Thursday
Evening Bible Study
July
10, 2008
Introduction
We have seen Paul present the case that man is not made right before God
through his own deeds or the keeping of the law, but simply through faith. Our salvation is not a matter of something
we’ve earned, it is a “grace”, a free, undeserved, gift from God. All we do is trust Him to receive it.
Paul is now going to give us a comparison between Adam and Jesus, between
what has come upon the human race through one man’s disobedience versus what
has been given to man through one man’s obedience.
:12-21 Adam and Jesus
:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death
through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned;
One man’s sin – This is what Adam did in the garden of Eden when he ate the
forbidden fruit.
Adam’s fall
Illustration
In autumn 2002,
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, a priceless 15th
century marble statue of Adam by the Venetian sculptor Tullio Lombardo crashed
to the ground in the Velez Blanco Patio toppled and shattered while no one was
in the room. Although vandalism was initially suspected, curators determined
that the life-sized Venetian sculpture “buckled of its own accord” said Time
magazine.
“It will take a great deal of time and skill, but the piece can be
restored,” the museum’s director said.
submitted by Bill White,
Paramount, California; "Museum to mend shattered statue," BBC News
(10-10-02)
I’m curious how they’re doing putting Adam back together again after his “fall”?
Paul is saying that Adam’s sin made us all sinners.
How does Adam’s sin make us sinners?
It is a genetic kind of thing?
The problem with thinking of sin as genetic is that Paul is going to
compare Adam to Jesus. Adam’s sin affects
all of us in the same way that Jesus’ sacrifice affects all of us.
If Adam’s sin affects us because of genetics, how could Jesus’ sin affect
us since we are not biologically Jesus’ descendants?
Paul is saying that when Adam sinned, he sinned not just for his own sake,
but on behalf of us all. There are
things in which our president acts on behalf of the entire nation, as our
representative. Theologians will explain
that Adam sinned as a “federal head”, and so because he sinned, we sinned.
We may be concerned about who we elect president in the upcoming
elections. The president acts on behalf
of the United States. What the president
does affects us.
Because of Adam’s sin, man’s nature became sinful.
We are born with a sin nature. We
aren’t sinners because we sin, we are by nature sinners. When we sin, we only prove that we are by
nature sinners.
There are folks who deny that man has a sin nature.
But what results from that is the possibility that man could live a life
without sin. And then you wouldn’t need
Jesus to die for your sins. This is a pretty wicked lie from the enemy,
deceiving people into thinking that they don’t need Jesus.
Lesson
Adam’s sin affected me.
Illustration
Charles
Spurgeon writes,
Sages of old contended that no sin was ever committed
whose consequences rested on the head of the sinner alone, that no man could do
ill and others not suffer. They illustrated it in this way: "A vessel
sailing from Joppa carried a passenger who, beneath his berth, cut a hole
through the ship's side. When the men of the watch rebuked him, 'What are you
doing, you miserable man?' the offender calmly replied, 'What does it matter to
you? The hole I have made is under my own berth.'"
This ancient parable is worthy of the utmost
consideration. No man perishes alone in his iniquity. No man can guess the full
consequences of his transgression.
:13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when
there is no law.
imputed – ellogeo – to
reckon in, set to one’s account, lay to one’s charge, impute
(Rom 5:13 NLT) Yes, people sinned even before the law was
given. And though there was no law to break, since it had not yet been given,
Just because the Law hadn’t been specifically given doesn’t mean that
people weren’t sinful.
But because there wasn’t a law given from Adam to Moses, people weren’t as
aware of the fact of their sin.
You might be
driving 85 miles an hour on a country road and not be aware of the fact that
you’re speeding. Just because you don’t
see a sign with the speed limit posted doesn’t mean that you’re not going too
fast. But when you see the speed limit
sign, then you become aware of the fact that you’re guilty.
:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had
not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam,
reigned – basileuo – to be
king, to exercise kingly power, to reign
This is one of the words that appears several times (5x) in this passage.
Picture
“death”, the “grim reaper”,
as the “king” ruling the world.
Who is going to
“reign” in your life?
transgression – parabasis
– a going over; metaph. a disregarding, violating; the passing beyond some assigned limit; the breaking of a distinctly
recognized commandment
Adam’s “sin” was a “transgression” in that it was an act against a specific
command. It wasn’t that Adam was in some
way just a vaguely naughty boy. He
specifically broke God’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil.
(Gen 2:16-17 NKJV) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
"Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; {17} "but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat of it you shall surely die."
(Gen 3:1-6 NKJV) Now the serpent was more cunning than any
beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman,
"Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the
garden'?" {2} And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit
of the trees of the garden; {3} "but of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you
touch it, lest you die.'" {4} Then the serpent said to the woman,
"You will not surely die. {5} "For God knows that in the day you eat
of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil." {6} So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of
its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Death reigned over the entire human race, even though it was only Adam that
had specifically broken a command.
Even though there was no “law” until the time of Moses, people still died,
even if they weren’t guilty of Adam’s specific sin – the sin of eating from the
tree that God had forbidden.
People still died. Why? Because they were guilty because of Adam’s
sin. Adam’s sin condemned us all as
sinners.
We sin because we are sinners.
:14 who is a type of Him who was to come.
type – tupos (“type”,
“typewriter”) – the mark of a stroke or blow, print; a figure formed by a blow
or impression; of a figure or image
Adam was an image or figure of someone who was still going to come.
Him who was to come – mello –
to be about
There is a sense in which Adam is a picture of Jesus.
They are more different than the same though:
Adam came from the earth, but Jesus is
the Lord from heaven (1 Cor. 15:47).
Adam was tested in a Garden, surrounded
by beauty and love; Jesus was tempted in a wilderness, and He died on a cruel
cross surrounded by hatred and ugliness.
Adam was a thief, and was cast out of
Paradise; but Jesus Christ turned to a thief and said, “Today shalt thou be
with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
The Old Testament is “the book of the
generations of Adam” (Gen. 5:1) and it ends with “a curse” (Mal. 4:6). The New
Testament is “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ” (Matt. 1:1) and it
ends with “no more curse” (Rev. 22:3).
Here’s the key way how they’re alike:
Adam did one act that affected all of us.
Jesus did one act that affected all of us.
:15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's
offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the
one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
offense – paraptoma – to
fall beside or near something; a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness;
a sin, misdeed
free gift – charisma –
(“charismatic”) literally, “a work of grace”; a favor with which one receives
without any merit of his own; the gift of divine grace; the same word is used
to describe “spiritual gifts”
abounded – perisseuo – to
exceed a fixed number of measure, to be left over and above a certain number or
measure
In other words, don’t compare the offense of Adam with the gift of Jesus
too far. The gift is far greater than
the offense.
Adam had an “offense”. Jesus had
“grace”.
Adam’s “offense” brought death.
Jesus’ “grace” brought God’s grace and caused it to “abound.
(Rom 5:15 NLT) And what a difference between our sin and
God's generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to
many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to
many through God's bountiful gift.
It’s almost as
if the picture is that Adam’s offense filled our cups to the top with
death. But the gift that comes through
Jesus is a gift of grace, a gift of God’s forgiveness, and it doesn’t just fill
us to the top with grace, it completely overflows us with grace.
It’s as if Adam’s sin dug a huge hole in our back yard. The grace of God is what fills that
hole. But it doesn’t just fill the hole,
it overflows it.
Illustration
One night in
1935, Fiorello H. La Guardia, mayor of New York, showed up at a night court in
the poorest ward of the city. He
dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench. One case involved an elderly woman who was
caught stealing bread to feed her grandchildren. La Guardia said, “I’ve got to punish
you. Ten dollars or ten days in jail.”
As he spoke, he threw $10 into his hat.
He then fined everyone in the courtroom 50 cents for living in a city
“where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat.” The hat was passed around, and the woman left
the courtroom with her fine paid and an additional $47.50.
This is just a small picture of what God’s grace is like to us.
:16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned.
The gift of grace from Jesus is a bit different than the thing that came
through Adam, the one who sinned…
:16 For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation,
but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.
judgment – krima – a
decree, judgments
condemnation – katakrima –
(“against” + “judgment” = a “judgment against” a person) damnatory sentence,
condemnation
free gift – charisma –
(“charismatic”) literally, “a work of grace”; same word as used in verse 15.
justification – dikaioma (“the
work of” “rendering someone righteous”) – that which has been deemed right so
as to have force of law
Adam’s sin brought judgment, it resulted in our condemnation.
The free gift of Jesus came because of our “many offenses” – Jesus had to
die for us because we deserved death and God didn’t want us to pay for our
sins.
The free gift of Jesus resulted in our “justification”, being declared
“righteous”.
(Rom 5:16 NLT) And the result of God's gracious gift is very
different from the result of that one man's sin. For Adam's sin led to
condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though
we are guilty of many sins.
:17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one,
Adam’s sin brought death to the entire human race:
(Gen 5:1-11 NKJV) This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In
the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. {2} He
created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the
day they were created. {3} And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and
begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. {4} After
he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and
daughters. {5} So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty
years; and he died. {6} Seth
lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. {7} After he begot Enosh,
Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. {8} So all
the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died. {9} Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.
{10} After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and
had sons and daughters. {11} So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and
five years; and he died.
If you keep reading, you will find that all men have something in
common. They all die.
There have only been a few exceptions – Enoch appears to have skipped death
(Gen. 5:24). Elijah was taken up into
heaven in a chariot of fire (2Ki. 2:11).
If we should be alive on the earth at the time of the Rapture, we will
experience the same thing – skipping physical death and going straight to
heaven (1Th. 4:17).
Those are the exceptions. For
everyone else the rule is the same. We
will all die.
Lesson
You will die.
They say that there are two universal things – death and taxes.
No one escapes. No one can cheat it.
You can thank Adam for that.
In Context (11/15/97), Martin
Marty tells of a financial planner who made the comment, "When clients
talk to me about their estates, they usually say, 'If I die,' not 'when I die.'
Even 80-year-olds use the conditional."
-- Leadership, Vol. 19, no. 2.
Illustration
A 2005 article in National Geographic identified three regions of
the world where people have consistently shown longer life spans: Okinawa,
Sardinia, and Loma Linda, California. Dan Buettner, a researcher and explorer
involved with the 2005 article, decided to do a follow-up study to determine if
there were more regions to be discovered. His team found an abnormally large
number of people living past 90—even into their 100s—on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa
Rica.
Intrigued, Buettner and a large research team made their way to the region
to discover what factors aided in living a longer life. They found that
longevity is due in part to diet, sun exposure, and source of water, but they
also found the following factors to be crucial in the survival of the people:
The people on the Nicoya Peninsula have a strong sense of purpose. They “feel
needed and want to contribute to a greater good.”
They choose to focus on the family. Persons over 100 years of age in this
region “tend to live with their families…. Children or grandchildren provide
support and a sense of purpose and belonging.”
They have strong social networks. Their neighbors visit frequently, and
they all seem to know the value of listening, laughing, and appreciating what
they have.
They know the value of hard work. They even manage to “find joy in everyday
physical chores.”
They understand and appreciate their historical roots and spiritual
traditions. In essence, they know their story.
Ted DeHass,
Bedford, Iowa; source: Dan Buettner, "Costa Rica Secrets to a Long
Life," AARP
magazine (May/June 2008), p. 69
I think it’s good to do things to prolong your life.
But the final result is still the same.
You and I will one day be dead.
If the Lord doesn’t come back in the next 150 years (which seems highly
unlikely), there will not be a single person in this room alive.
Illustration
In the 2007
film The Bucket List, two terminally ill men—played by Jack Nicholson
and Morgan Freeman—take a road trip to do the things they always said they
would do before they “kicked the bucket.” In anticipation of the film’s
release, Nicholson was interviewed for an article in Parade magazine.
While reflecting on his personal life, Nicholson said:
I used to live so freely. The mantra for my generation was
“Be your own man!” I always said, “Hey, you can have whatever rules you want—I’m
going to have mine. I’ll accept the guilt. I’ll pay the check. I’ll do the
time.” I chose my own way. That was my philosophical position well into my 50s.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to adjust.
But reality has a way of getting the attention of even a Jack Nicholson.
Later in the interview, Nicholson adds:
We all want to go on forever, don’t we? We fear the
unknown. Everybody goes to that wall, yet nobody knows what’s on the other
side. That’s why we fear death.
Dotson
Rader, "I want to go on forever," Parade magazine (12-9-07), pp. 6-8
Actually Mr. Nicolson, we do know what is on the other side.
:17 much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
abundance – perisseia –
abundance, superabundantly, superfluously
will reign – basileuo – to
be king, to exercise kingly power, to reign
(Rom 5:17 NLT) The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death
to rule over us, but all who receive God's wonderful, gracious gift of
righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man,
Jesus Christ.
We have a choice between two kingdoms:
Sin or Righteousness.
Death or life.
Adam or Christ.
Lesson
Choosing victory starts with grace
Without Jesus Christ, you will find that sin and death rule in your
life. No matter how hard you try, you
will find yourself falling into the pit.
But with Jesus, we now have the choice to “reign” in “life”.
It’s when we receive the “abundance of grace” and the “gift of
righteousness” that we have the ability to “reign”.
How does this work?
It starts with the choice. It starts
with “receiving”.
Receiving an “abundance of grace” and the “gift of righteousness”.
A starting point for this comes when we learn to confess our sin.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We find “grace”, we find “righteousness” when we admit our
sin to God.
Look at what
grace and forgiveness does to a person:
(Luke 19:1-10 NKJV) Then
Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. {2} Now behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. {3} And he sought to
see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short
stature. {4} So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him,
for He was going to pass that way. {5} And when Jesus came to the place, He
looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come
down, for today I must stay at your house." {6} So he made haste and came
down, and received Him joyfully. {7} But when they saw it, they all complained,
saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner." {8}
Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my
goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false
accusation, I restore fourfold." {9} And Jesus said to him, "Today
salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; {10}
"for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was
lost."
Zacchaeus found acceptance with Jesus. It changed him from being a self-centered man
to a man who made things right with people.
:18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men,
resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free
gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
Paul again reiterates what he’s been saying the last couple of verses.
(Rom 5:18 NLT) Yes, Adam's one sin brought condemnation upon
everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness makes all people right in God's
sight and gives them life.
This is part of how Adam is a “type” of Christ, in that he did one act that
affected all of mankind.
:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one
Man's obedience many will be made righteous.
disobedience – parakoe – a
hearing amiss; disobedience
obedience – hupakoe –
obedience, compliance, submission
In the Greek, the words are also opposites (disobedience / obedience)
were made … will be made – kathistemi
– to set, place, put; to set one over a thing (in charge of it); to appoint
one to administer an office
Through Adam’s disobedience, we were appointed to the office of “sinner”.
Through Jesus’ obedience, we will one day be appointed to the office of
“righteous”.
:20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin
abounded, grace abounded much more,
might abound – pleonazo –
to superabound; to increase; be augmented
The word is made from the word “more” and making “more” of “more”, or, “more2”
God gave the Law to Moses so that sin would become more obvious.
Sin was already around before Moses’ time, but the Law made it much more
obvious.
Okay. You’re in your car driving 40
mph. It’s one thing to be driving down a country road without knowing what the speed limit
is.
But driving down a city
road, going right past the speed limit sign – you have no excuse. And then you drive a little farther and you
get one of those radar
signs that shows you how fast you are driving, and telling you to slow
down. And you drive a little farther and a motorcycle
officer is pointing his radar gun at you.
That’s when the offense is “superabounding”.
It’s not that the Law makes us more sinful, but it simply makes clear just
how sinful we are.
It’s kind of
like a person who hasn’t had much musical training, but somehow gets into their
head the notion that they are a great musician.
Then one day, they hear a real musician, and on
top of that, they have their own music recorded and compared to the real
musician. Then they hear just how bad it
really sounds. It’s not that they
actually got worse as a musician, but when they were compared to a much higher
standard, they found out how bad they were.
abounded much more – huperperisseuo
– to abound beyond measure, abound exceedingly; to overflow, to enjoy
abundantly
This is taking the word “more2” and putting the word “hyper” in
front of it.
This is “hyper-superabounding”.
This is reminding us of verse 15:
(Rom 5:15 NKJV) …For if by
the one man's offense many died, much
more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus
Christ, abounded to many.
When the Law was added by God to show men how much more sinful they were,
it wasn’t without God also showing men that no matter how bad they were, God
was able to show them even more grace.
The byproduct of us realizing just how sinful we really are is that we
begin to realize how wonderful God’s kindness is towards us.
Lesson
Don’t look at the depth of your sin
without looking at the height of God’s grace.
God’s grace can cover any sin.
One person that had a grasp of this:
(Luke 7:36-48 NKJV) Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat
with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat. {37} And
behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at
the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,
{38} and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet
with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His
feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. {39} Now when the Pharisee who
had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This man, if He
were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching
Him, for she is a sinner." {40} And Jesus answered and said to him,
"Simon, I have something to say to you." So he said, "Teacher,
say it." {41} "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One
owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. {42} "And when they had
nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore,
which of them will love him more?" {43} Simon answered and said, "I
suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly
judged." {44} Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you
see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she
has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.
{45} "You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet
since the time I came in. {46} "You did not anoint My head with oil, but
this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. {47} "Therefore I say
to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom
little is forgiven, the same loves little." {48} Then He said to her,
"Your sins are forgiven."
Some of us get a little mesmerized by the horrible depth of our sin. We’ll study and examine just how deep our sin
goes, and to our amazement, it’s pretty deep!
And that can get depressing!
But as horribly deep as our sin gets, we need to recognize that God’s grace
is even greater.
It’s like exploring a coal mine. We
might find that our sin goes three miles down in depth. We might find that it goes five miles
down. We might find that it goes ten
miles down. But as far down as it goes,
God’s grace is so incredibly great, that it’s able to fill any size hole that we
can dig. And it can always come out
overflowing the hole.
:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
reigned … might reign – basileuo
– to be king, to exercise kingly power, to reign
Lesson
Real grace results in righteousness
Paul would face accusations from some that teaching about “grace” would
only lead to more sin.
The idea is that if you talk too much about God’s love and forgiveness,
people will think, “Then why worry about sinning? Can’t I just fall back on God’s grace?”
Paul will deal with those accusations more in the next chapter.
Here Paul is teaching that real grace leads to righteousness, not sin.
It’s Zacchaeus being forgiven and turning around to give back to those he’s
wronged.
It’s the prodigal son returning to be the Father’s servant, not because he
expected a party.
Illustration
An acquaintance of mine nearly lost his life in a flying accident a few
years ago. I had breakfast with him some time after that accident, and I asked
him how his accident and his lingering physical problems had affected him. He
said, “Bill, I see life so much more clearly now. My relationship with Jesus
Christ is now of supreme importance.” It hadn’t been before. “Now when I hold
my wife and when I kiss my children, I realize what a treasure they are.” I
remember sliding back from the table, thinking, That loss served this brother
well. It simplified and clarified what really mattered in life.
-- Bill Hybels,
"The Often-overlooked Benefits of Losing,"
Illustration
Musician Steven Curtis Chapman writes:
In brokenness, I have felt tangible expressions of God’s grace…. I had
stacked some rocks out at this little place in the woods, a place I had gone to
pray, desperate for God to do something, to show up, or to have some sort of
breakthrough. As I was praying, I remember smelling cedar, so strong it
distracted me from my prayer. I looked around to see this little cedar tree
that had been snapped in half from my stepping in there. . . . That was where
the smell was coming from. It was a tangible sign of grace as I was coming to
understand it. I had a little note pad out there with me, and I wrote down
these words: “The fragrance of the broken.”
Steven
Curtis Chapman in CCM (July 1999)
True grace recognizes the price of brokenness. There is a fragrance, a beauty that invades
your life with true grace. You do not
want to abuse the cost of grace. You
want to honor grace through obedience.
Illustration
My gardeners set out to remove a large tree which grew near a wall. As it
would weaken the wall to stub up the roots, it was agreed that the stump should
remain in the ground. But I wanted to make sure the stump would not grow and
disfigure the gravel walk. The gardener's prescription was to cover it with a
layer of salt. I mused awhile, and thought that the readiest way to keep down
my ever-sprouting corruptions in the future would be to sow them well with the
salt of grace. Oh Lord, help me to do so.
-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon