Turn with me tonight in your
Bibles to Romans chapter 5. This is the third message, three
Sunday evenings, that I've brought to us from Romans chapter 5.
And tonight I want us to look at the last verses, beginning
with verse 12. Romans 5 and verse 12. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless,
death rang 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. But not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. For if through the offense 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 were 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. For if by one man's offense death
rang 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 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. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense 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. We looked last week at the six
verses that preceded verse 12, verses 6 through 11, and we saw
that the subject of those verses was the death of Christ. six
verses, three times in those verses we read of his death. The scripture there says that
he died for the ungodly, he died for sinners, he died for those
who were enmity or enemies of God. Now, in looking at the remainder
of these verses, the remainder of this chapter rather, I want
us to do so by asking The first question is this, how
did men become ungodly, sinners and enemies of God? How did that
happen? How did men, you, me, all men,
how did men become ungodly, sinners, and enmity with God. Well, the apostle tells us in
verse 12, doesn't he? He tells us that this all happened
by one sin of one man. One sin of one man. And who was that one man? Well,
we know he was the first man. Adam. He's named in verse 14. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses. Adam simply means man. We read in these verses that
we are looking at tonight that his one sin is called by several
names. And verse 12, as we begin, it
tells us that by one sin, by one man, sin entered into the
world. Sin means missing the mark. The word
sin literally means missing the mark. By one sin, Adam missed
the mark. He disobeyed. Oh, look at that. Absolute purity. Adam sinned. He missed the mark. By one sin,
he missed the mark. We see that in verse 12. Then
also you notice in verse 14 that one sin is called transgression. In 1 John, John tells us that
sin is the transgression of the law. God gave Adam a law. And briefly, it's comprehended
in the command not to eat of that one tree, the fruit of that
one tree. He transgressed. He broke God's
law. And then if you notice in verse
15, this one sin is called the offense, the offense of one. He offended God. He offended
his maker. He believed Satan. and offending
God Almighty. And then in verse 19, that one
sin is called disobedience. He disobeyed God. He disobeyed
his Maker. You might say, well, I understand
that. He's speaking of Adam's one sin.
But what has that to do with others, and particularly And I just hope and pray there's
someone here tonight, maybe some of you young people. Tonight,
you would ask that question. You recognize Adam's one sin,
but what does that have to do with me? What does that have
to do with you? I pray that you would ask that
question. What does his one sin have to
do with me? Again, in verse 12, the apostle
wrote that sin entered by one man and sin brought death, sin
caused death, that one sin caused death. The life of God died in
the soul of Adam that very moment, that very day that he partook
and disobeyed God, offended God's sin and transgressed the law
of God. The life of God in his soul died,
spiritually dead. And every one of his descendants,
when we come into this world, we come into this world spiritually
dead. Alienated from the life of God. He became subject to physical
death by that one sin, and we know he chapter 5 in Genesis, and this
one begot this one, and he lived, and he died, and this one begot
this one, and he lived so many years, and he died, and he died,
and he died, and he died. And ever since then, sin brought
death into this world. And no man can deny that. We
see it all around us. We go to funerals. We pass by
cemeteries. People speak to us that loved
ones die, death, sin by death, and it passed upon all men. No
one is exempt. No one escapes. You say rich
men die, poor men die. Educated men, uneducated men
die. No one escapes the sentence of
death. And not only spiritual death
happened that day and liable to, or subject to physical death,
but liable to eternal death. That is eternal separation from
God. Separated from God throughout
all eternity. What does this one sin have to
do with you? What does this one sin have to
do with us? Everything. Adam, all men were
in Adam. You were in Adam. You were in
Adam two ways. I was in Adam. All men were in
Adam two ways. He was a common head. In other
words, every person who's ever walked on the face of God's earth
except the Lord Jesus Christ But more than that, federally,
representatively, he is the head of all men. That means that we all stand
in him. Did any of his posterity, any
of his descendants escape That sin escaped the fall. No. The guilt of Adam's sin is imputed
to all posterity, to condemnation and death. You are going to die. I am going to die. If the Lord
doesn't return And for the child of God, there's
nothing to be feared, because our body will go to sleep, our
soul will be in the presence of God, and in the morning we'll
wake up. There is no time in eternity,
is there? And just like we go to sleep
and in the morning we'll wake up, so those who have departed
to be with Christ in the morning, just like a night's sleep, they'll
rise from None of his posterity escapes
the fall. None of the guilt of Adam's sin
is imputed to each and every one and brings condemnation and
death. That's serious. That's serious business. Preachers are not here to entertain
people. One of the fears I've always
had is entertaining men and women on their way to hell. I don't want to be guilty of
that. Every person who has come through
these doors, my heart's desire and prayer is that they might
be saved. And I try to be faithful in preaching
the gospel and warning men and women. I remember Ralph Warner
telling a story about it. It was a true story, too. I saw
the newspaper clip. But over in Mississippi, years
ago, the Pearl River came up out of its banks and washed a
bridge away. One man came down the road and,
of course, up into the water he went, and he somehow managed
to swim to the shore, get to the shore, and came up and stood
out there in the middle of the road in danger! Danger! And I forget how many cars went
on down until someone finally stopped. He looked like a crazy man, standing
up there in the middle of the road, mud all over him and everything. Danger! Danger! I assume that's
what preachers look like to a lot of people, like a crazy man. But this is serious. How did man become ungodly? How
did you become ungodly? Unlike God, a sinner, enmity
with God. The second question is this,
how was Adam a figure of Him who was to come? Notice that
in verse 14. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression." You say, who's that talking about?
Infants. Infants. Those who die in the
womb. Those who die in infancy. They do not sin after the similitude,
after the likeness of Adam's transgression. He openly rebelled,
disobeyed God, but still they have inherited his sin. Say, how do you know that? Because
they died. No one would die if they were
not sinners. That makes me think about John
the Baptist. Look back here to Luke. You say,
why does it make you think about John the Baptist? Well, many
die in infancy. We recognize that. Someone told
me one time, said, well, all you Calvinists believe that babies
go to hell. I don't believe that. I've never
preached that. I've never known a Calvinistic
creature who preaches that. That's not to say there's not
someone somewhere who does. Well, look in the case of John
the Baptist. When Mary went to visit her cousin
Elizabeth, reading in Luke chapter 1, verse 40, it says, And Mary entered
into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when
Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, The babe, this is John
the Baptist, he leaped in her womb. What does that mean? He was excited. He was happy. You say, an unborn child? This is what the scripture says.
This is what the word of God says. Read on. And she spake
out with a loud voice, that is, Elizabeth did, and said, Blessed
art thou among women, not above women. Isn't it a tragedy what
religious people have done in worshiping the Virgin Mary and
setting her up as a mediator? There's only one mediator between
God and man. And all over this world, thousands,
maybe millions of people. They believe with all their heart
that the way to get to the Lord Jesus Christ is to go through
Mary. Oh, no. She was blessed among
women, not above women. She found grace in the eyes of
the Lord, and that she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus. Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. That's the Lord Jesus,
isn't it? The fruit of her womb. For lo,
now notice this, for lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation
sounded in mine ears, the babe, John the Baptist, He leaped in my womb. Why did
he leap? For joy. For joy. Don't tell me that infants cannot
be saved. They must be born again. I know
that. Our Lord said no man can enter
into the kingdom of heaven except he be born again. I realize that. But also realize that God is
able. He's able. back in our text. How was Adam
a figure of him that was to come? Verse 14, Nevertheless, death
reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned,
after the similitude of Adam's transgression. Who, that is Adam,
is the figure of him that was to come? Now who is him who was
to come? Christ! The second Adam! The second man! from glory. He was a figure. He was a type.
Adam was a type of him who was to come, who was promised to
come, the seed of the Roman. How was Adam a figure, a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ? There are many types in the Old
Testament, isn't there? One of the ones that we think
about most often because our Lord used it himself when he
said, as Moses lifted up the serpent and the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish. Our Lord used that serpent as
a type, a figure of him. That serpent was lifted up on
a pole. Christ was lifted up on the cross. But this is the only verse of
Scripture that specifically tells us of this one who was a figure,
a type of Christ. How was he a type of Christ?
Well, I'm sure there are many, many was made by God. God took some
dirt and created Adam out of the dust of the ground. One writer
said, Of the virgin earth, Christ was born of a virgin. And Christ
is the seed of the woman. And because he is the seed of
the woman, Adam was not his federal head. Adam did not represent
Christ. Remember that verse in Hebrews
which said that he was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners. He's the seed of the woman and
because of this Adam's sin was not imputed to him. It is. Adam's sin is imputed to all
of his posterity, all of those who are his seed. Adam was created holy, pure,
and upright. So was the Lord Jesus Christ.
He came forth into this world pure, holy, upright. Even the demons confess that.
We know who thou art, thou holy one of God. And Adam was endowed by his Creator
with great wisdom. Great wisdom. I think we would
be surprised, I know we would, we would be surprised if somehow
we could learn just how wise, how intelligent Adam was when
God created him. What sin has done, darkening
the mind of man. That didn't just happen by accident. But the wisdom that Adam was
created in is nothing compared to the wisdom of Jesus Christ. He is the wisdom of God. Both
the wisdom and power of God. And Adam was also a type of the
Lord Jesus Christ in his marriage. to his wife Eve, a picture of
Christ and his bride, the church. Remember, Eve was taken out of
Adam's side, and so blood and water flowed out of his side
when that Roman soldier plunged that spear into his body. And Adam said, she's bone of
my bone and flesh of my flesh. And so the apostle Paul in Ephesians
5, he wrote it, and he said, this is a mystery. It really
is, isn't it? The union that exists between
every child of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, a mystical union. pictured in the husband and wife
relationship. There's two, but they become
one. So there's two Christ and us,
but we are one. We are members of his body, Paul
said, of his flesh and of his bones. And I'm sure that there
are many other ways we might look at Adam as the type of him
who was to come. However, in these verses, In
these verses, in this passage, it is mainly how, that is, Adam
was the covenant representative of all his seed. So he pictures
Christ as the covenant representative of all his spiritual seed. Here's the third question. What
do we see in this comparison between the two covenant representatives,
Adam and Christ? Two covenant representatives. Matthew Poole made this comment
I wanted to share with you on verse 12. Wherefore, look at
the verse again, Romans 5 verse 12, wherefore As by one man sin
entered into the world, and death passed by sin, and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. Matthew Spoole said,
this verse seems to be lame. It seems to be lame and imperfect,
for the explanation is wanting in the comparison. For unto this,
as by one man sin entered into the world, There, it would seem,
it should be, so by Christ. The explanation on the second
part of the comparison is not given until we get down to verse
18. If you notice the parentheses
there at the beginning of verse 13, and it runs all the way to
the end of verse 17. And so the comparison between
the two men, the two covenant heads, Adam and Christ, by one
man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so there. Now let's look at the comparison.
Verse 18. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, that is Adam, by his offense, Judgment came upon all
men to condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness
of one. Who's that? That's Christ. That's the second Adam. That's
the last Adam. Even so, by the righteousness
of one. The free gift came upon all men
under justification of life. The one offense, the one sin
of Adam was imputed to all that he represented, and it brought
guilt, exposing us all to judgment. But the righteousness of the
one, that is Christ, imputed to all that he represented, brings
justification of life. You see that? I've often thought
if a person was really serious about their salvation, this would
be one passage of scripture you'd sure want to read. Not just once
or twice, but they'll go over and over and over. to understand how God deals with
all men in these two men, Adam and Christ. His sin is one sin. He sinned
many times after that, but we had nothing to do with that.
That was His own sin. But the one sin, when He disobeyed
God and ate of that fruit, it's that sin that was imputed unto
all, that He represented all of His posterity. That's the reason the Apostle
says the free gift isn't like that, because The free gift that
brings righteousness cleanses us from many sins. Not just one
sin, but from all our sins and vice. All of our sins. The sin of Adam brought the sentence
of condemnation upon all men without exception. All men. Listen. All men without exception. That means all of God's elect.
The sin of Adam brought the sentence of condemnation upon all men
without exception. But for God's elect, the sentence
of condemnation was executed upon our surety, and by this
we are delivered from that condemnation. And the word, all. In the last part of the verse, it refers either to all that
Christ represented, or all in the sense of both Jew and Gentile. We know it doesn't mean all without
exception, because not all men are saved by the work of Christ. All that He represented is saved. Verse 19 is the summary of what
is given in this whole passage. For if by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. How is a man made righteous?
By the obedience of Christ. By the obedience of the one man.
By his perfect obedience even unto death. The law, notice verse 20, more
of the law entered that the offense might abound. The law was never
given to save anyone. It's a shame, isn't it, that
so many people are deceived by Satan into believing that if
I can just keep this law, which you can't, that's going to result
in my salvation. What we read here is, it caused
sin to abound. It just listed it, codified,
as they say, sin. There had always been the law
before the law of Moses was given, the natural law that God, I believe,
wrote on Adam's heart. But when the law was given there
in the books of the law, in Exodus and Deuteronomy especially, It
just spelled out sin. And it shows us what we are.
It shows us our need, doesn't it? And yet people think, I'm
going to keep the Ten Commandments and I'm going to be all right.
No, you're not. No. The Ten Commandments and all
the rest of the law, that's just part of it, had to be kept perfect. And this man, the second man,
the second Adam, he did that. That's the righteousness that
he's talking about here. By the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men under justification of life. The law given through Moses was
never given to be a means of obtaining life. Salvation is a gift. It's not
earned. And the remainder of this verse,
I'll give you my testimony, has been a great comfort to me over
the years. But where sin abounded, grace hath much more. That's been a great comfort to
me. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. I was reading Robert Hawker's book
called The Spiritual Pilgrim, and he started writing that book.
He kind of, I think, worked off of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress,
but But he started, Robert Hoffman started writing that book when
he was 70 years old. And it's very good, it's a good
book. And he was of the opinion, as
the scripture says, that man is, I don't think he's promised,
but three score plus ten, 70, he had reached his end, 70 years. Let me read you what he said. Will the
reader of my journal pause to question what attainments I have
made in the life of grace this past year, that 71st year? Truly the ledger of every day
as it concerns my room at the bottom. Can you identify
with that? I can. He goes on to say, amidst innumerable
mercies with which my bountiful Lord has strewed my path and
manifested his loving kindness to me on the right hand and on
the left, I can discover nothing on my part. but continued humiliation
before God. And then he went on to say, Let
men say what they will of a progression of holiness in the creature. I am free to confess that I know
it not. It forms no part of my creed,
neither do I find it in my experience. And that's, I'll say amen to
that. And I believe if we live 70 years,
or 80 years, or 100 years, or 200 years, this will still be
our testimony we know God, where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound. Verse 21, and I'll close, that
is, sin And as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. In this passage that we've looked
at, it is as though there were two rulers, two potentates, two
kings. Death, death is one of them,
and death reigns through sin. But grace, on the other hand,
is the other. And grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Grace reigns. I have a book I've read a couple
of times, Reign of Grace. Reign of Grace, written by one
of John Gill's friends, I believe, Brian, John Brian. Tremendous
book, Reign of Grace. Everything that we have that's
good is because of God's grace. Unmerited favor.