The Sinner & The Savior
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INTRODUCTION: Open your Bibles with me to Romans, chapter 5:
Why are things the way that they are?
If you talk to other people about Jesus on a regular basis, it won’t be long before you start to run into this question
Many who are looking for answers in their lives struggle with this question in one form or another
There are things around us that are real and present, but that seem out of place in a world God created
Pain
sickness/disease
hunger
war
suffering
death
We experience tragedy ourselves, and we read about it in the news, and it draws us to question how these things could be:
Why are sin and death a part of our world?
Why is it that bad things happen to good people?
How can I trust and believe that God is good when the world He made is not?
How could a God that loves me allow this bad thing to happen?
These questions are the results of our minds trying to reject things that don’t line up with our experience
We hurt, and so we want someone to blame
We want to believe, but our hurts cause us doubt
We want answers to what doesn’t make any sense
TRANSITION: This morning, I am here to tell you that there are answers to these questions.
We’ve been talking about being saved by grace through faith...
our problem with sin and our inability to solve it ourselves
our need for a Savior
The Saving work of Jesus Christ
The choice to believe
The difference between saving faith and lipservice
This morning, all of these things converge to give us a clear picture
A picture of the biggest problem that faces us as individuals and as human beings
And, the only solution to that problem
Open to ROMANS 5, starting in verse 12: STAND
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—
for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
But the free 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.
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 free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
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.
So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
PRAY—> Invitation to sit down!
LISTENING GUIDE!
You and I have a problem. Everyone of us has this same problem:
We die
We are susceptible to sickness and death
bad things happen to us
We do bad things to others
And none of us can do anything about it!- In our minds, this is the biggest part of the problem
It isn’t that we face these things, it’s that we can’t stop them
In the face of these problems, we are left wondering “why do these things even exist? Why does evil exist?”
Every one of us has been tempted to ask this question...
This morning, the answer is right in front of us:
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—
If you have your listening guide, the first part of the answer as to why there is evil in the world is that:
Sin and death are man-made problems
Sin and death are man-made problems
Sin & death weren’t an original part of God’s creation
In Genesis 3:1-15, Adam gives birth to sin
SUMMARIZE THE STORY OF THE FALL
Adam brought sin into the world, and you cannot have sin without death
“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
What happens to the person that sins? They die
Adam sinned. He brought sin into the world, and with it, the consequence of sin, death, came into the world as well.
Why are things the way that they are? It isn’t God’s fault. It’s ours. We sinned. Sin entered the world through Adam, but it didn’t stay that way.
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—
First half of illustration—> Make the water filthy
Sin filled the world, and it’s consequences are lethal.
Sin has a 100% death rate; it ALWAYS leads to death. Look at the next two verses
for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
People mis-understand these verses a lot
A lot of people read this and think “sin only kills you if you know it’s sin”
That is not what this says
Remember earlier in Romans- all creation knows of God and of right and wrong
So, what is Paul saying here?
The word imputed means “attributed to”
In other words, Sin and death were in the world wreaking havoc long before the Law of Moses was written down.
Right and wrong have always been right and wrong
The law just made it clear who the guilty were of sin so we could understand, fully, our problem
Before the law, we didn’t sin like Adam, but we still sinned
Adam had heard clear instruction from God and disobeyed Him
Before the law, mankind knew right from wrong, but the commands we were breaking were not clearly written before us
We had still sinned, we were still guilty, but the law made it clear to us
ILLUSTRATION: You’re passing everyone on the highway like they’re standing still
you get pulled over
you learn the speed limit as you get your ticket
you knew you were going to fast, but now you know just how much too fast
There is something I want to address at the end of verse 14, briefly
It says in verse 14 that Adam was “a type of the one that was to come”
What he is saying is that there are some ways that Adam was uniquely like Jesus
Although Adam was not One with God and is not eternal, he is the only man that was not born of a woman and that was not made from another person
In other words, he is a son of God-He isn’t God, as Jesus is, but God is His only Father
Adam was made by the Father, and all men are connected to him-both by birth and through sin!
Jesus is eternal and begotten not made-He is God’s Word made flesh, and through Christ everything was made
In this way, Adam was a partial reflection of Christ
Let’s continue
But the free 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.
The second part of our answer to the question is this:
Sin is man’s, but its cure is the Savior’s
Sin is man’s, but its cure is the Savior’s
This reminds me of a childhood game, One of these other ones, not like the other ones, which is the odd one out?
The gift is not like the curse!
Both came from one man, but they are nothing alike
Sin and death came into being through Adam, and it became a part of who we are
But the grace of God, the gift that came through the God-Man, Jesus Christ is different
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 free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
What is Paul saying? He is saying that through one sin, the judgment of death fell on all men
That sin multiplied in each of us, as one after another we prove that in our heart of hearts we are sinners
Sin and death came into the world like a cancer-point to the illustration
But grace appeared in the midst of MANY transgressions
Judgment and death came at the first sign of sin, but GRACE AROSE in the midst of many sins (v.16)
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.
So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
Sin and death came into all men through one man and one sin, and mankind is absolutely corrupted
But in the midst of the multitude of our sins, the abundance of God’s grace has come to us, to wash away sin and death for any and all who believe:
The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Friends, this is Good News!
Though we have multiplied our sin, Jesus Christ has come to wash them away
Adam turned on the faucet of sin and death, but through Jesus’ saving work on the cross, God has opened the flood gates of grace
The last thing I would have you to remember this morning in regards to our question is good news
The world may be a broken place full of broken people, sin, and death, but there is a way out.
YOU SEE,
Sin reigns in death, but in Christ’s death reigns life
Sin reigns in death, but in Christ’s death reigns life
I know that verses 20-21 often confuse people
Verse 20 says that sin increased under the law so that grace would abound all the more-so what is He saying?
I’ll take you back to the ILLUSTRATION I used before about speeding
Let’s say that you are cruising along, passing every other car on the road, when all of a sudden, you see a sign with the speed limit on it.
but instead of slowing down, you speed up a little more
Then, you pass one of those blinking signs that tell you when you’re speeding
And about half a mile past that blinking sign, you pass the state trooper, and he pulls you over
Now where is your excuse?
See, When you know the rules, your guilt is magnified
When we understand the full weight of our sin, and yet we continue to sin, the wrath stored up against us is worse than before
our sin is more grievous, our death is more assured
but what this verse says, is that no matter how much more we sin, Christ’s grace is sufficient to cover it
FINISH WATER ILLUSTRATION-dump dirty water into clean
pour straight iodine into bleach water
This doesn’t mean that we can continue sinning, and that what we do doesn’t matter-
we’ll get to that discussion our next time together in Romans
But it does mean that there is no sin you can commit that His grace will not cover.
In fact, what verse 21 tells us is that the more sinners that are washed clean by Jesus, the more glorious is His grace
The worse the sinner is when He turns to Jesus, the more powerful His grace appears!
INVITATION: Friend, this morning we live in a broken place
sin and death reign in the world around us
bad things happen to good people
We live in a world full of evil because we invited sin and death into
But the GOOD NEWS is that it doesn’t have to end that way
Through Jesus Christ, you have a way out of sin and death
There is no sin you have committed He is unable to cleanse you from
This morning, If you are ready to know what it feels like to find forgiveness, I would love the chance to talk to you right down front...
PRAY