Alba 9-12-2021
Where Sin Abounded, Grace Abounded Much More
Romans 5:12-21
Jeff Strite tells the story how in the 14th century, in the land we now call Belgium, there was a duke by the name of Raynald III. Raynald was grossly overweight, and was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means "Fat."
Now, it seems that Raynald had a violent quarrel with his younger brother Edward, and Edward was so angry he led a successful revolt against him.
But Edward did not kill Raynald. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk Castle, and he promised his brother he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room.
This would not have been difficult for most people since the room had several windows and a door of near normal size, and none was locked or barred. The problem was Raynald’s size. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight.
But Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a variety of delicious foods. Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: "My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills."
Raynald stayed in that room for 10 years and wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined that he died within a year... a prisoner to his own appetite.
(Thomas Costain’s history, "The Three Edwards," cited in Leadership, Spring 84, p. 44)
Raynald III was a prisoner. It’s what he ate that imprisoned him. And though he could have left his prison whenever he wished, the actions of another… and his own weakness kept him imprisoned.
Romans 5 tells us that mankind has been imprisoned as well. And just as Raynald was imprisoned by the actions of his relative… so have we. We have been imprisoned by the actions of a relative named Adam.
Turn to Romans 5:12-21 as I read: 12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam,who is a type of Him who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.
17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
These verses and many more in the New Testament make it clear that Adam and Eve were real people.
Their lives and their actions have changed the course of creation from very good to very bad. Think of the trouble that would have been spared if they had just obeyed.
Here we are told that sin entered into the world when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God's commandment. So, when they sinned, they caused a change in this world that affects every one of their descendants, including you and me.
That decision not only changed them, but it changed the world around them so that death, disease, and decay began to occur to the entire world in which we live.
One way to look at this is that Adam became infected with sin's fatal disease...and that disease spread to all of us. And the end result is death and hell.
There are some who will read these verses and will object by saying, “Why should I suffer, why should I burn in hell for Adam’s mistake and his disobedience to God’s command?”
Here's the answer to that: You will not! If you burn in hell it will be your own choice; it will not be because of Adam’s transgression.
We like to excuse ourselves and say our wrongs are not our fault, and point the finger at Adam. The problem is that we have followed in his footsteps. We too are sinners.
If sin were merely looked on as a disease, I could claim that my sin was not my fault. God can’t condemn me because I couldn’t help myself.
But that’s not how it works. As Ezekiel 18:20 tells us, The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son.
We will not be held guilty for our parents' sins, or the sins of our grandparents or great grandparents. So we will not be held guilty for the sin of Adam either.
But there is something about Adam that started it all. Because Adam opened the door for sins' effect on our lives.
Because of him we share the weakness toward selfishness; the appetite to sin; the tendency to disobey, to give ourselves over to that which would condemn us.
We are not born with sin, but we are born with a nature that will sin, when given the choice.
When the law was given sins became more specific. More sin was identified, so more sin occurred (see verse twenty). Sometimes it is like a “Wet Paint” sign. You might not think of touching that wall until someone sticks a “Wet Paint” sign on it.
But after you see that sign, every part of you wants to touch it and see if it’s wet. The law didn't make things better; it made things worse! It increased sin!
The person who reads a sign in the park that forbids the picking of flowers and then proceeds to pick one demonstrates a natural, reflexive rebellion against authority.
There is nothing wrong with the sign; its message is perfectly legitimate and good. But because it places a restriction on people’s freedom to do as they please, it causes resentment and has the effect of leading some people to do what they otherwise might not even think of doing.
Adam’s one act of sin, his disobedience, brought the reign of death. But that was hardly the intent of the first sin. Neither Adam nor Eve sinned because they wanted to die; they sinned because they expected to become like God.
But their sin produced the very opposite result from that which they desired and exposes the deception of the tempter. Instead of becoming more like God, they became more unlike Him.
At the time, eating the forbidden fruit was the only sin that Adam and Eve could have committed, because God had placed but one restriction on them.
But had it been possible, any other sin would have had the same effect. It was disobedience that brought judgment to the whole human race. One sin was all it took, and fellowship with God was broken. Then they tried to hide.
Like Adam and Eve, when we are out of tune with God, fears and anxieties crowd into our life. When we focus our attention on the uncertainties of life, on a changing, decaying world, our security and confidence are shaken.
Our peace is disturbed becase sin separates us from God. “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6).
It only took one sin by Adam to bring death, but Jesus’ death takes care of all sin for all time for those who have faith!
Despite the fact that God hates sin, His loving grace toward people is so great that He provides redemption for all who turn to Him in obedient faith. Greater even than God’s hatred of sin is His love for the sinner.
Jesus paid the penalty for our sins on the cross. He is the true man who really submits to God. The promise was made to Adam, the first man, but it was lost by him because of his disobedience, and then fulfilled in Jesus because of his obedience.
We all belong to one of these two men: Adam leading to death, or Christ leading to life. We are either in Adam, or in Christ.
Michael Forsythe who lives in England, tells that he was once on a flight to Helsinki in Finland, or at least he thought he was.
He had gone through the terminal reasonably successfully and taken his seat on the flight. As they began to taxi, they did the usual announcements. Then the aircraft stopped and over the sound system they called his name.
He was asked to stand and make his way to the front of the aircraft. The flight attendant checked his ticket. He was on the wrong flight!
While in that airplane, there was no way he was going to Helsinki. It was headed to Spain. In an airplane, you head where the airplane is headed. It was only when he got off that airplane and boarded the correct airplane that he was able to go where he wanted.
So, you are either in Adam and headed for death, or in Christ and headed for life because of His free gift justifying you by His righteousness.
You cannot sit in the wrong airplane hoping it might make it to the destination. You cannot stand outside and watch the airplane take off, you need to be in the airplane.
You cannot pretend to be an airplane and run down the runway flapping your arms. You need to be in the airplane.
So, we need to be in Christ in order to have the gift of His righteousness that allows us into God's heaven.
We can stay in Adam and be subject to the consequences of sin for all eternity. Or we can choose Jesus Christ, and be set free from the consequences of sin.
The consequence of sin is death. Physical death is a legacy that is here to stay, but the spiritual death that sin brings has a cure. It came by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ by His death on the cross. For by His death, we have life.
We cannot do anything about what Adam has done. He started the problems we have, but we don’t have to stay like that!
Verse 15 tells us about that free gift that God has for us. This gift comes from God through His Son Jesus. It brings the forgiveness of sin and the righteousness of Christ to our lives, this gift is the gift of justification from God to our eternal soul!
And when we are justified by God, our sins are forgiven. And then God infuses our soul with the righteousness of Christ. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
When it speaks of “one Man’s righteous act” in verse 18 it is not a reference to a single event, but to our Lord's continued obedience, culminating in the greatest demonstration of that obedience.
Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
This is why we can stand blameless and NOT GUILTY before God. Because when we are in Christ, we are clothed with His righteousness.
Oh yes, where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
CONCLUSION:
I am sure that you all know the nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty. I think you can all say it with me.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
So what was Humpty Dumpty? Everybody knows that he is an egg. But why? There is no reference to an egg in the rhyme.
It is because of Lewis Carroll's classic book Through the Looking-Glass published in 1871 as a sequel to his book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In the book, Alice meets many sets of extremely unusual characters, one of which happens to be a human-like egg that goes by the name of Humpty Dumpty.
Since the original nursery rhyme was created over 50 years before Through the Looking-Glass, it could not have been the egg that was the inspiration behind it. Not only was Humpty not an egg, but according to many historians, he was likely a military cannon.
An early version of the rhyme goes this way:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
Threescore men and threescore more,
Cannot place Humpty dumpty as he was before.
“Well,” you ask, “why are you talking about a silly nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty in a sermon about such a serious topic?”
It is because we are Humpty Dumpty! We, from Adam to today, have all had a great fall. And nothing on earth can put us back together with God – except our Lord Jesus Christ!
