Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Romans 5:12-19
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  March 1, 2020

Once upon a time, there was a very loving, very rich Father who had a son. The boy was the apple of his Father’s eye, his crowning achievement. The Father loved his son so much that he gave him everything he could ever want or need. He gave him a beautiful paradise to live in . He gave him a job that he loved. He even found a wife for him, someone who captivated his heart–it’s like they were made for each other. What son wouldn’t be thrilled? What son wouldn’t want to say “thank you” in some way? And the Father provided even that! He provided his son a way to say “thank you.” He gave his son free run of the land. He could have anything he wanted–except one thing. There was only one place that Father told his son not to go. Only one place that he was not allowed. It was for his safety. It was for his own good! He was the opportunity to say “thank you” to his Father for all that he had done for him. All he had to do was stay away.

You’ve probably figured out that our “once upon a time,” is a real story. It’s the story of creation. It’s the background story to what we heard in our first lesson this morning. In a very real way, Adam was a son of God. The Bible says the same. In Luke chapter three, Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus, the Son of God, all the way back to Adam. And at the very end of the genealogy, Luke says, “the son of Adam, the son of God.” Adam had everything he could ever want or need. Life was perfect. And then hell literally broke loose. As we heard in our first lesson this morning, Adam and Eve believed the word of Satan instead of the Word of God. They went to the one place they weren’t supposed to go. They touched the one thing that God had said was “off-limits.” And no sooner had their teeth sunk into the the fruit then the half-truths of Satan came to light as bold-faced lies. The moment the fruit touch their lips, Adam and Eve died spiritually. Sin entered the world. 

“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.” I asked the kids this morning who committed the first sin. I wasn’t surprised by their answer. Eve often takes the brunt of the blame for biting the fruit. Even Adam blamed her, didn’t he! Eve was at fault, don’t get me wrong, but she doesn’t deserve all the blame. We already heard this morning that Adam was right there with her when she was chatting with the Devil. Adam, whom God had divinely instituted to be the head of the family, whose number one job was to look out for the welfare of the family, stood idly by while Eve shot the breeze with Satan. And when she took the fruit, he didn’t knock it out of her hand like he should have. No, he took some and he ate it! If there’s blame to toss around, much of it should go in Adam’s direction. And that’s exactly who Paul points to, isn’t it? “Sin entered the world through one man…” Adam is the reason sin is in the world. And sin didn’t just stay with Adam and Eve. No, it entered into the entire world. And it didn’t seep in like a slow leak in your basement, it spread like wildfire. Sin is everywhere around us, in every arena around us–television, internet, social media. Temptations fill our eyes and ears in every direction we turn. And when we aren’t facing sin itself, we confront the consequences of sin: pain, suffering, heartbreak, headache, disappointment, frustration, and ultimately for all of us…death. All of these things are the result of sin being in the world, all because of Adam, the son of God. 

Now that doesn’t seem quite fair, does it? Adam messes up and we get the consequences? One man’s sin affects all people of all time? That’s not fair! In a sense it does seem unfair that we are born with this sin as a part of our nature and now we must die because of it. But as soon as that thought creeps into our minds, we need to take a long look in the mirror. How have we been living? We could complain to God, “This is unfair,” that we are heaped together with Adam, until we see the mirror full of our sin. I may not like that I have had sin passed down into my DNA, but I am a sinful person. Once we break just one of God’s demands and decrees, we prove ourselves to be every bit as much a sinner as Adam was. Notice what Paul said, “Death spread to all people because all sinned.”

That’s not much of a story, is it? I love a good story as much as the next person. But this kind of story would depress me. I wouldn’t like it at all? For whatever reason, I’m a sap for stories with a happy ending. If the story ends with someone dying, I have a hard time liking it. And that’s how our real-life, “Once upon a time,” feels like right now. But thankfully, our story isn’t just about one son of God who failed the test of sonship. No, our story is about Two Sons of God. The first failed the test of sonship and eternally damaged the human race, but the second Son made up for the first–and then some!

Again, once upon a time, (but we know not really) a Father had a son who failed the test of sonship. Though he had been given everything, he couldn’t stay away from the one thing his Father had forbidden. Because of his failure, he and all of his children after him were cursed. And it broke the Father’s heart. He decided that he loved his son too much to see him and all his children cursed. So he promised to send another Son. This Son would be just like his brother, but where his brother failed, he would succeed! And not only would he succeed, his success would overflow to all men.

Remember when we were lamenting that it wasn’t fair that Adam’s actions affected us all? Well, thanks be to God that he’s not fair! Because the actions of his second Son, Jesus Christ, also affect us all! But that’s where the similarities stop. Everything Adam did to harm us, Jesus has reversed and even surpassed. As Paul speaks to us today, he wants to be abundantly clear about these Two Sons of God. And that’s why in verses 15-19, Paul compares Adam to Jesus. In five different ways, he shows that God’s gift Jesus Christ, didn’t just equal out or cancel the effects of Adam’s fall. It surpassed it. Paul gives us the happy ending we are looking for!

“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!” God has a gift for you that is nothing like the sin that Adam committed. The trespass–what Adam did, his fall into sin–brought eternal death to all people because it made all people sinful and disobedient to God. But God’s grace and the gift–what Jesus did–gives eternal life to all people! Paul’s point in comparing the two is this: If death could come to all people through Adam, life can certainly come to all people through Jesus. That is the amazing power of God’s undeserved love, of his grace toward all of us. The predicament that Adam got us in, which we have only made worse with our own sinfulness, God not only reversed but saturated us with blessings through the life and death of his Son Jesus. Paul runs with this marvelous truth and creates a beautiful juxtaposition, a side by side comparison of Adam and Jesus, looking at the results of their work. 

“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.” How much greater was God’s gift than Adam’s failure? Just look at the results. One sin, that one act of disobedience brought condemnation. The whole world was condemned to death. But God’s gift didn’t just deal with that one sin. No, Jesus followed many trespasses. Jesus followed all the sins the world ever committed and ever would commit and he brought acquittal. The world was declared, “not guilty,” because of God’s gift. Paul continues this happy ending comparison. “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!”

When Adam ushered sin into the world, death came in on its coattails. And as soon as death got in the door, death took over. Death reigned in the life of Adam and Eve and all of their descendants. But then God busted down the door the the Champion of his grace, Jesus Christ. God tells us in Genesis 3, just after our first lesson, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” Jesus crushed the head of the serpent by living a perfect life and exchanging that righteousness for our sins. He then died to pay the punishment our sins had earned. Death was dethroned by the death of God’s Son. No longer did death reign, but now we reign both in this life and the life to come through Jesus Christ! Again, Paul goes back to the happy ending! “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.”

That happy ending finds its fulfillment at the empty cross and empty tomb of Easter. Paul reminds us that Jesus had to do more than just die for us. He had to be perfect for us. He had to live a perfect life under the law. He had to be like us in every way, face the same temptations as the first son of God, Adam, did–and not fail! That’s what we see this morning in the Gospel. Jesus stood up to the temptations of the devil. In the arena where the devil often has had his way with us, Jesus, our Champion, stood up to him and won. Jesus won the battle over the devil as he tried to tempt him to sin in the desert and he won the war as he offered his perfect life for us in our place. Because of that, even though one sin makes us condemned, Jesus act of righteousness declares us “Not guilty!” Because of Adam’s disregard for God’s Word, we were made sinners. But because of Jesus’ perfect obedience, the whole world is holy and innocent in God’s eyes.

Two Sons of God. One failed and lost everything for everyone; one was victorious and won all that was lost and even more! This is the story of God’s plan of salvation. It’s arguably the greatest story ever told. And you know what? For you and me and all who believe it, it’s a story with a happy ending! Amen