Romans 5:12-21 "Adam's Story, Jesus' Story, and Our Story"

1:01I manifested it. I want to take just a moment to pray, though, because I sense this morning that the Lord does have very important things to say to us. I'm aware that many in the room stayed up, I don't know how long. I don't understand the overtime system. I didn't watch the game. I stopped watching Aggie Football a long time ago. But it was a late night for a lot of us. We're probably tired. We're probably not focused. We're thinking, like, what is the math that has to happen for us to make the College football, play out, like all that, all that kind of stuff. And we got car alarms and we got everything else. And so I just want to take a moment just to pause and to pray. So, would you pray with me?

1:54God, I am a man who wants to do things right. And our church wants to do things right, and we do so much to try to obey you and to try to put ourselves in position to hear from you. But we remind ourselves this morning through this moment of prayer that if your spirit does not move, then we will leave this place unchanged. We will have heard truth and we will have agreed with truth and we will have nodded our heads, but we will leave unchanged. And so we want to begin again by praying, Lord, speak to us, challenge us, change us, meet us through your word and your spirit.

2:51In Christ's name we pray. Amen. About 20 years ago, there's a man named Donald Miller. He's still alive. He didn't die. But like, he wrote, A book called Blue Like Jazz. And Blue Like Jazz is a, it's not a great book, it's not one I'd recommend. There's lots of questionable theology in it. But one thing that you realize as soon as you start reading Donald Miller is that guy is a master storyteller. And we all love stories.

3:18And you know, when you think about the scripture, the Bible is one true story that is made up of all of these smaller stories that fit into that grand narrative, that grand story that is the Bible. And so Don Miller, after he wrote for a few years, he started a company called Storybrand. And Storybrand, the whole idea of it is he wants to help businesses and nonprofits with their marketing efforts because he realized along the way, if you don't tell a good story, you won't sell anything. You won't connect with people because stories matter. Stories are what connects to our heart.

3:58And our hearts, more than we'd ever like to admit, as rational, Western intellectual people, our hearts are really what drive a lot of what we think, a lot of what we do, a lot of the choices that we make. So the Bible is this great story. And Donald Miller's on to something with that. And so he has this company, Storybrand. He helps with marketing. And you know, there's this principle in marketing. It's called early adopters. You ever heard that before? Early adopters. It means those people that when a product comes out, they're the first. People to buy it.

4:31They're the first people to get on a list for a product. I have a friend who's an early adopter. His name is Trent. And I can say that in this church because there's 31 Trents. And so you'll never figure out who I'm talking about. But he's an early adopter. And I think sometimes when we approach the Word of God, this great story, and we read about Adam and Eve and we see what happened to them, we're like, man, you know, mankind seems to be like that. It was like this beta version that God introduced. Man had some flaws. But like, we've just been getting better and better ever since that first edition of Adam and Eve.

5:13And that view was really prevalent. If you think it's prevalent now, it was really prevalent at the turn of last century, around 1900. Man, there was rapid technological progress. There was medical advancements, scientific discoveries. We fought the war to end all wars between 1914 and 1918. And ever since then, everything has been amazing. Humanity has been at peace. Utopian societies have arisen. We have brought heaven to earth, haven't we? No, not even close. Through war and genocide, racism and the Holocaust, the lie of communism, the 20th century, the last hundred years, saw more death and oppression than the Previous 19 centuries combined.

6:04The idea that man was improving, that we would become more moral as we became more educated, was debunked. And that idea was thrown on the ash heap of history. So, what happened? Well, the Bible tells us in the grand story. Take a look on the screen at Ecclesiastes chapter 7. See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. The author of Ecclesiastes, probably Solomon, tells us that God made man upright. In other words, there was nothing wrong with Adam and Eve when God created them.

6:46There were no faults or flaws at all. There weren't beta versions that God intended to prove, improve through trial and error. God, our great designer, created Adam and Eve without any mistakes when he designed us. But what happened? We have gone after many schemes. And we find this in the story of Scripture. Genesis chapter 2. Look at what God says to Adam. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

7:26There was one rule, one command, don't eat the fruit of that one tree. Tree. That is what God told Adam. Adam could eat anything else he wanted, every other tree, any other tree. But if Adam broke that command, he would die. Well, everything was going great. God creates Eve. They're living together in unity and joy. And then Satan enters the picture. He comes and he questions God's command. Look at what he says. He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

8:04Man, isn't that how Satan works? Look at that verse. Look what he says. God tells Adam, you can eat from any tree in the garden, just not this one. And Satan rolls up and is like, so, God said you can't eat from any of the trees, huh? Ah, I wouldn't want to serve a God like that. Sounds pretty restrictive. I wouldn't want that for my life. Now, to Eve's credit, she replies and she corrects Satan, saying that they could eat from any tree they wanted except that one tree. But what's interesting is she also adds to God's word.

8:41If you're familiar with what happens in Genesis 3, you know that Eve said, We can't eat of that tree, we can't even touch it, because if we touch it, we'll die. Well, God never said anything about touching the tree. And it's so interesting to me that we think that if we add To God's word, that's going to keep us from sin. That what we need are more rules. The Pharisees did this, didn't they? They added many rules to God's law, thinking that that would keep them from sinning.

9:18And we've been doing it ever since those days. Christians are commanded not to worship idols, but in Paul's day, people said, you can't even eat food from the market if it was sacrificed to an idol. Christians are commanded not to get drunk, but during the Prohibition era in America, many people said, and you can't even touch alcohol. Did those extra rules keep us from sinning? No. As Paul says in Colossians, those extra rules have the appearance of wisdom, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

10:03Extra rules do not help us. Did Eve's extra rule help her about not even touching the tree? Did that help anything at all? No, it didn't. And so Satan is talking to Eve, tempting Eve, misquoting God, questioning God's motives and intentions toward Adam and Eve, and then boldly contradicting what God said, saying they would not die if they ate the fruit. Instead, they would become. Like God, knowing good and evil. And the whole time, Adam is sitting there right next to Eve like a bump on a log.

10:41He doesn't say anything, he doesn't do anything. Not one time does Adam step up and lead and say, I'm sorry, who are you? Why are you talking to my wife? Why are you questioning God? Why are you talking at all? You're a snake. He doesn't do any of that. He just sits there while Eve misquotes God's word, while she grabs the fruit, while she eats it. And then he follows her lead. Their eyes are opened and they realize they are naked and now they're ashamed. When God created them upright, they were naked and unashamed, but now, after they sin, they are naked and ashamed. They sew some leaves together, they run and try to hide from God. Now, here's what I want you to see. Look on the screen at Genesis 3:9.

11:32But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? Now, Hebrew and Greek are not like English, which is objectively one of the worst languages on the planet. In Hebrew and Greek, like most other languages, nouns have number and gender. So there's never any question like there is in English who someone is talking to. When they use the word you. In Hebrew, this word you is masculine singular. So God is not saying to Eve, Where are you? And He's not saying to them, Where are y'all?

12:16He is saying to Adam and to Adam alone, Sir, where are you? And that is because God holds Adam responsible for this entire mess. Adam was created first, Adam was given the command, Adam's job was to lead, and Adam did not do it. And that is the introduction to my sermon today. We all love great stories, and the Bible is about the great story that is comprised of three different stories that we see here in Romans chapter 5: Adam's story, Jesus' story, and our story. What we're going to see in the text today is: Adam's story is a story of life to death.

13:13Jesus' story is a story of death to life. And through faith, our story will become Jesus' story. And Jesus' story will become our story. Let's take a look at Romans 5, 12, where the passage begins today. Romans 5, 12, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Do you understand now why Paul says this and why he says it like that when we review all that happened in Genesis? Adam was the representative of the whole human race. God created Eve out of Adam, and God created all of us out of Adam and Eve's union. But when Adam sinned by failing to lead in the garden, by allowing Eve to disobey God's command and then disobeying it himself, sin came into the world through him. It is his fault. And death came in through sin because God said that if they broke his command, they would surely die. The moment they sinned, they died spiritually. Their fellowship with God was broken. They created a chasm between themselves and God because now they were not upright anymore. And friends, spiritual death always leads to physical death, which is what we see in the next chapters of Genesis. In the very next chapter, Genesis 4, spiritually dead Cain murders his brother Abel in cold blood.

14:58Just like that, the very next child. Next chapter of the scripture. Unbelievable. So God gives Adam and Eve another son, Seth. But then Adam and Eve die. And then Seth dies. And all of Seth's descendants die. Everybody dies. If you read Genesis 5, it's like a terrible drumbeat. And he died. And he died. And he died. It's said over and over and over again in the scripture. And the idea there is that sin leads to death. You see it in Genesis 4, you see it in Genesis 5. So I want you to look again at Romans 5:12.

15:42Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who is to come. Oh man, sin was definitely in the world before the Mosaic law was given, wasn't it?

16:15We talked about with Cain already, immediately after Adam and Eve fall, their kids, one of them kills the other. And then in that same chapter, Genesis 4, Lamech is boasting that he kills young men simply for wounding him. You slap Lamech, you die. After many generations, things are so bad. Look at what God says in Genesis chapter 6. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

17:00What terrible effects that Adam's sin has had on all of the human race. Just a few moments ago, Brianna read the passage, but if you just scan through the passage with me, starting in verse 12, I mean, look at these things. Verse 12, sin came into the world through one man and death through sin. Verse 14, yet death reigned from Adam to Moses. Verse 15, second sentence, for if many died through one man's trespass. Verse 16, second sentence, for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation. Verse 17, for if because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man. Verse 18, therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men. Verse 19, for as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners.

17:55What terrible effects that Adam's sin and disobedience had on all of mankind. His trespass led to judgment. The judgment led to condemnation, and the condemnation led to death for everybody. Death has been reigning over us since Adam's rebellion. Friends, Adam's story is a story of life to death. And it is everyone's story. It is your story and mine. It is our story together. God created Adam, breathed life into him, and put him in position to lead a flourishing life that would never end. He put him in a beautiful place with a beautiful woman and told him to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it.

18:43Adam's story began with life, but it ended in death, just like everyone's story since that time. We're born physically alive, but spiritually dead. And as people die around us, we have this constant reminder that one day, we are all going to die too. It may be sooner or later, but we are all going to die. So, friends, if you've ever wondered why we are the way that we are, why every person sins against God and others, why you commit the sins that you do, the answer is that we are all physical and spiritual descendants of Adam.

19:30And if you've ever wondered why people die, why bad people die, why good people die, why people that you love die, why you yourself one day will die, the answer is that we are all physical and spiritual descendants of Adam. Adam's story is a story of life to death, and it is everyone's story. And if that story were the only one there was to tell, it would be a hopeless and depressing story. But I want to draw your attention back to verse 14. I want you to look at what Paul says here in verse 14.

20:13He says, Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam. Look at this, who was a type of the one to come. Paul says that Adam was a type of the one to come. He was a picture of someone who is going to come later. And that one who is going to come later is Jesus Christ, the true and better Adam. That song that we love to sing so much, that song that we're going to sing this morning, Jesus is the true and better Adam. And friends, Jesus' story is not like Adam's story. Adam's story is a story of life to death. But Jesus' story is a death.

21:01Is a story of death to life. Praise God. I want you to think back for just a moment to what we saw and what we talked about in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve are alone out in the wild, surrounded by animals that God created and that Adam named. They're out there, and Satan comes to tempt them. Adam fails. He fails to remember God's command. He fails to correct Satan or Eve when they misquote God's word, and he fails to obey God's command. Instead, he does what God forbids. Adam fails, and God holds him responsible. But Paul says that Adam is a type, a picture of the one who is to come. And in fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies, many years later, a man named Jesus is born in a little town, Bethlehem, to a virgin named Mary, who is of the tribe and lineage of David. And this man, Jesus, goes out to be baptized by John, and immediately after he's baptized, I want you to look at what Mark records in Mark chapter 1.

22:13The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. I want you to think about that setting right there. The Spirit leads Jesus out into the wilderness where he's all alone and surrounded by animals. He's there being tempted by Satan. And Matthew tells us in his account that when Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus replied by quoting the Word of God correctly and in context. Satan responds by twisting the word of God, taking it out of context, and Jesus responds again, quoting the Word of God in context and tells Satan to get lost.

23:04In other words, Jesus succeeded where Adam failed. He remembered all of God's commands. He didn't fail to remember them. Instead of failing to correct Satan, when Satan misquoted God, Jesus corrected him. Instead of failing by falling into temptation and disobeying God, Jesus perfectly obeyed God. In fact, Jesus perfectly obeyed God his entire life. He never sinned. In John chapter 8, Jesus asked those who didn't believe in him, which one of you convicts me of sin? And none of the religious leaders can say anything because he never sinned. Instead, they just insult him. They call him a Samaritan who has a demon because that's all they've got. Jesus never sinned. Look what Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 1. 4. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

24:13And friends, because Jesus was without sin, he is able to offer himself as a propitiation, as an atoning sacrifice for your sins and mine. Remember what Paul said back in Romans 3? Look on the screen. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

24:46God sent Jesus to live a sinless life of perfect obedience so that God could put him forward as an atoning sacrifice for our sins by his blood in our place on the cross. You see, because of Adam's sin, every one of us is born dead. We are born spiritually dead, but physically alive. And because we are spiritually dead, we are all going to die one day physically as well. But not Jesus. He was born of the Virgin Mary, who was with child through the Holy Spirit. And so when he was born, he was born fully God and fully man, both physically and spiritually. Spiritually alive, unlike us. As the Apostle Peter said, he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. He was perfectly sinless, and he did not deserve to die. But, friends, Jesus' story is a story of death to life. It is a story of death to life because God planned for Jesus to live sinlessly and die in our place so that he could rise again. Look on the screen at Romans 4, the way that chapter ends.

26:01Paul says that Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Delivered for our trespasses, delivered up on the cross, buried and raised to life so that we would be counted righteous. That is what Paul is explaining here in Romans 5. Look at your Bible. Romans 5:15. Paul says in verse 15, but the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation. But the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

27:00See, in these verses, Paul is writing that the free gift of God is not like Adam's trespass. It's not like the result of Adam's trespass either. His trespass was sin, but that one trespass resulted in death for us all. See, the good news is that Jesus never trespassed. That word means to step over a boundary, to cross a known boundary. Adam did that. God said, you can eat from any tree you want to except this one. Think about all of the Mosaic law, 613 commands, and Jesus never transgressed any one of them. He obeyed perfectly and completely. He was delivered up for our trespasses, and he was raised for our justification. What a beautiful truth.

27:52Look again now at verse 18 and 19. Here's the conclusion. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Paul says, one act of righteousness led to justification and life for all men. One man's obedience would make many righteous. The question is how? How could that be possible? How could one man's act of righteousness lead to justification for all of us? How could one man's obedience make us righteous?

28:47Let's go back to verse 15. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

29:39You may have noticed that in those three verses, five times Paul uses the phrase free gift. Free gift, free gift, free gift, free gift, free gift. Do you think he's trying to tell us something? Do you think that he's trying to tell his Jewish readers that You don't earn God's favor by trying to keep the Mosaic law. Do you think he's trying to tell his Gentile audience you don't earn God's favor through some kind of pagan sacrificial system?

30:14Do you think that he's trying to tell us, friends, that there is no amount of religious works, no amount of church attendance, no amount of Bible reading, no amount of donating your time and your money in the community, nothing that you must do to receive the grace of God? Grace, by definition, is undeserved favor. It is a free gift. You cannot and do not do anything to earn it. But here is the catch: you do have to receive it. You have to receive that free gift. If you want Jesus' story of death to life to become your story, you've got to receive God's grace. Look again at verse 17: For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

31:18Paul says the free gift has to be received. It has to be received. It is not just applied to everyone, no matter what, no matter if you never. Receive it, no matter if you actually actively reject Jesus Christ, the free gift is not applied to everyone. If you do not receive the grace of God in Christ, or if you actively reject the grace of God in Christ, you will not reign in life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

31:50The only ones who will reign in life through Christ Jesus our Lord are the ones who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness. God's grace is a free gift, but it is a gift that must be received through faith. Have you done that? Have you done that? I'm not asking, have you been in church your whole life? I know a lot of you have. I'm not asking, did you get baptized as a kid in college, as an adult? I'm not asking, do you own a Bible? Do you read it regularly? I'm not asking, are you a member of this church or another church?

32:31I'm asking, have you received the abundance of grace that is in Christ Jesus alone through faith? Friends, every one of us must do that. And the way you do that is very simple. You confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. When you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you are saying, I am not God. I am not the Lord. Lord of my life. Money is not the Lord of my life. Pornography is not the Lord of my life. Marriage and relationships are not the Lord of my life. Houses and cars and jobs are not the Lord of my life. Jesus, you are the Lord of my life. You are master. You are God. You are king, and I will serve you. That is what we are doing. We say, I confess that you are Lord.

33:24And you have to believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. Because, friends, that's the whole thing. Isn't that what the story is all about? Adam's story is a story of life, born alive physically and spiritually, ending in death through sin. But Jesus' story is one from death to life. He is born physically and spiritually alive, but he dies so that we can live. But the only way we can live is through faith. You have to receive the grace of God through faith.

33:59And so, I don't know who out there needs to do that this morning. You might be 40 or 60. You might be eight or five or 15. This may be your first Sunday in church, or you may have been in church your whole life. But if you have not confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will not receive the grace of God that is in Christ Jesus. You will not reign in life with him. But that is what God wants for you. That is what I want for you. Want for you. That is what every member of this church wants for you, is for you to receive that grace so you can reign in life, so that death will no longer have its hold and sway over you, so that you can look forward to eternity that begins today with God, with Christ, by his grace. Now, you might say, Pastor Alan, I've committed too many sins. There's no way that God's grace is sufficient for me. I've broken his law too many times. I broke it even last night.

35:02I want you to look again at verses 20 and 21. These words are for you. Now, the law came in to increase the trespass. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. My friend, do you know yourself to be a sinner? Well, God said through Paul in Romans chapter 5 that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Do you know yourself to be a great sinner? Paul says right here in this text, where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

35:53So, friends, if you want Jesus' story to become your story, for your story to be one of death to life, Then put your faith in Christ today. Receive the abundance of grace that He promises to you in His Word. Confess with your mouth that He is Lord. Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved. Do that today. Let's pray. God, we pray that this morning you would be working a miracle in this room.

36:49And that miracle is not that we got a little bit smarter, that we got some new information today, that we walk out of this place resolved to try harder to do better. The miracle that we are praying for, and hoping for, and believing for is that some who are dead are being brought to life right now through your word and your spirit. That some who are dead would confess with their mouth that you are Lord, Jesus, and that you rose from the grave.

37:23We pray that there are many in this room today who would mark today November 24th. 2024 as the day they put their faith in Christ Jesus. God, I pray for every one of us who has been a believer for some time that this morning this passage ministered to us, reminding us that where sin increases, grace abounds all the more. That we would never despair when we see our sin, but that we would look to our great Savior, who never sinned and yet died for us to bring us to God. What a great gospel. What great news.

38:08Fill our hearts with faith this morning, Lord. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.