Watch as Ray David opens Romans 5:12-21 and shows us the abounding grace of the Gospel.
A New Year
This is the first Sunday in 2018 and we as we open Romans 5, we will look at it through the lens of the new year.
The entire world around us tell us that the key to 2018 is trying harder. Be stronger. Put forth more effort. Paradoxically, the Gospel says that weakness is essential and foundational to a better 2018. What we really need in 2018 is an honest appraisal of our own need, because that will press us into Jesus.
Two Representatives
In chapter 5:12-21, we have two representative men, who represent all have humanity in very different ways. Adam is all about sin, disobedience, death and condemnation. Jesus represents obedience, justification, righteousness and life.
What We Deserve in Adam
We have to come to terms with our own weakness and ungodliness. Our greatest problem is sin. It began with Adam. His sin lead to death and then death spread to all men.
Because of Adam, someday you are going to die. Why does Adam’s sin have consequences for you and me? Adam is representative for all of humanity. If we had been in the garden we would have done the same thing. Adam’s sin was to fail to trust in the goodness of God, and we all do the same thing.
We All Sinned
Your greatest sin is not the moments you fail to trust now – your greatest sin, along with all of humanity, happened back in the garden. The entire human race sinned in Adam’s sin. Because we are all part of team Adam, we all sinned with him. Adam represents his entire family, so when he sinned, so did we.
Heading into 2018 we need to start here. We need to own our weakness. In Adam, we stand guilty before God, and powerless to change our own ungodliness. In Adam, we live heading for eternal death, but also death in each moment. The crushing weight of condemnation, guilt and despair kills every moment. It is death on the last day, but it is a death of a thousand cuts along the way.
What We Have Been Given In Christ
But the good news is that Romans 5 doesn’t leave us in despair. We have a second representative – Christ Jesus. The free gift of Christ Jesus is something that we haven’t earned or deserved – it is simply a gift. The free gift is cancelled sin. We no longer need to live with guilt and shame. He died the death that was ours. Sin and death are always behind us.
The power of cancelled sin means that we can live differently in 2018. The change doesn’t begin with behaviors – it begins with realizing what you deserve in Adam and rejoicing in what you’ve been given in Jesus.
It is not just the guilt of your sin that has been taken away – it is the power of that sin in your life today. Sin no longer has any power in your life. He has defeated it and you can now put it to death. There is no more guilt, condemnation and death for you. When you see sin in your life, you can say that that ‘sin has no power over me anymore.’
A New Family Tree
We were in Adam – in a family tree that leads to condemnation and death, but now, we have been transferred from Adam to Christ. We are now on a trajectory and family tree that leads to faithfulness, obedience and righteousness. God has changed your spiritual DNA – He has changed your family. You are no longer in Adam – your representative is Jesus Christ and He has cancelled the power of sin in your life. You are no longer defined by Adam – you are defined by Christ.
Reigning in Life
The problem with new year’s resolutions is that they are all based on your strength. Reigning in life begins with your weakness, which leads to strength in Christ.
In 2018, we need to kill the sin in our lives or it will kill us. But we can take it head on in the recognition that Jesus has already cancelled its power.
