INTRODUCTION
• It will not be long before we get to Christmas. During the Christmas season, we receive and give gifts.
• I am the type who has always appreciated any gifts I have received from people. I am touched that someone would consider me worthy of their time and efforts.
• Throughout our lives we receive many gifts. Some of the gifts we receive are not always the most desired or the most useful. Maybe you have a closet full of those television commercial gifts that do not do what they were supposed to. Maybe you are one of those people who have received gifts that are beyond description.
• The gifts we receive from people usually come to us because someone wants to give us a gift, we usually do not earn the right to get a gift. People give them because they want to give them to us.
• Today I want to spend some time contrasting two gifts that come to us in life. Neither of these gifts are earned. One of the gifts is one we ALL receive, it is one of those gifts none of us want, kind of like Mike Wallace and the 60 Minutes crew showing up at your door step, but nevertheless, it is one we all receive.
• The other gift is one that the giver desperately wants us to have; all we need to do is to claim the gift to have it. It is a gift that all of us should want, but not everyone will accept. It is a gift that can counteract the unwanted gift we all receive.
• Today I will contrast the two gifts, and I hope you will be convinced to accept the free gift being offered to you. If you have already accepted the free gift, I hope that you will appreciate the gift you have accepted.
• Turn in your bibles to Romans 5:12-21. We will start by looking at the gift we all receive from Adam.
• This is one of the most difficult passages to understand because of the structure, the language and the to phraseology that is used.
SERMON
I. THE GIFT OF ADAM (12-14)
• Adams gift to us was sin and death! Doesn’t that sound like a great gift to receive! Verse 12 tells us that through one man, sin entered the world and death came as a result of sin and death spread to all men because all have sinned!
• In this section of text we find Paul treating the Genesis account of the fall of mankind as a fact, not some made up story.
• When God created mankind and put him in the Garden of Eden, He told them not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He further told him that if he ate of the tree he would surely die! (Genesis 2:16-17)
• Genesis 2:17 says, “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
• It literally reads in the Hebrew, “dying you shall die.” This is why Adam did not drop dead immediately after he sinned. His sins started the death process.
• In Genesis 3 we find Eve being deceived by the serpent. In Genesis 3:6 we have the start of the fall. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
• When Adam made the decision to sin, he let sin and death enter the world.
• The gift of death that Adam passed on to all of us is physical death. We die a physical death because of Adam’s decision to do what God told him not to do.
• Until Adam’s sin, there was no physical death in the world. This kind of puts the idea of dinosaurs living on the planet for millions of years before mankind to rest, unless each one of them lived for millions of years. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:21-22 says, “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
• When the passage says that all have sinned it means that since we all come from Adam, Adams sin represents us all.
• In verses 13-14 we find that between the time of Adam and Moses there was no Law that transgressing it would result in death.
• Even though mankind was sinning against God, sin was not “imputed”. Impute means to credit or debit one’s account, to hold one responsible, to hold one liable to punishment.
• Sin that should have resulted in death was not counted against people when there was no Law between Adam and Moses.
• We receive the gift of physical death from Adam, wasn’t that nice of him! Let’s look at the benefits of Adams gift to mankind!
II. THE BENEFITS OF ADAMS GIFT
• We see in verse through Adam, sin was given an opportunity to enter into the world. Eating the forbidden fruit seems like such a small offense doesn’t it. Look at the far reaching affects of it on us today.
• This is how sin works in your life also. Satan is looking for just a small crack in your armor. I have heard that a mouse can fit through a very small crack or opening. Sin is the same way. You let it in to your life in seemingly small ways, then, it gets a stronghold in your life. Small insignificant sins seem to turn into bigger and bigger ones and each sin we commit has a ripple effect around us.
• A second benefit of Adams gift is that as a result of one transgression many died and are going to die. (15)
• We see this played out in life today where the mistake of one person can cost many seemingly innocent people their lives.
• A third bad benefit of Adams gift is, we were all made sinners. (12)
• Adams sin represented the fact that we would all sin. Is this not true? Do you know of anyone who has lived a sinless perfect life?
• A fourth benefit of Adams gift is a verdict of condemnation to the human race (16).
• Verse 16 tells us that when Adam sinned, God passed a sentence of guilty. Judgment denotes a sentence passed out by a judge at the end of a trial.
• The condemnation we all received was physical death. If a person were able to live a sinless perfect life after Adam, they still would have died a physical death.
• The last benefit of Adams gift to mankind is the fact that death has reigned in sin. Sin was the agent from which death sprung forth, it was the goal of sin.
• 1CO 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
• When you start to analyze the benefits of Adams gift to the human race, it becomes clear there is nothing good to be gained from his gift to us.
III. THE GIFT OF JESUS
• What is the gift of Jesus? It is Christ’s redemptive act. This included Him coming to earth to live as a man, and then his subsequent death, burial and resurrection.
• On the cross when Jesus said, “it is finished”, He was speaking of His part in the scheme of redeeming mankind. (John 19:30)
• In the NASB, this plan is called “the free gift.”
• Jesus, by allowing Himself to die in our place has given us the opportunity to receive the free gift of redemption.
• We can all understand what redemption means. How many times have you seen a baseball game or a football game where a person makes a bad mistake making themselves the goat of the game, only to have a chance later in the game to redeem themselves with a big game winning hit.
• Jesus free gift to you is a second chance, it is redemption from your past, and it is a bright and glorious future, one that is not possible without Him!
• From verse 10 we see that the free gift is the death of God’s Son! How would you feel if you sacrificed your child to give a person a second chance at life, only to have them blow it, not appreciate it, or just totally ignore what you did for them?
• Now let us look at the benefits of the “free gift” of Jesus!
IV. THE BENEFITS OF THE GIFT OF JESUS
• Adam is a “type” of Christ in the sense in what he did had an effect on the whole race. The results of Adams sin are diametrically opposed to the results of Christ’s death. Everything that God did for us through Jesus was meant to counteract the devastating effects Adam had on us.
• One of the benefits of the “free gift” is that Gods grace was allowed to shine through! (15,21)
• It is through Jesus that God’s grace shines through to us. It is through Jesus that we have the opportunity to be saved from the effects of our sins as well as being resurrected to life.
• Back in eternity, God had favor towards us and so did Jesus. God was able to let us see His grace by providing a way to fix our sin problem.
• Verse 21 tells us that grace would reign through eternal life through Jesus!
• A second benefit of the “free gift” is justification of life. (18) READ 18
• With Adam, his one act caused many to die, through Jesus’ one act, many were able to live! In the context we find that justification of life means the opposite of physical death. Part of God’s way of saving man includes a way for us to defeat death through Jesus!
• 1CO 15:55-57 says, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Because of Adam, we will all die, but because of Jesus, we will ALL rise again.
• 1CO 15:21-22 says, “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
• When we are raised, we will either receive the resurrection of life (heaven) or the resurrection of judgment (hell). JOHN 5:29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
• Another result of the “free gift” is that many will be made righteous. (19)
• Because of Adam’s disobedience, many were made sinners, but because of the obedience of Jesus, many were made righteous!
• The word for “righteous” is not the same one that is used in other places in the text.
• The whole human race will be resurrected. Through the death of Jesus the whole human family will are to be constituted (or considered) righteous for the purpose of resurrection. Because of Jesus death, on one level we will all be counted as righteous. After we are raised, what happens to us depends on our response to Jesus in our life.
• Another one of he benefits of the gift is that through Jesus we receive the verdict of acquittal! (16)
• Remember how we said being justified means being declared innocent. If you belong to Jesus and are faithful to Him, you will be declared innocent before God and will be able to enjoy the resurrection of life!
• The last benefit is that God’s way of saving man (through righteousness) a person is able to enjoy eternal life with God! Notice verse 21 specifies this is only through Jesus! Eternal life is more than being raised from death; it is being able to go to heaven!
• What do you want? Life or death? No matter what you do in life, you will be raised from the dead, but after that what happens is up to you!
• I know these last couple of sermons have been a bit deeper, but I hope you see the importance of what Paul is writing and why the book of Romans has made such an impact on so many people!
CONCLUSION
• You received the gift of Adam through no act of your own. Adam gave to you the gift of sin and death.
• You received the gift of spiritual death when you committed your first sin.
• Now, Jesus is offering to give you back what you lost through Adam and what you lost because of your own sin.
• In a nutshell, you can summarize the text we coved today in this way. What we lost in Adam through no act of our own, we regain in Christ, through no act of our own, and much more! What we lost was our physical life, what we gain is physical life also.
• Through Jesus, we will all be raised from the dead when He returns, Jesus defeated death for us. Now, once we are raised, this is where the much more comes into play for us.
• We will either be raised to a resurrection of life or a resurrection of judgment. (John 5:29)
• What do you want? God gives you the freedom of choice. One thing you not be able to do is change the choices.
