Thank you all for having me here. It's been a blessing to be here.
I appreciate it very much, Brother John. Norm, thank you for the
messages. Thank you all for being here.
I pray the Lord will bless us with another message here one
last time before we go. Let's turn in our Bibles to Galatians. in chapter 2. I just want to begin here and
I want to read one statement that Paul makes. Galatians chapter
2 verse 20. He says, I am crucified with
Christ. I like how he says that. He says
this in the first person, I am crucified with Christ. I am crucified with Christ. I want to preach a message to
you from the first person point of view. I want to preach this
to show you just how real God's people were in Christ and did
what Christ did. Now let's begin this story in
Romans 5. Turn with me to Romans 5. Now,
I'm going to tell this as my story, just like Paul said, I
am crucified with Christ. So I'm going to tell this from
my point of view. But if you can say amen, this
is your story too. You can say, I am as well. Romans 5 and verse 12 tells us
this. It begins in a garden. It says
in Romans 5.12, as by one man, sin entered into the world and
death by sin. And so, that means, and for this
reason, for this cause, death passed upon all men. For that, if you have a Cambridge,
your marginal reference says, for in Adam or for in whom all
have sinned. Now, look at that very carefully
with me. It says, by one man sin entered
into the world and death by sin. And so for this cause death passed
upon all men for because in Adam all have sinned." Now, if you look down the page, I
just want to make sure we understand what he means by death passed
upon all men. He says, In verse 16, he says,
"...not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift." He's
showing us some differences, but he says, was by one offense
to condemnation, the free gift is of many offenses unto justification."
The judgment there means this was God's judgment. This is the
death that passed. By one man's sin entered, and
death by sin, and for this cause God passed judgment on all men. Because in Adam all have sinned. That means he imputed sin to
everybody that was in Adam. And the reason he did it is because
in Adam all have sin. Now let me make this personal. Adam was my father. Adam was
my federal head, my legal head, and my seminal head, meaning
I was in the loins of Adam. Really, truly, personally, I
was in Adam. I came from him. That means I was in the garden. That was me in that garden. Paul
said, I was in that garden. I was the one God gave that one
command to and said, of all the trees in the garden you may freely
eat, but you may not eat of this one tree. And the day you eat
of that one tree, you shall surely die. Die and you shall die. And
I am the one who took that fruit and ate it and died. I did it. You say, is headship that real? Is it that real that I was in
the garden? Yes, it's that real. That's what
we mean when we talk about headship. We were in our head. We were in Him. Hebrews 7, if
you'll look there with me, hold your place in Romans 5. Hebrews
7 in verse 9, it says this. I quoted this the other night,
but let's read it here. It says, Levi also, who receiveth
tithes, paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of
his father when Melchizedek met him. Way, way, way back there
before Levi was ever born, when Abraham met Melchizedek and paid
tithes to Melchizedek, Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek because
he was in Abraham's loins. That's headship. I was in the
loins of Adam. And when Adam sinned, I sinned. I sinned in Adam. I sinned in
Adam. And the scripture tells us back
in Romans 5.12 it says, and so for this cause death passed upon
me, God judged me, God imputed sin to me because in Adam I sinned. Now, If you can take your place
with me and say, this is my story, the fact of it is, this is all
our story whether we will confess it or not. This is all our story. We were all in that man. We all came from him. And when
he sinned, we sinned. We sinned. And for that reason,
God imputed sin to us. Now, he supports this. He gives
a brilliant example of this in the next verse in Romans 5.13.
Listen to what he says. For until the law, sin was in
the world. But sin is not imputed when there
is no law. Now think about that statement
right there. Now when he says for until the
law, he means when God gave that one law in the garden, God did
not give another known law until Mount Sinai when He gave the
law at Mount Sinai. He says that later down the page.
He says the law entered that the offense might have been,
that we might know how greatly we sinned by that one sin Adam
committed in the garden. He says, but until that law entered,
sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there
is no law. That's saying how God imputes. God will not impute sin to somebody
unless they have been made sin by law. Unless the law says they're
really sin, God won't impute sin to them. Why? Because he's
a just judge. He's a just judge. God won't
impute sin if a man hadn't been made sin by a prior act. He's
a just judge. Verse 14, nevertheless, Death reigned from Adam to Moses
even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression." Now listen to what he's saying here. When he
says death reigned, he's saying nevertheless God imputed sin
to the people from Adam to Moses even though they had not sinned
the same way Adam had. Now I know people will say that
speaking about babies, but what he's saying is They didn't have
a known law. Adam had a known law. He broke
one law. He knew he was not supposed to
enter that tree and he did it. They didn't have a known law.
Nevertheless, sin reigned. How then, if God won't impute
sin unless there's a law and man's made sin by law, how was
God just to impute sin to people from Adam to Moses? For in Adam
all have sinned. We really sinned in Adam. That's
why God imputed sin to the people that lived from Adam to Moses.
We sinned in Adam. And that's why God imputes sin
to you and me. We really sinned in Adam. We really sinned in Adam. Now listen carefully. God didn't
impute to me something I am not. That wouldn't have been just.
If I imputed something to you, John, that you're not guilty
of, that would be unjust. We're talking about righteousness
here. We're talking about the judge of all the earth that does
right. That wouldn't be just to impute
to you something that is not so by law. It wouldn't be just. He didn't impute to me something
I'm not. God imputed sin to me and death
passed upon me because in Adam I have sinned. God did not make me sin by imputing
sin to me. The scripture says clearly there,
by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. And for that
reason, God imputed sin to me. Now, I wouldn't quote a Greek
lexicon for anything unless it agreed with the book. And the
Greek lexicon agrees with the book. Imputation is the accounting
of what is fact. And this is the illustration
I give. If you impute $15 to your wallet, it's just if you
have $15 in your wallet. Imputation is accounting what
is true. It's accounting what is true.
Your accountant tallies up what you have and that's what he imputes
to your account is what you really have in your account. Some of
us wish we had an accountant that would impute something to
us and it would make it magically appear in our account. But that's
not how it works. Adam sinned. And I sinned in
Adam. And so the judgment passed. God imputed sin. For in Adam
all have sinned." Now, can you show me some more examples of
this in Scripture that this is really how God imputes? I can
show you. Leviticus 17. Let's go there
real quick. If it's not in this book, it's
not true. But if it's in this book, it's
true. And I'm just going by this book. Leviticus 17.3. This was an example, just an
example of imputation. This is the thing the Lord hath
commanded, saying, What man, soever there be of the house
of Israel, that killeth an ox, or a lamb, or a goat in the camp,
or that killeth it out of the camp, and bringeth it not unto
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an
offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, blood
shall be imputed to that man. Why? He hath shed blood. Do you see that? The crime, by
law, he shed blood and didn't bring it to the door, so blood's
going to be imputed to him. He hath shed blood, and then
he'll be made a curse that man shall be cut off from among his
people. Now let me show you one in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians
chapter 4. And I've looked at these all
through the Old Testament and the New Testament because I just
wanted to see how does God impute? How does He really impute? He
will not impute sin where there is no law. That defines it. If
man and men make sin, God won't impute sin to him. It's just
that simple. Now look here at 1 Corinthians
4 and look at verse 1. Paul says, let a man so account
of us, that word account is impute, let a man account of us as of
the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Paul
is saying, let a man account of us what Christ has really
made us to be. He's made us ministers. He's
made us able ministers of the gospel. He imputes that that's
what we are. Accounting them to be able ministers
is not going to make them able ministers. He said, account us
able ministers because that's what the Lord made us. Let me
show you another one. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 15. 2 Peter 3.15. Our Peter says, account, impute,
that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. Why do I impute
that the longsuffering of God is salvation? Because that's
fact. That's what it is. It's fact. The longsuffering
of the Lord is salvation. Now here's the point. I don't
want to lose anybody in this. This is my story. A prior act. that made Adam sin was his disobedience. He broke the law and God imputed
sin to it. But here's the thing, I was in
Adam and I broke the law in Adam. And for this cause, as so, God
imputed sin to me. Judgment came upon me because
I sinned in Adam. Now, if you can say that's part
of your story, then you can have part of this next part of my
story. But if that's not your story, you can't have part of
this next section of the story either, because we're talking
about headship here. We're either going to be represented
by Adam or we're going to be represented by Christ. Where
do you want to be found, in Adam or in Christ? If you were made
sin by another, and you can say amen to that, and you can take
part right here and see if he gives you grace and faith to
say, that's how I was made righteous right there. Romans 5.14 at the
end says Adam's the figure of Christ that was to come in headship. So just as all Adam's children
were in his loins and did everything he did, all Christ's people were
in his loins and did what Christ did. He says, Verse 18, by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men. That's all who were in Adam.
To condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men who Christ represented,
who were in Christ. To justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous." Now the law entered to show us we really
sinned in Adam, but where sin abounded, grace did much more
bound. Sin reigned to death, grace reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, the first part of my story
started in a garden. I'm going to start this part
of my story in a garden. The righteous Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world. Holy, spotless, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. The Lamb of God that Brother
Norm just spoke about. Spotless, righteous, before the
law, and holy in heart. Perfect. God-man. He entered
this world. He entered this world. And He
came into this world, Scripture says, to declare the righteousness
of God. To declare how God can be just,
how He's just, and how He is the justifier. To show how God
will by no means clear the guilty, and at the same time, He'll be
merciful and save His people. How can that be? Only in Christ
Jesus dead. Only in this righteous one, the
Lord Jesus Christ, can He do both. Only in Him. Our Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world made of a woman. Just like God promised
back in Genesis 3.15, He is the seed of woman. Made of a woman. And He came in and that's something
that's as great as the mystery of godliness. You know what John
was dealing with in 1 John when he kept saying, do you ever wonder
why he kept saying, if a man doesn't say the Son of God has
come in the flesh, he's an antichrist. You know why he kept saying that?
Because there was a thing called Gnosticism. And the Docetics
in it said that he couldn't have really been made flesh because
everybody that's flesh is a sinner. And if he'd have been made flesh,
he'd have been a sinner. And they said it's just as if
he was made flesh. No. Great is the mystery of godliness. We know some things about it,
but it's a mystery. He was made flesh. The Son of
God came down and took flesh. He was made flesh, a real man. Men died, men sinned. He's saving
sinners. He got to be made a man, spotless,
sinless, so he can be the spotless lamb. And not only was that a mystery,
this amazes me too. The lawgiver. In the love he
has for his father, for his children, for his righteousness, the lawgiver
made himself under his own law. That's how serious this thing
of God's righteousness is. He made himself under his own
law, that he might redeem his people from under that law. And
when you think of that, I know we tend to think about just the
Mosaic Law, just the law that was given at Sinai. That law
was added, and he fulfilled all that law. But the law where we
became guilty was that one commandment in the garden. And he's redeeming
his people from that curse that came on us from that one sin
in the garden. Now, the prior act by which Adam
sinned, is disobedience. Adam had a command and essentially
God entered into a covenant with him and he said, you can eat
of any of these trees, but if you eat of that tree, you're
going to die. It wasn't a surprise. In the day you eat it, you shall
die. The last Adam, Christ Jesus would never disobey God. He's
the righteous God man. It's blasphemy to think that
he would break the law of God. He would never break the law
of God. He's righteous God who came to show he is righteousness. That's what he came for. But those sins, for those people
that sinned in Adam, that he's going to save, that law's got
to be poured out on them. They got to die. That justice
has got to be honored, because God's just. He's not going to
clear the guilty. And he's not going to justify
the guilty, and he's not going to condemn the righteous. He's
just. We get that in a court of law.
You understand, a judge in a court of law, if he's not just, if
he's condemning men that are innocent, and if he's justifying
men that are guilty, he's not just. God won't do that. He's the just judge. This whole
thing of Christ's coming was about righteousness. It's about
declaring God just and how He justifies His people. No, our
Lord Jesus did not come under the law and be made so that the
Lord could pour out justice on Him by disobedience. Romans 5
says it was by obedience. This is the thing that made him
sweat great drops of blood in the garden. This is what made
the Lord send an angel and strengthen our God-man mediator. When He
said the flesh is weak, He experienced how weak our flesh is. Without
sin, but He experienced it. He saw because He's facing what
you and I can't even comprehend. He's facing the fierce fury of
wrath from the Father He loves. But He's righteous. How is God
going to be judged to pour out that justice on him? They brought
that spotless lamb in the ceremony to the priest, and the priest
killed that spotless lamb. No, he didn't. They brought that
spotless lamb to the priest, and in ceremony and type, the
sin of Israel was put on that lamb, and then he was killed. He couldn't be killed until that
sin was put on him. Now Scripture says, He hath made
him sin who knew no sin. We found those two things together.
He made him sin who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now He's righteousness all on
His own. But we're talking here about
satisfying the righteousness of His law and making His people
righteous before His holy law. He goes as the spotless Lamb
of God, the first Adam disobeyed in a garden, the last Adam obeyed
and it began in a garden. And He goes to the garden representing
His people to present Himself spotless for the Father to make
Him sin for His people. to make Him sin for His people. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity
of us all, of all His people. And He bared in His body the
sins of His people. That does not mean, and please
do not misunderstand me, a sinner is somebody who willfully disobeys
God and breaks His law. That's not what Christ was doing.
I don't know how it happened, but I know, and I'm trying to
show you, and I know this is not tradition, and believe me,
I've been put in the crosshairs for saying this, but what I've
seen in this is you can show it in the book and we won't drop
our tradition, even though the book says it. That's just how
we are. God's got to make us see this.
But if you're going to stick with what imputation means throughout
the book, we sinned in Adam. And that's why God imputed sin
to us. Scripture never says sin was imputed to Christ. And I
think the reason is this. I'm not going to say my Redeemer
was corrupted in any way. He was not. I want him to be glorified. I
want him to be honored. And I think that's what all my
brethren want. And men that have been divided
over this, I think both sides just want Christ to be honored
and glorified. They don't want him to be diminished
in any way. But here's the thing about this. The very glory we're
talking about here is what he came to manifest and that's how
righteous and holy God is in satisfying his law. And he made
him sin for us who knew no sin. And it's like the Gnostics say,
well he couldn't have been made flesh or he'd have been a sinner
and some say he couldn't have been made sin or he'd have been
a sinner. Listen, I just know the book says it. And I just
trust the word of the book. The scripture says, the closest
it says to him, sin being imputed to him, it says he was numbered
with the transgressors. What I'm saying is this. However
God did it, this is what I'm saying. Hear me now. However
God did it, he was manifesting God's absolutely just and righteous. And he would not pour out fury
on his son He was fit to bear it. Until it was a just thing
to do. Because God is that strict and
that just. Until it was a just thing to
do. That's why when you read the
Scriptures in the Psalms and you see Christ crying, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And He says something that
I'd never say. I'm a worm and no man, but thou
art holy. This thing was manifesting the
holiness of God. The very strict righteousness
of the... I mean, think about it. Why did
Christ come? Why was he made flesh? Why was
he made of the love? This is the whole critical factor
to show how strictly righteous and just God is. And it was perfect obedience.
And he poured out fury on him just like we read there in Leviticus.
He was cut off. And in that darkness, and there's
a good reason it's darkness because all of this is way bigger than
any of us and way bigger than we can comprehend. I believe
it's all wrapped up in this that God made him consciously and
feel forsaken of God. I know this, when Adam sinned
in the garden, God didn't infuse something into Adam. God took
his presence from Adam. That's how he knew, I've sinned. Now Christ didn't
sin. I'm not saying that, but I'm
saying when the Father forsook him on that cross, That's the hell that we'd have
had to bear. Please understand me. I don't
want to be divisive. I'm not trying to be critical. I'm just trying to say what this
book says. And I want Christ to get the
honor. I don't want to say more than it says, and I don't want
to say less than it says. I want to say what it says. And brethren, he completely,
thoroughly honored the law, magnified the law, satisfied the justice
of the law, settled the judgment of his people once and for all. It's done. When he said it's
finished, it is accomplished. It is done. Scripture says, Loving the Lord
God with all your heart, soul, and mind and you may raise yourselves
to fulfillment. That's what he was doing on the
cross. By bearing the sin and satisfying justice. See this cup? I may have used
this illustration. That cup's not full. If that cup was so full that
you couldn't put another drop in it without it flowing over
the side, it would be filled full. Christ said, I didn't come
to destroy the law. I came to full fill it. I came to fill it as full as
it can be filled. And that's what he did on Calvary's
cross. That's exactly what he did. Here's my story. I am crucified with Christ. When Christ Jesus was on that
cross, I was on that cross. When He suffered the unmitigated
fury of God's justice, I suffered it, I suffered it justly. God
settled His justice on me, I died, and when He was buried, I was
buried, and my body of sin is gone. Before the law of God,
before the justice of God, it's settled. Judgment settled. It doesn't end there. When he
came out of that grave, I came out of that grave. Paul said,
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. And when he came out
of that grave, I came out of that grave. And when he sat down
at the right hand of God because it was finished, I sat down.
And that's so of each one of you that were in Him by His grace.
You are crucified with Christ. I know you see your sin. I know
your sin troubles you. I know you get down about it
and I know you hate it and you mourn it and you start having
these doubts and fears because of it. God says, this is what
God said. Go to Romans 6 and let's see
what God said. Romans 6, 6. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin, here's what he means,
because he that's dead is justified from sin. The law can't say another
thing to a dead man that it's executed. He's freed from it.
Now, if we're dead with Christ, we believe we'll live with Him,
knowing Christ being raised from the dead doth no more. Death
has no more dominion over Him, for in that He died, He died
unto sin once. He died unto sin one time. But
in that He liveth, He liveth unto God likewise. Impute. This is for you he's brought
to believe in. He says impute. Reckon ye also yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Why does he say impute that?
Same reason he imputed sin to us, because by one man's obedience
we were made righteous. And he says you reckon yourself
to be dead because you did die. You impute yourself to be risen
because you did rise. You impute yourself to be righteous
because you are righteous. Colossians 3, he says, if you're
risen with Christ, set your affection on things above, not on things
of this earth, because you are dead and your life is hid with
Christ in God. If we're dead with Him and we're
alive with Him, it's settled. That's why God, when He brings
you to faith in Christ, He imputes righteousness to you because
Christ made you righteous. And what I'm saying here is,
brethren, that's consistent imputation. Why did God impute sin to me?
I sinned in Adam. Why does He impute righteousness
to me? I was made righteous in Christ. That's right. And He came and He gave you life
He's the double cure. Water and blood came out of his
side. Blessed is the man to whom He will not impute sin and in
whose spirit is no God. I not only died of Adam, I was
born of Adam, so I had to be born anew, born of incorruptible
seed. I was born of corrupt seed the
first time, and I was born of His spirit of incorruptible seed,
and God gave me faith to trust Christ, and so now God says two
things to me that both are completely accomplished by Christ. God says,
I will not impute sin to you because you got no sin to impute.
And not only that, in that new man I've created, there's no
guile. And I think to myself, how on
earth could God say that? All I see in myself is guile.
Just like he could look at Nathanael and say, Nathanael, there's an
Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. Because he put his spirit
in him. It's Christ in you. And it's
Christ at God's right hand. In other words, Christ is all.
He's all. He's all. Well, one day soon, brethren. This
is why Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now
live, and the flesh I live by the faithfulness of the Son of
God who loved me and gave himself for me. Anything I do that's
right, it's because Christ is in me, working it in me, and
bringing it to pass. And anything that I am before
God, before His law, it's in Christ, at God's right hand. And one day soon, brethren, if
you can say this is your story, one day soon, our story is just
going to begin. Because He's coming again. And
everybody He bought with His blood, He's raising us. And in
that day, brethren, when He raises us, we're going to be perfectly
conformed to His image. I mean perfect. We'll put off
this body of death and it'll be gone and we'll be perfectly
conformed to His image. And we're going to glorify Him.
for everything He did for us, beginning to end. Because it's
all of Him. It's all of Him. I hope, brethren,
that you understand what I'm saying. I'm not trying to... I'm just saying, our God's righteous. Don't ever let anybody tell you
that the Lord's just treating you as if you're righteous. You're
not. You're righteous by His obedience. If you trust in Him, you're righteous.
It's a done deal. It's a done deal. Emphatic language,
it's done. Reckon it indeed to be so. So,
amen.