Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Romans 5:12-15
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  July 5, 2020

When it comes to the place where Jesus was crucified, we often interchange the name “Golgatha” for Mt. Calvary. Maybe it’s just because it’s easier to say, but really both mean the same thing. Calvary means “skull” in Latin. Both Golgatha and Mt. Calvary  mean “the place of the skull. Perhaps the hill where Jesus was crucified was called Golgotha or Calvary because the face of the hill looks like the face of a skull. However, the Gospel writers may have referred to this hill outside of Jerusalem as the Place of the Skull because Jewish tradition claimed that Adam’s skull was buried there.

There is a late Jewish tradition that Shem, Noah’s son, buried Adam’s skull near Jerusalem. It  was then said to be guarded by Melchizadek, the priest-king of Salem at the time of Abraham. This tradition was repeated by the early church father, Origen, that the skull of Adam was buried in Jerusalem.

This tradition, it seems, has lived on. European and Russian art have often portrayed a skull at the foot of Jesus’ cross or a skull is buried just underneath the cross. While it’s just a tradition, by placing Adam’s skull at the foot of Jesus’ cross, artists are visually portraying what Paul describes here in Romans 5. “So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned...But the gracious gift is not like Adam’s trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of this one man, it is even more certain that God’s grace, and the gift given by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many!” 

Adam had been given everything in Eden. He could eat from the trees of the garden, which had fruit good for food. He was given a vocation to care for the garden and to rule over the animals. He was given a companion with whom he was perfectly delighted, a perfect complement with whom he would live and love. 

But it wasn’t enough. He desired to be like God, knowing good and evil. So he was swayed by the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit. And no sooner had the juices touched his lips then he realized what he had done. With a single action, Adam had reversed everything God had just created. 

Into that new world which was “very good” and brimming with life, Adam brought death. And once death entered, it took over. Paul says, “Death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses.” And we see how death reigned in Adam’s family. Each paragraph of Genesis 5 gives the account of the son, grandson, great grandson and so on of Adam. Almost all of those paragraphs end with the straightforward effect of what Adam had brought on his own family with the words: “Then he died.” “So also death spread to all people.” Paul says.

Adam brought the curse of sin into the world. That curse has caused birth defects, infections, viruses, disease, addictions, old age, and premature funerals. But not only that, that curse brought the reality of sin and the consequences of sin–eternal death–into each of our lives. We daily have to live under this curse. 

Paul uses two different words for sin here. We have sin itself and then we have trespass. While basically synonymous, trespass has a very specific image that comes with it. To trespass means to go where you don’t belong. You don’t accidentally trespass onto someone’s property. You knowingly and willingly trespass onto the property where you know you don’t belong.  Adam trespassed when he went to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He knew he didn’t belong there. He willfully ate the forbidden fruit. Adam’s trespass was no accident. He didn’t stumble into eating the fruit. He didn’t trip and the fruit just popped into his mouth. This was a deliberate rebellion against God. 

Adam trespassed. He willingly and knowingly went where he knew he shouldn’t go. He quietly listened to the conversation between Eve and Satan. Then he deliberately bit down into the forbidden fruit.

You and I trespass also. True, some of the sins we commit are accidental, but some are no accident. We purposefully go where we know God doesn’t want us to go. We don’t just stumble into a lack of worship or Bible study. We don’t just trip into taking God’s name in vain. We don’t simply lose our balance into stealing, lusting, hating, or gossiping. We knowingly and willfully, and often happily, run into those trespasses. 

We may not want to admit that this is true, but the truth is unavoidable. We are sinful and live under its consequences. We are born with original sin. We act upon this inborn sin with our active sins, accidental or purposeful. We pass this sin on to our children. Every time our children are disobedient, it’s a reminder that they are only doing what we’ve bred them to do. Every report of death reminds us of this reality. Every funeral we attend is a reminder of the consequence of breaking the law of God. Death spread to all people, you and me and our children included, because all sinned…yes, you and me and our children as well. 

But. What a beautiful important word in verse 15. But. This tells us that his horrible truth has a counter argument, something on the other side. But. “But the gracious gift is not like Adam’s trespass.” God’s grace to you is absolutely certain! It is embodied in the person of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who took on human flesh so that he might become the second Adam. As the perfect God-Man, this Jesus could reverse everything Adam had done.

What Adam has done, the second Adam–Jesus Christ–has reversed. Jesus has reversed everything. Look at verse 14. “And yet death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those whose sin was not like the transgression of Adam, who is a pattern of the one who was to come.” Paul tells us that Adam was a “pattern of the one who was to come.” Adam is a pattern or type of the Coming One. The Coming One is Jesus. Adam foreshadowed Jesus in this way. Both Adam and Jesus did something that affected the whole human race. However, Paul tells us, “the gracious gift is not like Adam’s trespass.” What Jesus did is greater and superior to what Adam did. Jesus reversed everything. Jesus’ perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection secured God’s grace upon cursed humanity.

Adam’s sin plunged all of humanity into sin. What Jesus accomplished on the cross reversed the effect of that sin. Adam’s blood has passed the terminal disease of original sin into all of his children. The blood of Jesus is the cure for this disease. The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin, even our original sin. Adam plunged the world into death. Jesus has conquered death by his death on the cross. Adam brought the curse of sin into the world, but God’s gift is greater than the trespass. God’s grace is more powerful than sin. God’s love is superior to our disobedience. God’s mercy displayed in Jesus is bigger than the sins of the whole world. 

Yes, we have Adam’s blood flowing through our veins, infecting us with sin. But, that’s not the only blood we have in us! We were washed in the blood of Jesus. That blood of Jesus flows down from the cross and covers our bodies and seeps into our hearts. The body and blood of Jesus are placed into our mouths for the forgiveness of all of our sins. Yes, the sinful blood of Adam is powerful, killing and daming. But the blood of Jesus is greater; forgiving and eternal life-giving. By God’s great mercy, Jesus has reversed every negative effect that Adam brought into the world. And Paul tells us, “the gift given by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many!”

What does this all mean? While these verses aren’t actually part of our reading for today, we would be remiss if we didn’t hear them because they explain what this means. Paul says, “And the gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin, for the judgment that followed the one trespass resulted in a verdict of condemnation, but the gracious gift that followed many trespasses resulted in a verdict of justification. Indeed, if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, it is even more certain that those who receive the overflowing grace of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ! So then, just as one trespass led to a verdict of condemnation for all people, so also one righteous verdict led to life-giving justification for all people. For just as through the disobedience of one man the many became sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will become righteous.”

What a reversal! Because of Jesus, condemnation has become justification, the reign of death has been overthrown by the reign of life, sinners have become righteous. 

In this current climate that we are living in, it’s easy to become discouraged. It’s easy to think that sin is winning, that death is reigning once again. It’s easy to think that hope has vanished. I’ve found myself feeling down more than once in the recent past. But. There’s that beautiful word again. But. Jesus is bigger than all of those things. One of the last things Jesus said to his disciples repeats that truth. On Maundy Thursday, right before Jesus would reverse everything, he told his disciples: “I have told you these things, so that you may have peace in me. In this world you are going to have trouble. But be courageous! I have overcome the world.” Jesus has overcome it all. He has reversed it all. And that grace has overflowed to you! Bask in it. Swim in it. Never let go of it. Amen.