We are in a passage of the Bible that gives a greater view of the work of Christ. Every now and then there are events that are so significant and impacting that it can't be explained in a few words. The death and resurrection of Jesus is one of those things. Just as the
1066: William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, crosses the English Channel and lands at Pevensey
Invention of the printing press.
Colonization of America.
The work of Jesus has wide ranging implications. I also want to say this as an explanation to why we trust that Jesus is who he said he is. His work fulfills ancient promises and trajectories. Jesus did not appear out of nowhere. He fits into history like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle. We are going to see this today. We are also going to see that while we are exhorted to live by faith, that God also gave us a mind, and his word and his plan can be investigated, pondered on, and when we do that we see how unsearchable his ways, beyond fathoming, and it leads us to marvel at his plan and to rest in it. Today's passage helps us see the significance of what Christ has done, how he uniquely fits what our needs, and how we can trust him .
The Reign of Sin
This passage takes us back in time to the very beginning. To understand who Jesus is and what he has done, you have to understand what has gone on before him. This takes us back to the first man.
It also addresses big questions that people have today. What is wrong in the world? Why do we expect or hope for them to be good? Why is their death? Why are we angry when death occurs and why is there such an expectation we should have life- people often state their anger at death as though a moral wrong has occurred- but how is that possible or justified if I am an atheist who believes in evolution– it should be an expected and normal part of life. Why is there so much evil and what is the solution to the wrongs and hurt caused by evil? Can your philosophy or religion account for this?
The Biblical reason is there was a historically significant failure of our forefather Adam. He was created to live in relationship with God and was to be like God in holiness, but in pride he sought to be like God in authority. He rejected God’s commands and sin entered the world. He disobeyed and fell from his place of glory. Paradise Lost.
Adams' failure affected all people of all time. V12 sin came into the world through him, death was a consequence of sin. God said in Genesis 2 if you eat of the tree you will die” (Gen 2:17).
Several words in this passage that help us understand what Adam did. Sin: missing the mark. Trespass: to cross over, land or a moral law. Disobedience: . It was not an accident, it was not genetic, it was a moral failure.
Adam’s sin affected him, and everyone else. “and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” All sinned. After the sin of Adam all people are guilty and corrupt. Law breakers-guilty of disregarding the law and deserving a punishment. Rotten- like apples gone bad, they are corrupted on the inside. Depraved, fully and completely but not absolutely. Where do bad thoughts come from?
Original sin. That sin originated with Adam, and from him, we all inherit a sinful human nature.
All have sinned and fallen short. Makes sense of life. New born babies are beautiful. They are also sinful. Makes sense of mankind. Jews and gentiles are alike in that they have sinned. A solidarity in mankind.
We are guilty because of what Adam did, Unfair? How am I guilty for something that I did not do.
-Well, we do benefit or suffer because of the decisions of our ancestors. One person leaves a million dollars to his kids, and another leaves a debt of a million dollars.
-Another way is to see that we have done just as Adam. We have disobeyed God and done the same thing he did. We didn't eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but we have lied, stolen, hated, cheated, coveted, etc.
And so from Adam on sin and death reigned in the world. But wait a minute. The transgression Adam committed was to eat of the tree. How can others be guilty when they did not break that law? The ten commandments didn't come until the time of Moses (centuries later).
A term often used for this is the term federal headship.
Federal: pertaining to or of the nature of a union of states under a central government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states, as in. Many states under one central entity.
Head. Not the government. A head. A chief. A representative. Head: like headwaters from which things flow, source.
This shows us that what happened between Adam and God still has ongoing effects for us today. Sin is in the world and so is death. It reigns and has power over things and even us. We are corrupt and guilty, and education, medicine, doctors or teachers cannot remove that from us.
But we also see that Adam was a type of the one to come. What happens in Adam sets a trajectory for what God will do later.
The Victory of Grace
Sin entered the world like orks into middle earth. It entered with judgment and death and reigned over the land. How can one escape death and judgment? It is through Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement. This fills out why Jesus uniquely fulfills our hopes and needs.
There is similarity and there is distinction between what Adam did and what Christ did.
But the free gift is not like the trespass.
For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin.
For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
One sin brought death. One sin brought judgment. One sin brought condemnation. That was all it took! Now how can you clean up this mess? How can things be made right? All of those wrongs throughout the history of the world.
But it also brings a reversal. IN that Jesus is our new head. In Christ what happened in Adam can be altered. And it is through his one act of obedience.
The free gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. It followed death and brought life.
There is a similar pattern but a different work. Adam sinned and brought all of his companions into the world. Jesus was righteous and brought justification and all of its friends into the world.
CS Lewis- Narnia and the thaw.
This brings up the issue of reigning. The abundance of grace now reigns in the world. Sin has been dethroned.
We are made sinners through Adam, through our choices. So now through Christ we are made righteous.
Law increased the trespass. Read the ten commandments, the sermon on the mount and you will see that sin abounds. It can be overwhelming. When I first started to read the Bible, I was kind of excited and fascinated. It didn’t take long before I discovered I had some major problems. My sin causes me to feel hopeless. I knew I had problems and they got bigger when I began to read the Bible. My problem was greater than I imagined.
But then I began to see the grace of God. I began to understand the gospel: that I am saved through the work of Christ. I couldn't save myself. I could obey my way out of my mess. It was a gift to receive. It was a gift to dance and celebrate. It is a gift that shows the kindness, goodness, justice, and righteousness of god. We can't earn it. We don't need a case of the “do betters.” We need to see the wonder of the work of Christ and why we come to rest in it.
I think the one act of righteousness looks particularly at the death of Jesus and his offering himself up as a sacrifice of atonement. Obviously his work includes the active obedience he lived with each day of his life, and the righteousness which he conducted himself that made him the perfect and blameless sacrifice God required.
This means that what done in Christ overcomes what was done in Adam. Jesus is greater than Adam. He is greater in his personhood: he is the Son of God. He is greater in his work: complete obedience. He is greater in what he secures for others: life and righteousness.
What this also means. Is that just as Adam was our federal head, our example, our representative, and we suffered for his mistakes. So now just as we were in Adam, so also now by faith we can be in Christ. If we are mad that we didn't deserve judgment and death, we can't be mad that now we deserve salvation and life!
The reign of Grace
Grace reigns. The word there is a verbal form of the word for king. Grace reigns through Christ.
The people made so much of the law. For the Israelites it was a chief concern. But now the law has a less prominent place, and that is because grace has come, and it has not just come. Grace now reigns.
What this means, is that the grace of God that is in you, that is available in Christ, is greater than any sin that has wreaked havoc on your life. That sin will not triumph over you. Grace will cover it. Grace will more than abound.
Sin has been covered. From the sin of Abraham who lied to Pharaoh saying his wife was his sister. To the sin of Moses who struck the rock twice to the sins of the people who grumbled and complained in the desert. The sin of David who committed adultery with Bathsheba and then struck down her husband Uriah. The sin of Paul who was murdering the church. The sin of Peter who was scared to follow Jesus and scared of a servant girl.
The millions and millions of sins that have been committed. All atoned for by Christ! How can that be. ONly an infinite being could take away the infinite sins of the world. And whoever took away the sins of the world would deserve all the praise and glory for saving us. Only the God-man Jesus Christ could atone for sin and God still gets all the glory for it.
So what does that mean for you? It means your life is not determined by the mistakes of your forefathers. It means your life is not determined by the mistakes of yourself. It means that where you have been married and hurt, you can see grace triumph. It means the grace of God at work in Jesus Christ is greater than the work of the enemy in the world.
John Calvin aptly sums up this teaching: Christ is much more powerful to save than Adam was to destroy.
Abundant-perissea- used five times.
Where sin abounds, grace abounded all the more. Perisseuw. Hyper perisseuw.
How much more
John Chrysostom, “Adam became a source of death to those who followed him, although they had not eaten of the fruit of the tree, so Christ has become the provider of righteousness to those belonging to him, although they have not performed what is righteous.”
The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel.
Grace reigns through righteousness. What will it lead to? It will lead to eternal life. It will not be stopped. It will prevail.
Jesus is our head. He is the head of the church (Eph 5:)
John Bunyah, grace abounding in the chief of sinners. Do you see grace abounding in your life? Do you see it abounding in your wife, your kids? Are you more aware of their sin and shortcomings? Observe the grace of God. It is there in your weaknesses. It is there in the faults of others.
Jesus is called the last Adam. He is not the middle Adam, but the last Adam. There is not another to come. He has fulfilled the law's demands. When you understand this it completely removes the argument made by people advocating additional revelation from God, JOseph Smith and muhammed. God has done everything for us in Jesus. The problem is not in the work of Christ. The problem is people don't want to submit their lives to him.
This passage establishes a typology of how God worked in the past to how he worked in Jesus. Jesus fulfills the typology.
The continuity of God’s word and the centerpiece of Jesus Christ is the great puzzle of how to redeem the world from sin and death and disobedience. When you understand this you want to go deeper in it. You want to marvel at it and celebrate it.
Much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:17 ESV)
So that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 5:21 ESV)
What does this mean? Wherever you feel hopeless, know that grace can overcome all of it. Where your circumstances seem unbearable, know they do not determine God’s love for you. Cling to Christ and his grace will triumph in your life. Where you feel the penalty of your sin, and where you feel you cannot recover from things you have done, know grace can triumph. Where you feel the pain of your own rottenness and hate the things you do, and even feel like a failure, God’s grace can change you. It is at work in you. It is changing you. Your future is not determined by your past. Your future is not limited by your past mistakes. Your future is determined by the grace of God at work in Jesus. Your future is determined by his work in you and your ability to grasp and apply what he has secured for you.
But you have to surrender to it. Adam went his own way and didn't truly surrender to what God had for him. Let it reign over you. Do you receive it? Do you need it?
Discussion Questions
- How did Adam fail? How has his failure affected you? Would you have done any better than Adam?
- What has Jesus accomplished? How does his work affect you?
- How does grace reign now? What hope does that give you? Have you surrender to Christ and his work?
