20250309 Romans 5:12-17 Adam and Christ - part 2

Welcome to Vertical Church

Acts 2:42 LSB

42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.

As a church we seek to uphold the values of the NT church as seen in Acts 2:42 -

We are Trinitarian - while God is one in essence, He is three in person: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit

We believe in the sovereignty of God - sovereign over all creation, sovereign over the affairs of men, sovereign over salvation

We believe in the authority of the Bible - Scripture alone is the Word of God

We are Biblical in our theology - we are a bible teaching church

We believe that the Church is not a building or a denomination but a people - those who are truly in Christ and embrace the truths that were embraced and confessed by the New Testament Church, the apostolic church.

We are evangelical - we believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

We are a Vertical Church - we believe that all true worship and living is Vertical, God directed and for the glory of God alone.

Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, For the glory of God alone - join us on Sundays

Scripture alone - Acts 2:16-17

Acts 2:16–17 LSB

16 but this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams;

Things Unseen

I know if we were to ask most Christians what Pentecost is about, they’d tend to say it’s about the Holy Spirit, and of course they’re not totally wrong, but that’s not the whole story—at least Simon Peter didn’t think so, judging by the sermon he preached. It was preached in order to answer the question people were asking: What is all this about these strange sounds, this preaching of the gospel in different language?

When Peter answers that question in his sermon, of course, first of all, he demolishes the cynics in the crowd who say they’re drunk, and he points out that it’s only the third hour of the day; that is, by Roman Empire reckoning, nine o’clock in the morning. “No,” says Peter, “these men are not filled with intoxicating liquor; what you are seeing is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2.”

“Remember,” he says, “what God promised through Joel? How in the future the last days would come, and they would be marked by the spirit of God being poured out on all flesh, on sons and daughters prophesying and having visions and seeing dreams?”

“Well,” says Peter, “what this means is that future is now; it’s happening today.” We could almost use the words of Jesus in the Nazareth synagogue here, when He says, “This Scripture is being fulfilled in your presence today.”

Pentecost is much more than just an amazing personal experience these people are having. Notice how Peter’s mind is working here. I think it’s worth pausing on this incidentally, because first of all, he thinks biblically about what’s happened. If you think about it, that’s a huge change in Simon Peter. Typically, in the Gospels, he doesn’t think very biblically. He just thinks the way he thinks himself, and he thinks he’s right.

We would find it faintly amusing, I think, if Peter had explained what was happening on the day of Pentecost by saying, “Well, the way I like to think about what’s happening is this,” and maybe then said, “John, Andrew, do you have anything to you’d like to share with the people here about how you think about it?” I know I’m painting a caricature, but some Christians do speak that way.

Simon Peter doesn’t say, “Well, here’s how I think about it.” No, he’s seeing these events through eyeglasses that have been crafted to a biblical prescription, and the optometrist who has helped him is the Lord Jesus. Those seminars between the resurrection and the ascension have radically transformed the way he thinks, and it’s a tremendously important general lesson for us to learn. Peter now thinks about everything through the eyeglasses that are prescribed by the teaching of Scripture.

Forgive me if I stress something with which you’re very familiar. I hinted the other week at the fact that when Eve was tempted, one of her cardinal mistakes was to see things through her own eyes and not through the ears that listened to God’s Word. That mistake happens again and again and again. Eve forgot one of the most basic spiritual principles of all: the saints of God seek to see and understand things through the eyeglasses of God’s Word.

Let Us Worship God

Call to Worship

Philippians 2:5–11 LSB

5 Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Scripture Reading

Romans 5:12–17 LSB

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so 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 until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the trespass of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. 17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Introduction: Romans 5:12-17 Adam and Christ - part 2

In this section of Romans 5 we continue Paul’s theme of justification, and how our sin and lack of righteousness means that we are all under the guilty verdict of a righteousness and just God but who through grace gives to his elect the new birth which then produces in us the ability to believe and to receive the righteousness of Christ . And now in Romans 5 we will meet the first Adam of Genesis who sinned and the Lord Jesus, called the last Adam, who was sinless and took the place of sinful humanity when all of God’s wrath was placed on Him at the cross

Romans begins with the promise of the gospel because of our condemnation and then moves to the power of the gospel to provide our justification by faith in Christ

We will deal this morning with the questions: What is original sin? How does it affect us? How are we to understand it? and How is the first man Adam connected to it?

Paul is writing to a church made up of Jews and Gentiles - we all find our origin in Adam the first man. While Abraham may be seen as the father of Judaism, Islam and Christianity, Adam is the father of every person every born

The movie Spartacus ends with the doomed army of escaped slaves surrounded by the Roman army. Instead of betraying their leader, one by one each slave stands up and says, I am Spartacus!  In Romans 5 Paul wants his readers to understand their need of salvation and to declare, I am Adam! Praise the Lord for Jesus Christ

LAST WEEK

(1) Adam the man

(2) Adam the sinner

(3) Adam the representative

When trying to understand a difficult passage, or when you encounter a passage that is just packed full of truth, I want to encourage you to use a good translation of the Bible and to use the grammar of the passage to give you insights and explanations. Words like Therefore, but, and, like, and for seem like simple words but paying attention to these words can help you in ways you may have never realized .

This morning I want us to focus on the words for until, nevertheless, but, and for if as we look at our need for salvation and the gift of grace given to us in Christ . Romans 5 continues Paul’s section of teaching on justification by faith through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ

(1) Therefore, For until

Romans 5:10–11 LSB

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Romans 5:12–13 LSB

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so 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.

Therefore - there is sin in the world, there is death, both spiritual and physical, and now all men die and then because all sinned - all sinned

Side note - death through sin and sin through Adam

Creationism versus evolution - evolution needs millions of years of death,

This little statement here, “Because all sinned,” is an extraordinary statement and it is all based upon the theological reality of representation. Representation and imputation that Adam represented every single one of us. - Lawson

Romans 3:23 LSB

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Throughout the NT we see the most common phrase for believers - in Christ. In this verse Paul reminds us that before we were in Christ we were in Adam. When Adam sinned, we sinned. When Adam rebelled, we rebelled

v13 - for until

sin was in the world - the curse of sin did not need the 10 commandments or the full 613 laws of Moses to exist.

Romans 2:12–14 LSB

12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,

The curse of Adam’s fall has affected everyone. Even those without the Law are still sinful - sin is not imputed when there is no law

How do we summarize this in a practical way?

We live in a world of subjective good and evil. We live in a world that wants us to believe that there are good people who have always been good and bad people who seem to have always been bad . Each day the social media sites and news programs and talk shows tell us who is good and who is evil. But Paul wants us to understand that because of the sin and rebellion of Adam, every person is unable to stand before God and say, I am innocent, I am good enough to get into heaven.

(2) Nevertheless

Romans 5:14 LSB

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the trespass of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

Nevertheless - death reigned - you cannot escape the judgment of God - and if death reigned then sin reigned

Even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the trespass of Adam - we always want to negotiate with God, we are always looking for the exceptions - Adam was told to not eat from the tree, I’m not as bad as that person, etc, etc

A type of Him to come - a pattern or a model - Through the one man Adam sin entered the world - through the one man Jesus Christ righteousness has come

We’re going to continue this passage next week but I want us to look at the final verses in this section. My hope i that you will pray over this passage and do some more study during the week.

I also want you to see the flow of the passage and how Paul is making a logical explanation of how sin came into the world and how a righteous God is able to justify and declare righteous guilt sinners through the perfect obedience an the sinless death of one Man - Jesus Christ

(3) But, For if, And

Romans 5:15 LSB

15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

(4) And, But, For if

Romans 5:16–17 LSB

16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. 17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:45 LSB

45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Christ is now representative, our head, our advocate, our substitute. And just as in Adam we fell into separation and sin, in Christ we rise to new life and new birth

Benediction

May the companionship of the man of sorrows and the power of the King of glory rest upon you this day and all your days. Amen.

Communion