Thank you, Brother Richard. Thank you all. Glad to see you all this morning. We’re going to be in the book of Romans, chapter 5. If you’ve got your Bibles, if not, we’ll have the verse here for you.

Romans, chapter 5, verse 18.

So then, as through one transgression, there resulted condemnation to all men. Even so, through one act of righteousness, there resulted justification of life to all men.

I’m in the Nazby. It says, so then. If you’re in the ESV or NIV, it’s going to say, therefore. It’s the same thing. You remember what Pastor Chad said. When you see therefore, you’ve got to know what it’s there for. I use the Nazby, and I kind of like the, so then. It has a certain ring to it. So then, what are we talking about? Paul has laid out theologically for us, in the beginning of the book of Romans, up to chapter 5. In the first two, three chapters, he has let it be known and made it clear that all are under condemnation. All fall under the wrath of God. All have fallen short of His glory. All are sinful. There is not one righteous. No, not one. Not a single one. And then, he establishes that justification is of faith. And no man… No man will be justified by his works. And then, you get into chapter 5, and he says, therefore, having been justified, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. And then, you get to verse 12 in chapter 5, and he starts this thought again. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so all died. And he sort of leaves his thought. And he doesn’t complete it until he gets to 18. He sort of reiterates what he had said about sin entering into the world through one man, and death through sin. And then, he sort of reiterates it and re-explains it. And finally, in verse 18, he goes back to his original statement, the first half of that verse, and he completes it. So then, through one transgression. Just one transgression. So, we need to go back to the garden, to the fall, and sort of explore that, to sort of lay the groundwork. And so, I want you to… I have some good news for you today. I have the gospel for you today, but first, I have bad news. And it’s tough. I think it’s difficult to believe, to understand, but it’s so vital. It’s necessary. I need you to stick with me. Lay your emotions aside. Okay? And think with your mind. And think according to what God has said. Not what you think should be good. Not what you think is right. Not what you think is just. Not what you think is fair. But what God has said. And if you will do that, there’s a reward on the other side. I have some good news for you. There’s a reward. If you can grasp and understand and know and believe the first part. The bad news. The good news. It’s necessary to truly comprehend the magnitude of the good news. You have to. So, bear with me. Don’t get mad at me. I’m just the messenger. Okay? I’m in the Bible. Through one transgression. Adam. In the first week, I don’t know how long it was after creation that Adam fell. Most people tend to think it wasn’t very long. Day six? I don’t know. Second week? It was year one, right? Week one? Week two? Not very long. God had created Adam. And from Adam, Eve. And He created them in His image. He bestowed on Adam virtues and a love for truth and justice. And all the things that are only of God, He gave to man. And here, Adam and Eve. In the garden. Having been supplied with everything that they need. God had planted trees and shrubs and fruits of every kind. Of anything you can eat. Take care of the garden. Be with your wife. Enjoy one another. Enjoy my company. My paternal love that I’m pouring out on you. I’ve given you everything.

And if you will do one thing. What’s the one thing? If you will. If you will obey. You will not die. So turn that around. If you will obey, you will live forever. You will have eternal life. You can’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One thing. Just obey me on that. Here comes the serpent. Talking in Eve’s ear.

Swindles her and convinces her. By whatever conversation. We know that he sort of questioned her. And said, did God really say that? I think really probably like. Why would God keep you from that tree? Do you really think you need to stay away from that? And so Eve comes to Adam. And Adam being the head of the household. Consents and they eat. And they disobeyed God. And they plunged themselves into ruin. They ruined the image that God had born on them.

They broke the covenant with God. In the day that you eat, you will surely die. Did God really say that? He did. Adam heard it clear as day. He received the commandment directly. Adam, do not eat. You will die. But Adam chose to elevate himself. Above what God had created him to be. Above the bounds that God had set for him. In his pride. He said, you know what? I know you told me not to eat. But I think there’s something more out there for me. I think there’s something greater to be had. Than your paternal love. Than your provision in all things. Your friendship.

And so they ate. And brought condemnation. Condemnation. Judgment. Adam takes a bite of the apple. And all of a sudden he’s in a grand courtroom. With the divine judge sitting on the stand with the gavel. And he’s pronounced condemned. Guilty. Guilty. Penalty. Death.

And Paul says that that transgression not only resulted in condemnation for Adam, who was guilty of breaking the law, but it resulted in condemnation for all men.

That’s pretty plain. Paul doesn’t mince words. I don’t think he leaves any room for misinterpretation. He says, one transgression resulted in condemnation for all men. Period. Actually, there’s some more of the sentence. But you could put a period there and it would make sense. Right?

So, before, a few verses prior to this, Paul sort of… He makes this same point and he starts giving proofs for that. So, death entered in through the one sin and spread to all men. And that’s evidence because all have died. Even without the law. Because you’ll say, well, if there’s no law, you can’t impute sin. Paul says, from Adam to Moses, everyone died.

So, Adam had the direct commandment. Just like Moses had the direct commandment. But even so, from Adam to Moses, everyone died. So, something else is going on here. It’s not just my violation of knowing something. What Adam did is ruin his nature. And so, he ruined your nature.

Adam corrupted himself. And so, everything that proceeds from Adam, is corrupted. I have an oak tree in my backyard. And in the fall, and all the time, there are tons of acorns on the ground. You step on one, you pick one of them little stems up, you’ll know it.

That’s how the oak tree reproduces itself. I can bank on everything that I am and everything that I have, that that acorn is not going to produce an orange tree. That’s not its nature.

Blackberry bushes are not going to sprout out from the acorns. It produces oak trees. And so, sinful Adam produces sinful child and sinful grandchild.

Again, Paul made it, I think, clear as we need to have it. But I want to offer some more proofs. Just so that you don’t think I’m going outside of what he’s saying here. Maybe I’m taking it out of context.

No.

We see it in nature. The oak tree will not beget an orange tree. Okay? Just natural law. They reproduce after their own kind, right? A woman is pregnant and going to bear a child. You don’t have a baby pig. That’s not how it works. You have a baby. A human. Right? A dog will have dogs. A cat will have cats. I know I’m being redundant, but grasp it. It’s proven in God’s natural order of things. Okay?

Second,

there’s something more important than that. First, let me go back. David in Psalm 51 says that he was knit together in his mother’s womb in iniquity. He came forth from the womb sinful. It’s how I heard it growing up. And I think a lot of even well-meaning, genuine people have this view.

And so if I challenge that view this morning, I’m not being unnecessarily abrasive. What I’m saying is necessary to understand my good news for you. It’s necessary.

I just want to say this as blunt and plain as possible. There is never a time when humans aren’t accountable. That’s a tough doctrine. My little one-year-old just demonstrates that by nature, she is sinful. When I tell her something, she stomps her feet. And talks back. She’s rebelling. Just like her nature would do. Right? People think that there’s an age of accountability. That somehow, it’s this arbitrary line that when a kid reaches a certain point in time and they can understand what rules are and what it really means to disobey and that they intentionally disobey. That’s not the point. Yes, when you knowingly violate a rule or a command or a law, yes, you are guilty of violating it. And you deserve to bear the punishment of violating it.

But before any of that takes place, we’re already sinful. Through and through. We’re made up of sin because of the one-year-old. We’re made up of sin and transgression that plunged us into condemnation. You have to know that. Adam, as a head, represents all of humanity. Okay? When Adam sinned and God, in the courtroom, pronounced judgment on him, guilty, penalty, death, in the year 1988, when Chase was about to make his happy entrance into the world, he was guilty in that courtroom. No evidence needed to be presented. Chase didn’t need to be two years old and talk back to his mama to be sinful. No. All that needed to happen was God to see that this man is flesh. He is of Adam. He is guilty. Period. Period.

So, I don’t want it to sound or seem like that’s no big deal to me. I can remember nights sitting on the side of the bathtub

with Isabella, just as a little baby, wrestling with this very thing. Weeping.

I don’t understand. It doesn’t make sense. That’s not fair.

But it has to be. It has to be. You have to believe this. Because if you don’t, if you don’t accept that Adam is your head, you are represented by him as sinful fallen man, then you can’t have the greater thing and accept that Christ represents righteousness for all who are sinning. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say it’s unfair to be considered and counted guilty just by being the offspring of Adam and then say, oh, wait, no. I want some of that with Jesus. I’m in Jesus. I want His righteousness, even though it’s not mine, even though I didn’t do that. I didn’t live a life of righteousness. I want that. You don’t want the sin that Adam gave you. Why? You have to be consistent. Do you? Do you see the significance there? You have to know. I’m going to say it one more time. You have to know that you are guilty in Adam. Because of Adam’s one sin, you are under condemnation. You are a child of wrath, Ephesians says. Children of wrath. God’s wrath rests upon humanity. God’s wrath is burning against all who are of Adam. Jesus says you must be born again. Those who are born of the flesh are what? Fleshy. They love the things of the flesh. They desire the things of the flesh. They produce the things of the flesh. They speak from things of the flesh.

You have to be born again of the Spirit and have a new head. God.

Adam’s transgression ruined everything. He was banished from the garden. He was banished from the company and the fellowship of God. He was banished from access to the tree of life. And so, death.

He lost all that God had, had given and provided for him. He ruined who he was created to be.

So then, where are we?

I have some good news for you. If you can believe that,

as strong and as invasive as Adam’s sin is to ruin himself and all of his offspring, so much stronger, so much stronger is the grace of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So much stronger. Adam’s sin is so strong. One sin. I took a bite of something that I wasn’t supposed to bite. And I’m guilty. I’m cut off from life.

And not only me, but millions and millions and millions and millions of people that stem from me for thousands and thousands of years. That’s pretty serious. That’s pretty strong. Cause and effect, right? So much stronger is the work of Jesus on the cross. So then, through one transgression, there resulted, condemnation to all men. Even so, even in light of that, what? Through one act of righteousness or the righteousness of one person, namely Jesus Christ, there resulted what? Justification.

Paul doesn’t compare Adam and Jesus. That would deface Jesus. Right? He contrasts. He contrasts them. The polar opposites. Black and white. Complete opposite ends of the spectrum. He shows how different they are. And how much better Jesus is. In everything, Jesus is better. Adam ruined everything that God gave to us. Jesus is better in that he can overpower and overshadow and overcome that and restore it. And bring us back to God. That’s good news to me. And again, I don’t have to I don’t have to imitate Adam to be considered guilty. That’s important. Remember that, please. I don’t have to imitate Adam to be considered guilty. Why is that important? Because I don’t have to imitate Jesus to be considered righteous. Yes, we are imitators of Christ. By His Spirit, we strive and we work and we do all these things to bear fruit of God. That’s a result of the righteousness of Jesus. I don’t have to imitate Jesus in the sense that I merit righteousness fit for being justified.

That’s important. You’ve got to know that. I don’t have to sin to be considered sinful. I’m sinful in Adam. And guess what? I don’t have to live a life of righteousness to be considered righteous. Because by faith, I grasp that because of what Jesus has done for me on the cross. It’s important.

Jesus’ work on the cross results in justification to justify, to make one morally congruent or morally right. By God’s standard, you’re considered good. You check out. You’re good. You’re good. So, before Jesus, before faith coming to you and God’s grace overshadowing you and correcting all that you’ve done and restoring, giving you a new heart and a new mind and a new status, sinful. A long list. At the top of it, Adam’s fall. Below that, you can list them yourself. My list, personally, is extremely long. But in Christ, it’s white as snow. In Christ, the only thing I need is at the top of my list to say, in Christ. That’s it. I don’t need to say, Chase paid his tithes every week. I don’t need it to say, Chase prayed three times a day. I don’t need it to say, Chase never lied. I don’t need it to say, Chase never stole nothing. I don’t need it to say, Chase never had a lustful thought in his heart. I don’t need it to say, Chase never worshipped false gods. I don’t need it to say, I don’t need it to say none of that. All I need to say is, Chase is in Christ. Because Christ is my righteousness.

Period.

Adam, in his pride, elevated himself above the station that God had given him. And he sought to obtain and get more as if it wasn’t enough. Oh, this is great, God. Life and all. Happiness, peace. This is great, but I think there’s a little more out there. Adam was made from dust. God, in his graciousness, breathed into Adam and he became a living soul. And everything that Adam had was from God. Everything that Adam was or knew was from God. Yet it wasn’t enough. In his pride, he sought more. And Adam cut himself off from that fellowship and that life.

Adam, Adam’s temptation was nothing like Jesus’. Jesus, in the wilderness, I don’t know if Adam made it 40 days and 40 nights. I have a hard time believing that. I know I wouldn’t have.

Jesus, Jesus in the wilderness, no bread, no water, dusty, dry, cotton mouth, hot.

Satan comes along, turn them rocks into bread, get you something to eat, fill your belly. And Jesus, unlike Adam, thought that God’s word was enough. Man shall not live, live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. God’s word, God’s commandment was sufficient for Jesus.

And He resisted. And ultimately, He laid up that righteous life that He lived on the cross. He became that curse as we talked about on Wednesday. He bore our sin in His body. He became the curse. And He gave it up. And He died. He died a bloody death. And He was buried. And He was raised again for our justification. And because we’re justified, okay, Adam in his original state was just. And he was able to live and be with God and enjoy all the benefits that come from that. Jesus justifies us. What? What does Paul say? Justification of life to all men. Say justification unto life. Or justification that leads to life. Or justification that allows you to have life. Okay? Because you are justified in Christ, though Adam waged war against God, now, now you have peace. And you can walk past those angels that are set up on the side of the garden with their flaming swords and enter. You now have access again to the tree of life. You have access to all those benefits that God bestowed on humanity because of your head, Christ.

Jesus is better in all respects. So, if you’ve not come to Christ and your worry or your struggle is, well, you’ve just done too much, I’ve heard that, you know, well, I don’t know that God would forgive me. Know that in light of the sins of the whole world, God has empowered that in the face of Christ. The result of many sins, was grace in Christ. Though one plunged us into ruin.

You, you as a Christian who struggle with, with salvation, you struggle with security. This for me, is my security. Knowing that because I can be considered in Christ, He is my head. It’s nothing of me. I’m just associated with Him because He’s clinging on to me. He’s claimed me as His own. That is my only hope. It’s not that in my own power I’m going to finish well. It’s not that in my faithfulness I’m going to, I’m going to just, just greasy hands and little elbow grease and make it to the end. By God’s grace, I will make it. But at the end of the day, it’s because I am in Christ. And that’s it. That, that, that is my security. That is, that is the only reason that I believe that when I die, I’ll be with Him in heaven.

There is no, I don’t know how you can have security if, if, if, if what Christ did on the cross, if His work is, is something that, you know, you made a decision to, to grab and you’re holding on to it, but maybe you can falter enough and it falls, it falls out of your hands or, or maybe, you know, you can just send your way out of it or, or maybe you can set it down if you’d like. I, I don’t know how people find peace in that. I don’t think there is any. The only peace that you have, the only peace that I have is to consider yourself in Christ. And I think sometimes the way to do that is to think much on the fact that you’re in Christ. The fact that you were in Adam and all the people around you are in Adam. Just look around. Look at the evidence. Adam and the death that he brought on is reigning. It’s strong. It’s relentless. None are exempt. If you, if you can sit and think for a while and, and come up with one person, count on one finger, who doesn’t fall under that kind of, condemnation to all men category, you missed it. You messed up. You, you’ve left the Bible. You need to go back. You can’t, you can’t put up any fingers on that count. There are none exempt.

And, just so you just think about that, that even in light of that,

much more did the grace of God shine when He said, I’ll show you, how much I love you. Put my son on the cross for you. Well, I just, I don’t, I don’t know, I don’t know if I’m going to make it. I don’t know, you know, if I’m secure in Jesus. Tell that to the Father who gave His Son to represent you if you would just have faith. Nothing else. Just believe that Christ represents you. That’s it. Well, I don’t know, that, you know, have I done too much? Do I believe enough? Do I? Tell that to the bloody Christ on the cross.

Tell that to the empty tomb. Tell that, doubting Thomas, to Jesus standing in front of you, inviting you to put your fingers in the holes in His hands.

Tell that to the flaming tongues at Pentecost.

Tell that to all the people that you might have witnessed leave a life of sinfulness and debauchery and make a complete change. And you know it’s because of the grace of God. You know it’s because the Spirit is working in them. Tell that to all of that evidence that you have.

Christ is enough. Just believe. Believe God. Therefore, Romans 5.1, therefore, having been justified by what? By what Jesus did and, you know, you better be faithful. You better, you know, you better tighten it up, son, as my dad used to say. Tighten it up. No, by faith. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. I can return on home. I can come back to the garden. I can come back to that tree of life and live eternally because I’m in Christ.

If you sin, we have an advocate with the Father. If you’ll confess your sin, God is faithful and just to forgive you of what? Most of them. Some of the lesser ones. He’ll forgive you of ones that, you know, we were talking about on Wednesday that the law made provision for. It says all sins. One of my favorite preachers, D.J. Ward, he said, he said, we ought to stop singing Jesus paid it all and sing Jesus paid some of it. If you don’t believe that He forgives all sin. He paid it all. And by faith, you can be justified and have life. That’s good news. Just believe. Believe in Jesus. Be justified. Be brought back in to that relationship of the Father and the Son and the Spirit. Be brought back in to all those benefits that God gives to His children whom He will consider you one of if you will consider yourself in Christ.

Let’s pray and we’ll sing another song. Father, I thank You for Your Word. I thank You for the undeniable truths that You have left for us here that speak over every trial and every sorrow and every doubt that we might have, Lord. That just say louder and louder that You love us and You’ve loved us from all eternity in Jesus.

And by His blood, we can be justified and considered righteous and be considered one of Your children, Lord. I thank You for that hope that You’ve given us in Your Word. I thank You for all the proofs that You give us. I thank You for Your Spirit working in us to renew us, to teach us and to correct us, to open our eyes to what You have in Your Word, Lord. I just thank You for Your goodness and Your mercy and Your grace, Lord. We don’t deserve it. We deserve condemnation. But Lord, because of Your goodness and Your grace, You’ve given us life. I just thank You. We praise You today in Jesus’ wonderful, holy name. Amen.