Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans
chapter 5. I want to read what Paul wrote
to our brothers and sisters who gathered at Rome, and I want
to read what we have recorded in the parentheses. Now, I will
not be able to deal, or I will not deal exclusively with what's
in the parentheses, but mainly what's in the parentheses, but
I also will not be able to deal exhaustively with what's in the
parentheses. Let's read what is in the parentheses,
verses 13 through 17. Four, until the law, sin was
in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them
that had not sinned after the similitude or the similarity
of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was
to come. 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. 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. If by one man's offense death
reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace
and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. Now, my title this morning is
this, Christ Superabounds Adam. Christ Superabounds Adam. Now, as I mentioned last week,
Paul, in verse 12, introduces the subject of representation. He is not defining to us the
origination of sin. I know a lot of the old theologians
used to talk about original sin, and that's true in mankind, but
sin existed before mankind was created. Paul's not giving us
where sin came from, but he is now beginning to establish the
doctrine, the truth of representation. And he does so, now hang on to
this, he does so in light of establishing the doctrine of
substitution. And that he speaks of in verses
six through 11. And the doctrine of substitution
summed up is this. When Christ died, He reconciled
to God everyone for whom he died. It is a vast number. It can be
called many. But it is an absolutely inclusive
number and is therefore also can be called all. So the many
and the all that Christ died for, he reconciled them to God
when he died for them, and they were even enemies personally
when this took place. This is substitution. And having
reconciled them to God, even while they were enemies by his
death, in his life, seeing that he yet lives, he will assure
that they will be saved. That is, regenerated and converted
and ultimately ushered into glory, into Christ's presence. Paul
never leaves that foundation of substitution as he introduces
representation. Now, if God'll let us get a hold
of that and stay a hold of that, it'll help us in verses 12 through
21, but we'll deal mainly with 13 through 17. Now, there are
many kinds of representatives among men. There are legal representatives,
attorneys, right? represent the person accused,
there are attorneys who represent the state or the people. There
are elected representatives. And you can go on down the list,
all of that. There are many kinds of representatives among men.
But there are only two in whom God ordained for humanity that
humanity be factually, explicitly, and immutably made to be what
they are. Now you hear what I said? Representatives
in this world, all these other representatives, can only represent
us up to a point. These two representatives Paul
speaks of, and it's clear, Adam and Christ. That's what the parentheses
really emphasizes, is he lets us know for sure who these two
representatives are. These two representatives, factually,
explicitly and immutably made men to be what they are under
each representative headship. In other words, in Adam, the
many and the all he represented. And I use that particular word. I'm sure I wouldn't argue with
someone who says Adam still represents us, but Adam's dead and gone.
And the context of this is Adam represented us when he was in
that garden, and when he failed in that one act of disobedience,
we fail in him. And everything about Adam is
always in the past tense. Some things about Christ are
in the past tense, but also ushered into the future tense. And a
guaranteed future tense. Because remember, the doctrine
of substitution never goes contrary to the doctrine of representation.
And the doctrine of representation never goes contrary to the doctrine
of substitution. And it's clear by substitution,
Christ, everyone, the many and the all Christ represents, they're
okay. And they shall be okay. They're
okay even when they don't know they're okay. They're okay even
when nobody else knows they're okay, but God himself. And they
will be brought to have some assurance, some trust, some confidence,
some hope, based upon a God-given faith that they are okay. In
Adam, the many, the all he represented are dead. Wherefore, as by one
man sin entered into the world, There were only two of them then.
That's right, yeah. They hadn't even had children
yet. That's right. Do you get it? But sin entered
into the world. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men. That's all that Adam represented. Yes, sir. For that all have sinned,
not sinned in time. That's not the context. He's
not moving from the past into the future. When Adam sinned,
we sinned in him. He's our representative. We were,
as the writer of Hebrews points out, we were in Adam's loins.
Whatever he did, we did. Remember that Levi paid tithes? Levi who received tithes paid
tithes to Melchizedek. Levi wasn't even alive yet. But
how did that happen? Through representation. His daddy,
Abraham, represented him. And when Abraham paid tithes,
so did Levi. So again, in Adam, the many,
the all he represented, are dead spiritually. They're dead even
to the place of condemnation. That's what we read here. They're even dead to the place
of being under death's reign. Death is not something we can
battle against and overcome. We cannot. I seen a little thing
on TV, I think it may have been yesterday, about cryogenics,
and they still think, these scientists still think, they say there's
nothing in science that says that that can't be possible.
You're an idiot. Science may not say that, but
this book does. We are under death's reign, but
here's the problem. This is not talking about physical
death. And the proof is in the scripture.
There were two men in the Old Testament era that never died
physically. Enoch was not found. That is,
they never found his body. Why? Because God just took him.
He transformed Enoch. He never died physically. But
he died in his daddy Adam spiritually. And who was the other one? Was
it Elijah? He didn't die. He was raptured up. I know some
people don't like that word, but it's an okay word. Just like
the saints one day who are still physically alive when Christ
returns. They're not gonna die. Physical
death has not passed upon all men. We're still living. We will
die physically. And Adam did die physically hundreds
of years later, but God told him the day you eat thereof,
thou shalt surely die. And he did, spiritually. And
we so died in him. But died in the condemnation.
And this condemnation is not the condemnation of hell. This
is the condemnation of the state into which we fail. Enmity against
God. Hatred against God. a complete
refusal to bow to the authority of God Almighty, our Creator. That's the condemnation. And
this is the condemnation. Men shall go to hell one day.
Is that what it says? Now, that's true. I'm not belittling that. I'm not saying that's not a condemnation.
But that's not the condemnation here. Now, I'm going to throw
you one of those grenades. You hear people talk about when
so-and-so finally came out of the closet. And someone says,
well, God made me that way. The person who comes out of the
closet says, God made me that way. And somebody else says,
God didn't make you that way. I heard that just a few days
ago. Under the fall of Adam, God did make you that way. Wherefore, as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. If anybody ever comes out of
the closet, it's because it's already down in their heart.
We'll look at that here in a moment, not necessarily coming out of
the closet. Everybody wants to come out of
the closet today. There are still things about me I'm glad are
still in the closet. And I hope they remain in the
closet. But condemned spiritually, dead spiritually, under death's
reign in Christ, the many, the all that he represents. Notice
the change of word there. the many that he represents because
Christ did not just represent us. And as Earl used to say in
a different sense about the world, God making the world just kind
of wind it up like a clock and then just fling it out there.
No, God is still absolutely still controlling every minute detail,
even the specks of dust that float in this room that we can't
see. Somebody says, I don't believe
that. Of course you don't believe God. In Christ, the many, the
all, he represents. They have abounding grace. Yes. Even if they don't know
it yet. Exactly. They have justification,
even as Paul goes on to say in verse 18, even justification
of life. They will receive, they will
receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness in
life. If Christ represented them, they will. They will. And it's all said
to be by Christ, by Christ. Not by something they do. Nothing
here is about something we do to make what Christ did of value
to us. That is the common definition
of so-called representation in the free will, man-centered,
Antichrist gospel we hear today. But this is saying these two
men are the only two true representatives that ever factually, explicitly,
and immutably made men to be what they are. And even God's
people, even the elect, even the regenerated and converted
will never escape the representation of Adam in our flesh until we
lay it down and he transforms us and gives us new bodies and
we awaken his likeness. And it's clear, look at what
it says, but not as the offense, so also is the free gift. We'll
look at that Lord willing here in a bit. For if through the
offense of one, many be dead. Be dead, not are dying, not will
die, but be dead. Much more, there's your super
abounding. Super abounding. Much more, the
grace of God and the gift by grace. Now why do I even have
to say that? Because we're so dull of hearing. Grace is a gift, it is not a
offer. Grace is a sovereign power of
God in mercy and compassion, bestowing upon men and women
that which he desires for them. But not as the offense, so also
as the free gift. For through the offense of one,
many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift of grace,
which is by one man, not by anything we do. By one man, Jesus Christ,
so there's no doubt. Hath abounded unto many, the
same many. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation. Now we're not all in hell. But
it's being condemned into that utter ruin of absolute and total
depravity. We are plum lost, as Ralph Barnard
used to say. Plum lost. Not mostly lost. Not 99.9% lost, we're plum lost. Not as it was by one to sin,
so is the gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but
the free gift is of many offenses. Many offenses under justification. For if by one man's offense,
death reigned by one, much more. I like that. Much more. Freewill religion
doesn't know anything about this much more, does it? They read
it. They mention it. I used to hear
them talk about when they would read, moreover the law entered
that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. And I'd hear those old Arminian
freewill preachers. I didn't know that's what they
were, because I was a part of them. But that's what they were. And they
said, that's super abound. And I thought, boy, that sounded
good. And you check it out, and it's right. Super abound. But
they never explained. They never actually taught how
it's superabounded. Because when they began to teach,
you thought, well, that grace ain't much better than the law.
It's kind of like God's last ditch final attempt to save a
few people. That ain't what this is talking
about. It ain't, in spite of the bad English, it ain't close.
It ain't close. Adam's representation and its
consequences, Paul goes on to say, preceded the legal imputation
of sin. Now there's a lot, I thought
about stopping there, but there's a point here. Adam's representation
and its consequences preceded the legal imputation of sin,
but its consequences were absolute nevertheless. Verse 13 again,
for until the law, sin was in the world. It was already there.
And somebody said, well, Adam had a law. No, that wasn't the
law. At best, it could be called a prohibition. Because one, Adam
was told, you're going to break it. He didn't say, if you eat. He said, in the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now, he was warning him,
but he was telling him what was coming down the pike. But most
people, when they read it, they think God said, now Adam, don't
you eat this. If you do, this is what's going to happen. It
wasn't an if. Christ was already as a land slain from the foundation
of the world. There was no doubt as to the
fact that Adam would sin. And he sinned without being deceived. He willingly, knowingly, as we
say, with his eyes fully open, as we use that phrase, stepped
into disobedience. For until the law, sin was in
the world. But sin is not imputed when there
is no law. So we know now, sin is imputed
now. But listen to me. We were not imputed out of sin. For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. There was no imputation of anything
until the law came. And it's clear what law he talks
about. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to who? Moses. So he's talking about that law
of Moses, right? Now let's not be silly. Let's
not try to shy away from the word of God because it maybe
goes beyond the pale of what we can piece together in number
one, number two, number three. This is the truth of representation. And again, I say, Adam's representation
and its consequences preceded the legal imputation of sin,
but its consequences were absolute nevertheless. For until the law
was in the world, the sin is not imputed when there is no
law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses. Do you see
it? Therefore, It ain't about us
being imputed Adamsian. It's worse than that. We are
conceived and we grew in the belly. and we're born forth. We are brought forth just like
the state into which Adam fell. Adam knew what some call innocence,
what the book calls uprightness. He knew what it was to fall.
We do not know what it is to fall. We are conceived and born
fallen. That's why we are called natural
men. It's natural to us. It didn't
begin natural to Adam. He failed. We fail in Him. I don't fall. I was conceived
fallen. I was gestated in a fallen state. And somebody says, well, is that
your mommy and daddy's fault? No, that's Adam's fault. And God
ain't charging me with Adam's sin. He made me a sinner by Adam's
sin. And then my own sins, especially
when the law comes along and says, here's what sins are. Now,
I bear the brunt of God taking account of my sins, but I became
a sinner by one man's disobedient act." Somebody says, I don't
believe that. Well, then you don't believe
God. The law entered that the offense
might abound. Verse 20, correct? In other words,
in Adam's fall, men commit sins because they're sinners. I remember
years ago hearing Henry Manning say that. Of course, I've been
born and bred in free will works religion, and that struck me
like a ton of lead. because we were always taught
you're basically born innocent, you're basically born okay, but
then you do something wrong, you get old enough to kind of
know the difference between right and wrong, and you do something
wrong and now you're a sinner. No, we were made sinners by one
man's disobedience, period. We sin, we commit sins, we live
in sin, we are dead in trespasses and sins because we were made
sinners. That's what we are. The unregenerate man drinks up
iniquity like a thirsty man drinks water. It's natural. It's natural. Somebody says, well preacher,
that's not very, not much of a happy message. It's not if
you leave out the second representative. It'd be absolute despair, no
hope whatsoever if God only left us, if God only had for us one
representative. But there is a second representative.
There's a second representative, and not to jump the gun too much,
but he's more than a representative. He's super abounds. He's super
abounds. The law entered that the offense
might abound. And again, Adam's fall. In Adam's fall, men commit
sins because they're sinners. Now, let's concentrate on Paul's
words in verses 15 and 16. But not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. Verse 16, and not as it was by
one that sent, so is the gift. And for years, this perplexed
me. Because I have to admit, just
take it as a statement of words, and especially if you take it
out of context, and especially if you take it out of light of
the doctrine of truth, the true doctrine of representation, it's a lie. It's two opposites. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift. Really? How can that be? But not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. It's like speaking out both sides
of your mouth, ain't it? Unless you see the context in
the doctrine that's taught here. Now, I know some of you are intrigued.
Some of you say, what in the world is he talking about? There'll
be especially some out there saying, what in the world is
he talking about? The Spirit of God provided us a jumpstart
here to Paul's words. Now look at it. Let me read it.
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even though the
law had not been given yet. There was no imputation yet,
but there certainly was impartation. There was impartation and impartation. I said, I don't want to get off
of it. Impartation always must precede imputation. God does
not take account of what does not exist. But I don't want to
get off on that. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that
was to come. Now note, Adam figured Christ. That is, Adam is like a die cast. You know what a die is? You make
a die, they make coins and other things with dies. And they have
a die that's usually two-sided, I think, whatever it is. I'm
not a die expert when it comes to money. But, you know, the
die here, the die here, and they put the precious metal in the
middle. Now it ain't much precious. It's usually junk with a little
bit of something coating on it, but stamp it together. The die
is not the same thing as what you've just stamped out. There
are similarities. There are similarities, but they
ain't the same. Go try to spin the die. Matter
of fact, have the die in your pocket and be found with it,
you may go to jail. You're not at Fort Knox. You
don't work at Fort Knox. I think Paul did for a while,
but he wasn't a die caster, he was a tank fixer-upper. It's
a die, or a stamp, or a resemblance. Adam figured Christ. But note what is conspicuously
absent, and yea, what is not directly said, but is clearly
marked out. Paul's words in verse 15 and
16 denote that Christ was not a figure of Adam. Because Christ
is much more than Adam was. is even in glory. If Adam's in
glory now, Christ is still much more than Adam. When we go to
glory, he will still be much more than us, for we will worship
him. He will not worship us. Now that
helped you just a little bit, but let's get back to the matter.
Verse 16, 15 and 16, this phrase that Christ was not a figure
of Adam because Christ is much more than Adam. Christ super
abounds Adam. And that's what he's talking
about when he says, but not as the offense. So also if there
is a similarity and I've used the phrase, it's, it's the same,
but different, but instead of it's, it's, that doesn't really,
it's the same, but the difference in the other, There is a similarity
between Christ and Adam, but when you look at Christ, there's
much more to Christ than there is to Adam. That's what he's
talking about. And somebody says, well, that's
your take. That's what this says. It's there in the context.