First Sunday in Lent (Year A) RCL, 2023

First Sunday in Lent (Year A) RCL, 2023

St. Matthew’s Lutheran, Cornwall

Through One Man

Romans 5:12-19

AC 2, of Original Sin:

Sincethe fall of Adam, all human beings who are born in the natural way are conceived and born in sin. This means that from birth they are full of evil lust and inclination and cannot by nature possess true fear of God and true faith in God. [2] Moreover, this same innate disease and original sin is truly sin and condemns to God’s eternal wrath all who are not in turn born anew through baptism and the Holy Spirit.

Today we begin our Lenten journey together. And that journey is one where we follow Christ as He marches on His way to the cross for us. It’s in this season that we witness his humiliation and temptation, and suffering for us, and death for our sake. It’s a season about Him and His work for us. It’s a season about the gospel. And what does that mean? That means that this season is not about what you do. It’s not about your fasting or your works or your attempts to be better. But it’s about the forgiveness of your sins. It’s about, as we confess in the Nicene Creed; the “for us and for our salvation” stuff about Christ’s suffering, death, burial, and resurrection. And so as we begin this season, I figured, what better way to truly begin with a full understanding of the “for us-ness” of this season than to turn to our epistle reading in Romans chapter 5, starting at V. 12. So, if you will, turn there with me as we hear God’s Word to us this day.

We begin this way;

By one man, sin entered into the world. And through sin came death. And so, death came upon all men, because all sinned. And so, all died.

That is to say, if I might paraphrase God’s word for your sake – Adam sinned and you died. Perhaps you don’t like that. I know a lot of people don’t. The idea of original sin, that is, the idea that through one man (who isn’t you), you fell into sin, isn’t really a PLEASANT doctrine to hear, or to teach, or to believe. But it is a true one. Through his sin, through Adam’s sin, you were made sinful. And through his sin you died. For indeed He may very well have brought sin into the world but you continued its presence. For sin sin entered the world through one man, but sin was done by all men. For all men are conceived in sin, and all men are born in iniquity, just as the King David says of himself in (Psalm. 51:5). All people have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 2:23). None are good, none but God (Mark 10:18). For sin entered into the world through the sin of that one man, Adam, and it stayed in the world, it infected the world, it reigned over the world, and it enveloped the world in darkness and pain and death.

All because, as the Word says to us today, by ONE MAN’S TRANSGRESSION (v. 15), all men died. The result of that one man’s sin (V. 16) was condemnation for all. The transgression of this one man brought death to all (V. 17). Through one sin (V. 18) condemnation came upon all. And by one sin, (V. 19) all were made sinners.

And the world’s response to this Word from God?:

THAT’S NOT FAIR! Whyshould I be condemned, or die, or be judged for the sin of someone else? Why should I suffer the consequence of someone ELSE’sactions? Why should I be made a sinner by ADAM’S sin? It cant be – DID GOD REALLY SAY that?

And that’s understandable for the world to feel that way. Because that IS how the world works, isn’t it? That we get the just deserts for our own actions. What we get, we earn. What we receive, we deserve. For in this world nothing is free, everything is earned, by me, by me, BY ME. AND NO ONE ELSE, BUT ME AND ME ALONE. That’s the way that the world understands the law. And so when God starts talking about US dying BECAUSE OF ADAM, understandably, we get a little bit uncomfortable, don’t we?

But thatthinking cuts both ways, doesn’t it? For not only does Paul proclaim that by one man– sin, death, and condemnation came upon all of you, but also thatby one man justification, and forgiveness, and righteousness, and life has come upon all of you. And yet, that isn’t fair is it? That isn’t earned by you, is it? That isn’t a reward for your works, is it? No. In fact, this GOSPEL which comes through one man God does NOTcall deserved (because it isn’t). He doesn’t call it fair (because it isn’t). HE CALLS IT GIFT. And this too, comes through one man (who isn’t you). This comes to you through Christ and Him alone.

And althoughit is in one way just like the sin and death that comes through one man in that it comes through one and goes upon all, He says in another way, it is not at all like that sin which came to all through one man. Because Adam’s sin brought death. But the GIFT of God in Christ Jesus has brought life to all men. Adam’s sin brought condemnation upon all men. But Christ’s righteousness has JUSTIFIED the whole world. Adam’s sin allowed death to reign in the world, but through Christ, all who receive the abundance ofgrace and the gift of Justification in Him NOW REIGN IN LIFE through that oneman Jesus Christ. For just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. What Adam has done– Christ has undone. What Adam has broken, Jesus has fixed. What Adam killed, God has resurrected in Christ Jesus. What Adam took from you, Christ has given back to you 10-thousandfold.

That is the Gospel. That you ARE forgiven in Christ because of what He has done. That you HAVE BEEN reconciled to God in Christ because of what He has done. That you ARE JUSTIFIED in Christ because of what He has done. That is what you are called to believe. Not SO THAT. Not IN ORDER THAT. Not as an IF-THEN clause. But as FREE GIFT. As a Lenten Christmas. As a sheer act of grace. What Christ is, what He has, what He’s done, it’s yours, in Him, as gift, by free grace. That is the gospel. And there is no room in this gospel for fairness. There is no room in this gospel for individualism. And there is no room in this gospel for earning one’s own way. Because this gospel is, by nature, a gift freely given to you, BECAUSE OF CHRIST. And only because of Christ. The Gospel is that Christ doesn’t love you because of who you are but because of who He is. That you are loved apart from labour, and even in your sin, and even before you knew Him, that He has known you, He has chosen and elected you, He has forgiven you and justified you and saved you and called you AND NOW HE GIVES THIS ALL TO YOU IN THESE WORDS, and through His sacraments, that you might believe all of this, and live in the joy OF THIS.

And so we have it, here before us this very morning is the whole shape of the Lenten season. And let me press this upon you very clearly, as clearly as I possible can;

the season of Lent, the Gospel of Christ, and the entire Christian faith for that matter, is not about you, or your fasting, or your straining toward your own personal righteousness, but of ONE CHRIST, and Hiswalk toward the cross for every single one of you. It’s about His life total righteousness, obedience, and blessedness, for every single one of you. It’s about His suffering and death for every single one of you. And about His resurrection for every single one of you. And all of this, so thatall, might in Him, have eternal life.

That is what Lent is about. It’sabout the GOOD NEWS, of Christ going through one life, one death, and one resurrection, that ALL might in Him have the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness of God, and the resurrection unto eternal life. Its about one man and one act. It’s about one life. About one death. And about one resurrection.

Lent is about the whole world dying to death THROUGH ONE MAN.

Christianity itself, is about the whole world being saved, redeemed, and justified THROUGH ONE MAN.

Your salvation, is a gift given to you, THROUGH ONE MAN.

And that man is Jesus Christ. Your Lord, your God, your Savior.

And so, let me say this to you again, as clearly as I can – you areforgiven, you aresaved, you arerighteous, not because of you, or what you’ve done, have done, are doing, or will do, but wholly, solely, and only,because of Christ, who is, was, and will be, in all things, FOR YOU.

According to His command, because of His work, and for His sake, I forgive you all of your sins, in the name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen.