The
reading from Romans 5:12-19 reinforces the idea that those who trust Christ
have hope for the future. Let me explain.
Adam’s
sin led to condemnation of the entire human race because his sinful nature was
passed on to all of his descendants. Christ overcame that condemnation. As a
result, everyone who believes in Christ has been saved and forgiven and can
look forward to spending eternity with Him in heaven.
The
doctrine of solidarity says that all humanity is under the leadership of two
men: Adam and Christ. Connection with Adam leads to death. Satan was the
original angel who violated the righteousness of God, but sin entered the world
through Adam, and death entered the world through sin. Even though there was no
law, death was universal because people were still sinful. They died because
they inherited the nature of death from Adam, not because of their sinful acts.
Because
of Adam’s sin, humanity was introduced to death-not physical death, because
Adam lived for many years after that fateful day in the Garden of Eden. The
type of death that was introduced was spiritual death, also known as separation
from God.
Connection
with Christ leads to life. Christ in His obedience corrected the wrong Adam did
in his disobedience. He secured our eternal home and glory. He conquered the
last enemy-death. That victory has given me strength in the days since my
mother’s death.
Christ
is not Adam’s successor but his Saviour. They are alike only in the sense that
both had universal significance: Adam for death, Christ for life. The key is
much more. Whatever humankind has inherited from Adam, they have much more in
Christ.
Christ’s
one act of salvation was far superior to Adam’s one act of rebellion. One
commentator noted that “That one single misdeed should be answered by judgment,
this is perfectly understandable: that the accumulated sins and guilt of all
the ages should be answered by God’s free gift, this is the miracle of
miracles.”
Christ’s
obedience is greater than Adam’s disobedience. Adam was in an environment that
was conducive to obedience (the Garden), but he disobeyed and brought death.
Jesus was the second Adam. He was in an environment that hindered obedience
(the fallen world), but He obeyed God and brought life.
We
don’t deserve God’s grace. It is his undeserved favour for us. It is a gift
that was paid for by Christ’s death and resurrection. Some people refuse to
accept this gift because of pride. If they accept it, they realize their
despair, and most people aren’t keen on doing that. Some people also think that
they can earn this gift by their own efforts and deeds. We can’t earn our way
to heaven, because as I mentioned a minute ago it is a free ticket that Christ
paid for.
So
how did He pay for this gift? He did it through two types of obedience to God.
First, he actively fulfilled all of the requirements of God’s Law. He never
failed, and he kept and fulfilled all of the Law’s requirements perfectly at
all times. He presented to God a full and complete righteousness that was
without stain or fault, just like all of the animals that were used for Old
Testament sacrifices were without stain or fault. His righteousness is the
ground on which God is willing to accept us.
Second,
He used passive obedience. He allowed Himself to be taken and crucified in
order to suffer the punishment that a holy and just God requires. He became our
substitute and took our sins upon Himself. He took our sins away so that we can
believe in him and have no reason to fear God’s wrath. We can enjoy fellowship
with God forever, and that is the greatest gift of all.
Bibliography
1.
Jeremiah,
David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy
Publishing; 2013, p.1550)
2.
ESV Study
Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.
4.
Briscoe, D.S.
& Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s
Commentary Series, Vol. 29: Romans (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.;
1982, pp. 117-126)
5.
MacArthur,
J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible, New
American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
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