Last week, as we considered the
influence that law has upon our flesh, it became quite apparent
that law was not the way to achieve the necessary righteousness needed
to enter the presence of a holy God. By eating of the tree of
good and evil, we entered into an obligation, a responsibility
to produce that righteousness for ourselves. While we naturally think that
law serves as a guide to righteousness, it actually condemns us, revealing
and increasing our accountability to God. And more than that, according
to 2 Corinthians 3, it veils or it blinds us from seeing our
need of a saviour. Law was only ever given that
every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty
before God, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. In Genesis
2, the Lord warned Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. Essentially what God was saying
to Adam is what we heard last week in Galatians and what we
hear in all the scriptures. God was warning Adam to remain
in the grace of God for his righteousness and not look to producing his
own. In Genesis 3.24, when Adam fell,
God drove him out of the garden of grace and placed at the east
end of the garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned
every way to keep the way of the tree of life. While the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil represented the law, revealing
the knowledge of sin, this flaming sword that turned every way represented
the resulting judgment and condemnation of that sin. Brothers and sisters, our God
is a consuming fire. To attempt to enter his holy
presence, defiled as we are in the flesh, is to bring upon ourselves the
vengeance of eternal fire. To think that the filthy rags
of our own righteousness would somehow make us qualified to
be in union with the perfection of God is to subject ourselves
to eternal damnation. We desperately desperately need
the righteousness of God himself if we're to be reconciled to
him. And this righteousness of God must come to us as a gift
of grace. It's the only way. In the first
three chapters of the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul builds
a strong case against anyone obtaining this necessary righteousness
through our natural wisdom and work. In Romans 3, Paul summarizes
in verse 10, saying, there is none righteous, no, not one. And in verse 23, for all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. However, in Romans
4, using the example of Abraham, Paul tells us how we can obtain
this necessary righteousness. He shows us that the righteousness
that we need so badly doesn't come from our work like wages. It comes as a free gift by the
grace of God. It comes as we trust our God
to provide all that we do need to be in relationship with him.
It comes through faith. Now, Father Adam, acting in unbelief,
rejected the grace of God. He chose to put his faith in
Satan and to rely on his own wisdom and work. What an irony,
the way back into relationship with God is actually through
the way we fell, by placing all our faith in our gracious God. And the greatest trouble here
is that unlike Adam, we're now spiritually dead because of the
fall. As much as it goes against most
professing Christian religion, faith is not a simple choice
for us. It must come as a gift of the
free grace of God. He's the author and perfecter
of faith. God must first give faith, and
then God must also grow faith. At the end of Romans 4, Paul
reveals both the object of our faith and the means by which
we receive the righteousness of God. In verse 23 of Romans
4, he says, Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was
imputed to him, that's Abraham, but for us also, to whom it shall
be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead. who was delivered for our offences
and was raised again for our justification. We, by grace, simply trust our
God to provide the necessary righteousness in the sacrifice
and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Great Substitute. So before we get too far, how
about we read Romans 5. Romans 5, starting at verse 1.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by
faith into his grace wherein we stand. and rejoice in the
hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh
not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. For when we were
yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet per a venture
for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if
when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life.
And not only so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. And onto verse
12, and this will be our text for the day from verse 12 to
the end. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that
all had sinned. But until the law was given,
sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is
no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, who was the figure of him that
was to come. But not as the offence, so also
is the free gift. For if through the offence of
one many be dead, Much more, the grace of God and the gift
by grace, which is by one man Jesus Christ, hath abound unto
many. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man's offence death
reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. Therefore, as by the offence
of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many shall
be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. My hope today, by God's grace,
is that we'll see something of the relationship between our
sin and our great substitute. As we look into Romans 5, I really
just want to focus on that passage between 12 and 21, because in
this part of Romans 5, we have a detailed explanation of exactly
how this substitution has worked for us. As we move into Romans
5, Paul continues to build upon the foundation he laid in Romans
4. He begins in verses 1-5 by explaining
what it is that faith actually receives through our justification
before a holy God. He also explains how this faith
is exercised in our own lives through trials and tribulations. So I just want to briefly read
verses one to five and explain a little bit about them as we
move, just to give us context as we get to Romans 5.12. Therefore
being justified. Now, I don't know if you've changed
it yet, but there's a comma that is after the word faith there.
It needs to be moved back to behind the word justified. We've just been told in Romans
4 how we're justified. So it should read, therefore
being justified, comma, by faith we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. That's peace, trusting that our
sin's been removed and the wrath of God has been satisfied against
us. Verse two, by whom also we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. We have access
into the presence of God because we've now had the righteousness
of God imputed to us. And we rejoice in hope of the
glory of God. Hope of an eternal union with
God. And not only so, but with glory
and tribulations also, knowing the tribulation work of patience.
Patience as we wait for our God in our trials and difficulties.
We wait by faith. And patience, experience. Experiencing
the comfort of God as he draws near to us in our trials. And
experience hope. Hope expects further acts of
grace in your life. and hope maketh not a shame because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which was given to us, giving us knowledge of that eternal
love of God. Next in verses six to 11, Paul
explains how justification before our God is by grace and how it
provides eternal life, a life that we receive even in this
world a life that leads us to praise and rejoicing through
our great substitute. So in verse six he says, for
when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. That word means those that don't
worship him, those that don't acknowledge him as a sovereign
God. Verse seven, for scarcely for
a righteous or a religious man will one die, yet peradventure
for a good man, someone who's kind and generous, some would
even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards
us in that while we were yet sinners, while we were rebels,
while we were haters of God, Christ died for us. Now that's true grace, isn't
it? Much more than being now, right
now, justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him. And how? For if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more being reconciled we should be saved by His life.
His life in us. Eternal union with God is everlasting
life. And not only so, but we also
join God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. And now we come to our passage,
verses 12 to 21, and our text for the day. And this is probably
my most favorite section of scripture, because in this text, Paul not
only explains how he became such great sinners, He also explains
why our Lord Jesus Christ is such a great substitute. And
he actually does it in the most intricate of ways. In this text,
Paul reveals both these realities through a series of comparisons. More than that, in each of these
comparisons is a contrast. So like layers embedded in layers,
Paul adds more and more information each time, until by the end of
our text, he shows how the saints of God are taken from being enemies,
unfit to enter the presence of a holy God. to being qualified,
to be in eternal union, an intimate eternal union with our holy God. So let's start at verse 12. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. Wherefore means for this reason
or on account of. So what Paul's doing in this
text is explaining just how and why the saints can join God through
our Lord Jesus Christ from verse 11. And beginning in verse 12,
Paul starts to build a case, showing our other helplessness
under the bondage of sin. a sin that separated us from
our great God. As he does so, he also paints
a picture in parallel, sort of, of Christ, the second Adam, and
how he's restored us to an eternal relationship with our Father
in heaven. of Genesis 3, and when he ate
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he rejected
the grace of God, and he subjected himself, and we all did in him,
to the obligation of providing a righteousness for ourselves. Now, God had warned Adam, and
I read it earlier, in Genesis 2.16, that when he ate, he would
surely die, Now surely die can be translated dying you will
die, which effectively means that Adam died spiritually as
soon as he ate, and more than that, Adam continued to die physically
until ultimately he perished from the earth. Now that's the
consequence of sin. According to Ezekiel 18, the
soul that sinneth, it shall die. Paul then tells us when Adam
sinned, every single one of us sinned in Adam. And Paul will
explain this more in Hebrews 7, but basically what he's saying
here is that there's a physical union between all mankind and
our father Adam. Because of this physical union,
not only did we sin in our father Adam, but genetically we also
received the poison of Satan which means that every single
thing we do is tainted with sin in some way. It also means that
we too experience death, both spiritually and physically, as
a result of our sin. Verses 13 to 14. And notice these
next five verses, verses 13 to 17, are in brackets. It's because
remembering that Paul's explaining how and why we can join in our
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, he now expounds about what he
said in verse 12. The really amazing thing here
is that as Paul further explains the relationship between sin
and death in regard to all humanity, He also begins to introduce the
relationship between the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, our
great substitute, and the eternal life that all the children of
God have in him. In 314, Paul shows how death
is in fact the evidence and the consequence of sin in this world. even over the lives of people
that haven't consciously rejected God. He's talking about babes
and people with disabilities, people who are unable to comprehend
that which may be known of God, Romans 1. Paul's also not saying that men
weren't accountable for their sin prior to the law. He's just
saying that when the law was given in Exodus 19, it shone
a light and exposed the sinful deeds of men. To impute means
to ascribe to or to assign as a characteristic of. The law
came indicating and explaining just how our sins are an offence
to our holy God. And it also came bringing justification
for why death reigned over all men. And then at the end of 14,
Paul now introduces our Lord Jesus Christ through comparison
to our father Adam. As we'll see in the following
verses, Paul, by way of this contrast, will detail the difference
between the two of them, and all the while revealing why we
have such great reason to rejoice in our great God. In verse 15, it says, but not
as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the
offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and
the gift by grace, which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded
unto many. The first contrast in this verse
is in regard to how the activities of one individual are passed
on to those they represent. In the case of Adam, we all participated
in his one offense, and we all continue to commit that same
offense in all that we do. So each one of us in some way
has earned the consequences of our own actions. And as Romans
6.23 says, the wages of sin are death. Now it's not so with the grace
of God and the gift by grace. Grace and its benefits, as the
name suggests, can't be earned by the recipients. These blessings
of God must come to us by the activities of another, by the
activities of that one man, Jesus Christ. The gift spoken of here,
as we'll see in verse 17 and 18, is the righteousness of God
and all that comes with it. Adam sinned and passed that sin
onto all mankind. Our Lord Jesus Christ came as
a substitute for all that he represented, all those the Father
had given him in the everlasting covenant before the foundation
of the world. However, to represent his people,
the Lord had to assume humanity himself. We read it in Hebrews
2. The seed of Adam was corrupt
with Satan's poison. So our Father in heaven prepared
a body for him, a body undefiled by the sin of Adam. Not only
did our Lord Jesus Christ assume our humanity as a substitute,
having not entered the bondage of Adam's sin, he was made under
the law. By his perfect life before our
Father in heaven, Our Lord fulfilled the law of God on our behalf
and established an everlasting righteousness for all those he
represented. This is the second contrast that
begins in this verse. While Adam represents fallen
humanity, Christ represents the saints of God restored to relationship
with their God by his death and resurrection. It's a contrast
between two covenants, law and grace. It's a contrast between
flesh and spirit, between mortality and immortality, between life
and death. And it's a contrast that reveals
just how much greater the impact of our Lord upon his people is
compared to that of Adam. Paul gives us great reason to
rejoice. Look again at the language he
uses here, much more, abounded. It's this contrast that Paul
continues to build on in the next few verses. Verse 16, and
not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment
was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses
unto justification. Adam sinned, our sin in him. and our sin continuously before
our holy God can only ever bring the judgment of God upon us.
And the consequences of this judgment, it must result in the condemnation
of our souls in hell. However, for those represented
in Christ, our great substitute, For those recipients of that
free gift of his righteousness, the result's actually justification
before our holy God. While righteousness came by his
perfect life, justification came by his sin
atoning death. Another contrast introduced here
is that condemnation entered through the one offence, singular,
of Adam. But our justification comes to
us because our great substitute, bearing the many offences, multiple,
of every single child of God, satisfied the wrath of God against
us forever. I don't know, it's me, sorry. Forever, and it's just another
reason why we join in our God through our Lord Jesus Christ. As amazing as this grace is,
Paul's not finished yet. Verse 17, for if by one man's
offense death reigned by one, Much more, they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ. Using the word for or because
here, Paul brings yet another layer to this contrast as he
ends his explanation of the reign of death upon all men, verse
12, in light of the saint's joy in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, verse 11. And look again at Paul's language,
much more, abundance. Yes, through the one offense,
death entered and reigned. However, as much as that great
enemy death took dominion over all mankind, Much more, and in
abundance, the saints have victory over death in our Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. By his gift of righteousness,
we can boldly enter into the presence of our holy God. Even now, We have an intimate
union with our God in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
is, according to John 17.3, eternal life. Brothers and sisters, right now,
even if we don't feel it, right now, we actually reign in life
by the one man, Jesus Christ. Sin and death were imputed to
us by a carnal or natural association with our Father Adam, but this
righteousness and life are imputed to us by a spiritual association
with our Great Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul now closes those brackets
we talked about earlier, having detailed how death is swallowed
up in the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and having talked
about why we join God through him. And in verses 18 to 9, Paul
still continues the contrast, but he does it by summary. 18.
Therefore, as by the offense of one Judgment came upon all
men to condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men under justification of
life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many be
made righteous. Adam and all those in him rejected
in disobedience, rejected God and rejected His command to remain
in His grace and not rely on their own wisdom and work. Every
single one of us in our flesh are sinners, sinners rightly
deserving judgment and condemnation. However, Praise be to our God
who has loved his people with an everlasting love. Praise be
to him that has made his people one in his precious Son. Praise
him for the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. Praise him for he hath made him
to be sin for us who knew no sin. that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. Paul wraps it up in verse 20
and 21. Moreover, the Lord entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. That as sin hath reigned under
death, even so grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life,
by Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul adds one last detail to
his description of the impact of both these representative
heads. Again, in this, through comparison and contrast, we see
that the work of our Great Substitute is much more superior than that
of Adam. Through that one offence of our
father Adam, we all became sinners. Death came with sin and our lives
from that moment on became temporal. And then the law entered and
it just magnified the offence and condemned us all the more. However, and again, this is why
we have such reason or another reason, why we have such reason
to glory in our God through our Lord Jesus Christ. However, grace
did abound, did much more abound. By His fulfillment of the very
law that condemned us, we have life through the righteousness
of our great substitute. Even more than that, this life
is eternal. It's life without end. It's life
in and with our great God for all eternity. Brothers and sisters, we're great
sinners in need of a very great saviour. And none of this amazing
grace would be possible if we weren't in intimate union with
our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father in heaven gave us
as a bride to his son before the foundation of the world.
And from that moment on, our Lord took full responsibility
for maintaining our relationship a relationship that must span
all eternity. He never fails. And it's through this union that
all those sins that would condemn us have been both imputed and
imparted to our Lord Jesus Christ. He took full responsibility for
all those that the Father had given him. He carried our sins
to the cross. He suffered the wrath of God
against them. He completely purged them as
far as the east is from the west. And by his finished work, we
actually have eternal redemption. It's also this same union that
the perfect righteousness of God is both imputed and imparted
to his chosen children. Our Lord, by his perfect obedience
to the law of God in both his life and in his death, established
everlasting righteousness on behalf of his precious bride,
the church. As I said earlier, none of this
would be possible without our union with our great substitute
and saviour. This union must be so intimate
The church and her husband must be so unified that the two stand
as one even before the all-seeing eyes of our God. So as we close, I just want to
look at a few scriptures that speak more of this union and
just how intimate it really is. As I said before, the Church
of God was given by our Father to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
before the foundation of the world in the everlasting covenant. In Ephesians 5, Paul speaks of
the union between man and woman in marriage as being an illustration
of the union between the Lord and His Church. In verses 29
to 32, he says, For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth
it and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are
members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined
unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. In Ephesians
2, 23, the Church is said to be His body, the fullness of
Him that filleth all in all. In Colossians 3, 3 and 4, we're
told that our life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with
Him in glory. In Baptism, Romans 6.4, we declare
this same union, don't we? We're buried with Him by baptism
unto death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness
of life. In Ephesians 2.6, we're told
that not only have we died and resurrected in union with our
great substitute, but our Father in heaven has raised us up from
the dead, up together, sorry, and has made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And we can't speak about
the union of the church with the Savior. without looking at
his high priestly prayer in John 17, verses 20 to 23. He says,
neither pray I for these alone, that's the apostles, but for
them also which I believe on me through their word, that they
may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us. that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Now what an amazing miracle of
grace. Sinners like us, in intimate union with the God of all creation,
in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's only one thing we
need to consider and we'll close. Can this union ever be separated? And it's pretty simple to finish
with. I'll just read from Romans 8, verse 31 through. What shall we say to these things?
If God before us, who can be against us? He that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather,
that is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all day long. accounted
as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Brothers and sisters, it's no
wonder that we have great reason to join our God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you that
again you reveal something more of your Son and the wonder of
your grace in him. Father, we just pray that you
might cause us to encourage one another in the gospel and remind
each other of just how full and how complete salvation is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, as we take communion
today, I pray that you would just cause us to see something
of our union with you in your dear and precious Son, that as
we take the elements, Father, we would see something of the
perfect life of our Saviour on our behalf, and his sin-attaining
death, that we may be fully in union with you, Heavenly Father,
and loved by you, even as much as you love your son. It's an
amazing miracle and we just need grace to really grasp that Heavenly
Father. We pray for our pastor and his
travels that you bring him home safely to us and many of us are
ailing in different ways and I just commit each other to you
Heavenly Father and just again ask that throughout our week
you would just continue to grow us in the grace and knowledge
of our great King and Saviour. We pray in his name for your
glory, Saint Father. Amen.