The Power of ONE

Romans 5:12-21

 

          Friday at least 17 terrorist bombs exploded in Iraq, killing 50 people including three US soldiers and wounding 121.  At least 13 car bombs exploded in and around Baghdad, killing at least 23 Iraqi security-force members.  In one attack a roadside bomb was detonated in Madain and then two suicide car bombers from two different directions came into the police special forces that had arrived to investigate the roadside bomb (WT, 4/30/05, A7).  It is incredible to think of the damage one person can do with a car full of explosives.

          We are talking today about a terrorist attack, the original terrorist attack, and it’s permanent effect on the entire world. 

 

I.  One SIN resulted in total disaster (12-14).

          Why does everyone die?  Where did death come from?  Was it always in the world?  No, there was a time when it entered planet earth.  Like a terrorist it came in and drastically changed the landscape.  Verses 12-14 tell the story.

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.

 

          A.  Sin entered through one man.  It had never been in the world before.  Evil may have been in existence in another world with the disobedience and fall of Satan and his angels, but Adam let it loose on earth to do its horrible mischief.  The word “entered” is not talking about sin making its appearance, or entering a few human beings.  On that day in history sin was given access to the whole sphere of humanity – the world in general.  Romans 8:20 says that all of creation was subject to emptiness and groans until now.  Adam’s sin apparently affected animals and plants, all of creation.

 

          B.  Death entered with the sin.  There were twins working together.  When one got onto the ball field, the other was enabled to sneak in behind it.  Death includes not only physical death, but spiritual death.  Adam and Eve were immediately disconnected from God, immediately recognized that they were naked, immediately wanted to hide.  They didn’t die physically right away.  But there was an immediate spiritual death.  Their relationship with God was broken.  In the end, sin also took its physical toll and resulted in death.

          The Bible consistently connects sin and death as cause and effect.  The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezek 18:4).  Without sin, there would be neither spiritual nor physical death.  But because of sin there are at least three kinds of death: (1) of the soul (I John 3:14; Matt. 8:22; Eph 2:1), which is properly the first and immediate effect of sin, since sin is a separation of the soul from God, the fountain of life; (2) the death of the body (Rom 5:10; Matt 20:18; 26:66; John 11:4, 13; Acts 13:28; Phil 1:20) which is the culmination and end of all physical malady and evil in this world; (3) the eternal death of soul and body in hell (Rom 1:32; II Cor 3:16; 7:10; James 5:20; I John 5:16), which is also called the second death (Rev 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8).

 

          C.  Death spread to everyone.  Without sin we would not have even experienced death.  But now death spreads out and claims life after life.  Like a terrorist, death first entered the world, somewhat quietly.  And then death passed over onto all the specific, individual parts of the world.  Sin entered, as one enters a town, and death passed through as if it was going from house to house in the town.

          The evidence that sin entered not only the world but into every child of Adam is historical.  How do you know that everyone was a sinner?  Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  Abraham was faithful.  But they all died.  They died even though they didn’t have the law (from Adam to Moses) which pointed out their sin.  Adam disobeyed a specific command, “don’t eat of that tree.”  But after he was kicked out of the Garden of Eden, what were the specific commands?  How could people be sinners if they didn’t disobey any specific commands?  Were the people between the times of Adam and Moses sinners?  Verse 13 says that sin was not imputed when there was no law.  In spite of that, the evidence was clear that sin had permeated every life.  Where?  There were 100% fatalities.  Everyone died.  The evidence that you and I are sinners is that each of us will die.  Apparently beginning around the age of 21 things start to deteriorate.  We go down hill, we get ready for the grave because of SIN.

 

          We received the autopsy report this week concerning our son, Jonathan.  It was a long time coming; and it was sobering.  It was kind of hard to read without picturing Jonathan and wanting him back.  But I found it sobering in at least two ways: (1) there wasn’t much physically wrong with him.  He didn’t die because he was torn apart.  It was a gash on his head and one finger that was broken.  He apparently fell into an empty coal car, hit the top of his head on the bottom, and was gone.  (2) It was so final.  A gash in the head, which you would hope to be repairable, but a broken skull in 5 places and his life was gone.  Finished.  Over.  He was a sinner.  He got his nature from me, from Adam.  Imagine what would have happened if Adam had not sinned!  We would not have had to face death and all its pain. 

 

          D.  All sinned.  Insamuch as all sinned – the universal reign of death is caused by universal sin.  Everyone has sinned.  Everyone has participated in the sin of Adam.  The verb, “sinned” is an Aorist tense, which pictures the sinning as a historical fact, an action in the past that is finished.  When did Jonathan sin?  Doubtless at the fall, when Adam and Eve sinned.  Every human being was affected by their fall.  Their fall changed the nature of everyone after them.  How is this possible? 

          Here’s my suggested answer.  Take a picture.  Let’s look at this one, of Warren Sears, our Saxophone player today.  Let’s suppose that we have a valuable picture of Warren Sears.  It is irreplaceable.  But someone comes in and makes subtle changes to the original.  We are going to make copies of the picture.  Guess what we are going to get?  Every copy will contain the distortion.  You may make 100 copies, one million copies.  None of the copies can restore what was lost in the original.  Adam was the original.  No copy of Adam can restore what was distorted by Adam.  It’s lost.  It’s gone.

          Sin has distorted the original.  Sin has injected into the bloodstream of humanity, the notion that humanity is great, that humanity is wise and powerful, and can indeed replace God in order to do what it wants to do.  When Satan said, “I will be as god,” he created a new kind of life.  No one had ever lived that way before.  No one had ever thought that way, because God was God, and every angel in heaven knew that he/she was only a created being.  But Satan came up with the incredible notion that he could be god.  The very statement ignored huge amounts of data, that he was created, that everything he had was given to him by God, that he knew very little about the God he thought he could equal or replace, that the results of such a notion would ruin not only him and his talents, but millions of other angels, as well as billions of humans after him.

          Then that notion entered the human heart – “you eat of that tree of knowledge,” Satan whispered to Eve, “and you will be as God.”  That lie opened the door for all sorts of things, independence, personal sovereignty (I can run my life the way I want to), rejection of God’s word, disobedience, to name a few.  And that notion, as well as that “nature” has changed the landscape of humanity.  We all think we are gods, and can do what we want to do.  We know very little about submission to the authority of the One who knows, the Creator, the One to whom we owe everything.  We have done what Satan did.  We have ignored huge amounts of data, that we were created, that everything we have has been given to us by God, that we know very little about the God we think we can ignore, we know nothing about the results of what we are going to do; we just do it because we want to do it, because we can do what we want to do.  We prance around as little gods, unaware of the cosmic stupidity of our actions, and we soon come under the total domination of our desires, which lead us around with a ring in our nose to the garbage pits of life.

          What is “sin?”  The sin “nature?”  “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned each one to his own way.”  There is the nature that has come upon us because we are all in the Adams family.  Sin is not just that I do “bad” things, or that I do “wrong.”  Sin is a part of my nature that turns me into a sheep; determined to do my own thing because I am confident that I am the captain of my ship, or at least I am close to captain, at least captain of my body – and I can run my life, myself, thank you.  Every one of us goes astray. 

          From what do we stray?  From the excellent guidance and direction that God gives.  From the good, from the Great Shepherd.  God has created us for a purpose and intends to lead every one of His creations in a way that is best.  But every one of them has historically said to Him, in effect, “thanks, but no thanks; I’ll do it my way.  I’ve got a better idea.”  Sometimes even our parents can’t tell us what to do.  They can try, and sometimes we encourage them by faking obedience so they will think that they are making progress, but we can devise methods of doing our will no matter what they say.  Our very obedience can be disobedience.  Like the little kid who was punished by having to kneel down facing the corner.  He said to his dad, “but I am still standing up inside.”  What is that crazy, non-thinking, egotistical determination?  It’s the sin nature in all its splendor.

          Once that poisonous distortion is injected into the blood stream of humanity, every baby born from that mother and father is going to have the same thing in its blood – sheepness in terms of the willful direction of its life, arrogance in terms of its capability, deafness in terms of its submission, and blindness in terms of what life is all about.  And even though a two year old has not disobeyed the commandments, has not murdered or stolen or committed adultery, there is even in a two year old the evidence that they are in the Adams family.  It’s in the jaw stuck out at an angle of defiance, it’s in the eyes that are looking out for nothing more than themselves.  Ask any mother.  And you know, as well as I do, where it is all heading.  We have all been there, because we are all in the Adams family

 

          E.  Result?  The end result is seen in verses 14, 17 and 21.  Death reigned in verse 14, like a king reigns, stomping around, doing its own thing, conquering everyone, the rich, the poor, the strong and the weak.  No one could pay their way out in order to live longer.  No one could stand against its march through humanity.  In verse 17 again we see that death reigned as king.  And then again in verse 21, sin reigned in death.  As sin brought about death, so death was the sphere and the medium of the reign of sin.  And all of this out of one person!  Can you believe that one person accomplished all of this havoc?  And he was an innocent man.  He had never done anything wrong.  And he was brilliant, and walked with God in the cool of the day.  And yet, he almost singlehandedly (he did have Eve’s help) brought into the world that which has ruined all his children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren on down the line.

          The long range impact of Adam’s life is sobering.  What do we remember him for?  Sin?  The Fall?  He’s the one who should get credit for naming all the animals.  Do we mention that when we speak of him?  Not usually.  We normally associate him with sin.  So it is with any person.  They can have an impact for Righteousness, or for wrong. 

          Two families from the state of New York were carefully studied.  One was the Max Jukes family, the other, the Jonathan Edwards family. 

          Max Jukes was an unbelieving man and married a woman like himself.  Among the known descendants, over 1,200 were studied.  310 became professional vagrants; 440 physically wrecked their lives by a debauched lifestyle; 130 were sent to prison for an average of 13 years each, 7 of them for murder.  More than 100 became alcoholics; 60 became habitual thieves; 190 public prostitutes.  Of the 20 who learned a trade, 10 of them learned the trade in a state prison.  It cost the state about $1,500,000 and they made no contribution whatever to society.

          In about the same era the family of Jonathan Edwards came on the scene.  As you know Jonathan Edwards was a man of God and married a woman of like character.  Results?  300 became pastors, missionaries, and theological professors; over 100 became college profs; over 100 became attorneys, 30 of them judges; 60 of them became physicians; over 60 became authors of good classic books; 14 became presidents of universities.  There were numerous giants in American industry that emerged from the family.  Three became United States congressmen and one became the vice president of the USA (from OTOT, 198).

          If you had been in grade school with Max Jukes or Jonathan Edwards, would you have had any conception of the power of their lives?  Think about the people you are around right now.  What will their posterity be like 100 or 200 years from now?  That’s the power of one person.  Max Jukes in all his wisdom chose to marry a woman like himself.  The result was disaster.  Jonathan Edwards took a different road, and we have all been blessed.

 

          Have you ever admitted that you are a sinner?  That you don’t listen, that you don’t submit, that you basically do what you want to do because you are the king of your kingdom.  The first step in coming to Christ is to realize how greatly we have been affected by sin.

 

II.  One RIGHTEOUS act resulted in extreme blessing (15-19).  Into the dismal scene of 12-14, verses 15-19 insert the direct opposite – “one man’s righteous act.”  If Adam brought in death, how did life ever get in?  Through the second Adam, Jesus Christ.

 

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.) 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.

 

          A.  Through Christ, Righteousness entered and brought in LIFE.  These verses introduce us to the amazing contrast between sin/death and righteousness/life through the obedience of Jesus Christ.  Christ’s wonderful obedience accomplished the exact opposite of Adam’s work.

          Notice the opposing contrasts in this passage:  In verse 15 we see the contrast between the “offense which brought death to all” and the “free gift” which came “by the grace of God.”  In verse 16 we have the contrast between the “judgment from the offense which resulted in condemnation,” and the “free gift which came after many offenses resulting in justification.”  In verse 17 “one man’s offense allowed death to reign.”  The contrast is the One, Jesus Christ who gives abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness so that those who receive it reign in life.”  In verse 18 it is “judgment coming to all men resulting in condemnation through one man’s offense” contrasted with the “free gift coming to all men resulting in justification of life through one Man’s righteous act.  In verse 19 it is “one man’s disobedience making many sinners” contrasted with “one Man’s obedience making many righteous.”

          Can you imagine that build up of opposites?  It looks like Jesus Christ undid everything that Adam did.  Look at Paul’s pattern of development here:

                    15 – offense, many died – free gift of Grace from God

                             16 – judgment, condemnation – free gift, justification

                                       17 – death reigns – reign in life

                             18 – judgment, condemnation – free gift, justification

                    19 – disobedience making sinners – obedience making righteous

          See the pattern?  15 correlates with 19, 16 with 18 and 17 is the central thought, the climax which states the amazing possibility introduced by Christ’s one righteous act:  because of the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness IT IS POSSIBLE TO REIGN IN LIFE!  Have you ever considered the fact that God intends much more than that you and I survive.  He wants us to RULE AS KINGS over sin in this life.  What Adam ruined us with, Christ enables us to stomp on!  What Adam did that made us slaves, Christ reversed, to not only free us, but set us up and empower us to reign as kings!

 

          B.  Through Christ we have much more than through Adam.  What Christ gained for us is far greater than what Adam lost.  We see this in the words, “much more.”  Notice the repetition: