Romans 5:12-21, “Death through Adam, Life through Christ.”

Bible Text: Romans 5:12-21 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: Romans

Our text today tells us sin entered our world through Adam, bringing a curse upon all of creation. Sin didn’t originate with Adam, but with Satan, who was: John 8:44, “a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
1John 3:8, “the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

Sin’s curse, passed on through Adam, brought death to the human race; but God’s provision would remedy sin’s curse and bring life through Jesus Christ, where death had previously reigned through Adam.

There is a stark contrast between what Adam did to allow sin and death into our world, and what Christ has done to bring redemption and eternal life.
Verses 12-14… Sin entered our world, through the disobedience of the very first man, Adam (see Genesis 3:1-15, 21-24).

Instead of obeying God, Adam joined his wife Eve (who was clearly deceived), and instead of protecting her from the wiles of the devil, and doing the right thing, Adam willfully disobeyed what God had commanded him, bringing death into the Garden of Eden, and the curse of sin, which would destroy the unity God intended between humanity and Himself, from the very beginning.

Death was the natural result of sin (see Genesis 2:15-17), for God had clearly warned Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God warned Adam that disobedience to that command would bring death to him. And although, when Adam sinned, he did not immediately die physically, he suffered spiritual death, [becoming an enemy of God], and so he was sent out of the Garden to toil the earth until he would eventually die physically.

This has been the condition of humanity since the first man Adam was created by God (see Ephesians 2:1-3). Death came through Adam’s sin to all of us, for through Adam, to all humans, sin was passed on at birth.

Back to Romans 5 (v. 13), “if there is no law, we can’t be charged with breaking the law.” Punishment for sin is only imputed [taken into account or credited toward] when there is law; and yet (v. 14) death (the result of disobeying God’s commands) ruled over all humanity, long before God gave His law to Moses.

Although the rest of humanity may not have sinned as overtly as Adam, who disobeyed a direct command from God Himself, all humans are nevertheless sinners, who must be held accountable for their sins, and death is the end result of, or the payment for. sin.

But still, it begs the question, if there was no law until Moses, if there were no direct commands from God, how can a person be guilty of breaking the law or disobeying God when there aren’t any direct commands to break.

Paul explains this in Romans 2:12-15, for everyone [Jew and Gentile] has God’s law written in their hearts, so that their consciences either accuse or excuse

them, depending on whether they are obedient or disobedient to God’s revealed truth concerning right and wrong.

After Adam and Eve disobeyed God (Genesis 3), bringing sin’s curse upon all of humanity and the world we live in, God shed the blood of an animal for Adam’s sin (Genesis 3:21), and covered both Adam and Eve’s nakedness with the animal’s skin; after which (Genesis 3:22), “the LORD God said, ‘the man has now become like one of Us, knowing good and evil.’ ”

Verses 15-17… The trespass [transgression] refers to Adam’s sin. Adam, like all of God’s creatures, reproduced in his own likeness, though he was made in God’s image.
Genesis 4:1-2, “Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.’ Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Genesis 5:3, “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.”

Adam passed on sin’s curse to all humanity (v. 15a), in fact, we received death as payment for sin (Romans 6:23). But (v. 15b) says the gift of God (eternal life) came by way of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8).

The sin of one man, Adam (v. 16), resulted in the condemnation of all humanity, whereas, God’s gift, through the one man, Jesus, brought justification to those who have committed numerous sins. Our own sinful condition, passed down from Adam, deserves God’s righteous judgement, and yet, even in our sin, God justifies us freely through Christ (Romans 5:8; 8:1).

Paul says (v. 17), that through the righteousness that comes by Jesus Christ, we are able to reign in this life. What does that mean, to reign in this life?

Well, we are sons and daughters of the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords, and therefore, we are royalty.
1Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

As children of God, we ought to be accessing all the privileges and resources provided to us by God (see Philippians 4:13, 19; 2Peter 1:3-4).
Verses 18-19… Jesus said (John 10:10b), speaking of those who believe in and receive Him, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” We, as God’s people, should be living at a level that is not experienced by the “common, or natural” person [i.e., unbelievers].

God has taken our punishment, justified us, and redeemed us; He has removed our condemnation, the condemnation that resulted from Adam’s disobedience, which consequently, made all of us sinners. God, in His mercy and grace, made us righteous through Christ’s obedience, even to the point of death on the cross. (see Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 9:27-28; 10:5-10).

Verses 20-21… This is so clear: the law was given so that the awareness of sin would increase, and in fact, sin has increased: look at the world we live in – pornography, profanity, immorality, adultery, homosexuality, the murder of babies, the abuse of children, as well as the elderly, the lack of care for the poor and downtrodden, and for those who are mentally and physically disabled.

Even so, God’s grace is much more than sufficient to provide the remedy for sin; sin brought death, God provided grace and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:4-7, Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His

kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
1Corinthians 15:45-58, “‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam [Jesus Christ] a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the , second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed– in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Death and the condemnation brought on by sin’s penalty, came through Adam to all humanity; but Eternal Life and the justification of God’s righteousness which redeems us, was provided so that everyone who repents of sin, confesses Christ as Lord, believes in Him as Savior, and follows Him by obeying the Word of God, has been set free form sin’s penalty and condemnation, forever.

Truly, we are a blessed people, chosen by God to experience God’s glory and goodness, which has been given to us through Christ the Lord, that we might serve Him on earth while waiting to join Him in heaven, forever!

Pastor Mike