The Consequences of Adam’s Sin

Transcript

GR 1425
03/28/10
Consequences of Adam's Sin
Romans 5:12
Gil Rugh


We're going back to Romans 5. I must admit I debated whether we should take a break from Romans 5, but it is a fitting passage where we are. We come to talk about the death of Jesus Christ, the climax of the events of His death with His resurrection. That's what Romans is all about, the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem for the purpose of giving His life as a ransom - paying the penalty for our sins. Paul is unfolding the truth of the death of Christ in Romans, beginning with chapter 3 v. 21 and running through chapter 5. He began the book of Romans talking about the reality of our sin and guilt before God. And that has resulted in our condemnation, will culminate in the wrath of God which is being poured out on sinful people even today, culminating in their sentencing at the Great White Throne to an eternity in hell. But, He has provided His righteousness for those very sinful people and that's what we're talking about in Romans 3:21 through Romans 5.

Romans 3:22, we're talking about the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. God has provided His righteousness - the opportunity to be justified, absolved of guilt before Him through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. And it's for everyone who will believe. Verse 24 told us we are “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus.” He paid the price God's holiness requires for us to be set free from the penalty and power of sin. His death is how we can be justified before God. It requires our faith in what God has done. And that's what Romans 4 was about. Salvation is by faith alone, not by faith plus our works, but by faith alone in what God has promised now in His Son, Jesus Christ.

We come into chapter 5, it started out, “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We who are the enemies of God have now been brought into a relationship of peace with God through the work that Jesus Christ has done. Verse 2, “through whom”- through Jesus Christ - “we also have obtained our introduction into this grace in which we now stand.” We are saved by grace - we now stand in grace. Having been justified through faith by grace, we continue as the beneficiaries of God's grace that will culminate, verse 2, in what we have confident rejoicing in. We exult in the hope of the glory of God. God's glory bestowed upon us. He has provided His righteousness for us, He has provided His glory. Not His deity, but that we should share in the glory of His presence and ourselves be glorified to spend all eternity with Him. That is our hope. That is our anticipation. That is the reality of our future.

The amazing thing as he brings out beginning with verse 6, “For while we were still helpless”- without any power or ability to do anything to save ourselves – “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” He died for the ungodly, us, sinners with no hope for helping ourselves. He intervened at the right time and died for the ungodly.

Then that analogy drawn. It's rare for someone to give his life for someone else, but on occasion someone might give his life for a good person. Verse 8, “but God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We have this repeated emphasis here. The remarkable thing isn't just that Christ died, but He died for us, ungodly sinners. “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” We focus on the death of Christ, we are focusing on the greatest demonstration of God's love that has been or ever will be given. Christ died for us while we were sinners. He didn't say, clean up your life, join a church, get baptized, get your life together and then I'll help you out. You can't do anything, you are helpless. We go back to verse 6, you are ungodly, you are a sinner. But in that condition Christ stepped in and died for us.

“Much more then,” verse 9, “having now been justified by His blood” - by His death – “we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” And we've talked about this, that is the future of all those who do not come to believe in the provision that God has provided, the wrath of God. It will culminate in an eternal hell. But we are spared from wrath and we are assured that if God would provide His Son to die for us in our wretched ungodly sinful condition, we can know for sure that now that His Son has been raised from the dead and we belong to God through faith in Christ, He will also fulfill the hope of glory that He has promised for us.

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (v. 10) Helpless, ungodly sinners who were God's enemies, saved by the gracious intervention of God on our behalf in having His Son die to pay the penalty for our sins.

What happens with verses 12 through the end of the chapter really builds on what he has just been talking about in the opening verses of chapter 5. But it really pulls together everything he has said from the opening chapter of Romans about our sin and condemnation and then how God provides justification in His Son. How does this all work? He's going to draw a comparison between two men, what they did and the result of their actions.

We're going to talk about Adam, the Adam who was created by God in the Garden of Eden, the Adam who sinned in rebellion against God's clear command and incurred the penalty of his sin—death. We're going to talk about Jesus Christ who is the second Adam. Just as the first Adam was the head of the human race, Jesus Christ comes now as the head of the race. And just like Adam with his one act of sin brought consequences to us, Jesus Christ by His one act of righteousness brings consequences to us. That will be the comparison drawn.

Look at the end of Romans 5:14. He mentions the offense of Adam who is a type of Him who was to come. So we're told that Adam, the Adam who lived in the Garden of Eden, was a type in what he did of the One who was to come, Jesus Christ. A type comes from a stamp that would leave an impression. The impression left in the wax would be what was reflected on the stamp. So the type is a picture or representation in some area or areas of the other one. Adam is a type of Christ in certain areas, the areas that Paul is going to unfold here. We're going to have a constant emphasis here on one, one, one. In verses 12-19 the word one will be used twelve times, in eight verses the word one is used twelve times. That will be drawn in contrast with all or the many. So the one act impacted all or the many. You see all or the many.

Look at verse 12, “...just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men.” So you see the one and all, the one acts and all are impacted. Death spread to all, all sinned. Down in verse 15, “…For if by the transgression of the one the many died,” see, the action of one impacts the many, the many died as the result of the action of one. “Much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man abound to the many,” the impact of the action of the one man on the many. Look at verse 18, “So then through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men”, the one act of sin impacted all. “Even so through one act of righteousness results in justification to all men,” one action, broad result, impacts all. Down in verse 19, and “…through the one man's disobedience the many.” We'll talk about that expression, the many really means all. Just like the comparison you can see runs through here, the all and the many are the same group. Through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. You see that's the comparison running through here. Adam is a type of Christ in that his action as one man has affected all. So Jesus Christ, His one action has affected all. That's the comparison.

Paul has used this analogy in an earlier letter he wrote. Turn to I Corinthians 15:21, we are talking about the great chapter on the resurrection, talking about the resurrection of Christ as a guarantee of the resurrection of all who believe in Him. He says in verse 20, “Christ has been raised the first fruits of those who are asleep.” So He is the evidence and guarantee of a coming resurrection. Note verse 21, “for since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.” For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” So you see that same comparison with Adam and Christ and the impact of their one action on all. Look down in verse 45, “so also it is written; the first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life giving Spirit.” That's why we talk about the first Adam and the second Adam, or the first Adam and the last Adam. Comes from this analogy and comparison where verse 45 refers to the Adam in the Garden of Eden as the first Adam and Jesus Christ as the last Adam. Verse 47, “the first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is of heaven.” So this comparison and picture is being drawn out.

Come back to Romans 5. Further impact of the result of these two men—the reign. The reign of sin and death is contrasted with the reign of righteousness and life. Look at verse 14; “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses.” Death reigned, it's the sovereign, it is power over all. Death reigned. Down in verse 17, “...if by the transgression of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life.” So you have sin and death reigning, you have righteousness and life reigning. Those who are in Christ reigning in the righteousness God has provided in the life that He gives. Down in verse 21, “that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” They have this contrast between the reign of sin and death and the reign of righteousness and life. Connected to the action of two men—Adam and Christ, the first Adam and the last Adam. So that's the picture being drawn.

We pick up in Romans 5:12, and this is a serious theological section but is one we need to understand to appreciate the impact of the death of Jesus Christ and what He provided. We need to understand, how did we get into this mess? How did everyone end up being a sinner? End up dying? The world is a graveyard. Do you know anyone who is 200 years old? Do you know anyone who is 150? Do you know anyone who is 125? And very few get into their 100s, period, even the low 100s. Why? Why is the world such an ugly place? Why are people killing each other? Robbing each other? Being immoral? Here is the explanation. Verse 12, therefore. Drawing things together and explaining what he has talked about. He has talked about the ungodly in verse 6, the sinners in verse 8, and the enemies of God in verse 10, those that are helpless. How did we get into this situation?

“Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all have sinned.” Therefore just as through one man, and it goes on. But you'll note the sentence is never completed. Most of your Bibles probably have a hyphen at the end of verse 12, breaks off. Therefore just as through one man sin entered the world and death spread to all men......... but it breaks it off and you really don't pick up the completion of that idea until verse 18. “So then through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification to all men.” Verses 18-19 go with verse 12 and those three verses give you the substance of what he is talking about in this section. Verses 13-17 are we might say a parenthetical explanation and development, an expansion. So even though we're going to look at verse 12, keep in mind, and we'll take it the way he presents it. We'll follow him picking up with verse 12 and the breaking off the thought. We know we'll complete it when we get down to verse 18, but he'll draw out that comparison.

Just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin. Sin was not part of the original creation. Death was not part of the original creation. Man was not created to die. When God created Adam and Eve He didn't create them to die, He didn't create them to sin. And you know what? If Adam and Eve had not sinned, they would be alive and here today. As a result of sin death came into the world. So the connection here, through one man sin entered into the world. How in the world did sin get into the world? One man sinned. I don't think so. Well have you ever been to a cemetery? Have you ever been to a funeral? You know what the explanation of death is? Sin. Why do people die? Sin. The wages of sin is death. So as God created man, He didn't create him a sinner. He didn't create him to die, He created him to live.

Now this is how sin entered the world. Sin was present in the angelic realm but it was not present in the world in which we live. Turn over to I John 3, a little digression. Sin did not originate with Adam, it originated with Satan. Sin infiltrated into the world by the action of Adam, but sin had come in to existence by the action of Satan prior to the action of Adam. I John 3:8, “the one who practices is of the devil for the devil has sinned from the beginning.” And we find the beginning of sin in Satan.

Come back to Isaiah 14. Those of you who are part of our study in Revelation, we have spent some time in Isaiah 14 because of its connection with Babylon in Revelation 17-18. In Isaiah 14 and the prophet unfolds judgment on Babylon. The Spirit of God directs him to speak of the spirit being who is the power behind the throne, so to speak, in Babylon. That is Satan. And he says in verse 12, “how have you fallen from heaven oh star of the morning, sun of the dawn.” Verse 13, “you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High. Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol to the recesses of the pit.” That's the sin of Satan. God created him as a glorious angel. He was corrupted by his beauty.

Turn over to Ezekiel 28. We saw those “I wills” in Isaiah—I will, I will, I will—as Satan determined to exalt himself. Again in Ezekiel 28, here you have the king of Tyre but behind that king is the power of Satan, so he is addressed here. Look at the end of verse 12; “you have the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” Full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. “You were in Eden, the garden of God.” Further description of him. Verse 14 then, “you were the anointed cherub who covers.” Remember in the tabernacle reflecting heaven over the mercy seat where the presence of God is manifested you had the wings of the cherubim. In heaven Lucifer, one who was full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, had that exalted position, to cover over the throne of God. “I placed you there, you were on the holy mountain of God, you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.” God did not create the anointed cherub who covered the throne of God as a fallen, sinful, corrupted being. “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.” The end of verse 16, “I have destroyed you, O covering cherub. From the midst of the stones of fire your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.” He looked at his glory; his wisdom and he determined he would usurp the place of God. So sin came into existence.

That's in the angelic realm. How did it get into the human realm? How did it invade this world? Come back to Genesis 2. This is why Jesus Christ had to come to earth. This is what the message of the death and resurrection of Christ is all about. Why? Sin. This is the great demonstration of God's love, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. The death of Christ makes no sense if you don't know something about sin, the seriousness of sin, the reality of sin. And that you are helpless to do anything to rescue yourself. The Son of God had to do that.

In Genesis 2 God creates man. Verse 7, “then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Man became a living being.” Man is a pile of dust, but God breathed into him the breath of life and he becomes a living being in a body of dust. God placed him in the Garden of Eden and in the Garden of Eden God had planted all kinds of beautiful plants and trees. Verse 9 tells us among those trees was the tree of life and also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam in verse 16, “from any tree of the garden you may freely eat.” What a gracious God. This beautiful splendid garden not corrupted in any way by sin, all the trees with all their lushness. Eat them freely, even of the tree of life. But there is one tree you cannot eat of—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “In the day in which you eat of it, verse 17, from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat from it you will surely die.” Then He makes the woman out of the side part of the man.

Chapter 3 opens up with Satan using the serpent, addressing the woman. And he said to the woman, verse 1, “has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?” Do you know what Satan picks up? Are there any restrictions on you? Only one. All these beautiful trees with their lushness and the fruit, we can eat it all. But yes there is one we can't eat from, don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Verse 4, “the serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die if you eat of that tree.” She had told him that God said if you eat of it you'll die. Satan said, you won't die. “God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.” What was Satan’s original problem, original sin? I will be like the Most High. So what does he tempt the woman here with? You can be like God. The reason God doesn't want you to eat of that tree is he doesn't want you to be like Him. You will be like God knowing good and evil. Satan is giving a mixture of truth and lie here. The problem is when you mix a lie with the truth all you have is a lie, right? But you understand what Satan says here has truth in it. In the day you eat of that tree you'll be like God knowing good and evil.

Look down in verse 22, what God says after they eat of the tree, Adam and Eve. The Lord God said, “behold the man has become like one of us.” You have the triune God here, knowing good and evil. Satan was right; you'll be like God, you'll know good and evil. God says, you know what happens as a result of them eating it? They know good and evil. Before this Adam and Eve knew nothing about evil. What a beautiful way to live. They lived in a world not infected by evil, in a garden not tainted by corruption. And they knew no evil in their life and experience. Now they know it. They are like God in that sense. God knows how awful sin is. Now they know. So Satan lured them, you can be like God, you'll know good and evil. But the problem is when you sin there is a penalty. You will die.

Down in verse 19 God tells Adam, he has joined the woman and eaten of the tree, and it is through his sin that sin enters the race and death comes. And He tells the man; “by the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground because from it you were taken. For you are dust, to dust you shall return.” You are going to die. Your body is going to be put in the ground, it's going to decay, and you’re going back to what you started as—dust. The penalty for sin, the day you eat of it you will die.

Turn over to chapter 5. We have the lineage of Adam. Note here. Chapter 5 opens up; “this is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man He made him in the likeness of God, made them male and female, blessed them and named them man. And when Adam had lived 130 years he became the father of a son in his own likeness, named him Seth.” And then how long Adam lived, verse 5, “all the days Adam lived were 930 years.” Do you have underlined and he died? Then his son, Seth, all the days of Seth, verse 8, were 912 years. Do you have underlined and he died? Verse 11 ends and he died; verse 14, and he died; verse 17, and he died; verse 20, and he died; verse 27, and he died; verse 31, and he died. Is God serious when He says if you eat of that tree you're going to die? But you'll note the impact is not just on Adam or just Adam and Eve, but also on their descendants. There is an exception here with Enoch but God has to intervene in a special way. Otherwise the penalty of sin overtakes everyone. So it's not just when Adam sinned, Adam died. When Adam sinned, Adam died. But you know what? All the descendants of Adam die also. That becomes important in what Paul is going to develop.

Continue another sidetrack here. When we talk about death we want to understand the fullness. Obviously, physical death is in view here. We just looked through chapter 5, and he died, and he died, and he died. Their life came to an end; the end of it was physical death, as we know it. They didn't continue to live. They lived a long time in those days. Reminder, God didn't create man to die. No problem living to 900+ years. It's going to get shortened. Threescore years and ten, maybe fourscore years and a few squeeze more in. But it's hard going when you get up there, the psalmist tells us. But this is not all there is.

But turn over to James 2. Further word about physical death, understand what it is. We're not going to get into the comparison here, we just want the statement. Verse 26, “just as the body without the spirit is dead.” That's physical death. Physical death is not the end of existence; physical death is the end of life in the physical realm. What happens when a person dies physically, they as a person, their spirit, the spirit that God breathed into them, they move out of that physical body. When they move out of that physical body, death occurs, whether it's from cancer, heart attack, old age, whatever. The real thing that has happened is the spirit has moved out of the body. That's why Paul in II Corinthians 5 uses the analogy of our physical bodies as a tent. He says what happens at physical death is the tent is folded up and laid aside. But you'll note what he also says, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” For a believer we move out of the body, we go into the presence of the Lord. This physical body has been laid aside, folded up for a time, put in the grave. The body without the spirit is dead. The key idea in death in the Bible is separation. Physical death is separation of a person from their body.

Back up to Luke 16. Here Jesus tells the account of a rich man and Lazarus, a poor man. We're not going to go into all the details of this account, just want you to note what happens at death. Look at verse 22, “now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom.” Wait a minute, I thought he died. He did. What happened? He left his body. The body would have been buried but he was carried into the presence of Abraham, righteous Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. Well I guess that's the end of him. No, his body is buried, verse 23, “in Hades he lifted up his eyes being in torment.” You see at death the person leaves his body. For those who belong to God, who have experienced His salvation, they are immediately transported into the presence of God in glory. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord for the believer. For those who have not experienced the power of God's salvation in their lives, they don't cease to exist either. At death they leave their body also, but they immediately go to a place of torment. This rich man said at the end of verse 24, I am in agony in this flame. That's physical death, separation of the person from his body.

Now that's not the only kind of death there is in the Bible. Turn to Ephesians 2. Physical death we are all familiar with. We have attended funerals and recently we have had funerals here as members of our local body of believers have died. Their bodies ... But they are just as alive as they have ever been. Alert and conscious as believers in the presence of the Lord in glory. But physical death is not the only kind of death. Look at Ephesians 2:1, “and you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked.” Walking dead people. They walked and lived in sin. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. What do you mean? They are walking around, they are living. Verse 3, “we formerly lived in the lust of our flesh” while we were dead. We were spiritually dead. What does that mean? We were separated from God. What happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden? They eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That evening God came to walk with them, as was His practice in the cool of the evening in the Garden. Where are Adam and Eve? Covered up with leaves and trying to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord. They know about sin, they have that sense of guilt. They have been separated from God, alienated from Him, uncomfortable in His presence. Spiritual death separates you from God.

Remember God said to Adam, don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat of it you will surely die. You know what? Adam didn't die physically for a long time. He went on to have children and so on. I thought God said in the day you eat of it you will die. The process of physical death began but Adam is going to live to be over 900 years old. But you know what? Adam died that very day spiritually. He was separated from God, he was spiritually dead. Remarkable. That's what we are, everybody ......... What's wrong with you? Well they are spiritually dead, they are separated from God, and they live in sin. They live under the control of sin, they pursue sin. Where everybody lives until God rescues them from sin. They are spiritually dead.

So you have physical death, you have spiritual death. Both separations. Physical death, separation of a person from his body; spiritual death, separation of a person from God. And the third kind of death is the second death or what we would call eternal death. Turn to Revelation 20. At the final judgment all unbelievers who have been in Hades in torment now are called before the Great White Throne of Jesus Christ and we're told, verse 14, “death and Hades.” Remember Hades? The rich man in Luke 16 in Hades, he lifted up his eyes being in torment. Everybody who has been in Hades now is called before God for final sentencing. “They are thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he is thrown into the lake of fire. That's the second death.” So you have physical death, separation of the person from their body; spiritual death, separation of a person from God; and the second death or eternal death, separation from God for eternity in the fires of hell.

So when God said to Adam, the day you eat of it you will die, Satan came and said, you know what? When you eat of that tree you won't die. There is partial truth there. They didn't die that day physically; they didn't experience the second death that day. They did experience spiritual death. Their physical death began and apart from the intervention of God they would be sentenced to an eternity in hell.

Come back to Romans 5. I want you to note something else here before we move on. There is no question about the factuality of the opening chapters of Genesis. They come under great attack. They are not scientific, they are true and they don't contradict true science. The real problem that scientists and others have with the opening chapters of Genesis is they are ungodly, they are sinners, and they are the enemies of God. They don't accept what God says. If the opening chapters of Genesis are not true, you know Paul's whole analogy here collapses. And if he is building this analogy with Christ on the basis of a myth, then how did sin get into the world? How did death get here? We're always safe to take God's word, even if everything is not clear yet. But I want to be clear, I see no conflict with genuine science and I'm not a scientist. But the opening chapters of Genesis are true. That's how it happened, that's how sin got into the world. One man sinned. That's how death got into the world. That's the penalty for sin.

All right come back to Romans 5:12, “just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Now wait a minute. Adam sinned and the penalty for him is death. Well, we already looked in Genesis 5 and all his descendants were dying too. You see when Adam sinned there was impact and consequences for the human race. Everybody in the world dies, right down to our day. How do we explain this? There are several possibilities, let me just mention them. All are true. Three possibilities, all are true, I'm just going to summarize them quickly here. All three are true but only one of them is what Romans 5 is talking about. So don't get confused. There are three things that are true about sin and the impact on us but Paul is only talking about one of them here. Let me tell you the first two, the third one will be the right one, in case you get lost along the way. When I say number three you can say, OK, now I'll pay attention, this is the right one.

The first thing you could say when you say all have sinned, you could say we all commit acts of sin like Adam committed acts of sin. Therefore we all die like Adam died. And that's true and we saw it in the opening chapters of Romans. We all do sin and we willfully sin, we choose to sin. And so we pay the penalty for sin. But that's not what Paul is talking about in Romans 5. The reason, look at verse 13. “For until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses,” we'll talk more about this when we get into that in a later study, “who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who was a type of Him to come.” His point is death reigned over those who didn't sin like Adam sinned. Under the Law of Moses there were 613 commandments that told you what to do and what not to do. Adam had a command, what not to do—don't eat of that tree. But you know what? Even between Adam and the giving of the Law of Moses people still died. You had the flood of Noah come on the world beginning in Genesis 6 and following. They didn't sin like Adam sinned; they didn't have a specific command. Our sin is not being compared there, we did the same kind of sin as Adam and so we pay the same penalty, because his whole point is death reigns over those who don't sin just like Adam. Look in verse 15; the free gift is not like the transgression, for if by the transgression of the one the many died. He's not talking about our sin down here 2000 years later; he's talking about what happened when Adam sinned. By the transgression of the one the many died. He's not saying at the end of verse 12, death spread to all men because all sinned, every individual man sins so he dies, because his point in verse 15 is by the transgression of the one the many died. We die because Adam sinned. That's the point here. Look in verse 16, “…for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation.” So you see the one transgression of Adam brought judgment and condemnation on all. It's the action of the one, its impact on them all. Look at verse 17, “For if by the transgression of the one death reigned through the one.” You see that constant emphasis, it's what Adam did, the impact upon all. Death reigned supreme and it reigns down to our day. Anyone escape death? It's the result of Adam's sin. His one transgression has caused death to reign. That's his point here. How did death get into the world? How did it infiltrate among us? Sin. Who sinned? Let's get him. He's dead, death got him. Adam did it.

Look at verse 19; “…through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners.” Down in verse 18, one man's transgression resulted in condemnation to all men. Then verse 19, which we already read. You see this is what one man did and the result is condemnation to everyone, death to everyone, sin to everyone. One man's action. So it's not all have sinned, you and I each commit acts of sin, because the emphasis on what one man did impacted us all. Even though we do all sin and are accountable for our own sin, that's not what Paul is talking about here.

Another view is all have sinned. We were all, as descendants of Adam, in Adam when he sinned. Hebrews 7:9-10 uses this example that Levi who lived almost 500 years after Abraham was in the loins of Abraham. So when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek in Genesis 14, Levi who was in the loins of Abraham and would be a descendant born to Abraham also was paying tithes. Called the seminal view, and we are all physical descendants of Adam. We've all inherited a sin nature from Adam so we all sin. That's true. That's not what he is talking about here.

I think the third view, and this is where we'll end, Adam was the representative head of the race. We ought to understand this; we've just had some debates in our country about our representatives, our President and others in government doing an action. You know what their action does? It impacts us all, right? What if you don't like it? Tough. We've seen that demonstrated. What if you're for it? What if you're against it? Their actions become our actions, right? Now we are responsible. They act on our behalf. Adam was what we call the federal head of the race. When he acted, his action is imputed to the whole race. The consequence of his action is imputed to the whole race. We can see that, people die in war. Go back to World War II to keep it out of near proximity. How many people died in Germany and Japan who might have voted against the war but their leader said we're going to war and the consequences enveloped them, right? So Adam is our father physically, we all go back to Adam. They think they found something great, we find a genetic connection to all this. Well keep digging, you'll find it goes back to one man, Adam. And when he acted, he was the head of the race by God's appointment. You say, I don't know, that makes me uncomfortable. That's the way it is. And be glad because you know what happens with the second Adam? He acts on our behalf and His action becomes imputed to us, His righteousness. The consequence of having his righteousness imputed to us, we have life. So you see that will be parallel through this.

Now it's also true that you have inherited a sin nature from Adam and you manifest sin from your birth. We'll look at that as we move further along in our next study. It's also true you sin and sin and sin; I sin and sin and sin. But what he is talking about here is the action of Adam as our representative. So we are triply guilty. We are guilty because Adam, our federal head acting as our representative, sinned and brought death. And so that sin and the consequence of that sin is imputed to the whole race. It's also true that we were in Adam and we inherit from Adam a sin nature. So as the psalmist said in Psalm 51:3, in sin my mother conceived me. I was a sinner from conception. It's also true that there is not a just man on the earth who always does good and never sins. We're triply guilty—by the action of Adam, by the corruption of sin that has been passed on to us, and by our own action we are guilty. The beautiful thing and the balance of this is God sent His Son to be the last Adam, to be One who by His one act of righteousness and dying on the cross will provide righteousness for ungodly sinners who are the enemies of God and cannot help themselves out of their predicament. And so through faith in Him, His righteousness is imputed to us and we are now possessors of life, spiritual life but it's the relationship with God, eternal life.

That's the difference between the two Adams. Have you believed in Christ? You are a descendant of Adam, you are here, you are a people, you are a human being, you are a descendant of Adam. You are guilty, guilty three times over, but Jesus Christ is the Savior to bring us the help in our helpless, hopeless condition. Through faith in Him, His death and resurrection, God's righteousness is provided for us and we become possessors of eternal life so that it might reign through righteousness through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the explanation of your word. How did the misery of sin come into the human race? Your creation was beautiful, holy, without sin, without corruption. Yet, by one act of rebellion our father Adam brought sin upon us, brought the penalty of sin upon us. We are guilty. Lord, we are corrupted by sin; we manifest our rebellion, our sinfulness, even in our own actions. But thank you for Jesus Christ, the last Adam, whose one act of righteousness has provided righteousness and life for all who believe in Him. We thank you as we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that He is the One in whom we find forgiveness, deliverance, and a relationship with you that will endure for eternity. We praise you in Christ's name, Amen.