Oh Holy Night : In Sin and Error Pining

Oh Holy Night : In Sin and Error Pining

Long lay the world in sin and error pining Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

Romans 5:12-15//

Opening Prayer

The Consequence of sin.

Romans 5:12 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

“Sin came into the world through one man”

Historical Adam

Unfortunately it is important to make this point.

Some teach that Adam is only a symbolic figure.

But Paul is telling us here that Adam was the entry point for sin in the world (subsequently all that came from it)

The Bible repeatedly show Adam as a real historical figure.

Even Jesus taught about the Adam as a real person

“God created male and female and the two became one flesh...”

In these verses Paul contrast Adam and Jesus so tightly it is impossible to claim one as merely symbolic without effecting the other.

Adam was a real person who (together with his wife) were given the responsibility (among other things) to keep sin out of the world.

Gen 2:17 “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.”

The day they failed to keep that commandment, there was nothing symbolic about it!!!!!

“...and death through sin, ...”

Spiritual Death

The day that Adam and Eve were created, God said it was VERY GOOD.

He came in the cool part of that day and walk with them.

When sin came into the world this relationship was severed.

Physical Death

Spiritual death also brought in physical death.

We now have things like cancer, was, car crashes, old age.

Christmas is my favorite holiday.

The only reason Christmas exists is because we are living sin.

“...and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”

Spiritual and Physical death came in through Adam’s original sin.

It spread to ALL MANKIND.

Sun Tea:

When I was a kid my mom would sometime make sin tea. Glass jar you could sit and watch it.

Clear water

drop in the tea bags

slowly permeate until it changed the whole contents

Then everything became something else.

THAT IS WHAT SIN ACCOMPLISHED IN THE WORLD.

All of creation is separated from God by sin and experiences death.

Therefore, all of creation acts according to this fallen nature.

Burton White: 1985 (not surprising to parents ....

“From fifteen to sixteen months on, as his self-awareness becomes more substantial, something in his nature we don’t fully understand will lead him to deliberately try each of these forbidden activities, specifically to see what will be allowed and what won’t.”

Thomas R. Schreiner, “Sermon: From Adam to Christ: The Grace That Conquers All Our Sin (Romans 5:12–19),” ed. R. Albert Mohler Jr., Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 15 15, no. 1 (2011): 85.

Sin is the most pervasive consequence of the fall of man. It spread to ALL mankind and continues to do so.

The Reality of sin.

Working definition of sin:

“An immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.”

This definition is inadequate.

Sin includes anything that contradicts or departs from God divine nature (which is describes with attribute of truth, love, peace.)

Let me tell you where I’m coming from and why it matters.

Romans 5:13 ESV

13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Let start to break this down with a story (unfortunately a true story)

The mattress in the ditch.

My mom lived in a place called Laurel, In., down Sanes Creek road, hard right turn down Mettle Road. Travel down this gravel road about 1/2 mile until you get to a cattle gate attached to an oak tree. (We were in the middle of nowhere) it was all our backyard.

One there was an old mattress in the ditch. Mom told us to stay off the mattress (where do you think my brother and I went.)

I don’t remember who’s idea it was that I couldn’t do a flip like a super hero, but I was sure I could do it… I was wrong… I couldn’t do a flip.

Even if my mom never told us about the mattress, it was still not a good idea to play on it.

The danger of personal injury (even death) still existed whether mo told us or not.

That is kind of the same thing as sin...

“Sin was indeed in the world before the law was given...”

It was wrong to murder before God gave Moses the 10 commandments.

When Adam brought sin into the world.

(It wasn’t as if Moses said “Don’t covet your neighbors wife” and all the men were surprised.)

Out of grace God chose not to count their sin against them who sinned before His righteous law was given (at Mt Sinai)

Sin is the disobedience of God’s divine law.

But it includes anything that departs from or contradicts God’s righteous nature.

Which is describe with concepts of truth, love, peace.

Yet...

Romans 5:14 ESV

14 Yet 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.

Adams sin was once where he actually did something that God specifically told him not to do.

Those who live “from Adam to Moses” weren’t disobeying a specific GIVEN law (like Adam) but they were still living against God’s righteousness.

IMPORTANT: Death STILL reigned in this sin.

Here’s what that means to us.

Do you want to know the answer to why there is so much death, disease in the world?

Because SIN is the most pervasive consequence of the fall of man. And came into creation through sin.

The Remedy for sin.

Romans 5:15 ESV

15 But 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.

“The free gift is not like the trespass”

What does that mean?

“Many died through one man’s trespass...”

Adam brought sin into the world and death came through sin...

and countless people have been infected with this inescapable plague.

You CANNOT avoid the plague of sin.

but there is a cure.

“much more have the grace of God the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ.”

much more - contrast the impact of Adams sin to Jesus’ free gift of grace.

Adam had a profound effect on mankind with sin

Jesus’ had a much greater impact on mankind with the gift of salvation.

So what is our response to this?

Our response to sin should not be REACTIONARY.

Most of us respond to sin in a reactionary way.

Consider the 10 commandments.

We may even give weight to each

Lords name in vain vs respecting parents.

If I live according to MOST of those commandment = I’m a good person.

It’s not enough to teach each other to respond to God’s with obedience. We desperately need to:

“ Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

The first step to doing that is to seek salvation through Jesus Christ.

Followed by a lifetime of seeking God’s righteousness in Him.

Closing Prayer