Death Through The sin of One Man

Introductory Thoughts

Ø The basic equation of mankind: 1 Cor 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Ø There are two alternatives, you are dead, or you are alive.
Ø If you are Christ’s today, if you have been born again, if you are a believer in and a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are in Christ, and therefore alive. That life is yours today, and you have the sure promise of the Almighty Sovereign God that He will bring that promise to full fruition and complete your redemption.
Ø If you are lost today, if you think that this Christianity stuff is a lot of hokum, if you do not believe in Christ and follow Christ, then you are in Adam, and you are dead.
Ø You may think you are alive, but you are dead in Adam, and if you stay in Adam, that death will come to full fruition as your condemnation becomes complete.

1. The Center of the Epistle to the Romans—"Wherefore…..”

a. The Doctrine of Salvation Has Been Explained.
(1) Paul started with one assertion: Rom 1:16-17
(2) Then we saw Man’s need: 1:18-3:20—You cannot save yourself—Rom 1:18, Rom 3:9-11, Rom 3:19-20
(3) God Saves Sinners—Salvation by Grace, through faith. Rom 3:21-4:25
(a) God’s way of righteousness
(b) Grace
(c) The Cross
(d) Justification before God by faith alone.
(e) Imputation—the legal transaction that takes care of our sin.
(f) The Meaning of being forgiven.

b. The Assurance of Our Salvation—Rom 5:1-11
c. Now we see “wherefore…” since we cannot save ourselves, since we are saved by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, since God has done this incredible reconciliation, we can now show the basic division of the human race: In Adam (lost), and In Christ (Saved).

(1) If you are reconciled to God by the death of His Son, if you have been justified by faith, you are In Christ, and secure of eternal life.
(2) If you are still in Adam, you are dead, spiritually.

2. Original Sin— Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world
a. The Historicity of Genesis—not an academic matter.
(1) If a historical Adam did not represent all mankind in sinfulness, a historical Christ could not represent all mankind in righteousness. If all men did not fall with the first Adam, all men could not be saved by Christ, the second and last Adam (see 1 Cor. 15:20-22, 45). (John MacArthur)
(2) Jesus believed it whole-heartedly—Mat 19:4-6
(3) Just as our salvation is based upon real events that happened in a real place in real time to a real Man, the God-man, Christ Jesus, so the facts of Genesis 2 are a necessary part of the plan of redemption.
(4) There was a literal first man, hand made by God, and he was given earthly dominion and a Law by God. There was a literal first woman, made from the man’s DNA (rib).

(5) There was a literal confrontation with the serpent in the garden, and Adam and Eve sinned literally, leading to the actual Fall.

b. God Works Through Federal Headship— as by one man sin entered into the world
(1) Adam was our representative, our Federal Head. Just as our representatives speak for us in the halls of government, Adam represented us as well.
(2) Adam spoke for us, acted for us.
(a) Mankind is a single entity, constituting a divinely ordered solidarity. Adam represents the entire human race that is descended from him, no matter how many subgroups there may be. Therefore when Adam sinned, all mankind sinned, and because his first sin transformed his inner nature, that now depraved nature was also transmitted to his posterity. Because he became spiritually polluted, all his descendants would be polluted in the same way. That pollution has, in fact, accumulated and intensified throughout the ages of human history. Instead of evolving, as humanists insist, man has devolved, degenerating into greater and greater sinfulness. (John MacArthur)

(3) Christ’s Federal Headship mirrors that of Adam.
(a) Just as Adam represented us in the garden of Eden, so Christ was our representative in His earthly life and ministry, and in the Garden of Gesthemane, in Pilate’s courtyard, on Calvary’s Hill, and in the Garden tomb.
(b) Just as Adam represented us in death, so Christ represented us in His triumph over the grave, His ascension, and His present intercession for us—1 Cor 15:22, 45
c. The Effects of Sin—and death by sin

(1) Sin brought death—death was unknown to man until sin brought it in
(2) Along with death came the instruments of death: disease, hatred, strife—soon to be acted out in the murder of Abel by Cain.

d. The Universality of Sin—and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Doctrinal proofs: Rom 3:10-12, Rom 3:23, Isa 53:6, Gen 6:5, 8:21

(1) Practical proofs—
(a) The proof of parenthood—parents don’t have to teach their children to sin, they do it very naturally and easily—Eph 2:3
(b) The proof of death—all die
(c) The proof of history—what a sinful people we are, and the more mankind “progresses,” the more depraved and violent we become.

3. When Did All Mankind Sin? and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

a. First, all mankind sinned in Adam—The Aorist tense—“….all sinned.”

(1) The seminal principle— Heb 7:9-10
(2) When Adam sinned, you sinned, I sinned, all humanity sinned.
(i) That is why the Redeemer was of the seed of the woman, with no human father.
(ii) The Virgin Born Savior had no human father, but God was His Father, and therefore, He inherited no sin, nor did He inherit the guilt of Adam’s sin.

b. All human beings become sinners in actuality as soon as they are able to make rational decisions on any level—Psa 58:3

4. Universal Accountability—5:13-14

a. The Dilemma—the written Law was not given until relatively late in the game. How did all then suffer death as a judgment? How did God hold them accountable?

b. The Proof of Universal Accountability

(1) First, God does hold all accountable—this is evidenced by the fact all are subject to death.
(2) The Bible says that all are without excuse— Rom 1:19-21
(3) The Bible says that the Law is universally applicable— Rom 3:19-20

c. The Explanation of Universal Accountability

(1) Degrees of accountability—Luke 12:47-48
(2) The Witness of nature—Psa 19:1-3
(3) The Witness of Conscience—Rom 2:14-15