Adam and Christ
Fundamentals • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 8 viewsNotes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Do you remember hearing for the first time about the fall of mankind? You probably, like me had the same thought, “Why would Adam’s choices be applied to me?” “If I was him i’d never fall to the temptation.” The harsh reality is that we are more like first parents then we would like to admit. We are just as easily deceived like Eve, and willingly participate in rebellion against the God who created us and all things.
This morning we are going to see the reason God allowed mankind to fall, and His plan for redemption. If any of what we are going over confuses you please come talk to me, or if anything that we’ve covered so far.
Recap:
Recap:
Last week we saw the benefits that we have through the justification we receive because of Jesus.
We have peace with God through Jesus Christ.
We have a standing of grace.
We also rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
We also glory in sufferings.
We are eternally secure in Christ.
We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have now received reconciliation.
When it comes to the benefits that we have as believers it is quite overwhelming. The goodness of our God that He wouldn’t just save us but allow us to be apart of His family, with an incredible inheritance!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
V 12) Sin and the human race.
V 12) Sin and the human race.
The passage we will look at today will serve as a bride between the first part of the letter and the next three chapters.
It first links the subjects of condemnation and justification from the first couple chapters. Focusing on the condemnation through Adam and justification through Jesus.
Then our passage is linked to chapters 6,7, and 8 by moving from justification to sanctification, and from acts of sin to the sin in human nature.
[12] Paul regarded Genesis 3 as completely and historically true. Adam and Eve were real people and what they did has a lasting effect to the present day.
It is vital to understand that the Adam and Eve account is not an optional passage to be accepted, rejected, or allegorized away.
Because of Paul’s theme here in Romans 5 you cannot take away the truth of Genesis 3 without taking away the principles that lay the foundation for our salvation.
[[Jenga example]]
Adam is portrayed in these verses as the representative of all those who are in the old creation.
Christ is presented as the representative of all those who are in the new creation.
They are both the federal head of their respective parties. A federal head acts for all those who are under him. For example. when the president of a country signs a bill into law, he is acting for all the citizens of that country.
In Adam’s case the result of his sin, human death entered the world. Death became the common lot of all Adam’s descendants because they had all sinned in him.
This isn’t dismissing the sins of each individual.
Paul’s point here is that Adam’s sin was a representative act, and all his posterity are reckoned as having sinned in him.
The objection would be that Eve and not Adam was the one who committed the first sin on earth. Eve was deceived, Adam willingly chose to rebel against God’s ordinance. Regardless, because he had the headship and responsibility, therefore acting for all his descendants.
and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
Because of Adam’s sin death entered the world and spread to all of his offspring.
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.”
What we are talking about is a physical death, yet through his rebellion Adam’s sin brought spiritual death as well.
Naturally we question the fairness of the situation at hand.
Is it fair that we are all under the yoke of sin because the first man sinned against God?
To answer that question we must come to these conclusions first.
the Bible is the authority on the purpose for humanity.
The Bible does teach that all men are sinners, both by nature and practice. Everyone born of human parents inherits Adam’s sin, and also sins by our own deliberate choice.
The wages of sin is death- both physical death and eternal separation from God.
No one has to pay the penalty of sin unless he wants to. This is the important point.
God sent His Son to die as a Substitute for sinners. Salvation from sin and its wages offered as a free gift through faith in Jesus. [[Fairness]]
Mankind is condemned on three ground:
We have a sinful nature.
Adam’s sin is imputed to us.
We are a sinner by practice.
But what takes the cake is the complete rejection of the provision which God has made for our salvation.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Because death and sin are connected, it is obvious that all men, women, and children are sinners, because all are subject to death.
We may not like the fact that we are all made sinners by the work of another man. We may protest, and say, “I want to stand on my own two feet, and not be made a sinner because of the work of another man.” Nevertheless, it is fait to be made righteous by the work of another man only if we are also made sinners by the work of another man. If we aren’t made sinners by Adam, then it isn’t fair for us to be made righteous by Jesus.
The truth may make us uncomfortable, but it still the truth. The smallest baby is a sinner, subject to death. The prophet king David understood this when he wrote:
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Hold the phone… If babies are sinners, does that mean that they go to hell?
We must understand the weight of sin and that we are born with this sin nature. It is not something that is able to taken off. We are all born guilty because of the sin of Adam.
One of the objections is the age of accountability. The age that a child can understand the gospel.
The age of accountability is found nowhere in scripture.
God will not instantly age them and give them the choice, because thats not in scripture.
They are not innocent but guilty too.
Lets look at some biblical truths:
Pastor Chuck and other held to the belief that children of believers are sanctified by the presence of a believing parent.
For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
David had the assurance that his baby would meet him in heaven.
But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
finally, we know that at the end of it all, God, the judge of the world, will do right.
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
I bring this up not to be controversial, but to make sure we have a good grasp of biblical doctrine.
If there are the children of unbelieving parents in heaven, it is important to understand that it is not because they are innocent. As sons and daughters of Adam, we are all born guilty.
If such children go to heaven (which i do believe they do). It is not because they are innocent who deserve heaven, but because the rich mercy of God has been extended to them as well. After all we serve a truly good God.
If you would like to continue this conversation afterwards i’d be happy to talk with you but lets keep going.
Vv 13-14) What about the law?
Vv 13-14) What about the law?
[13] One of the objections to what Paul is teaching them would inevitably be, “I thought we were sinners because we broke the law?”
What Paul is stating here is that we know that at the root of it all we are made sinners because of Adam and not because we break the law ourselves. We know this because sin and death were in the world before the Law was ever given.
The law was too late to prevent sin and death and it is too weak to save from sin and death.
What this means is although through there was sin during that time, there was no transgression, because transgression is the violation of a known law. But sin is not imputed as transgression when there is no law forbidding it.
[14] Yet death did not take a break during the time period where there was no law. With the single exception of Enoch , death held sway over all mankind.The total, merciless reign of death.
Death before the law proves that man was under sin before the law.
Paul presents Adam as a type- a picture, a representation- of Jesus. Both Adam and Jesus were completely sinless men from the beginning, and both of the mdid things that had consequences for all mankind.
Vv 15-17) Contrasts between the different works.
Vv 15-17) Contrasts between the different works.
[15] The first contrast is between the offense of Adam and the free gift of Christ.
By the trespass of the first man, the many died. The many here refers, or course, to Adam’s descendants. Death probably includes both spiritual as well as physical death.
The free gift abounds for many. Through the amazing grace, Jesus died for His rebellious creatures. Through that sacrificial death, the gift of eternal life is offered to the many.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Notice that there are two “manys” in this verse and they do not refer to the same people.
The first refers to those subject to death as a result of Adam’s trespass.
The second refers to those who become members of the new creation, with Christ at the helm.
To the second group does God’s grace abound. God’s mercy is showered on all, His grace is appropriated only by those who trust the Savior.
[16] The second important contrast is between Adam’s sin and Christ’s gift.
Adam’s offense brought inevitable judgement and condemnation.
Christ’s free gift dealt effectively with the offenses, not just one but all, and resulted in the justification.
Paul really highlights the differences between Adan’s sin and Christ’s gift. How devastating sin really is, and how truly magnificent the deliverance Jesus brings.
[17] We could say that both Adam and Jesus are kings, each instituting a reign. Under Adam, death reigned. Under Jesus , we can reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
It is staggering to think how completely death has reigned under Adam. Everyone who is born dies- the mortality rate is 100%. No one survives. When a baby is born, it isn’t a question of whether the baby will live or die- it will most certainly die; the only question is when.
We think of this world as the land of the living, but it is really the land of the dying, and billions of human bodies cast into the earth over the centuries prove that.
But Paul says that the reign of life through Jesus is much more certain. The believer’s reign in the life through Jesus is more certain than death or taxes!
V 18) The two men
V 18) The two men
From this passage, Adam and Jesus are sometimes known as the two men. Between them they represent all humanity, and everyone is identified in either Adam or Jesus. We are born identified with Adam; we may be born again into identification with Jesus.
Again, someone may object: “But I never chose to have Adam represent me.”
Of course you did! You identified yourself with Adam with the first sin you ever committed. It is absolutely true that we were born into our identification with Adam, but we also choose it with our individual acts of sin.
What we chose matters. choosing Adam results with judgement and condemnation. While with Jesus we receive eternal life and justification
When we see the “all men” they do not mean the same thing. All men by birth, are condemned. But the free gift of God is not inherited the same way. It is available to all but the free gift of God needs to be accepted.
Paul clearly teaches throughout the New Testament that not all men are saved.
The idea that all men are saved by the work of Jesus whether they know it or not is known as universalism, and it’s a heresy.
V 19) Summary of the contrast
V 19) Summary of the contrast
Just as by Adam’s disobedience to God’s command many were made sinners, so also by Christ obedience to the Father many who trust Him are declared righteous.
Christ’s obedience led Him to the cross as our Sin-bearer. It is futile for universalist to use these verses to try to prove that all men will eventually be saved.
The passage deals with two different headships, and it is clear that just as Adam’s sin affects those who are “in him,” so Christ’s righteous act benefits only those who are “in Him.”
Many people today hold to universal salvation and believe that all people eventually end up in heaven. This is because the thought of men and women living forever tormented in hell is to terrible to believe. And for some the over-emphasis on the love and compassion of God - and the lack and neglect of the righteousness and justice of God leads them to believe that will have mercy on every living soul. At the end of the day this doctrine doesn’t hold water, because scripture doesn’t teach that.
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Some believe that those in hell will eventually cease to exist, however:
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
To avoid this truly terrible place you must be saved through Jesus Christ. Because there are only two options, and even if you don’t like that, there will still only be two. Receive or reject.
Vv 20-21) The law and the reign of grace
Vv 20-21) The law and the reign of grace
[20a]Paul so far has shown us that the law does not justify us. And here he shows that in itself, the law doesn’t make us sinners- Thanks Adam.
The clear purpose for the law and part of it is so it may increase the trespass. The law makes man’s sin clearer and greater by clearly contrasting it with God’s righteous standard.
[20b-21] Here’s the thing if sin increased under the law, then grace abounded all the more under Jesus.
Literally, the phrase “abounded all the more” means “super-abounded.”
It is only natural to think that if sin abounded, God’s anger or judgement would have abounded all the more. But God’s love is so amazing that it was grace and not wrath!
What this means for us today: If grace super-abounds over sin, then we will realize that it is impossible to out-sin the grace of God.
We cannot sin more than God can forgive, but we can reject His grace and forgiveness.
Now that the reign of sin, inflicting death on all men, has been ended, grace reigns through righteousness, giving us eternal life through Jesus Christ.
The last thing to take note of is the fact that grace reigns through righteousness.
What this means is that all the demands of God’s holiness have been met, and the penalty of the law has been paid, so God can now grant eternal life to all who come to the Savior by faith!
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
I Surrender All
All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live
I surrender all
I surrender all
All to Thee my blessed Savior
I surrender all