Father, you know how it is to trust even people that we know very well, and we know that they're trustworthy.
And Father, you know how hard it can be for us to trust people, even trustworthy people.
And Father, you know how many times people have let us down, and we thought we could trust them,
but Father, we discovered we couldn't trust them.
Father, you know how many of us carry unforgiveness and wounds from people who have broken promises,
and just hurt us, and not been trustworthy.
And so, Father, you can see into our hearts as to how hard it is for us to trust you, you who is invisible,
and how hard it is for us to trust your word,
when your word seems to say things that our culture thinks doesn't make any sense.
And Father, you know the inward struggle we have on how in many ways we don't want to acknowledge that we don't trust your word,
yet still somehow we don't.
Father, we thank you that you know us so perfectly.
And we thank you that knowing us so perfectly, you don't turn your face away from us.
You don't mock us or scorn us.
You don't hate us.
But knowing us so perfectly, you loved us perfectly as well,
by sending your Son to die for us on the cross.
And that you pour out your Holy Spirit, Father, on ordinary people like us,
with the ordinary problems of trust, just like us.
You pour out your Holy Spirit, and you speak to us through your word.
So, Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us this morning,
that we might trust your word,
and that your word might come deep into who we are,
and so bear fruit for you that brings glory to you.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son, and our Savior.
Amen.
Please be seated.
So, I don't know how many of you were able to follow Helen when she was reading,
but maybe some of you were thinking to yourself,
did the Bible, and you didn't have the Bible open yourself,
and you might say to yourself,
did Helen just read that the Bible says that this guy Adam,
that when he did something wrong,
it meant that I die because he did something wrong.
Did I just hear Helen say that because somehow or another,
I'm guilty of the thing that Adam did.
Is that what I just heard Helen say?
And some of you are thinking,
George, if I heard that she said,
like, come on, George, you're a university-educated guy,
and how on earth could you possibly believe that?
That just seems a bit kooky,
and it seems really unfair.
So, George, is it saying that somehow or another,
when Adam sinned, we're responsible,
as well,
or is it just saying that Adam's just sort of like an example of somebody who does bad things?
Which, you know what, we can sort of understand.
We all have examples of people who do bad things.
So, we're going to look at that question, okay?
So, get your Bibles out.
It can be very, very helpful.
So, you're not just taking my word for it,
but you're actually seeing what the Bible says,
and it's Romans chapter 5, verses 12 and following.
We're going to look at it.
And before I start reading this verse,
I'm just going to say one thing,
and I should have said this several weeks ago,
and actually, I've been meaning to do this for several years.
If we had a service of a different type,
especially after certain sermons,
I would have a Q&A time after the service where you could ask me questions.
And it just sort of doesn't really fit with the way we do things here.
So, I'm not going to discuss,
I'm going to talk as if Adam was a real person,
and I'm not going to try to explain that or anything.
I'm not going to do that right now.
But what I, I don't know, Shirley, I think, is doing coffee or the nursery
or something really helpful and important.
But I'm going to ask Shirley to set up a time within a month.
I don't know if it will be like a Saturday late morning
or maybe a Monday evening,
where anybody who wants can come,
and we'll have some refreshments, some muffins or something like that.
And we'll talk a little bit about the historical Adam.
And I'm going to maybe try to do that.
And if you ever come to a, I'll try to,
and you can send me a question or something like that.
Send me an email if you think it would be a good time to do it.
You know, I probably should have done it a few weeks ago
when we talked about homosexuality.
And, you know, in another couple of weeks,
you know, we're going to talk about, you know,
how can the potter, you know, God can do whatever we want with this.
Does the clay have any right to say to the potter,
don't do this to me?
So there's some hard texts.
And sometimes it's maybe just too hard to deal with in a sermon.
It's maybe better to do it over, you know, coffee or hot chocolate
or Coke or something like that and some snacks.
So I'm going to try to set up a time within a month.
And I'll try to, we can talk about the historical Adam.
So just so you know.
But for now, we're going to talk,
I'm going to talk as if Adam is a real person who really lived.
And is the Bible here saying that this real person who really lived
thousands and thousands of years ago,
that when he did something, in some way,
when he did it, you and I did it.
And when he did it, that's why we die.
Is that what the Bible is actually saying?
So let's listen.
Chapter 5, verse 12.
And it begins like this.
Sorry, just so you know what we were talking about yesterday,
because it begins with therefore.
So in the flow of the book, what Paul had just been talking about
was this idea that it's a very, very powerful series of ideas,
because sometimes we might think that if we're,
that it's a series of ideas to help us to understand
that when Jesus died on the cross for us,
he died on the cross for people that he knew were bad people,
and that in fact were his enemies.
And in fact, the 511 sort of ends with this idea,
if Jesus died for us when we were his enemy,
now that he's alive,
just imagine how much you're going to be blessed.
And that's now where verse 12 comes in.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man,
and death through sin,
and so death spread to all men,
and here it means men and women,
because all sinned.
And then most of your Bibles are probably a hyphen.
Just a bit of an aside, I'm not going to dodge this.
You know, I mentioned to you several weeks ago,
and I've said it in other times as well,
that the Bible's witness about itself
is that it's actually God speaking.
And it's really important for us to understand something about that,
is that doesn't mean that Christians are claiming
that the Bible is perfect literature,
that we should all aspire to write like the Bible writes.
In fact, it's very, very interesting.
In the time that the Bible was written,
there were two different types of Greek
that was the common language.
There was the educated Greek, or formal Greek,
that to our ears would sound a little bit
as if people talked in King James Version English all the time.
And there was street Greek,
the type of Greek that carpenters and farmers
and tanners and soldiers talked.
And the Bible's written in street Greek,
not good Greek.
And here we see Paul actually doesn't complete his sentence.
In other words, if he was writing this for a university paper,
and the professor actually marked grammar,
that he or she would put a little circle there and say,
complete your sentences.
You're not going to get an A plus
if you don't complete your sentences.
You've just dropped a mark.
You're now looking at maybe at the best an A,
maybe even an A minus, Paul.
You missed ending the sentence properly.
It's a very important thing to notice,
is that Christians don't claim
that the Bible is perfect literature.
We just claim that when we read each word of the Bible,
and the Bible as a whole,
we're reading the words that God wanted to have spoken.
If he doesn't want to have perfect grammar,
take it up with him.
I don't know, you know.
So what did,
that was just a bit of an aside.
I like pointing those things out.
You know, I'm sorry,
just, oh gosh, I shouldn't do this.
Two things.
There's two reasons why I point this out.
It's because our friends who are Muslims
believe that the Koran
is the most perfect book ever written.
And it's easy for Christians
to try to think the same thing about the Bible,
but that's not what the Bible says about itself.
And the other thing is that
there's always been a bit of a,
especially for Anglicans,
this sense that speaking ordinary English
isn't good enough.
That we should be speaking special English
with special accents.
Some of you have maybe heard ministers
who have what's called,
I call it pulpit puberty.
They speak one way when they're normal,
but when they're up at the pulpit,
they start speaking with deeper voices
or they start speaking with a fake English accent
or something like that.
You know, in other words,
and it's like puberty, right?
Like for a guy going through puberty
and all of a sudden,
you know, their voices is going up and down, right?
So it's a very common temptation
for Christians to think that somehow or another,
that their English,
when it comes to God,
should be somehow special.
God just wants you to pour out his heart to him.
He's not up there like a professor
making sure you're going to get an A plus
in speaking, you know, diction to him.
Just pour out your heart.
He poured out his heart to us.
Every word is his,
and I think he made it not perfect on purpose
so we wouldn't think we have to speak perfectly
or a certain way to him.
So, sorry, that was a bit of an aside.
Probably an important aside.
Maybe for some of you that was the exact,
maybe that was one of those God asides.
Okay, back to this.
Okay, here's the bad news.
Well, it's not bad news.
You're going to see in a moment,
as the more I thought about it all week,
I've come to believe that this is the most spectacular news imaginable.
But it was a bit of a shock to me at first this week
to realize that, in fact,
the Bible is saying exactly what some of you might be worried that it's saying.
It is saying that when Adam sinned,
I sinned, you sinned,
and all of the little babies,
I can't remember which side of the building they're being looked after,
all those cute little babies,
when Adam sinned,
each person, each human being is somehow in Adam
or involved with Adam,
and his sin was as if you and I sinned personally.
That's exactly what the Bible's teaching right here.
It's actually even clearer in the original language than it is in English.
For instance, in verse 12,
therefore just as sin came into the world through one man,
and death through sin,
and so death spread to all human beings,
all men,
because all sinned.
It's actually more literal to translate the because as in whom,
but it's terrible grammar.
But it's actually trying to emphasize that somehow or another,
every human being is in Adam.
And so now some of you are saying,
wow, that's a hard idea, George.
In fact, I don't know, George,
what do you think about that?
So I'll tell you.
On Tuesday afternoon, after my run,
because I've been thinking about this a lot,
I try to work on the sermon every day of the week,
at least a little bit.
And you know what?
I came to the conclusion on Tuesday
that I was just going to trust God on this one.
I'm just going to trust God on this one.
This is a profoundly non-Canadian,
non-Western,
non-first world idea
that we find as,
I'm going to explain in a moment why we're mistaken about this,
but we say it's completely and utterly unscientific,
and maybe even a completely abhorrent idea.
And at the end of the day,
at the end on Tuesday,
before I thought about it more,
I was going to say,
you know what?
I'm just going to believe God on this one.
I'm just going to trust him.
And some of you might say,
well, gosh, George,
that's sort of very anti-intellectual.
It's not anti-intellectual at all.
It's not anti-intellectual.
In the same way that, you know,
I've been married to Louise for 34 years,
and, you know,
like me,
she's not a perfect person,
but I,
she's a really good person,
and I trust her.
I trust her.
And I,
and,
and 34 years of marriage,
and I,
I knew her for four or five years before that,
I,
I have a lot of ground.
I have a lot of experience to trust her.
And so,
if she called me up and asked me to do something,
I,
that at first,
and then I said,
no, Louise,
you have to explain it to me.
She said,
no, just,
you just have to do this.
Just trust me.
I,
I hope I would trust her.
And that's not being anti-intellectual.
And,
you know,
so for me,
it was as if God spoke to me in the early part of the week.
And this might not mean anything to you,
but it really meant a lot.
It was as if God spoke to me,
and I'm not a very mystical person.
And,
you know,
I just thought about it.
I,
the more I,
I study the Bible,
the wiser I think it is.
The more I've looked into things like the historical basis of the Christian faith,
in terms of how the documents were written and transmitted,
and,
and the apostolic witness,
and the integrity of scholars,
the more I trust the Bible,
and the more I look into Jesus and his resurrection,
the more I believe that he really rose from the dead.
And the more I think about how the Christian worldview makes sense of human experience,
the more I believe and trust and accept the Bible.
So why wouldn't I just trust God on this one?
And if I trust God on this one,
and now I look at the world,
in fact,
as I started to do that throughout the week,
the more and more and more I thought it was,
this was actually a very,
very,
that this is something that Canada needs,
and that Canadian Christians need,
and that in some ways,
I have been lapsed black in my ministry upon not maybe talking about this more,
that it's actually a very profound and deeply needed idea.
The more I thought about it,
the wiser I thought it became.
That's going to maybe surprise you.
George,
the more you thought about it,
the more you,
once you just trusted that this is true,
that you're just going to trust God that this is true,
that when Adam actually did something wrong,
whatever it was,
he ate of the fruit of the tree that God told him not to do,
that somehow or another,
because of that,
sin came into the world,
and death came into the world,
and every human being,
actually,
it's as if they ate the apple at the same time,
or whatever it was,
banana,
mango,
whatever it was,
that we all ate that fruit at the same time.
You believe that's a,
how,
here's the thing,
here's the first thing about this.
Some of you,
hopefully all of you know that this past weekend,
there was an apologetics conference,
and the theme of the conference was being human,
and we had a biochemist,
and a doctor,
and a philosopher,
and they came and talked about what it means to be human.
And at one of the breaks,
I went to one of my favorite Starbucks,
and there was a barista there
that I've talked to quite a few times,
and she knows that I'm a pastor,
and she said,
what are you doing today, George?
And I said,
I'm going to a conference on being human.
And it was really funny.
She was,
you know,
pouring,
I'm behind her,
and she's pouring my coffee,
and as soon as I said,
I went to a conference being human,
and she instantly turned around and looked at me.
Like,
she stopped doing what she did.
She instantly turned around and looked at me.
And she said,
well,
what have you concluded?
Which I wasn't expecting.
And so,
I very quickly thought,
well,
I think we're concluding
that,
you know,
a human,
to be a human
is a mystery,
a combination of things we know
and mystery.
And she said,
well,
I agree with that.
That's what I would say.
So,
you know,
here's the thing.
This idea that we're all in Adam,
and at first we say,
well,
that's just wrong,
that's just stupid.
Well,
why do we say that?
Why do we say that?
First of all,
it's not unscientific.
Science has nothing to say about that at all.
Well,
in terms of the historical Adam,
but we can talk about that.
I said,
well,
that's an off-ramp thing.
But this idea,
here's the thing.
If I was to say,
if some of you were to say to me
that there's a thousand-story office building in Ottawa,
I would say to you,
you don't know what you're talking about.
I know Ottawa,
and I know there's no thousand-story building in Ottawa.
You don't know what you're talking about.
I know Ottawa.
I've lived here for quite a few years.
It's not there.
Not here.
You don't know what you're talking about.
You're going against all of the evidence.
Just don't know what you're talking about.
If somebody was to say to me
that the national food,
the favorite food of Irish people,
is fried pussycat,
I would say,
I'm Irish.
Both of my parents are from Ireland.
All of my relatives are from Ireland.
I've been to Ireland,
and I know lots of Irish people,
and you're wrong.
It isn't what Irish people love to eat,
fried pussycat.
Irish people don't eat cats.
And I would just say,
you don't know what you're talking about.
But do we know what human beings are?
Do we really know what human beings are?
Wouldn't you all,
wouldn't most people,
other than the most extreme type of scientist types,
naturalists,
wouldn't you all acknowledge
that to be a human being is a mystery?
I mean,
there's things,
obviously,
we know,
you know,
we know that,
you know,
we know different things about our physiology,
and,
and we know,
you know,
we know,
you know,
doctors have a bit of an idea
about what a healthy body looks like
as opposed to a sick body,
and,
and we,
we know,
obviously,
we know things about human beings,
but at the same time,
isn't it the case that
there's huge parts about what it means to be a human
that's a complete and utter mystery?
Like,
human beings are deep,
and they have layers.
One of the things you discover
about being in a relationship
with a person
is that
they're not simple.
That
things that happened to them
in their past
that you don't even know about
have this profound effect on,
on you.
And,
and for some of us,
as we've gotten a little bit older,
I mean,
it's,
you know,
it's a bit different maybe
when you're just barreling through life
with a whole pile of,
you know,
in my case,
because I,
I'm a guy,
a whole pile of testosterone
and a whole pile of adrenaline,
and you just sort of barge through life.
You just sort of gallop through life,
when you're 20 or 21,
but you get a little bit older,
and all of a sudden,
you realize that something
that happened to you
when you were,
you were six,
or something that happened to you
when you were five,
or something that happened to you
when you were 30,
or something that happened to you
20 years ago,
or 30 years,
or 40 years ago,
that all of a sudden,
you realize that that's something
that's,
that's formed you,
and you didn't even know it.
I mean,
it's,
it's always had a,
a forming effect on you.
You didn't even know it.
You don't even know the depths
of yourself.
And,
and how is it,
like,
what is it,
you know,
we don't really understand,
in a sense,
how consciousness works.
We all have consciousness.
We don't understand that,
really.
How do we understand
how sometimes
we just know something?
How do we understand,
how do we figure out
why it is that somebody
can just pick up
a musical instrument,
and all of a sudden,
a melody comes?
Like,
I wish I could do that.
I've never had that experience,
but I,
how is it that
that happens to people?
How is it that somebody,
they can just say something,
and it's the exact right thing?
Why is it
that sometimes
you're sitting there,
and you feel somebody's eyes
on you,
and you turn around,
and they are looking at you?
How is it that we know that?
And if there's so much
about being a human being
that we don't know,
why is it that we would
reject the idea
that somehow or another,
that in Adam,
we sinned?
We can't reject that
because we know
human beings so well,
as we know that
there's no thousand-story
building in the city of Ottawa.
Now,
I know that if you're here
as a guest,
and you're an atheist,
or a Muslim,
or a Buddhist,
you don't have to accept
that just because the Bible
says that it's true.
That's fine.
I understand that.
That's a longer conversation,
but I still think
that if you think about it,
this is part of the
unbelievable power
of the Christian understanding
of the person,
the depth of what it means
to be a person.
And it explains so much,
I think,
because, you know,
science can't explain
why it is that there's
no perfect human being.
Like, you can't look
at human DNA
and say,
because of DNA,
we know that this human being
will someday tell a lie.
You can't discover that
from DNA.
Why?
Why is it that human beings,
that it's very rare
to meet a person
who's almost completely
and utterly evil,
and it's very rare
to meet a person
who's almost completely
and utterly perfectly
morally good.
Why is it that human beings
do bad things?
Why is it that something
about that's wrong
touches just about
every single thing,
if not every single thing
that human beings do?
Why is that the case?
But why is it at the same time
that human beings
do do good things?
And why is it at the same time
that not only that human beings
do good things,
but that they can appreciate beauty
and they can appreciate music?
Like, why is that,
that there's this complication
within human beings?
Well, maybe it's because
we aren't just
a separate individual,
and it's as if, you know,
there's an individual
pot, a piece of dough made,
and that's one pie,
and then you take
all new ingredients
and make another pie,
take all new ingredients
and make another pie,
and then, you know,
you wouldn't expect
all the pies
to be exactly the same,
especially if you're getting
all new ingredients
every time,
but why is it that
human beings aren't like that?
Maybe it's because
that in some way
that we're all in Adam,
and that when Adam fell,
that that touched
all of us.
And why is it that
human beings feel
compassion for each other?
There's three things
that are going on right now.
Every one of us
probably feels
some compassion
and concern
for what's going on in Paris.
I've never been to Paris.
And I'm not alone here
in saying,
I bet if you went out
into the streets,
unless there's people
who've just in some
drug-induced haze
didn't even know
there's anything going on,
but if you tell them,
they would have compassion.
Two of the movies,
one of the best-selling,
one of the top movies
right now
is called Martian.
The Martian,
I think,
or something,
yeah,
and at the heart of it
is the entire planet,
one of the aspects
of the movie,
is the entire planet
having compassion
and being concerned
about one person
left on the planet of Mars.
The Chilean miners film,
which just came
in the movies,
it's touching on the fact
that that crisis
in Chile,
that many people
were riveted by,
why is it that we feel
compassion for other
human beings?
Is it possible
that it's because
in a way that we
don't think about,
we're all in Adam?
And that at some level
we sense
that there's this,
not just individualism
about us,
but that there's something
common about us.
That there's something
common.
The biblical doctrine
is that Adam
is our covenant
head.
That Adam
is the covenant
head
of the human race.
And that in some ways
his actions
or failure
to act
does impact
and touch
and characterize
all human beings.
And we enter
that covenant,
so to speak,
with Adam
purely by birth,
by the fact that
human succession
goes from
the sperm
and the ovum
of a male
and a female
and they're put together
and there's a new
human life
and that is how
human life goes on
and all of us
are in that
human covenant
with Adam
as our head
just by biology.
And that's what,
but it's more than
just biology
because of this
whole thing of sin.
And it's a very
rich and deep idea.
Just one other thing
because I have to
move on with it.
I think you've got
the mystery
and maybe the power
of it.
You know,
I was thinking about
it a lot this week.
The more we grasp
that Adam
is our covenant
head,
then racism
makes no sense.
In fact,
it's an offense.
The more we
grasp
that we
have a covenant
head,
the more
that we would
have a fear
of people
who are different
than us,
just because
they're different
doesn't make any
sense.
It would mean,
it would undermine
those who are
transgendered
or experience
same-sex attraction
as basing
their identity
in that
if they understand
and we understand
with them
that there's this
one common
human covenant
with Adam
as our head.
It would undermine
caste systems
and class
systems
and sexism
and racism
if we all
grew in this
sense that there
is just one
covenant head
of all human
beings.
At a very
profound and
deep level,
it would make
all of these
things
abhorrent
and wrong.
And it
actually would
build,
it would make
deeper sense
why building
bonds of affection
in families
and communities
and across
families and
communities
is not just
some artificial
command that
God would
rest on us
but was
actually part
of the way
that God
created us
that it's
a sign
of health
when we
have a desire
for bonds
of affection
within communities
and across
economic barriers
and racial
barriers
and educational
levels
and that
compassion
should be
there.
It's woven
into our
DNA.
A.
I probably
lost my
place in
my notes.
Here's the
thing.
The doctrine
or the
idea of
human beings
as part
of a
covenant
that has
a head
does not
offend
science or
reason.
It offends
individualism.
that's what
I would say.
That's what
I just
tried to
demonstrate.
I don't
think it
offends
it.
You can't
prove it
from science
or reason.
It's one
of those
things that
once you
have
revelation
and then
you look
at and
then you
accept it
and then
you look
at the
world
you see
evidence
for it.
That it
fits.
That there's
some sense
to it.
It's something
maybe bigger
than our minds
can get our
but there's a
sense to it
and there's a
fittedness to it.
So it doesn't
offend reason.
It doesn't
offend science.
It deeply
offends
our individualism
and it
deeply
offends
our selfishness
and it
deeply
offends
our desire
to choose
race,
our race
over another
or our
politics
over another
or anything
our tribe
or our clan
over another.
It's deeply
offensive
to that
but it's
not
offensive
to science
or reason.
And it's
also then
something about
you know
here's another
thing about
being human
is that
this text
here has
a profound
explanation
about the
meaning of
death.
I mean
how do we
understand death?
It's really
funny.
You know
when we
listen to
different people
speak
if you go
to university
and you're
listening to
different
political
ideologies
and different
you know
different
sciences
and different
explanations
different types
of anthropology
sociology
psychologies
when you go
and you
talk to
different
religions
it's amazing
how often
they completely
and utterly
ignore the
reality
and the
significance
of death.
Yet if there
is one
single thing
we know
is that
we will
all die.
and it's
something we
want to
avert our
eyes from
usually
for most
of our
life
but it's
there
and how
do different
systems of
thought account
for it?
Look here again
at verse 12
and then we'll
keep reading
down to verse 14
it's very
very powerful
and very
very wise
it says again
therefore just
as sin
came into
the world
through one
man
and death
through sin
and so
death
spread
to all
men
this case
meaning the
human race
because all
sinned
for sin
indeed was
in the world
before the
law was
given
but the
sin is not
counted where
there is no
law
yet death
reigned from
Adam to
Moses
even those
whose sinning
was not like
the transgression
of Adam
was a type
of the one
to come
it's a bit
complicated
here's the
thing
what the
bible is
saying is
that death
is a
symptom
we have a
I don't know
if we have
many doctors
in the
congregation
I know we
have at least
one guy here
who's in
med school
and they
understand the
difference between
you know
you're going
to the doctor
and you know
I have this
pain over here
I have this
lump or whatever
or you know
and you tell
the doctor
your symptoms
and then you
hope that
the doctor
and then he
or she
will ask you
a range of
questions
to see what
other things
are going on
and you might
not connect
this lump
to that mole
or you know
that something
going on in
your eye
to that thing
going on in
your toe
I don't know
if there's a
connection there
and I just
made it up
but they look
at your
different symptoms
and they're
trained at least
we hope to
observe
and they look
at your
different symptoms
and they make
a prognosis
they make an
analysis of
what's causing
it
and so what
the bible
is saying here
is that death
is a symptom
that on a
very very
fundamental
it fits at a
very very
fundamental level
with I think
the most common
human experience
which is that
at a fundamental
on a strictly
biological level
death is natural
but at a human
level nobody
experiences death
of a loved one
is natural
we all know
when it touches
us closely
that there's
something unnatural
about death
and what
there's a bit
of an ongoing
thing that's all
the way through
the book of
Romans
that we're not
going to talk
about that much
right now
but if you go
back to Romans
2 or listen
to the sermon
that I did
on the first
part of Romans
2
is that
Paul knows
that
what Paul is
just saying
is that
if you want
to think
that somehow
or another
when the Bible
comes it's
going to make
things better
when the law
comes it's
going to make
things better
I think Jewish
people had a saying
the more Torah
the better it is
I got that wrong
but it's something
like that
and Paul is going
to keep saying
no no no
that's not the
case
the Bible
God's law
isn't the solution
and so it's just
another one of
these things
that yeah
the Bible
is just going
to actually
make us more
aware of the
things that we've
done wrong
but the fact
of the matter
is there's always
been death
we only know
a history of
death
and therefore
there's always
been a history
of everyone
being in Adam
because death
is a symptom
of a deeper
problem
and the deeper
problem
is our
separation
from God
and once
we chose
to be like
God
ourself
so that we
could at first
look God
eye to eye
but then look
down our nose
at God
because that was
ultimately
the human desire
that we would
be able to
look down
our nose
from God
that we
fell
and our
communion
and relationship
with God
was broken
and death
is a symptom
of that
and that's
why we can
understand
that on one
hand there
is something
natural now
about death
because there's
human covenant
which we all
experience
is a covenant
all with a
covenant head
but at the
same time
that there is
something profoundly
unnatural about it
but actually
and I'm not
going to talk
about this
much this week
I'm going to
talk about
in a couple
of weeks
in some ways
there's actually
some hope
in it
just as
if you come
to the doctor
if you recognize
that this lump
over here
isn't natural
you can go
to the doctor
and hopefully
the doctor
can say
okay this is
actually really
serious but we
caught it in time
and I can make
you better
and so that when
we recognize
that death
is a symptom
there is the hope
that
and in fact
this goes
with the whole
bible thing
is the bible
might be some
type of medicine
but it's not
health
it's not a cure
that the bible
is regularly
going to make us
realize
that we don't
need more
advice
that we need
a rescue
and the bible
and moral
instruction
will make us
aware that
only god
can rescue
not the state
not the tribe
not the clan
not affirming
our sexuality
not political
ideology
that only god
can rescue
and that we
can cry out
and call out
to him
that he would
rescue us
so death
follows
sin
death
is a symptom
of sin
death
follows
sin
death
is a symptom
symptom
of sin
we don't
need more
information
we need
rescue
rescue from
god
we don't
need more
information
about rules
take these
vitamins
memorize these
bible verses
do 15
jumping jacks
25 burpees
we don't
need more
rules
we need
rescue
not information
now some
people might
say
george
okay
now i can
maybe see
that there's
something powerful
about this
but it still
just doesn't
seem fair
and it still
doesn't seem
just
and surely
there's something
wrong
that adam
did this
and i didn't
choose him
and that just
doesn't seem
fair to me
it doesn't
seem just
and
we actually
see that
there
that there's
something to
this thing
but actually
considering the
question of
fairness
and justice
helps us to
understand the
rest of chapter
five actually
when we ask
this question
because what
the rest of
chapter five
is going to
tell us
is that we
need more
than justice
we need
mercy
and if we
are offered
mercy without
justice
that's actually
just god
showing favoritism
it's just god
picking favorites
it's just like
irish people
thinking that i'm
just gonna let all
the irish people
have the slack
and i don't know
the english people
oppressed us for a
long time so
you know
sucks to be english
but we like polish
people so i don't
know you know
we'll let poli
like if that's
that's not justice
and that's not
really mercy
that's just
favoritism
that's just
power politics
that's and
and so that
what what the
bible is going
to now go on
and say is
that in fact
yes we do
understand at a
fundamental level
we need justice
we want justice
but at the same
time if all we
have is justice
we are doomed
and we need
something more
than justice
that doesn't
transgress justice
or contradict
justice
or undermine
blind justice
or blind
justice
and make it
injustice
that we need
somehow to have
justice
and we need to
have at the same
time that which is
greater than justice
but coherent with
justice
we need mercy
and we need
grace
and that's exactly
what the gospel
gives us
because at the
first very thing
it's going to say
as as as Paul's
going to go through
this he's going to
outline what God
has done
he's going to say
at the end of the
day when you think
about all the things
that God has done
what you can know
and you can have
a great confidence
in is that God
picked a better
representative for
you than you
would pick for
yourself
that God
when he picked
Adam
he knows everything
he knew every human
being that was going
to follow and he
picked the best
person you could
possibly pick
and when that
didn't work
well what happened
let's look
verse
we'll read verse
14 again
yet death
reigned from
Adam to
Moses
even over
those whose
sinning was
not like the
transgression of
Adam who was
a type
of the one
to come
and Paul's
original hearers
they would have
seen type
type
has an
archetype
and
he is saying
when he says
that Adam
is a type
that even
though he's
the covenant
head
he is saying
that God
will provide
a true
and greater
Adam
that God
will provide
a true
and greater
Adam
Adam is a
type
those were some
philosophical
training
God will provide
the archetype
the true
and greater
Adam
and what
will God
do
through this
second
covenant
head
who is a
true
and greater
Adam
see God
will now
given that he's
made the human
race
that the human
race can have
a covenant
head
God is going
to provide
an option
for another
covenant
head
that we don't
enter into
by biology
but we
enter into
with empty
hands
by faith
and what's
going to be
characteristic
of this
true
and greater
Adam
that's what
Paul outlines
here in
verse 15
the thing
which is
going to
first
characterize
this true
and greater
Adam
is to
understand
it as a
free
gift
but the
free gift
is not like
the trespass
that's what
Adam did
our covenant
head
for if
many died
through one
man's
trespass
much more
have the
grace of
God
and the
free gift
by the
grace
of that
one man
Jesus
Christ
abounded
for many
super
abounded
for many
that just
as
Jesus
is this
new
covenant
head
and what's
going to
cover
characterize
him
is that
it's
understood
as a
free
gift
it's
super
abounding
grace
coherent
and consistent
with
justice
that's
going to
characterize
this
second
covenant
head
is
abounding
grace
verse
16
and the
free
gift
that's
this
new
covenant
head
is not
like the
result
of that
one
man's
sin
for the
judgment
following
one
trespass
brought
condemnation
in other
words
it was
as if
we were
sentenced
and
found
guilty
justice
but the
free
gift
following
many
trespasses
the
free
gift
comes
to us
after
thousands
and
thousands
and
thousands
of
years
of
human
wrongdoing
and
even
though
it's
thousands
and
thousands
and
thousands
of
years
of
human
wrongdoing
that
not
only
did
we
share
in
Adam's
sin
that
we
sinned
like
Adam
ourselves
in
our
daily
lives
and
that
the
free
gift
that's
going
to be
accomplished
by
Jesus
upon
the
cross
for us
the
true
and
greater
Adam
is
super
abounding
more
grace
than
the
flood
the
overwhelming
earth
covering
flood
of
human
wrongdoing
verse
17
sorry
verse
16
for the
judgment
following
one
trespass
brought
condemnation
but
the
free
gift
following
many
trespasses
brought
justification
that
means
that
God
declares
us
right
with
him
that
condemnation
is a
legal
term
sentence
is
passed
justice
is
done
you
are
found
guilty
justification
is
that
somehow
or
another
God
acting
not
in
contradiction
to
justice
something
happens
so that
God
in a
judicial
sense
can
declare
us
right
with
himself
verse
17
if
because
of
one
man's
trespass
death
reigned
through
that
one
man
death
reigns
over
you
and
me
much
more
will
those
who
receive
the
abundance
of
grace
and
the
free
gift
of
righteousness
and
it
doesn't
say
that
life
will
reign
over
us
it
says
that
we
will
reign
in
life
through
the
one
man
Jesus
Christ
it's
all
more
and
verse
18
therefore
as one
trespass
led to
condemnation
for all
men
so one
act
of
righteousness
leads
to
justification
and
life
for all
men
in other
words
Adam
sin
God
reacts
with
justice
all
are
sentenced
in a
way
which
means
it
means
our
eternal
separation
from
him
but
Jesus'
act
of
righteousness
leads
to us
being
declared
right
with
God
and
actually
receiving
life
verse 19
for as
by one
man's
disobedience
the many
were made
sinners
so by
the one
man's
obedience
the many
will be
made
righteous
now
I'm
just
going
to
pause
here
and
maybe
this
will
be
our
I'll
just
sort
of
wrap
it
up
here
but
it's
a
very
important
point
behind
it
is
the
image
of
two
trees
and
if
you
go
into
the
going
deeper
text
this
week
I
give
you
the
text
of
Genesis
2
and
Genesis
3
and
Mark
14
and
then
1
Corinthians
15
and
it's
this
plane
with
the
image
of
two
trees
that
all
that
God
does
is
he
sets
before
Adam
as a
sign
that
just
that
all
he
says
there's
many
things
but
Adam
is
told
that
he
there's
this
one
tree
in
the
garden
that
he
can't
eat
and
it's
not
so
much
that
Adam
eats
the
God
knows
God
made
us
to
eat
but
Adam
doesn't
just
want
to
eat
of
that
tree
and
it's
because
Adam
makes
the
decision
I
want
to
be
God
I
want
to
be
God
I
want
to
be
bigger
I
want
to
exalt
myself
I
want
to
be
bigger
I
want
to
have
my
own
order
I
want
to
make
my
order
the
order
that
the
created
world
should
be
I
don't
want
to
just
tend
the
garden
I
want
to
make
the
rules
for
the
garden
I
want
to
and
so
he
takes
the
fruit
in
the
quest
to
be
bigger
and
so
all
human
beings
under
our
covenant
head
falls
many
thousands
of
years
later
there's
a
second
tree
but
because
of
humanity's
fall
the
first
time
the
second
tree
is
not
in
a
perfect
garden
where
God
provides
everything
now
the
second
tree
is
on
a
dusty
hill
controlled
by
world
dominating
imperial
power
and
at
that
second
tree
the
second
Adam
the
true
and
greater
Adam
chooses
that
out of
love
for
the
father
and
obedience
to
the
father
and
love
for
you
and
me
that
his
descent
and
humiliation
would
continue
that
already
he
left
the
father's
throne
and
he
set
aside
his
glory
he
set
aside
his
divine
prerogatives
he
set
aside
the
fact
that
he
lived
in
complete
unbroken
perfection
and
communion
and
union
with
the
father
and
he
sets
all
those
things
aside
and
remaining
God
he
takes
into
himself
our
human
nature
and
he
continues
to
descend
to
live
a
normal
human
life
suffering
the
trials
and
temptations
that
we
suffer
only
without
completely
and
utterly
untrustworthy
and
he
lives
a
normal
human
life
and
then
he
comes
to
this
part
where
he
who
is
the
true
and
greater
Adam
the
second
Adam
that
he
has
a
choice
as
to
whether
or
not
his
diminishment
and
becoming
smaller
and
his
obedience
to
the
father
whether
it
will
mean
that
he
would
actually
hang
naked
upon
another
tree
surrounded
by the
soldiers
of an
imperial
force
mocked
by
his
own
people
and
whether
he
would
be
willing
to
be
stripped
naked
and
bleed
and
die
and
on
the
cross
bear
all
of
our
rebellion
and
our
sin
and
Jesus
is
obedient
and
so
he
dies
upon
the
tree
the
second
tree
the
true
and
greater
Adam
and
up
until
now
all
the
way
through
the
book
of
Romans
all
of
the
images
of
salvation
have
been
in a
sense
negative
that
on
the
cross
you
could
imagine
it's
as if
above
right up
there
all
of the
things
all
of the
things
that
God
has
against
you
and
everybody
that
you
know
has
against
you
and
it's
as if
all
the
charges
are
up
there
and
Jesus
dies
upon
the
cross
and
those
are
all
taken
away
he
takes
God's
judgment
or
punishment
for
but
what
Romans
5
through
this
image
of
a
second
Adam
and
a
second
covenant
head
is
trying
to
get
before
us
is
that
what
Jesus
accomplishes
for us
on the
cross
is
not
just
negative
but
it's
positive
just
as
in
some
way
when
I
when
Adam
acted
in
rebellion
I
acted
in
rebellion
against
God
in
some
way
when
I
put
my
faith
and
trust
in
Jesus
as
my
new
covenant
head
his
perfect
life
of
obedience
becomes
mine
his
life
eternal
life
becomes
mine
his
right
standing
with
God
becomes
mine
you
see
it's
not
just
that
all
of
our
sins
are
taken
away
and
we're
left
naked
we
actually
have
the
life
of
Jesus
and
his
perfect
obedience
and
that's
why
works
mean
nothing
it
would
be
like
me
and
I'm
going
to
go
to
the
biggest
star
in
the
galaxy
unbelievably
bright
and I
say
gosh
if I'm
going to
go
there
I
better
bring
this
pack
of
matches
to
add
the
fire
to
it
well
that's
completely
ridiculous
I
could
have
I
could
I
could
I
could
have
bulging
pockets
like
this
and a
backpack
filled
with
matches
which
are
my
good
deeds
that
somehow
I
can
add
to
the
biggest
star
in
the
galaxy
it's
completely
absurd
when
I
by
faith
enter
into
what
my
new
covenant
head
when
I
turn
and
say
Jesus
I
need
rescue
not
rules
will
you
be
my
savior
I
enter
into
a
new
covenant
head
and
his
perfect
life
of
obedience
is
now
mine
his
life
is
mine
his
standing
with
God
is
mine
and
that's
why
as the
gospel
grips
us
we
can
take
risks
we
can
risk
failure
because
our
accomplishments
aren't
what's
going to
make
us
favorable
or
attractive
to
make
us
attractive
to
God
it's
why we
in a
sense
can
just
rest
in
him
and
look
at
ourselves
and
look
at
the
things
that
are
going
on
and
just
and
how
it
can
start
to
shape
us
with
confidence
about
the
future
that
his
obedience
is
mine
and
when
you
put
your
faith
and
trust
in
Jesus
it's
yours
no
matter
how
wrecked
up
or
imperfect
your
life
or
how
successful
your
life
is
success
just
means
you
have
more
matches
to
bring
to
the
brightest
star
in
the
galaxy
let's
stand
Andrew could
you put
up the
Romans 1
16 to
17
please
I'd like
you to
read this
with me
and
just before
you read
it
you get
a bit
of a
sense
about
the
gospel
the
gospel
is
this
good
news
of
what
Jesus
has
done
for
us
on
the
cross
you
understand
now
that
Jesus
death
upon
the
cross
is
power
it's
not
just
power
to
remove
the
bad
things
we've
done
from
our
record
it's
actual
power
of
somehow
or
another
his
obedience
becomes
ours
his
life
becomes
ours
and
we
understand
that
he
does
this
for
everyone
and
the
way
that
we
receive
it
is
I
have
nothing
to
bring
you
I
need
you
to
rescue
me
and
that's
what
believing
is
and
that
in
the
gospel
that
what
God
does
we
understand
that
it's
right
that
it's
justice
but
not
undermining
justice
it's
greater
than
justice
and
that
this
righteousness
of
God
means
that
we're
right
with
him
and
it's
revealed
we're
told
it
by
the
Bible
and
we
receive
it
from
faith
and
what
happens
is
that
the
longer
you're
a
Christian
the
more
you
know
you
need
faith
it's
faith
to
faith
strength
to
strength
faith
to
faith
and
that's
how
we
live
we
live
with
a
righteousness
right
standing
that
comes
from
God
that
we
only
receive
by
faith
will
you
say
this
with
me
for
I
am
not
ashamed
of
the
gospel
with
power
of
God
for
salvation
to
everyone
who
believes
to
the
gospel
the
righteousness
of
God
is
revealed
from
faith
to
faith
as
it
is
written
the
righteous
shall
live
by
faith
father
there's
any
of
us
here
who
have
not
yet
put
our
faith
and
trust
in
Jesus
we're
still
trying
to
think
that
the
Bible
is
just
about
rules
about
how
to
be
sanctified
about
how
to
fix
our
sexuality
fix
our
marriage
you
know
fix
our
friendships
and
if
we
that
on
the
cross
the
perfect
justice
you
never
stop
being
just
you're
perfectly
just
thank
you
for
Jesus
dealing
with
all
the
wrong
that
we've
done
but
more
than
that
father
thank
you
that
you
have
made
the
human
race
to
be
a
race
that
can
have
a
covenant
head
and
thank
you
father
for
the
provision
of
Jesus
to
be
a
true
and
greater
Adam
that
we
can
call
to
by
faith
and
that
we
can
enter
into
this
new
covenant
with
Jesus
as
our
covenant
head
that
his
right
standing
his
life
his
perfect
obedience
by the
mystery
of
grace
in
your
love
somehow
becomes
ours
father
thank
you
for
this
father
make
us
disciples
of
Jesus
who
are
gripped
by
the
gospel
and
now
can
live
to
bring
you
glory
not
ourselves
but
bring
you
glory
to
do
good
in
the
world
and
to
share
the
gospel
to
bring
you
glory
father
make
us
disciples
of
Jesus
gripped
by
the
gospel
who
live
for
your
glory
and
to
this
we
say
amen