The Reign of Death
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Pastoral Reminder: Head Heart Hands
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Turn with me to Romans 5:12-21.
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned. 13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a type of the Coming One. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many. 16 And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification. 17 If by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In Paul’s previous passage, he described men as lawbreakers, those that are in conflict with God, cut off from having access to God, weak, ungodly, unrighteous, evil, enemies of God and sinners. Men who will receive the just wrath of God if God does not act on his own accord to save them from his wrath.
He describes God as one who takes men and women who are in rebellion and reconciles them to himself, makes peace with his enemies by his own hand, pours his own love into the hearts of those that don’t love him, and whom saves sinners from God’s wrath by the will of the father and the work of Jesus.
It was a testimony that men do not get the credit for what God has done. This is one of the hardest truths from the heart of sin to believe in. We so much want to take credit for what God has done. We want to look to Paul and say doesn’t any of the good things I have done count. I am not that bad of a person, surely God will let me into heaven. Isn’t Paul being a little harsh here? He isn’t giving any credit for man’s work.
In this passage he turns to look at the universal reign of sin in the lives of men and women.
Sin Entered the World
Sin Entered the World
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned. 13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a type of the Coming One.
If all of the last passage is true then let us look at the origin of sin. Where did it all start how did we get here? Where did sin come from?
Paul says that sin entered the world. It is rendered here as a singular noun describing the moment from which there was no sin in the world to moment it entered in and spread to all.
We must go back to the fall to understand the argument that he is making. God had created Adam and Eve and he declared it not just good but very good.
27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
God creates man and women in his image and gives them the command to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth and subdue it. After this day he rested and all was created and all was good. All of creation was created through the Word. Through Jesus.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.
For man was created good from the dust of the ground and made a living being.
7 Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had formed.
God placed him in the garden to work it and watch over it. But gave Adam a single restriction.
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
Adam has a responsibility before God now to obey by watching over what God has given him, to work the garden and to refrain from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There is no sin as there is no evil in the world at this time. it is all still good. God then creates a helper for Adam. God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep and takes from him a rib and made a woman and brought her to Adam.
23 And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man. 24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.
The woman is created and given to Adam. They become one flesh as husband and wife. Adam has been given the statues of God and Eve is one with him to accomplish the task that God has given him to tend to Eden. There is no shame because there is no sin, there is no guilt of wrong doing. There is no death because death comes from eating of the fruit of the tree.
But then the tempter and deceiver shows up, the serpent.
1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
The serpent, the devil who has always been a deceiver.
44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
8 The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. ...
9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
The ancient serpent comes to the garden of Eden to tempt Eve. To draw her mind from God. She knows the truth she has told the serpent the command that God had given Adam. He has shared this with her and she knows what was commanded.
4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
She was deceived by the crafty arguments and does what God has forbidden. She looks at the object in front of her and saw that it and justifies that it would be good to eat. It is good for food, it is delightful to look at, and gaining wisdom is good so then this must be good too. So she believes that what God says not to do is not as important than what she see with her own eyes. A so she is deceived.
3 But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
At this moment sin has entered into the world. This is a completed single event that brings forth continual consequences and curses. But why does Paul say that sin enters the world though the man Adam and not the woman Eve? Wasn’t she the one that was deceived? Wasn’t she the one that was took and ate first?
The alluring truths of the deceiver have always been just that alluring, tempting. They seduce the mind from being fully devoted to God. Eve heard the devil’s argument and believed that they were true. But Adam stood by and watched this all happen.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.
Adam was not deceived. He still knew what was right and wrong. He knew what God has commanded. He knew the consequence God had promised. He knew that eating of the fruit would bring death and instead of stepping in to protect that which was given to him by God, he did not do it.
17 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.
God has appointed men to different roles of responsibility and there is an accountability put on each of these in regards to those that God puts in their care. Elders in churches, husbands in marriage, parents in the family. Adam stood by and watched and thus sinned in his headship over his marriage and dominion of the world that God had created and put under his care. And with sin came death.
Death Entered
Death Entered
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, ...
Once sin was in the world death was right with it. The death that we experience came through Adam, through the one man.
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Physical Death
Physical Death
We think of the physical death first when we talk about death. Physical death entered even though it wasn’t immediate, God said part of the curse was that man would return to the dust he came from.
19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”
29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
The physical death comes to each and every person to date save Enoch and Elijah who were taken out of this world by God’s own hand without experiencing death. Humanity has a fascination with attempting to prolong the day that will come to us all. We try so hard to make it to the end. We see it in books and movies of the different fantasies of living on forever and ever.
48 What courageous person can live and never see death? Who can save himself from the power of Sheol? Selah
Who can stand courageous and fight against the day of his death. Who can save themselves from their appointment.
27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—
Everyone is appointed to die once and then judgement which brings us to spiritual death.
Spiritual Death
Spiritual Death
Physical death is not the only aspect of the transgression of Adam. Mankind also experiences Spiritual death. Paul describes that before God does his great work of justification that all men are spiritually dead
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
The bible speaks of the truth that men and women must be made alive while they live. This can only mean that there is both a physical and spiritual side up each person.
13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses.
It is the spiritual deadness of mankind that alienates people from God. This deadness is not based on any action that has been committed by man. It is not a consequence of our own action but a consequence of Adam’s. The sin of Adam is imputed to the entire human race from this point forward. Like David writes.
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
This is why a man must be born a second time in order to have eternal life.
3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
5 he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Spiritual life is of utmost importance for the life of any man or woman for those that are not made alive by God will experience what the bible calls the second death.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Eternal life is secured at the moment of justification. We have spoken about this in many ways so far in the book of Romans, that new life, reconciliation, justification are all given at the moment one repents, believes, and confesses, that Jesus is Lord.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The moment that a person believes and is credited with God’s righteousness. This is the argument that Paul is making that when Adam transgressed, death enter through sin.
Death Spread to All
Death Spread to All
And no one is exempt from this, as death comes to us all and we see that it comes to us through the sin that entered the world and spread to all men.
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.
The most universal trait in humanity is the imputed sin of Adam’s transgression. And another that only falls two short is that death come to all. This is one of the great proofs of all have recieved a sin nature, is that everyone dies.
If sin entered the world through one transgression of Adam how do we know that it spread to everyone else. How do we know that each and every person is not just held accountable for their own actions?
The answer Paul gives here is that if death is the consequence of Adam’s sin and all men die then Adam’s sin is proven to be applied to all.
For the only other conclusion would be that man could live forever if he never sinned. If that were possible. If man was born good or neutral and their lives were independent from Adam, then it would be possible to never need salvation. It would mean that salvation could be earned by works.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law.
Even here Paul has already concluded that the law cannot give life which means that men are already dead before they try to obey it.
13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law.
If sin has been charged to every person’s account before the Mosaic Law so this is more than just a list of right and wrongs. There has never been a time when death did not come so there must be another Law at work. For without a law, sin is not charged to their account. A child cannot be found guilty of breaking a rule that has never been given.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a type of the Coming One.
Death reigns over all men from Adam to Moses. No one made it out alive. Even those that did not sin in the same way as Adam did. No one has been in Eden since that day, no one has eaten from the tree. There are others who have lived and did not perform that same acts Adam did in his fallen corrupt nature afterward the fall. If death comes to those that did not sin like Adam, then men and women must be guilty of Adam’s sin. Even the unborn.
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
David, states that the moment life was created, that at the moment of conception he was sinful but that he was guilty when he was born. Before one word, one action, one thought, he was spiritually dead. Our deadness is not works based.
It isn’t that man becomes a sinner once he sins, he sins because he is a sinner in Adam. This is the proof that each and every human being is fallen in Adam, is that death comes to all. The foolish and the wise, the young and the old, the tall and the short, the rich and the poor, all men.
For Adam is a type or pattern of the Coming One. Of Jesus. Paul will compare Adam as the representative and headship over all that he was to have dominion over. And as he represented all mankind in his one trespass and brought condemnation and death to all. Christ brings all that he is the head over and by his one act of righteousness leads to justification and life.
Paul argues that it was Adam’s willful violation of what God had commanded him to do, that sin entered into the world. At this moment all of humanity is corrupted and fallen. There will never be another man, other than Jesus, who will walk this world free from the corruption of sin.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The human heart wants to believe that it is first good and that it is only slightly tarnished by a couple of blemishes. This is reinforced over and over again by our own hearts and minds that are deceived. The world applauds and reinforces that we are really good people and that it is others that are at fault. That it is not you who are in the wrong. They misunderstand you. They lie about you. They don’t get you. They do not know what I have been through.
Large groups of believers do not see anything wrong with living full tilt as followers of Adam. Sinning in all ways they can and at the same time claiming to love and follow Jesus.
20 But that is not how you came to know Christ, 21 assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. 25 Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.
Assuming that a person who calls themselves a follower of Jesus has heard the truth of the Gospel and been justified by their faith, assuming this is true then the Christian is called to take off that old way of life. The one that is corrupted by deceitful desires.
To many believers trust their own minds and hearts. The flesh wants what is against God. Like Eve many are deceived by the lies of the enemy. They believe that they are doing what God wants and he is pleased with them. But they are unlike Eve in the fact that Eve went from truth to deception. She saw creation in its purity without blemish or spot and she was tempted to follow the lie.
We are filled with corruption and deception inside out selves. We are deception first and need to see truth. Do not lean on your own understanding. Stop trusting what you desire. The light reveals what is in the darkness and illuminates what needs to change.
The word of God needs to be delved into to see clearly. To be given new desires from the spirit of God. We need to no longer settle for half baked truth and be a people that sees clearly.
The second is that there are many people who have been given roles of responsibility that do not know the truth, do not teach the truth, do not live the truth, and stand by while those they are to be responsible for continue to be deceived and lead into sin by the the lies of this world.
If you are a Christian, you are a messenger of the truth. Present it as correctly as you can. If you don’t know what it means seek understanding and let the word speak for itself until you don’t understand it. If we are not extremely careful with the truth we will be deceivers ourselves.
1 Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.
This applies to every one who ever decides to speak about what God’s word means. Be careful how you present the word.
For those that are not deceived, we need to step up against the enemy and lead. Elder need to oversee, husbands need to be heads of their homes, parents need to raise their children in the ways of the Lord.
We should have the same desire of God
1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Sin has entered the world, and in our corrupted nature of flesh we must realize that it is Christ who sets us free from bondage of continual sin and give us a new life that can life the way God has called to be. Let us recognize where we have come from, so that we can see the truth.
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Blessing/Benediction
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.
