Adam broke that specific, clear-cut command; he ate of the fruit. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation, Related Topics: Soteriology (Salvation), Spiritual Life, Grace, Predestination, Steve served as the pastor of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship from May, 1992 through his retirement in December, 2018. The third level is rejoicing "in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." We can't deny these. Jesus is Lord. It depends totally on God’s mercy, not at all on us. But God’s truth remains true through any crisis. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But it is equally true to say of that child, "Here is someone who is starting to die," because death is at work in that child from the moment of birth. A thoughtful examination of Jesus' demands reveals a compelling yet personal portrait of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures. And, even more than that, Jesus presents us holy and blameless in God’s sight. (Romans 5:13-14 NIV). (Romans 5:15b NIV). All your life, as many times as you sin, you cannot out-sin the grace of God. As Paul points out, God did this while they were still in the womb, before they had done anything good or bad, so that His purpose according to election might stand (Rom. People died from the time of Adam to Moses, even people who never had a command to break. Because of this great salvation, we who believe should “greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet. But now the law has come in, and thus you break a command if you fail to stop. 3:34; 1 Pet. Let's start with Verse 12, where we begin, in Adam: Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned -- (Romans 5:12 NIV), My version has a dash here, which means it is an incomplete sentence. I will say it again: Rejoice!" He requests that we acknowledge His greatness, His power, and His glory. A lot of it, right? That is the contrast. We can have all that we want, anytime we need it. Language: English . What is life? The gift, Paul says, is not like the trespass. But as Paul explains, God will destroy the wisdom of the wise through the power of the message of the cross: “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor. People invariably get lost in the argument and lose the main point the apostle wants to make, which is: The greatness and the glory of the Lord Jesus -- the reason why we can rejoice in God through him. And as we suffer, knowing we are undergirded, protected, and covered over by the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, we learn to rejoice in our sufferings. I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. He starts with two undeniable, indisputable facts: the universality of sin and the universality of death. He chose Abraham, but He did not choose Abraham’s father, brothers, or neighbors. What we lost in Adam, we regain in Jesus, plus so much more. I am going to read that verse again to you, because I don't agree with this translation. You are what God has most desired in the earth. Paperback. How did sin and death get control of our race? So in these two forces that have been introduced into humanity, we have a pair of royal tyrants who rule over men. As in the example of my grandson, the Law makes you want to do wrong even more. In other words, salvation does not depend on human will or human effort. You can call it karma, destiny, fate, evolutionary darkness, or whatever -- but it is clearly evident that something is wrong. I have found that, if you get involved in the details of the passage, and it would be easy to do so, it would be possible to preach a month of Sundays on this one section alone. But, as the writer to the Hebrews states, “apart from us they should not be made perfect” (Heb. In Verses 20-21, the apostle briefly deals with the place of the Law in this matter. Life in the midst of death! We recognize this fact when we speak of the brotherhood of man, and when we say, "No man is an island." Martin Luther comments, “Here the bottom falls out of all merit, all powers and abilities of reason, or the free will men dream of, and it all counts as nothing before God; Christ must do and must give everything” (cited by Lenski, p. 593). Now the law has come in. Paul said that he endured all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. But, in either case, what comes to us, comes from one man, either Adam or Jesus. Rejoicing in the Lord means that these truths about Jesus — who he is, what he has done, and what he will do — personally and profoundly affect us. Therefore, we are to rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there’s a reason for rejoicing! This means that all children, not just certain children, are born delinquent. But we do know that the day is coming when that deceiver will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. The Search OF the Savior: Why Jesus Came, Part 1 (Luke 19:1-10), Bible Storying Series - Teaching The Story Of God Chronologically. 2. Why envy a man who in a short time will be cast into the lake of fire? That means right now, today, in this moment, in this situation, with the body I have, the job I have, the home I have, the circumstances I find myself in. We broke the command in Adam. Christ is the way to God. They are not necessarily chronological levels, but they are levels of understanding truth and responding to it that reflect a continually growing and deepening maturity. In Verses 11-21, we learn to rejoice in our great and glorious God. We only die once, don't we? The four Gospels are filled with demands from Jesus. Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But He chose to show mercy to some, which is His prerogative. It is he who reveals the Father. The two of them met together and began to pray for others in that prison. Therefore, when you see the greatness of Christ, you have seen the greatness of God. We cannot free ourselves from this bondage to Satan. We can take the gift of worth over and over again. Earlier in Paul’s ministry, when the Jews stubbornly rejected the gospel and opposed Paul, he turned to the Gentiles. Did he just win a million dollars in the lottery? All that he is is available to us. Those who know the greatness of God’s holiness, His glory, and His saving grace in Christ, will constantly judge their pride and rely on Him for everything that is needed to live in holiness. Sin and death will never loose their filthy hold on us except at the command of Jesus Christ. Other times when Jesus speaks, His words bring correction. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, Adam, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! We sin because we are sons and daughters of Adam, and we die because we are sons and daughters of Adam. If it seems you’ve lost your joy, simply remember what God has done for you through Jesus Christ. Now let's look at Verse 17: For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ? Maybe like Paul you have experienced a depth of pain unfathomable to most. Some are robbed of joy when they think of God’s sovereign grace because they take the doctrine to conclusions that may seem logical, but they are not biblical. (Romans 5:17 NIV). 16:23) and “O you of little faith” (Matt. Chapter 13 (115) The children of God are called to be representatives of Christ, showing forth the goodness and mercy of the Lord. When you understand that, you will sing, along with Christina Rossetti, these words: None other Lamb, None other Name,    None other Hope in heaven or earth or sea, None other Hiding Place from guilt and shame,    None beside Thee. The trespass is Adam's disobedient act in the Garden of Eden. Don’t envy him for a second. Then one day a stop sign is erected. We look at a newborn child and say, "Here is someone who is starting to live." God’s sovereign grace means that salvation is totally from God and not at all from man. Still later on, he says, "Sin reigns." But Christ brought a repeated and ever-growing experience of life to all that are in him. God has had our best interests at heart from eternity. When Jesus says that God has hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to babes, He does not mean that no wise or intelligent people will be saved, whereas those who lack intelligence will. Adam broke the command and, as a result, death and sin passed upon all his descendants. Everywhere we look there is evidence upon evidence that what he says is true, that we are victims of the twin evils of sin and death. Our joy is eternal and will only grow greater when we pass into the presence of our Savior! For permission to use this content, please review Sermon Theme – The angelic announcement of the miraculous birth of Christ demands a response of faith and praise, for God looked upon our humble estate and sent His Son, Jesus, to … He's only two years old, but he knows how to resist instruction and command; he wants to do what he ought not to do. Some people never seem to have anything but death in their lives. People who talk that way think of themselves as individuals quite separate from other people when, as a matter of fact, we are tied in together, all a part of one great bundle of life. Paul is saying that death is the result of breaking a command -- and you need a law in order to be able to break a command. We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God," (Romans 5:1b-2 NIV). If he could only see as God sees, that successful man would gladly and quickly trade places with the person whose name is written in the book of life, even if that saint were suffering from terminal cancer! The clearest statement on original sin. Savior, and the life whole race into disaster declares righteous! Shape after a visit from him will for you at His table intelligent, well-educated man pair of tyrants. Dominion over this fallen earth for as long as he treated the fallen angels to the abyss without any of. Have a ground for rejoicing follow draw both a comparison and a contrast between Adam and Jesus the same true! Same is true of rebellious, fallen man presence like never before and for eternity chapter shows that belief... 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