Monday, April 25, 2022

The Contrast of Two Kings

 So far in our study of Romans, we’ve seen that every person, whether Jew or Gentile, stands condemned because there is no one who is righteous. Yet, Paul has told us that there is another way of righteousness that is apart from the Law, though the OT law actually pointed to it. That other way of righteousness is found through faith in Jesus Christ. Like Abraham and David, when we trust in the promises that God has made through Jesus Christ, our faith is counted as righteousness, not because we have done some good work, but because we believe the God who loves to prove his glory by keeping his promises. Last time, we looked at Rom. 5:1-11, and there we saw that through faith, we have peace with God. That peace doesn’t come to us because of our worthiness, but because Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners.

All of those truths are pretty accessible and well understood by most Christians, but starting with our passage this morning, we come to the weightier issues of the book of Romans. From this point thru chapter 11, we are going to cover some serious doctrine. To start, we need to understand the “why” of the Gospel by asking two very serious, important questions. First, why is it that we cannot make ourselves acceptable to God by reforming our lives through the Law? I mean, sure, we might do some bad things until we hear the Law, but if we try really hard after that, why are we still condemned? Second, how can it be that one man’s sacrifice can cover the sins of those who trust in him? In other words, what does Jesus’s life and death have to do with my sins? To answer those questions, let’s read our text from Rom. 5:12-21. From this passage I want you to see two points: The Display of Kingship and the Differences in Trespass and Gift.

Let’s begin by considering the display of kingship from verses 12-14. Paul begins this passage with a very important word: “therefore”. When you see this word, you have to stop and ask what it is there for. This “therefore” harkens back to verse 10, where Paul tells us that we were enemies of God, but we have been reconciled to God. But why were we enemies of God? Why would a Native American in pre-Columbian America be an enemy of God if he has never heard of Jehovah and never read the Ten Commandments? Paul answers this question in verse 12 by connecting sin and death with one man. In doing this, Paul sets forth two very important doctrines that we cannot miss if we are going to fully understand the “why” of the Gospel.

The first doctrine is what is known as “Federal Headship.” Notice that in verses 12 and 14, Paul says that all sin and death can ultimately be traced back to one man: Adam. There is one clear reason why all of the world was plunged into sin and death through Adam. Adam was established as the King over all of the human race. Adam was given the command to be fruitful and to have dominion over creation. He was commanded to pursue wisdom in God’s time and in God’s way and not by way of the tree of knowledge. And, when Adam failed to do those things, God cursed everything. He cursed Adam’s relationship with his wife, so that from then on there would always be pain and strife within the family. He cursed the ground, so that the good work that God had given Adam to do in the garden would now be toilsome labor. And, he cursed Adam to die by removing access to the tree of life where Adam and his family could have been sustained for eternity.

Now, this doctrine of Federal Headship flies in the face of our modern sensibilities. We grow up in America with this idea that a man can make himself into whatever he wants to be. We believe that people are born with a “blank slate”, with neither good nor bad on the ledger of their lives, and they are ultimately judged according to what they write on that blank slate. But I want to suggest that we really don’t live that way. Just consider the way we have viewed the war in Ukraine. On the one hand, every Russian is somehow implicated in the atrocities of this war because of one man: Vladimir Putin. Concerts and ballets have been cancelled in Europe and America because the performers were Russian. Sales of Vodka have been banned in many states, even though only 1% of Vodka is actually made in Russia. Yachts and bank accounts have been frozen because of possible connections with Putin. Have there been any trials of these opera singers, dancers, and oligarchs? Have we weighed the merits of each individual? No! We’ve assumed guilt by association because at our core, we understand this principle of Federal Headship. This also works in the other direction. Volodimir Zelensky, the president of Ukraine has been universally hailed as a hero because of his leadership. His willingness to stay in Kyiv has inspired his citizens, and he has managed to guilt the world into helping his cause. Everyone looks at Zelensky as the personification of the struggle for freedom. Yet, even though he wears military fatigues, you will not see him carrying a weapon. He has not fired a shot or commanded a battalion, and yet when he speaks, he speaks for Ukraine. He is the Federal Head of Ukraine.

In a similar way, what Adam did, he did for the whole human race. Paul puts it even more clearly in 1 Cor. 15:21-22: “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

The second doctrine we find in these verses is called the doctrine of Original Sin. What this means, essentially, is that Adam’s sin has affected all of the human race, and as a result, we carry the corruption and guilt of that sin in some way. There is one clear way that we can know this to be true. We all die. Paul connects sin and death so tightly here, that to have one is to have the other. So, sin and death entered the world through Adam, and through Adam, everyone sins and everyone dies.

But, take heart! There is good news in this doctrine of Federal Headship, for if one man can bring death, one man can also bring life. So, let’s consider the second point: The differences in trespass and gift, from verses 15-21. First of all, notice Paul’s last statement in verse 14: “Adam was a type of the one who was to come.” This word “type,” means a die or a mold. So, there is one who would come after Adam who would be in the pattern of Adam – a second Adam, if you will. And we know who that second Adam is – our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as God stooped down to form Adam out of the dust of the earth, so too God stooped down to form Jesus out of the womb of Mary. Just as God commanded Adam to seek wisdom from God and not from the tree, so Jesus was born under the law to live in full obedience to God. And, Just as Adam was made king over God’s creation, so too Jesus came as the Messiah who would rule over all things.

So, let’s consider the differences between the works of Adam and the works of Jesus. Paul says that Adam’s work can be summarized by one word: “trespass.” Jesus’s work is summarized by another term: “free gift.” Paul gives us three things that these works do.

First, in verse 15 we find that Adam’s trespass caused many to die, but Jesus’s grace extended a free gift to many. Second, in verse 16, Adam’s trespass brought condemnation, but Jesus’s gift brought justification. And, lastly, in verse 17, Adam’s trespass meant that death would reign, but Jesus’s gift means that life will reign. We can understand how this is possible by understanding what this free gift of Jesus is. We find that in verse 17, where Paul calls it “the free gift of righteousness.” Jesus came as the second Adam. Where Adam failed to rule over God’s creation, Jesus brought the Word of God to a dark world. Where Adam failed to rely on God’s wisdom, Jesus would answer the temptations of Satan with the Word of God. Where Adam was cursed because of his sin, Jesus, the righteous one, became a curse for us. Gal. 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” This is why Federal Headship matters. If one man can condemn the whole human race through his one sin, then one man can save all who believe in him through his life of righteousness.

Friend, sin is not something you can overcome with a self-help book or a 12 step program. Sin is a corruption that is buried deep in your soul. Someone else must overcome it for you. The good news is that Jesus has overcome sin and death by dying and rising again. Won’t you trust in him today and be saved?

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is our Federal Head. This means that as he is, so we will be. It means that this world will be full of trouble, but Jesus has overcome the world. It means, as Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:54, “death is swallowed up in victory.” And so, we are called to live in faithfulness to our federal head. We are called to pattern our lives after him, seek holiness in him, and love him as he has loved us.

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