Romans 5:12-15 "The Glory of the Gift"

Introduction:

Don’t you like getting something you need for Christmas.

I like to listen to my loved ones and hear them mention something during the year that they think would be helpful to have and make a mental note.

I do that and I have found that if I don’t buy it fairly quickly I usually forget what it was they mentioned.

You may be like me in this. You think the most needed gift might make the best gift to give to someone you love.

It is interesting that when God initiated the gift of Christ to the World His gift giving was based on this same principle. The most needed gift was the best gift. But how great was the need? We see this need contextualized in our text. Look back at verses 12-14:

I. The Context of the Need (12-14).

A. The need was universal because of the law.

Sin and death came into the world through one man, Adam.

Death then spread to all men because all sinned.

Adam sinned in violation to God’s command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And then He was driven out of the garden. God place an Angel with a flaming sword at the Garden’s entrance to keep man from re-entering the garden.

The issue for Adam’s descendants was never the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil it was the nature they inherited from Adam. Every human being was in Adam biologically and in a Patriarchal sense as Adam was our federal head.

Adam was the biological father of the human race and we all fell in Adam. And we inherited our sin nature from him. Everything about our human condition is tainted by the effects of sin.

So when Cain murdered his brother Abel, it was not that Cain himself needed to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Nor was Cain acting in violation of one of the ten commandments. The 10 Commandments had not yet been given at that time. They came about 2500 years later.

Cain showed that his heart was in defiance of God as he struck down his brother who was an image bearer of God. Cain also was in defiance of the moral law written on his own heart.

This was all before the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses compounded the awareness and knowledge of sin. Because it expanded God’s revealed Law.

A kid may think they are clean and ready for church on Sunday morning but then Mom checks behind the ears and finds out there is still dirt lingering around in the nook and crannies. Mom may even get the magnifying glass out and takes a closer look and discover just how unclean the situation is.

One of the reasons God gave us the law of Moses was to make it clear to us that His diagnosis of our moral condition is undeniably true.

Death reigned from Adam to Moses because the dirt was still there and people still sinned. The Law magnifies the standard of God’s holiness and in light of that shows us the real depravity of our nature.

This was how deep the need went. The Spiritual poverty of humanity was beyond what fallen man is even capable of seeing in himself. It is because our perception is so distorted.

But the Law revealed the depth of our sin and hopelessness in a fallen world to a greater degree. It still does this. And this is why it is so hard for us to be enthusiastic about the Law.

Like going to your doctor when you know it is going to be bad news again. And yet, in our humanistic optimism many believe they can work their way out of this negative image that the Law gives by performing their way to God.

Pastor Brett, This is the second Sunday of Advent. All this talk about sin and death in the history of the world is going to ruin Christmas.

No it won’t. Instead it will serve to contextualize Christmas for us because it will serve as the background by which we contrast the drastic nature of our need with the glory and beauty of that original Christmas gift.

Look at verse 15 of our text:

II. The Contrast of the Gift (15).

A. The trespass brings death but the Gift brings abundant life to the many.

Like when a jeweler lays a beautiful diamond against black felt. The glory and beauty of the diamond is magnified.

The original Christmas gift was given against the backdrop of sin and death. And the contrast is distinct and as extreme as the difference between life and death themselves.

Christ is the diamond and the darkness of a fallen world is the black felt background. But it is not there for us to just gaze at.

It serves as the contrast between life versus death. Life emerges from the sacrificial death of Christ. Even His own life emerged from His own death due to His payment being made. This is a gift that lives up to all the claims made about it.

Unlike some gifts that you may get in your gift exchanges that don’t live up to their expectations. The gift of Christ not only meets but exceeds expectations because it goes beyond what we see and fully know in this life.

And It is a free gift. It is not even a gift exchange like between family or friends. This gift is one sided as it is initiated by God on our behalf by sovereign grace.

Never has a gift been given that continued to produce more and more blessing and benefit into human lives. There is no greater gift than what God has given to His children through Jesus Christ.

And the half has not yet been told (Joy unspeakable and full of glory oh the half has never yet been told).

I remember once when my Sister figured out that Mom and Dad where hiding presents in the trunk of our family car, a 72 Buick.

She also figured out that the car wasn’t loaded until they went out for dinner early in December. So one particular December, once they came home and went to bed she got the keys and a flashlight and set out to have a peak in the trunk.

I watched from the bedroom window. I was way too afraid of getting caught. I was amazed at how brave she was. But now I realize it was because she couldn’t stand the anticipation of the surprise on Christmas morning.

She only had a few seconds and she hurried back into the house. Then reported with great accuracy that she was getting a toy sewing machine. But she couldn’t see it all because the gifts were stuffed in bags.

We had to wait to Christmas morning to find out what the full package was. But there was that toy sewing machine.

Christian through out time the prophets declared what was coming. And we see the gift of Jesus Christ and the salvation that He brings to us against the backdrop of our fallen condition and that is glorious thing!

And before we think that’s the full package think again. Eternity is on the horizon.

And the full package of what the gift of Christ has brought to us will one day be fully revealed. Christmas will never again be taken down and stuck back in the attic. We will live in the full reality of it year round.

Conclusion:

Christmas is all about Christ. Unbeliever without Christ Christmas has no solidified meaning. You can just romanticize it into whatever you want it to be.

The good news is that Christ came into the world to save sinners and to reconcile them to God. This is the heart of the gospel and it is being held out once again to you today.

Believe the gospel.

Christian Christ and His mission is the essence of what true Christmas really is. This table tells the story of Christmas and challenges us to once again encounter Christ in His provision of grace to us.

I Cor. 11: 27-31 warns us to examine ourselves in preparation for this table. That we come in agreement with God in full reliance of our need and in His provision in His gift to us.

Let’s Pray! No closed