Sermon: “One Man”
TEXT: Romans 5:12-17
REVIEW
1. Jesus lives: The Lord who we worship died on a cross for us, but He was taken down from that cross many years ago. After a little time in a borrowed tomb, He rose from the dead. After 40 days in which He offered many convincing proofs of His resurrection to His followers, He ascended into heaven. The Jesus we worship is a historical figure, but here is where he is different from every other hero of history that we remember. Jesus is alive.
2. We shall be saved: This fact of His current life is very important. The Apostle Paul tells us that we were reconciled by His death, and that His death was extremely powerful. But there is more to salvation than reconciliation. We need a mediator who is alive through whom we have access to God, and who will do all things necessary in order for God’s saving purposes to be fully accomplished. Most importantly, in this world of sin and death, how could we be sure that the life that Jesus brings to us is abundantly stronger than our own impending death if it were not for the fact that Jesus now lives? This chapter of Paul’s letter is all about this important fact: There is an abundant and living grace from God that more than covers the mess of death and misery that we see all around us. This is so important to our proclamation. It is a fair question for anyone who lives in this world to ask of us: “Is anything stronger than sin, misery, and death?” Our answer is bold and true: “Yes, there is something stronger than sin, misery, and even death. Jesus lives! We shall be saved!”
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus 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 to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.)
15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
1. Through the One Man Adam
Something happened through one man named Adam. You will not really understand what Paul is saying here about Jesus and life, unless you first understand what he is saying about Adam and death. By the way, no one should be surprised that Adam is a historical figure. There needed to be a beginning to the human race, and the only would who could tell us about Him would be His Creator. The Bible, many years after the creation of the first man, tells us the story of that first man, and in doing this all the major themes of the Scriptures are presented to us in seed form.
Let me give you some of the highlights of that important story as simply as I possibly can. God, who is good and loving, created Adam. God had close fellowship with him. He talked to Adam directly, and Adam knew exactly what God was saying. There was no sin in the world at that time, but there was something missing. There was no one for Adam – no one who would be his partner in life. God solved that problem by taking a rib from Adam and creating a woman – Eve. Everything was very good.
God gave Adam a job, and He also gave Him a commandment. The basic rule for Adam was to be an imitator of God in every appropriate way. But there was a specific test that was attached to this bigger commandment of a trusting relationship between a creature and his Creator. That test was a prohibition. Adam was not allowed to eat of the fruit from one tree in the land where God had put him.
Adam was in charge of his wife. In fact Adam was God’s representative for Eve, and for anyone who would be born of Eve. Adam’s test was not just for Adam. If Adam failed the test it would be a failure for everyone, and the consequence of the failure would be death.
Adam did fail that test, and here is how it happened. Adam did what Eve told him to do in clear opposition to the Word that God had spoken, and in full awareness of the deadly consequences of his actions. For some reason, he thought it would be more attractive or desirable to follow the example of his wife in this matter, even though that would mean violating his relationship with God. The result of this is that sin and death entered the world through one man. This we are told, even though Eve actually “sinned” first. That is because Eve’s sin was not like Adam’s sin. Adam sinned as a representative for us. In Adam's transgression, all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve for all future generations became subject to something horrible, which we call death.
To show that Adam’s sin was not just for him, but for us too, all those represented by Adam died, and all sinned. Their sins were many, and their sins reflected the sinfulness of their hearts. But their sins were not the same as Adam’s, because Adam was sinning as a representative for humanity, and those who followed him sinned as an expression of the sinfulness that they inherited from Adam’s representative sin. Thus many, many people died because of Adam’s representative sin, and many, many people sinned. This was how condemnation came into the world. Condemnation is the response of a holy God to all our unholy sin.
2. Through the One Man Jesus Christ
But now, something has happened through a second “One Man” who we know as Jesus Christ. God was not content with all that condemnation. It was good for Him to show his holiness by punishing sin, but there was one big problem with this. The problem was that people could not bear the punishment that they deserved. The right punishment was such a big punishment, that we would never be done with it. We would have to face it forever. The problem with this is that God wanted to show not only his hatred of sin. He also wanted to show His mercy toward us. He knew all about this even before He made Adam. So He made a plan to show both His love for us and His hatred of sin. God decided that this would be the very best plan for Him – for His own glory.
This plan was very costly to God. It meant that He would have to send a second representative. Adam was the first representative. Sin and death came through him. He sinned for us. Jesus was like a second Adam – a second representative. For all those who would believe in Jesus, He represented us by trusting God for us, obeying God for us, and dying for our many, many sins. Jesus did this as a gift for us. Everything that God brings to us through Jesus is a gift. Another word for this gift is “grace.” It means that all of the blessings that come to us come because of God’s mercy.
This gift of God is a very big gift, and many, many people have received it. That gift overturned our sins, and our death. We still may die one day. But when we die, we will be alive with Jesus in heaven. One day we will have a new body, like the one that Jesus has now in heaven. That body will never die. Because we know this and believe it, even now we are alive in our hearts with a new life that comes from Jesus. It is His gift to us. Through this gift we know that He is with us, and that one day we will reign in heaven with Him.
3. Adam to Moses
Thomas R. Schreiner, a New Testament scholar, writes that today’s passage and the remaining four verses of this chapter that we will consider over the next two weeks are “one of the most difficult and controversial passages to interpret in all of Pauline literature.” While not minimizing this observation at all, I think you can see that the clear point of the passage can be made very simply. However, there are two verses that I have not yet sufficiently considered. Let me briefly comment on those before concluding with an application.
Verses 13 speaks of a time before the law. We know that Paul must be talking about the codified Law of Moses here, since he says in verse 14 that this was the time between Adam and Moses. We know that there must have been some law before this time, just as there obviously was some law in the garden at the beginning of time. We know this because we are told that there was sin in the world during this long time between Adam and Moses, and that there was punishment for sin. We know that we were created in the image of God – created to be in relationship with God, who has revealed Himself to everyone based on the things that He made. There was law and sin and death, but the Old Testament Law did not yet exist in a written form. It was not yet codified.
Paul says that during this time between Adam and Moses sin was not “imputed.” What Calvin and many others believe Paul’s point is here, is that sin is not sufficiently reckoned and considered by man when there is no written code. Suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, our consciences now accusing, now defending us, we become hardened in our hearts, and do not see the seriousness of our sin.
But we know that sin was there. We were not lacking a testimony regarding sin, because death reigned, even over those whom Adam represented. We will have more to say about Moses and the law in the final two verses of this chapter. For now we need to keep it as simple as possible: Two men, two federal heads, Adam and Christ. One big similarity: Both men were federal representatives for a group beyond themselves. Many massive differences: Adam sinned for the group he represented, and brought them death and condemnation, but Jesus fulfilled all righteousness for the group He represented, and brought them abundant life.
APPLICATION:
Adam and Jesus: There really is no comparison! What a covenant head we have in Christ! What a difference it makes to be covered by the right representative. There is a sense in which we can view the whole Christian life like this: By the grace of God we are being taught to live more like people of Jesus, and less like people of Adam. Let me explain what I mean.
People of Adam act like this: They trust their own judgment more than the Word of God. They allow themselves to be pressured by others into doing what they know to be against God.
People of Jesus act like this: They live by the voice of God, and they hear Him in His Word. They reject the way of “man-pleasing.” They do not need to draw attention to themselves, but give glory to God. They are willing to give up what they cannot keep, in order to gain what they cannot lose.
If you have not yet trusted in Christ, I earnestly invite you to find life through Jesus Christ. It is safe and good for you to follow Jesus. Adam brought death. Jesus gives life. If you are trusting in Christ as your federal head, but are living too much like a son of Adam, you need to see that inconsistency. May you then be brought by God to live more and more like your new representative as you live the life of a follower of Jesus Christ.