WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.040 Either in Adam or in Christ. There's not an option. 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:11.160 We are all in Adam by physical birth, but we are only in Christ by new spiritual birth. 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:13.000 ! 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:18.000 Secondly, how are they similar? Really quickly, they're both inaugurators. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:24.000 They inaugurated, both of them opened or ushered in a different era of the human race. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.000 Alright, so they both inaugurated. 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:29.000 Question number two. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:36.000 How did Adam's fall affect mankind? 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:41.000 Alright, very clearly spelled out in verses 12 through 14. 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:50.000 For sake of time, I might not read it all again, but we see this clearly how his fall into sin affected mankind. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:56.000 Now remember, in the story, it was Eve who initially sinned. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.000 But who is held accountable for that sin? Adam. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.000 Because he was the covenantal head. He was the leader. 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:06.000 He didn't look after his wife in this case. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.000 So he is held responsible. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:10.000 Right? 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:16.000 So if we look at the first part of verse 12, we see the phrase that sin came into the world. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.000 Alright? 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:23.000 So that implies that there was a time in creation when all was as it should have been. 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:24.000 Before Genesis 3. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.000 Before Genesis 3. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:35.000 When death, destruction, hardship, disease, starvation, war, strife, conflict, disorder. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.000 All those things were absent before sin entered the world. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:42.000 We cannot imagine what that is like. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.000 Because we only have known a world that has been destroyed by sin. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:47.000 Unimaginable. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:48.000 Unimaginable. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.000 But God created it all and it was good. 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:59.000 So, the first part of that, sin came into the world through, so the agent of, that was Adam. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:00.000 Through one man. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:03.000 So, very interesting note here. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:06.000 I mean, Paul in the first century is considering Adam a real person. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.000 He is not a mythological figure. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:09.000 Not a legend. 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:11.000 He is like a real person. 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:16.000 And Paul is referring to him and saying that he was absolutely, Genesis 1 and 2. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:21.000 He was absolutely the first man that God created in his image. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:27.000 He formed him from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:32.000 Gave him dominion over all creation, over all other lower creatures. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.000 Placed in the garden of Eden to take care of it and to enjoy its fruits. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:48.000 Then, as an extra step of God's love for him and care for him, he gave him a wife, Eve, who is the mother of all life, to be with him as a helper. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:49.000 Right? 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:50.000 So, such wonderful gifts. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:03:00.000 They were to live, Adam and Eve and their descendants were to live in relationship with God, reflecting his glory in his character and all that we do. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:07.000 We were to multiply his image throughout the earth, like sub-regions of God. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.000 All that's there in Genesis 1 and 2. 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:19.000 But yet, despite the honor given to man to bear the image of God, we read, Ecclesiastes 7, 29, God made man upright. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:24.000 But they have sought out many devices, many schemes. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:27.000 That's where the term sin comes in. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:34.000 It means missing the mark or the purpose for which God intended for us as his image bearers. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:35.000 We fall short of that. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.000 Massively short of that. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:42.000 If you look throughout our text, it says that Adam's offense is labeled a trespass. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.000 We all know what that is. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:49.000 It's a premeditated, deliberate crossing of the line. 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:52.000 He knew he shouldn't have, and he did anyway. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:57.000 So, it was a step against God's good authority over him. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:02.000 Verse 15, by the transgression of the one, many died. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:06.000 Verse 16, judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:11.000 Verse 17, by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:17.000 Verse 18, through one transgression that resulted in condemnation to all men. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:21.000 Verse 19, through one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:26.000 So, you see that just repeated that it draws back to this first offense of Adam. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:29.000 So, sin entered the world through Adam. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:33.000 Then it says, and death through sin. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:38.000 So, this clearly contradicts the idea that death would have never happened. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:43.000 Well, excuse me, that death would have happened anyway, even if sin hadn't entered the world. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:45.000 They would have eventually just died of old age. 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:54.000 But like, no, clearly, it is the sentence of death that's implied here as a consequence of sinning against God. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:01.000 But in Eden, following God's great generosity, remember, he warned, he warned Adam, like, you can do all this. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:03.000 All this is yours. 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:05.000 There's one thing that you cannot do. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:13.000 It says that he commanded them, you may surely eat of any tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.000 For in the day that you eat, you will surely die. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.000 All right? 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:25.000 So, according to verse 16 here in Romans, death is God's judgment for and against our sin. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:28.000 Clearly, death is not an accident. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.000 It's not just a natural thing. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.000 It wasn't meant to be this way. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:35.000 Physical death is called the first death in the scripture. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:37.000 We all will physically die. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:44.000 All of us, at some point or another, our bodies will pass away because of sin. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:48.000 Even if we are in Christ, even if we're Christians, we're going to face death. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.000 I would say, more importantly, is spiritual death. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:54.000 This is Ephesians 2. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:59.000 It talks about how we are dead in our trespasses, right? 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:04.000 We don't have to read much further after Genesis 3. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.000 And there's this repeated phrase that didn't exist. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:11.000 It records that this man lived or this woman lived and they died. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:12.000 And they died. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.000 It's a repetitive phrase for emphasizing. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.000 And you and I will also pass away. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.000 We will eventually die ourselves. 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:24.000 Right? 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.000 But have you ever wondered, like, why death? 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:31.000 Like, why is death God's chosen consequence for our sin? 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:36.000 Don Carson, pastor, scholar. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.000 He said, why death? 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:45.000 Death is God's limit on creatures whose sin is they want to be God's. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:50.000 So it's God's way of telling us that we are mortal. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:52.000 We are not sovereign. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:53.000 We are not omnipotent. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.000 We will pass away. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:58.000 It's him putting a limit to the arrogance of man. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:03.000 So death is something that man has freely and willingly brought on himself. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:04.000 Right? 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:11.000 So some may think, some, like, that just seems so unfair. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:15.000 Like, why did Adam screw it up for the rest of us? 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:16.000 You've heard people say that. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.000 Like, why do I have to answer for that? 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:20.000 For that disobedience? 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:23.000 Well, the quick answer is, like, yeah, you will have to answer for it. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:31.000 But for starters, if God put every one of us in that same place, we probably would do the same thing he did. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:35.000 And for us to kind of think otherwise is pretty arrogant. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.000 Adam was sinless, placed in the perfect situation. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:49.000 But even more importantly, by condemning the whole human race through one man, now Christ is able to save the whole human race through one man. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:50.000 Right? 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:51.000 Like, we have a representative. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:55.000 So if you want to be your own Adam, good luck. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:58.000 Because then you will have to be your own savior in return. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.000 And if I ask you the question, have you still sinned? 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:03.000 Well, what are you going to do about that? 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:04.000 Right? 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.000 So Christ now can represent us. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.000 Even because Adam represented us in the disobedience. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.000 So there's a lot there. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:16.000 But moving on to the next part of this section. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:21.000 Notice that he says, death spread to all men because all have sinned. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:25.000 He's already made a strong case for all of us being under the reign of sin. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:28.000 Chapter one, chapter two, parts of chapter three. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.000 It's sin against all humanity. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:38.000 The great tragedy of creation is that you and I and everyone else that was created in God's image, 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:45.000 we forfeited that right by rebelling against our creator and following our own ways. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:47.000 Look at verse 12. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:55.000 It says, sadly, right, that Adam's action of sin set a pattern for the rest of humanity. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.000 Namely, that sin leads to death. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:03.000 So this is not referring to a particular sin per se. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:12.000 It's really just aiming at all people now have a prependency, a predisposition, a pull towards sin. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.000 We all have that. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.000 We are sinners by nature, it says here. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:28.000 Tragically, Adam passed to all his descendants, both you and me, this inerrant, sinful nature that was initially brought into the world at the beginning. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:31.000 So mankind is a single entity, right? 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:38.000 Even though we may chop it up into subgroups, as a whole, we are one entity, right? 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:45.000 So Adam represented the entire human race that descended from him, no matter how many subgroups there are. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:55.000 And so therefore, when Adam sinned, all mankind sinned, because the first sin he committed transformed our inner nature. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:10:02.000 You can feel it every day, this prependency just to rebel against God. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:08.000 There's this, even if you don't want to admit it, there's this mysterious connection to us and to Adam. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:15.000 This prependency to be weak, to fail, to do harm to ourselves and to others around us. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:16.000 It's there. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.000 And then it says, sin entered the world, right? 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:29.000 Not long after you read this in Genesis 3, in Genesis chapter 6, it talks about how we're all been defiled by this. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:38.000 It says, the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:41.000 That's Genesis 6, 5. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:46.000 So all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:52.000 That's the reality of the world that we live in, the curse that we see and feel every day. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:55.000 So are you aware of the realm of death? 00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:00.000 Is it heavy to you when you think about such things? 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:06.000 And you may wonder how this even came about, right? 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:15.000 But one question that Paul anticipates and we're about to see is like, was this true even before the law of Moses came? 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:20.000 Before mankind actually had a written law where God told us what was good and evil? 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.000 And the answer is, you know, yes. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:27.000 If you look in verses 13 through 14, there's one point that's clear. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:37.000 In the time between Adam and the Mosaic law, all people still suffered and died as a result of Adam's sin and disobedience. 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:38.000 For sin, you see it? 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.000 For sin indeed was in the world before the law. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:46.000 So the coming of the law didn't change that reality at all, right? 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:51.000 Now, not because we had broken some specific law, right? 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:58.000 But because there's that same desire for us to sin against God. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.000 It always existed even before the law came. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.000 And the result of that was people died. 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:04.000 That's the evidence. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.000 People still passed away. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.000 Think about other parts in the scripture before Moses. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.000 The Tower of Babel, judgment. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.000 The Flood, judgment. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:16.000 Sodom and Gomorrah, judgment. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.000 All that came before there was a written law. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:25.000 So it doesn't mean that people are guiltless without the law. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:32.000 Romans 2 verse 2 talks about how many people perished as judgment even before the law. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:36.000 So that's just an argument that Paul anticipates. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:37.000 Well, this happened. 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:39.000 Was this true before the Ten Commandments? 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:41.000 And the answer is yeah, it's still true. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:42.000 All right. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.000 So number three. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:46.000 Number three. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:53.000 What are the differences between Adam and Christ? 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:54.000 All right. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:57.000 And again, I think just for the sake of time, I might not read all this again. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:01.000 But this is verses 15 through 19. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:05.000 We're just going to pull out some threads just to look at this. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.000 So one way is different. 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:09.000 It is different in consequences. 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:10.000 Very clearly. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:12.000 Verse 15. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:18.000 Adam's offense or his trespass is contrasted with Christ's free gift. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:23.000 That word free gift means something that's given out of gracious favor towards somebody. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:27.000 It actually could be just translated grace gift. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:37.000 So because of Adam's one trespass and disobedience, there was a verdict of condemnation and a sentence of death to all mankind. 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:39.000 That's like terrifying. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:53.000 On the other hand, if you read Christ's obedience, obeying God perfectly, never sinning, even to the point of death on a cross, that all now reverses the effects of the fall. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:14:04.000 Christ brings grace and not judgment, justification and not condemnation, which comes as a result of God's free gift. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.000 That's what we see here. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:14.000 When Paul has been explaining this since the beginning of his letter, note he repeats the phrase much more in that section twice. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:25.000 Saying that the grace of God not only brings temporal physical life, but brings us something much greater, eternal, new, spiritual, abundant life in Christ. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:27.000 Life with God forever. 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:28.000 Life with God forever. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.000 Reversing the effects of the fall. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.000 Sin separated us from God. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:37.000 Christ has brought us reconciled back into relationship with God. 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:40.000 So one is the difference in the consequences. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.000 Another difference between Adam and Christ is they had different starting points. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:46.000 Look at verse 16. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:47.000 Interesting. 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:58.000 The verdict of judgment and condemnation that affected all mankind came after one single trespass. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:06.000 But God's free gift of salvation by grace came, you see that, following many trespasses. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:14.000 So meaning after an unimaginable number of sins had been committed by all people, then God's grace came forward. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.000 That's astounding. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:27.000 It means that God is trying to highlight, put on display the beauty of his grace against this backdrop of so much sin after many trespasses. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:35.000 So the one redemptive act of Christ was immeasurably greater than Adam's one act of condemnation. 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:45.000 Jesus overcame the flood of sin destroying the world and brought us grace and justification right standing before God forever. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.000 So here's in verse 17. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:51.000 He kind of pulls together a summary of these differences. 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:57.000 Kind of like, again, when you're making a legal case, you keep anticipating arguments and then you sum it all up. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.000 And that's kind of what he does in verse 17. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:03.000 He draws the threads together of verses 15 and 16. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:09.000 He says, you know, whereas Adam's one trespass brought condemnation and death. 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:13.000 So if you think about that, that's the opposite of what Satan promised, right? 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:18.000 In Genesis 3, he said, if you disobey, you'll be like God. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:19.000 So it brought the opposite. 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:20.000 It brought death. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:27.000 God has brought through Jesus abundant grace, life and righteousness. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:37.000 The striking difference here, I think that Paul highlights, is that where death reigned from Adam, it's not now that life reigns. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:38.000 All right. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:41.000 He says that people reign. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:48.000 Verse 17, those who receive God's saving grace, who will reign in life. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:53.000 So death ruled the entire human race by virtue of Adam's one sin. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:17:04.000 But now Christians, those who have given their lives fully to Jesus, now we will be rulers alongside with Christ. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.000 And death will not triumph over us. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.000 We will have eternal life. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.000 So that is a beautiful thing that Paul is giving us here. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:16.000 Another reason to enforce the hope that he just talked about earlier in the chapter. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:19.000 Like we can have hope of eternal life. 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:22.000 Hope of reigning with Christ. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:31.000 And then in verses 18 through 19, again, you see this one man's actions affected all others as representatives. 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:32.000 All right. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:33.000 All right. 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:34.000 Simply put. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:35.000 Right. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:40.000 One trespass of Adam as the head of the human race brought condemnation and guilt to all. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:45.000 Similarly, Christ's one act of righteousness. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:52.000 I think he's either referring to his death or his entire life of obedience, including his death. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:53.000 One or the other. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:59.000 It led to righteousness and life to all who belong to him. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:01.000 You see the phrase, you know, all men. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:08.000 It's definitely not implying universalism because he's like gone against that pretty much the entire book and the rest of the New Testament. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.000 But again, those who receive God's gift belong to Christ. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:15.000 Verse chapter five, verse 11. 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.000 Only those who have faith in Christ will be justified and made right with God. 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:22.000 So look at the wording he uses. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:25.000 As this happens, so now this will happen. 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:37.000 He shows that the focus is not on the size of that group, but on the method of either sin or righteousness being passed from Christ and Adam to their descendants. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:39.000 Each representative. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:40.000 Each representative. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.000 First Corinthians 15 verse 21 says this, drawing all this together. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:52.000 For as by by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection from the dead. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:19:00.000 For just as Adam all died, so also in Christ all may be made alive. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:01.000 All right. 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:05.000 So again, one man's actions affecting the other. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:08.000 And then lastly, last question. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.000 Looking at the last two verses of this passage. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:16.000 How does the law magnify Christ's reign of grace? 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:20.000 Verse 20 says, 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:27.000 Now the law came to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:38.000 So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:43.000 So what Paul has done here is he's taken all mankind and placed us in two different camps. 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:45.000 Like, not a third camp. 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:50.000 Either we are under the reign of Adam or we are under the reign of Christ. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:53.000 The point here, he makes a point of the law. 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:57.000 Law did not change man standing under sin. 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:03.000 But it did help identify more activities and attitudes that were sinful. 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:04.000 Here's three. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:08.000 We've kind of gone over this some in the past, but here's just three quick things that the law did. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.000 The law defined what sin was. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.000 It told us what sin was. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:21.000 So, I mean, many years ago, my diagnosis of the lung disease I had, you know, it got named. 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.000 It got called, oh yeah, this is that disease. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:25.000 Cystic fibrosis. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:28.000 I still suffer from it before I knew what it was. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:29.000 Right? 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:37.000 So it's like an example of we still suffered from sin, even though we didn't know it was, quote, called sin. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:46.000 Number two, the law asserts that sin is wrong and dangerous, making the breaking of it all the more willful and shameful. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.000 Right? 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:50.000 Number three, the law provokes sin. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:53.000 It causes us to increase in the trespass. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:56.000 But what he's saying here is that's true. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:59.000 It also magnifies the grace of Christ. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:02.000 It shows us that Christ is greater. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:05.000 What he brought through his reign is much more. 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:06.000 Right? 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.000 Much more. 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:10.000 Far better than what Adam brought us. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.000 All right? 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:17.000 So, if we magnify sin, we can magnify the grace of God. 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:19.000 That's what he's saying here. 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:21.000 The law came to do that. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:25.000 So, in conclusion, I just thought I would wrap it up with this. 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:32.000 In conclusion, you know, the scripture has a story of twos. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:35.000 To give credit where credit is due. 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.000 The first time I ever heard this, it was a guy named Sinclair Ferguson. 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:43.000 I won't take credit for this, but it ministered to me. 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:45.000 And I hope it does to you as well. 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:55.000 Well, this is a story of two men, two gardens, two trees, two tests, and two outcomes. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:56.000 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:57.000 Right? 00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:01.000 The two men are Adam and Christ, both representatives. 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:07.000 The two gardens are Eden and Gethsemane. 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:08.000 The two trees. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.000 The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:12.000 And Eden. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.000 Everything about it was pleasing to the eyes. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.000 Everything about it drew you in. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:19.000 It was attractive. 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:22.000 Which is why Adam and Eve eventually went for it. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:29.000 And then there's also the tree of Calvary, the cross. 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:33.000 And to Jesus, there was nothing attractive to it at all. 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:35.000 Like repulsed. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:36.000 Gross. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:40.000 Everything about his holy nature did not want to go to that tree. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:43.000 Very different from the tree that Adam faced. 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:44.000 Right? 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.000 Then each man faced two great tests. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:56.000 Adam was tempted to disobey God and throw off his authority and eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:03.000 Jesus was tempted to flee the cross in Gethsemane. 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:05.000 If you remember, he prayed humbly like, 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:12.000 Lord, Father, if there's any other way, let this cup pass from me. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:16.000 And very clearly, there was not another way. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:23.000 Adam disobeyed God and ate of the tree, thus saying, my will be done, God, and not yours. 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:32.000 Christ obeyed God, denied his own desire, went to the tree and drank the full cup of God's wrath. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:38.000 And his prayer was, not my will, Father, but yours be done. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.000 So he went sacrificially. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.000 He went and died on the tree of Calvary. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:46.000 And then there's two outcomes. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:49.000 Adam's sin and disobedience. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:56.000 As we've said over and over in this passage, it brought condemnation, a reign of death into the world. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.000 And many were made sinners and many died. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:07.000 Christ, by his perfect obedience and love for God, brought the grace of God to man. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:13.000 And righteousness that we can now have to stand justified before God. 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:22.000 He brought a reign of eternal life and salvation to all people who look to him for their sins to be forgiven. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:26.000 So in Christ, we can have hope. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:34.000 Whenever you're going to be exposed to death by yourself, a friend, a family member, in your line of work. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:37.000 I know we have first responders in here. 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:38.000 We have soldiers in here. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:40.000 You've seen it. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:41.000 It's ugly. 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:47.000 What has Christ done to reverse the effects of such terrible things? 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:50.000 He has given us great hope. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.000 So which man do we identify with today? 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:55.000 Adam or Christ? 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:57.000 Where do you stand? 00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:03.000 Living in the reign of death under Adam or the reign of life under Christ? 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:05.000 So we have reason to hope. 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:07.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:08.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:08.000 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:08.000 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:08.000 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:09.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:10.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:11.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:12.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:14.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:15.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:16.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:17.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:18.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:19.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:21.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:22.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:23.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:24.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:25.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:28.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:30.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:31.000 Let's join in prayer together. 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:32.000 Let's join in prayer together.