Sermon: “One Act”

TEXT:  Romans 5:18-19

REVIEW

1. Adam: We saw last week that Adam, the first man, was a historical figure, not a part of some ancient religious mythology.  The only one who could speak with authority about Adam would be God.  In the Bible, God presents Adam as a real man.

2.  Representation: Not only was Adam real.  He was also vitally important.  He was a representative for humanity.  Sin and death entered the world through him, and nothing has ever been the same.  It would take the work of a second representative to bring the victory of new life. 

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

¹⁸ Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation,

even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 

¹⁹ For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,

so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. 

1.  Through One Man’s Offense

            Verses 18 and 19 are a summary conclusion of the passage that we examined last week.  That passage, Romans 5:12-17, started to make a comparison between Adam and Christ.  Paul made several points in those verses and along the way the comparison seemed unfinished.  Now the apostle makes a strong conclusion in which the comparison cannot be missed.  In fact, he makes the full comparison twice here in these parallel verses.  He could have only given us verse 18, or only verse 19.  Instead he says the same thing twice, using different words.  This helps us to understand the fullness of what he is saying.  The focus here is not only on two representative men, Adam and Christ, but more pointedly on one act of each of the two representatives.

            Beginning with Adam, his representative action is called an offense in verse 18 and a disobedience in verse 19.  In the original language the first word assumes some right standard, and a falling away from that truth or uprightness.  The second word is about turning aside from obedient hearing.  The Bible closely associates the concept of hearing with the idea of obedience.  God calls us to hear with ears that are eager to listen and hearts that are ready to obey.

            Adam’s offense was a turning away from the Word of God.  Some other word was more important to him at that moment, and so his relationship with God was violated, and he transgressed the clear commandment given to him very directly by the voice of God.

            The result of this was that the judgment of God came upon all men, and all were condemned.  Put another way, many were made sinners.  The word translated “were made” means to set someone in a certain position, or to appoint him to a given office.  Many were appointed to the position of “sinner” through the one act of Adam.  Not only were many appointed to that position, they also fit into the position well because of a disposition to sin inherited from Adam.  They did the work of sinners, as those who were fit for the task.  This is our condition without Christ.  It is true of Jew and Gentile, and it is the result of one man turning aside from the voice of God.  This is a thing to be considered and to be mourned.  It is more that the mere eating of a piece of fruit.  It is a complete violation of trust with the recognition that God, whose Word should never be doubted, had earlier promised clearly that the result of such insubordination would be deadly.

            This one act of Adam was powerful.  It was so powerful that you cannot make sense of this world without coming to grips with that one act of turning aside from God and His Word.  That one act of Adam brought about something that theologians call “original sin.”  All of us have original sin – the inherited predisposition to rebelliousness against God, as a result of Adam’s one act.  Every harsh word, every abusive motion, every treacherous thought, every oppressive hand, every adulterous glance, every sickening dissatisfaction, every lazy or fearful rejection of obvious duty springs from this foul source: one man’s offense, one man’s disobedience.  Thus we are sinners in a world of sinners.

2.  Through One Man’s Righteous Act

            Thanks be to God, this is not the end of the story.  Paul addresses the church in Rome to tell them about one other act by a second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul writes in verse 18 about “one Man’s righteous act,” and in verse 19 he calls it “one Man’s obedience.”  Both expressions make reference to a clear standard of what is right.  They refer not only to the keeping of a law, but also the hearing of a great Law-Giver.  They form the beautiful opposite of the sin of Adam. 

            Christ had no sin.  This passage says something more than that.  His excellence is not merely the absence of something ugly.  It is the presence of something beautiful – a life of perfectly following the voice of God, culminating in His sacrificial death on the cross to rescue sinners.  The focal point of this life of obedience came in His voluntary offering up of His own body to die as a sacrificial lamb.  This death is mentioned three times in the earlier verses of this chapter.

⁶ For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…. 

⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us….

¹⁰ … when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son,

For this reason it seems most likely that the cross is specifically what Paul has in mind when he writes of “one Man’s righteous act” and “one Man’s obedience.”  But remember that this culmination was the consistent conclusion to a complete life of willing self-sacrifice in accord with the word of the Father.

            How are we to think of this one great act?  It was worth more than every consecrated gift of worship that man ever offered to God.  It was more beautiful than the most humble act of a mother’s love for any child ever born.  It was more courageous than the work of any true patriot who put himself in harm’s way to save his countrymen.  It was more blessed than all the years of devotion that any loyal husband ever provided for the wife of his youth.  It was wiser than the wisdom of Solomon, and stronger than the strength of Samson.  It was a more beautiful song than David ever composed.  It was everything right, everything pure, everything noble, everything good, and everything true.  It was a powerful love.

            The result of this love was far more powerful than the formidable power of Adam’s transgression.  All this goodness and beauty from Christ was given as a free gift – not just to Jews who were trusting in Messiah, but to all who would receive and believe from every nation.  To all these throughout the world this one great act brought justification of life.  It promised resurrection for all who would be touched by its powerful touch.  Through this one great act of obedience, many who had been appointed sinners, would be given a new office – righteous.  And the name would be more than a legal declaration.  The name would be a promise – a very secure promise, as Paul writes in verse 19, “many will be made righteous.”  That is a promise.

3.  Representative Disobedience and Representative Obedience

            You come here this morning to call upon the name of the One Man who accomplished this one beautiful act for you.  Adam represented you in his disobedience. But his sin was not the final Word for you.  The final Word has come in Jesus Christ.  I speak that Word when I preach Christ and Him crucified.  You need to hear the word of representative obedience and believe.

            Two relationships are spoken of in these verses.  In both of them the action of one has a consequence for many.  But if you have received the grace of faith, one of these relationships is far bigger for you than the other one.  Grace is bigger than sin.  Life is bigger than death.  Justification is bigger than condemnation.  Through Jesus Christ a big grace goes out to all the peoples of the earth.

            Don’t miss the power of this one act.  The action of Adam has been overturned for the elect, but no one will ever overturn the action of Christ.  The full number represented by that action will be made righteous.  This is a future condition so definite that Paul can announce it without any tentativeness.  “Many will be made righteous.”  This is a massive reversal and a tremendous victory.

APPLICATION:

            The offense of Adam was a willful turning aside from the Word of God.  Isn’t that what Adam did in the garden?  He rejected the Word.  He would not hear and obey what He knew to be God’s voice. The reversal of this horrible offense came through the appearance of the Word Incarnate.  In the beginning was the Word… And the Word was made flesh.  And that flesh was offered up for us through the death of the cross.  This was a powerful representative victory.

            Part of this great victory is expressed in your willing submission to the Word of God today.  When you bow before the Word of God on all matters of thought and life, the righteousness won for you on the cross of Christ is marvelously displayed. 

The power of the Spirit of God is at work in you today because of the glory of the one righteous act by the One Man Jesus Christ.  The immensity of the one act draws you near to bow and hear.