One Man... One Choice

How important… can one choice be? What kind of impact can one decision have?

We make A LOT of decisions in a 24 hour time period. A lot of them are made without much thinking placed behind them.

Examples would include:

Choosing to get up when the alarm clock goes off.

Choosing which pair of shoes to put on.

Choosing to hug my family as we all go our separate ways for the day.

I really don’t have to put a whole lot of thought behind these choices. I already know what I am going to do before the choice has to be made.

But some choices, require more thought than others.

Examples would include:

Major financial investments

Career moves or shifts

Who you will spend the rest of your life with (spouse/marriage)

These choices will have long lasting effects on our lives.

But really… all of our choices will have long lasting impacts. Think about it… some of our “minor” choices might have the most major impact.

Our choice to get and and go to work just might be what opens the door for major career moves or shifts.

Our choice to hug our families each day might be what keeps the family together when facing difficult situations.

There really is no way of knowing what kind of impact out choices will have… what we need to realize is ALL CHOICES MATTER.

And there is one choice we are going to zoom in on tonight… that matters the most. This one choice will not only have produce immediate results, but it will also produce eternal results.

That one choice is simply this: To obey the Instruction of the Lord… or not.

And this one choice… is truly one of the dominate themes throughout the entire Bible. “Will I go God’s way? Will I go my own way?” Each direction comes with its own very unique results.

We are going to close out Romans 5 tonight and the rest of this chapter zooms in on two men who faced this choice. One man went His own way and we will see the world-wide impact of his choice. Another man went God’s way and again, we will see the world-wide impact of His choice.

The two men in focus are Adam… from the book of Genesis, and Jesus.

One man - Adam - brought sin into the world by his choice to disobey God.

Another man - Jesus - brought forgiveness of sin to the world by His choice to submit to God.

BOTH CHOICES… are still impacting this world today… and Romans 5:12-21 shows us how.

Sin Entered the World Through Adam’s Choice.

Romans 5:12–14 NIV

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

I want to take time to break this down because there is a lot going on in this passage. First off, in verse 12… the Word makes clear that sin entered the world through one man and death through sin.

Quick recap:

In Genesis, Adam was in the garden and was given one command in Genesis 2:15-17

Genesis 2:15–17 NIV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Per the Genesis 2 account… Eve had not yet been created. The command was clear and it gave the consequence of what would happen should it be broken.

When the command was broken… Eve was tempted by the serpent and was the first to break the command. BUT ADAM WAS WITH HER and he failed to protect her. Instead, he fell into sin by choosing to disobey the word God had given him.

And with that… sin became a reality and with that reality came the consequence of death.

So how did one man’s sin… become a universal problem for all mankind?

Paul said in Romans 5:13 that sin is not charger against anyone’s account where there is no law yet the consequence of sin remained from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. So what is the “link” if you will?

When Adam sinned… sin gained entrance into the human heart.

God DID NOT create us for sin.

God DID NOT create us as sinners.

God CREATED us for fellowship with Him. God cannot have fellowship with sin… therefore God’s original design was a sinless creation.

So why give the opportunity for sin?

For… wait for it… CHOICE. What is love if given no other choice? It is forced, mechanical, and not real!

So Adam made a bad choice… how does that automatically make me a sinner?

Two results followed Adam’s choice:

One: sin and corruption entered Adam’s heart and life and became a part of his being.

Two: Adam then passed on sin into the life-stream of the human race corrupting all people from then on.

The sad reality is… all humans are now born into the world with an impulse and pull toward sin and evil. It is now a part of our nature.

Proof of this reality can be seen in Cain and Abel - Adam’s sons. Cain gives way to sin and ends up murdering his brother, Abel. NO ONE TAUGHT HIM HOW TO MURDER. There were no bad examples to follow… ONLY THE NATURE OF SIN. And the world has struggled with sin ever since… that includes you and me.

One man made the choice… to be silent… to be indifferent… to be passive. ALL OF THE WOLD’S SINS CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THIS ONE CHOICE.

And with this choice, came the inescapable consequence of death. Death entered the world through sin, and now all people are subject to death because all have sinned… all have fallen short.

This was the choice to go his own way. This was the choice to rebel against God. So… what does the choice to Go God’s way look like? Well, we look to a different man for that answer.

Sin was Conquered Through Jesus’ Choice.

What was Jesus’ choice? GO GO THE WAY OF THE FATHER. Let’s look at what Paul has to say about this choice...

Romans 5:15–17 NIV

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

I love verse 16… one sin brought the judgement of death upon the world and opened the door for a multitude of sin. BUT… the gift of grace through Christ Jesus came to the world DESPITE its many sins and brought justification to all who place their faith in Him!

AND… the only reason Jesus was able to do this is because He said YES to God! Not only did Christ accept His father’s plan regarding the cross… Jesus chose NOT TO SIN against the Father making His blood the only source worthy of covering ALL our sins.

We know that Christ was born in this world, but was not of this world. His Father is God. He did not inherit the sinful nature the rest of us inherited. But does that mean Jesus could not have chosen to sin?

The devil tried… and ultimately failed to get Jesus to sin. We see this exchange in Matthew 4:1-11. After being baptized in water and before beginning His preaching ministry, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus to the wilderness where he is tempted by the enemy.

Three times the enemy tries to get Jesus to fall… and the enemy even twists the Word of God to try to get Jesus to take the bait. Where have we seen that strategy before?

In the Garden, Adam failed the test and chose to go his own way.

In the wilderness, Jesus chose to go God’s way. HE REMAINED SINLESS.

But then on the cross… something happened. Paul describes this in 2 Corinthians 5:21

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus took on our sin… nailed it to the cross… and buried it in the tomb. THAT SIN STAYED IN THE TOMB WHEN JESUS WALKED OUT OF THAT GRAVE.

In place of our sin, we receive the righteousness of Christ as our own… not as an earned wage or deserved payment… BUT AS THE GREATEST GIFT OF GRACE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.

And now… through that one man… we can say no to sin and yes to God! We can be delivered of that sinful nature and set free of sin’s consequence! This brings me to what I will call...

The GREATEST Choice

So now… WE have been given the choice. WILL WE CHOOSE TO GO GOD’S WAY OR OUR OWN WAY? God’s way is the way of truth and the life… we know this way as Jesus. He is the only way back to the Father from our sin.

Our own way is the way of the world. It is living in that sinful nature and facing sin’s consequence on our own.

This is not a one time choice. We must make this choice… in ALL choices we make. We must allow Christ to be central in our lives and choices as all it takes is one bad or misled decision to open up a door of destruction and death.

The devil won’t make it easy… he will play on the desires of the flesh and even twist the words of God… but the Spirit that lives within us will give us the direction and the power we need to resist the temptation.

Which way will you go? I pray you will chose the gift of grace that is Christ Jesus!