Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Romans

Romans 5:12-21 Part 1

Introduction
         When the NY Yankees won the American League title last week the city of NY threw a party with free hot dogs for everyone. Everyday people having nothing to do with the NY Yankee organization benefited from their win.

         The Summer and Winter Olympics are made up of individuals who travel to a selected city someplace in the world and represent their country in athletic events. Millions of people watch as their representatives go for the gold. We cheer with them in the thrill of their victory and share in the agony of their defeat.  We share a corporate identity with those who represent us. Why is that? Because we take representation very seriously.

         Representation is  a Biblical concept as well. We see it in Israel and their kings. If they had a good king, the people prospered. If they had a bad king, the people suffered the chastening of God. As the king went, so went the people. We see it in the Biblical account of David and Goliath. Goliath was the champion of the Philistines and represented them in battle. David was the champion of the Israelites and represented them in battle. The nation whose champion won, all shared in the victory.
The Israelites were familiar with the principal of representation and corporate identity.    How about you? Understanding this concept is key to unlocking the meaning of our text this morning.

Background
         Many commentators and Biblical scholars believe this passage is the most difficult to understand in all Scripture.  Difficult, but oh so very important because it is here that the doctrine of our 'union with Christ' is introduced.

ILL: John Murray a great Biblical scholar said ' Union with Christ is the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation'.

         Being 'In Christ' is foundational to the hope that is within us. On it we base the assurance of our salvation. And I believe this is why Paul writes about it here. Let me explain. In Rom. 5:1-1, Paul tells us of the blessings associated with our justification, with being a member of the covenant family of God. Paul told us about these blessings to assure us that
'in Christ' we are in right relationship with God the Father.

ILL: Rome was a young church made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers trying to understand what it meant to be a Christian. Trying to know what to do next. Trying to be like Christ...but at times failing.  Just like you and I.

         Doubts arise especially when we fail. Don't they? We say to ourselves 'Does Jesus really forgive me? Will I go to hell because of this sin?  I just can't get victory over this sin of my life, how can I be a Christian?' Paul, in Rom. 5:12-21 is giving one more, and perhaps the greatest assurance of salvation, of hope. He says that as Believers we are now and will forever be 'In Christ'. He already hinted to this fact in vs. 10 of this chapter. '...having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life'. The Greek word translated here with the word 'by' is en. It can be translated with the words, by, through or in. But in is the most literal translation. So it should read ''having been reconciled, we shall be saved in His life'. We become 'united' with Christ. It is this 'union with Christ' our being 'In Christ' that makes it possible for us to have victory over the reign of sin and death, because 'In Christ' we are under the reign of 'Grace and Life'.

        Were we always  'In Christ''? No. We all began life 'In Adam' and we stayed that way until God touched our lives with the truth of the Gospel. 'In Adam' we suffered under the reign of sin and death.

TRANS: What does it mean to be 'In Adam'? That's what we'll look at this morning.  Turn in your Bibles to Romans 5:12.

I. All humanity is 'In Adam' (vs. 12-14)
    A. The reign of SIN. (vs. 12-13)

READ: Rom. 5:12-13
         Therefore: Whenever we read this word, what are we to ask? What is this telling us? Do you remember? (We are to ask  'what is it there for'. Paul is pealing away another layer.) He is giving us a deeper explanation of the assurance of our salvation, of what it means to be justified by faith and in a right relationship with God.

         The 'one' mentioned here is who? (Adam) Adam sinned by willfully disobeying God and God said in Gen. 2:17 that the day he disobeyed he would die. Now we know that Adam didn't die physically when he ate the fruit and disobeyed God. Gen. 5:5 says that he lived to be 930 yrs old, and then he died.

         So the death was something other than physical, it was spiritual , separation from God as the result of sin. Paul tells us that all experience death because all have sinned.  Sin, according to the text, was now in the world and it reigned.

ILL: When Albert Einstein  published his theory of relativity it was said that only 12 men in the whole world could understand it. 40 yrs later that number grew to millions when the practical application of E=MC2  was experienced in the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. The world was forever changed by that one event. We entered the Atomic Age.

         The immensity of Adams sin can not be overlooked. It introduced into the world something that had not been there before. Sin. And sin reigned supreme.

Question: But doesn't vs. 13 say that 'sin is not imputed when there is no Law'? Does that mean those who lived from Adam to Moses didn't have their sins held against them?

         Not exactly. Adam was given a command from God and he disobeyed it. That was sin and sin came into the world thru his disobedience. Those living between Adam and Moses had no such command and were not charged with their individual sins because there was no standard to judge them, no Law.

ILL: Sin, original sin, Adam's sin is like a hereditary disease. You get it from one of your parents. You don't have to do anything except be born to a parent who had the disease.

         The sin in verse 13 is original sin, the disease we all inherited from Adam. It is the sin of being 'In Adam'. Being a part of humanity. As the flow of the reign of sin developed, it's path lead to death.

READ: Rom. 5:14
     B. The reign of DEATH.
          In vs. 14 we are told that death reigned from Adam to Moses even though the people may not have sinned in the same way Adam did. Gen. 5 keeps repeating the phrase ''and he died'. They died because they were 'in Adam' and their death was proof that Adam was the representative of all humanity. As Adam went, so went the all humanity.

         Our inheritance from the father of all humanity is to suffer under the reign of sin and death, to die physically and spiritually. There are no exceptions. If you are human, you have Adam's sin nature and you will die. Now that the Law has been revealed we are responsible for the willful choices we make to sin in disobedience to God. But Paul is not really talking about our choice to sin here, but our sin nature inherited by humanities representative, Adam.

Conclusion:
         Let me try to bring this all together, if I can do that.  God appointed Adam as the representative of the human race. He was the first born of all men and stands for all humanity. We are counted just or sinful based on his obedience or disobedience to God's command.

         Adam chose disobedience and we , because he is our representative, share in his sin, in his condemnation, and in his death, both physical and spiritual. The technical term for this is called 'The Federal Headship' of Adam. It means that we are related to Adam by being human. He is our head. And we are under the same reign of sin and death as he was under.

Question:     Isn't that unfair?  Isn't it unkind to make us suffer for one man's sin?

         No. Think legally for a moment. By placing  Adam as the one individual who brought the reign of sin and death into the world, God was  setting a legal precedence.  Now,  JC can be the One individual who could bring in the reign of grace and life. Who could right the wrong of Adam. Who could provide us with the cure for the disease of sin.

         There are two kingdoms both desiring that you live under their reign. The  first kingdom is headed by Adam where sin and death reign. We are all inhabitants of that kingdom by our physical birth and we stay there unless we heed the call of God and accept His free gift of salvation. You are spiritually born again into the kingdom headed by Jesus Christ and that is what we will examine next week. In His kingdom, grace and life reign and all the inhabitants of the Kingdom of JC are assured of an eternity in the presence of God.

         If you have not repented, told God you are sorry for your sins, if you have never asked Him to forgive you, if you have never by faith trusted that Jesus died to save you, you are still 'In Adam' and he still represents you. Therefore you are still under the reign of sin and death. The flow of that reign is swift and sure and it leads to Hell, a place of eternal suffering and separation from God.

         If that is the team you are on, if you are still 'In Adam', let me encourage you , change teams.  Accept JC as your savior and  experience the flow of the reign of grace and life... it's also swift and sure but leads to heaven! Now that's a team I can always root for...Go God!