison of our identity in Adam and in Christ.
• When Adam sinned, all mankind is affected. Over against that, Paul sets the saving work of Christ.
• For in Christ, all the damage and consequence of Adam’s sin is reversed.
• Just as Adam was the head of fallen mankind, so Christ is the head of the redeemed people of God.
Look at your bible Romans 5:12-21. We will read verse 12 and then 18-21. We will come back later for verses 13-17. It’s easier to understand Paul’s main point.
• There is a DASH after verse 12 where Paul went off to make an explanation, about our connection with Adam.
• KJV puts the whole section (vv.13-17) in brackets, so let’s read the main text first.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ – let’s read v.12 and continues from vv.18-21.
12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned —
18Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul paints for us the contrasts of the two heads of the human race, one the fallen mankind and the other, the redeemed people of God.
ADAM - Head of Fallen Mankind
Condemnation for all men
Many made sinners
Sin reigned in death
JESUS CHRIST - Head of Redeemed People
Justification and life to all men
Many made righteous
Grace reign through righteousness
• One man Adam and with his one sin brought about condemnation. One man Jesus Christ and his one act of obedience on the cross brings about justification.
• Through Adam, sin came into the world and all men sinned. Through Christ, sin was dwelt with and all who trust Christ are made righteous.
That begs a question, how is it possible that Jesus “take our place”, as with, “how can the sin of Adam lead to our condemnation”? Where is the connection?
• Paul explains from 5:13-17. It has to do with our identification with Adam and with Christ.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ
(13for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted [KJV imputed] where there is no law. 14Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.)
Sin came into the world through Adam and hence death resulted.
• God had warned Adam that “in the day he ate of the forbidden fruit” he would surely die? (Gen 2:17)
• When Adam disobeyed God and ate the fruit, he sinned and death resulted, as the Lord has said. Although not immediately, it came.
Paul says when Adam sinned, we sinned. Death spread to all men because all sinned in Adam.
• Sin was in the world before the Law was given. Sin cannot be counted (as transgression) where there is no law, yet we see that death reigned from Adam to Moses (before the Law), and even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam (which was disobedience to the command of God).
• Even for those who, strictly speaking, did not “transgress the Law”, they were judged because death reigned over them through Adam.
• In Adam, all sinned. Adam’s sin was imputed on all mankind.
Our gut reaction is, “How can this be! I have nothing to do with Adam. He sinned and that’s his problem, not mine.”
• It’s not so straightforward. Adam was the first created man and he stands before God, alone, at the head of the human race, representing mankind.
• We sin because we are sinners. We die in Adam even without the “transgressions”.
Is this understanding important, that we are sinners in Adam? Yes, Paul says Adam was a type of the one who was to come, referring to Jesus Christ.
• Jesus came as the “second Adam” reversing all the damage the first Adam has done.
• 5:18 says the ONE trespass led to condemnation and the ONE act of righteousness leads to justification and life.
• 5:19 says the ONE man’s disobedience led to sin (and hence death) and by the ONE man’s obedience (Jesus Christ) we are made righteous.
• In Adam we die. In Christ we live.
Is this important? Yes, because if we think that Adam’s sin is his problem and my sin is my problem, then we will also think the same with regard to what Christ has done.
• Whatever that Jesus has done on the cross has nothing to do with me? He is a good man and that’s Him.
• And that’s how the world thinks. Adam’s sin has nothing to do with me.
• The truth revealed to us in God’s Word is this: We are identified with Adam in our sin and we are now identified with Christ in His righteousness.
• In Adam we die, in Christ we live.
The only way for mankind to escape the judgment of sin caused by Adam is to turn to the “second Adam” and receive the free gift of a new life.
• Notice the number of times Paul says, “free gift, free gift, free gift, free gift, free gift” five times. The free gift of God’s grace, justification and righteousness.
• It’s free for us but paid for by Jesus. And we can only take it BY FAITH in Christ.
Paul says that Christ did not merely REVERSE the effects of Adam’s sin, He brought to us abundant grace and blessings.
• 5:15 “the free gift is not like the trespass… much more have the grace of God and the free gift… abounded for many.”
• 5:17 “much more will those who receive the abundance of grace…” reign in life.
• 5:20 “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more…”
• We are more than barely saved. We reign in life through Jesus Christ, Paul says.
• Clearly this “reign in life” here has little to do with earthly success or glory, but the righteousness of God. We are more than conquerors through Christ (Rom 8:37).
Jesus did not just give us a righteous standing before God, He gives us life abundant and much more!
• The Bible says we are children of God (John 1:12), and if children, “then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17). We share in His glory for eternity!
• Previously sin and death reign and we are subjects, under its powers, but now we reign in life with His grace and freedom. We have victory over sin and death!
• In Adam, we lost everything; in Christ, we gained much more than what we had lost.
Why is Paul telling us all this? To show us that our salvation in Christ is fully secured and greatly blessed. Nothing can change this.
• We contribute nothing to our salvation. It is an act of God by the grace of God and for the glory of God.
• We are predestined, elected, adopted, transformed, and destined for glory.
• What are we afraid of today? What are we anxious about? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31)
Let me close with these words from Paul in 1 Cor 15.
1 Cor 15:45-49 45Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
1 Cor 15:54-58 54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.
A Myanmar sister from KBC shared this last Sunday:
In five years of pastoral ministry, I’ve encountered devastating deaths but sparse in numbers among my congregation.
Yet in these few weeks alone, I’ve encountered death by the dozens, [although] at a physical distance through Zoom funeral services.
One night, there was a Zoom service for eight people — all families of our church members here who could not go back to attend the funerals. Children grieve for the parents they could no longer go back to meet for holidays, parents they could no longer send back pocket money to.
While some might see elderly parents as liabilities, many in my community regard their parents as blessings to take care of and pamper. And with the abrupt death of their parents, they feel deprived of their privilege to repay them for all the years of love and sacrifice. They deal with the guilt of being physically absent, with not being able to find the medicine or the oxygen concentrators in time.
And one church lost both their pastors, a father and a son duo, within weeks.
Death always saddens me, but it has rarely rattled me because it is inevitable and for those who believe in Christ Jesus, death is a welcome relief from the toils and troubles of this world.
But recently, the intensity and volume have rattled me so much that I have to echo Isaac Watts’ words in his hymn “Safety in God”: “When overwhelmed with grief, my heart within me dies; helpless, and far from all relief, to heaven, I lift mine eyes.”
Still, I thank God for in the midst of helplessness and this steady stream of grief, I can still lift my eyes to the LORD to whom I can cry out for relief.
That’s the realities of life, before that glorious day when we see our Saviour and Lord Jesus again. Yet we thank God for the new life that we have in Christ.
Dear friends, we cannot help being IN ADAM. We are born into this world without our control. But we can choose not to stay IN ADAM under this old creation.
• You can come over to Christ and be born again into a new creation.
• Through faith in Jesus Christ, we put ourselves IN CHRIST and experience a new life of God’s grace and righteousness.
PRAYER:
In the midst of all that is happening, Lord, we echo this truth: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Cor 15:22)
This world is not our home, we are all passing through. We are made for more. We are made for eternity, for a relationship with you.
Help us remember that, especially so when we are too caught up, Lord with the affairs of this world.
May we not lose sight of all that you have prepared for us in Christ.
Let us all be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in your work Lord, knowing that our labour is not in vain.
Help us believe your Word and find assurance in the unshakable hope that we have in you. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
[You can view the sermon with slides at https://tinyurl.com/KTCC-EnglishService.]
