One Single Act Affects Us All
Sermon based on Romans 5:12-19
February 10, 2008 – Lent 1A
Legend has it that on April 14th, 1912, J. Bruce Ismay, the man who built the RMS Titanic, instructed Captain Edward Smith to increase the speed of the ship on its maiden voyage in order to make and early landfall. He did this in spite of the fact that he knew they were approaching icebergs, assuming that anything big enough to harm the ship would be seen in sufficient time to be avoided. What a disastrous mistake that was! That single command affected everyone on board the ship that night. With speed the largest contributing factor to the crash, that decision cost Ismay not only his ship, but the lives of over 1,400 people that night.
The truth is sometimes our actions affect more than just ourselves. It may not be fair. We may not like it. But that’s the way it is. In our sermon text for this morning we see that that’s the case with Adam. His sin affected the whole human race. By his one sin, we’ve all been infected. Death came through that single act of rebellion. But thank God that Adam isn’t the only one to affect the whole human race. Christ’s single act of righteousness has affected us all too. Through his death on the cross forgiveness and life came to the whole human race. Listen now to Paul’s sharp contrasts as he compares and contrasts Adam and Christ and shows how one single act of each affects us all. We read Romans 5:12-19…
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
“Who’s responsible for this?” mom asks as she sees the mess all over. “Who’s responsible for this?” the boss asks when the biggest account is dropped. “Who’s responsible for this?” all humanity asks when we read the headlines, see the suffering and pain and cruelty around us. Is it God? Is it fate? Is it chance?
But you know the answer: It’s sin. Ever since that fateful day in the Garden of Eden sin has affected the world. When Adam took the fruit of the tree that was forbidden to him and took a bite, his willful rebellion against God brought sin down on all of us. His one bad decision affected all mankind, like Bruce Ismay’s decision affected all onboard the Titanic.
Even without breaking explicit commands, like the one given to Adam, “Do not eat…” and those given later to Moses in the 10 commandments, those who lived between Adam and Moses still died—the consequence of sin. Why? They didn’t break God’s commands! But it didn’t matter. They were still sinners, infected with the disease of sin by their ancestor Adam.
A young woman made some poor choices in life. Angry with her parents, she rebelled. She got into the wrong crowd, became addicted to heroine, and soon after became pregnant with a guy she hardly knew. Unable to quit her addiction she gave birth to a little girl. But there were problems. The baby wasn’t healthy at all. Through no fault of her own, she was addicted to heroine just like her mother. The mistakes of one person impacted the life of another.
Similarly, our parents have passed on to us the disease of sin. An apple tree can’t produce bananas. A fish can’t give birth to a dog. A cat can’t have a baby elephant. And a sinner can’t give birth to a holy, righteous, child. Sinners give birth to sinners. King David put it this way in Psalm 51(:5): “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” That means that before we’ve even had a chance to rebel against God, we were sinners damned to hell.
“Well, that’s not fair!” some might say. “How can I be held responsible for something that’s not really my fault?!” But the fact that you had no choice but to sin does not mean you’re free from responsibility. It may help to think of original sin not as something we’ve done, but as a deficiency in who we are. From our parents we’ve received a sinful nature. It’s part of us. And there’s no arguing our way out of it because that sinful nature produces plenty of sins.
God showers us with blessings and yet, because of sin, we twist and distort and pervert those blessings. He gives us the gift of money to serve others and bring glory to God with it, but because of sin we use it selfishly to serve only ourselves and bring glory to us. He gives us the gift of husband and wife to love and serve each other, but because of sin we treat those closest to us in ways we wouldn’t dream of treating strangers, being rude, demanding, and cruel. He gives us the gift of parents and children to love and honor an care for each other, but because of sin, we’re rebellious, disrespectful and far from perfectly loving. And the list could go on and on. No matter what blessing God gives, because of sin, we pervert it.
“Who’s responsible for this?” you ask? Adam, yes, but also you and I. We are sick with sin, dear friends. We are guilty. And the result of this disease? Well, it’s fatal. Paul makes that clear: “death [entered the world] through sin… death came to all… death reigned…” With all the medical advances we’ve seen in history, the mortality rate remains 100%. And like having a cancer deep inside of us, there’s nothing we can do on our own to fix it. No band-aid, no amount of exercise, or the right diet can take the cancer of sin away. And we need to hear about our disease so something can be done to take care of it. We need a doctor. We need help. Thank God dear friends that Adam isn’t the only one who affected the entire human race by a single act! Thank God we have a doctor—the Doctor of Souls who brings righteousness and life by his single act…
Notice the way Paul speaks of death’s reign. He says “death reigned...” It’s in the past tense. That is to say, death doesn’t reign any more. Even thought Adam brought sin to all mankind by his one sin, even though death entered the world through that one man, one man repaired all the damage done. Adam is a type of Christ, a pattern of the one to come, in the fact that both his single act and Christ’s single act impacted all mankind. But the differences between the two men are vastly different because the results of their single acts are polar opposites.
Adam brought death to all people. Christ brought life. Adam made us all guilty. Christ made us all righteous. The death that came as a result of Adam’s sin is well deserved. The life that came as a result of Christ’s work is totally undeserved.
Don’t complain that it’s unfair for God to hold us accountable for Adam’s sin. We don’t want what’s fair. Was it fair for Christ to take the fall for all the sins we’ve committed? Was it fair that he was damned to hell on the cross for sin when he never sinned once? Of course it wasn’t fair! And so fair is not what we want. We want grace. And thank God that’s exactly what we get.
Paul describes what we get: “…the gift is not like the trespass… the gift… came by… grace… Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin… the gift… brought justification… those who receive… the gift of righteousness [will] reign in life…” Our justification, the righteousness that is ours through Christ, his sinless perfection, is a gift, given to us freely, not earned or deserved. Just as you suffer because of Adam’s sin (though you had nothing to do with it), so too, you can be sure that you will receive life as the blessed results of Christ’s work (though you had nothing to with that either). And thank God you have nothing to do with it, because that means it’s not up to you. You can’t goof it up. You can be certain it’s yours.
As we all get our W-2’s and our 1099’s, we’re reminded that two things in life are certain: death and taxes. But for the Christian there’s something even more certain than death: eternal life through Jesus. Yes, you will still die as a result of Adam’s sin. You can be sure of that. But you can also be sure that you will live again through Jesus. And you can be certain because God promises this gift in his Word and promises it’s for all men.
Paul says, “God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” How many? “...just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men…” We call this universal justification. All in universe have been declared to be sin-free. So rejoice, dear friends, that if Christ’s work paid for the sins of all mankind, if his justification brings life to all men—for J. Bruce Ismay, for Judas Iscariot, for Adolf Hitler, for Osama bin Laden—you can be sure that his death on the cross paid for your sin—all of it—the original sin you inherited from your parents and the actual sins you’ve committed.
Receive the benefits of that forgiveness, friends. Don’t reject it, but believe. You are forgiven. You are righteous and holy. You are perfect in God’s sight. Now go, and sin no more. Live a life of thanksgiving to Jesus. For though you once owned sin and death through the single act of Adam, though the single act of Christ, you now have grace and righteousness and life. Let’s begin that life of thanks to Jesus right now in prayer: “We thank you, Christ, new life is ours, New light, new hope, new strength, new pow’rs; This grace our ev’ry way attend Until we reach our journey’s end.” (CW #378 v.6) Amen.
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