Romans 5:12-21, The Two Great Revolutionaries, Dr. John Carpenter

Romans chapter 5 verse 12 to 21 Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned

For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given But sin is not counted where there is no law yet death reigns from Adam to Moses Even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam who was a type of the one who was to come

But the free gift is not like the trespass For if many died through the one man's trespass much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one

Man, Jesus Christ abounded for many and the free gift is not Like the result of that one man's sin for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation but the free gift following many trespasses brought

Justification for if because of the one man's trespass death reigns through that one man much more

Will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man?

Jesus Christ Therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men

So one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men for as by the one man's disobedience

The many were made sinners. So by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased

Grace abounded all the more so that as sin reigned in death

Grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our

Lord The Lord had his blessings for the reading of his Holy Word Well in 1995 we were preparing to leave

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Like most foreigners there we had a maid She was named

Tigas which means hope and she lived with us Actually, we were unlike most foreigners there

You usually had a whole staff a guard a gardener a maid at least if not others

We only had a maid a local friend told us that we were spoiling her and we were paying her too much $25 a month

Way over the usual rate Well tickets was 19 years old and she came to us with all her earthly belongings and one typical plastic grocery bag

We were very pleased with her work and even considered whether it was possible to bring her with us to Singapore But it wasn't and so when we were getting ready to return to Singapore I at least wanted to do what

I could to find her a new job there since unemployment is Was at least very high there and she wanted to work for foreigners because she said other

Ethiopians were too demanding so I went to the United Nations building in Addis Ababa Addis Ababa is one of the

Because it's the center of the Organization of African unity. It's one of the major Diplomatic centers in the world.

There's a United Nations building there and I went to there I walked right past the guard with his ak -47

Because he was he just assumed I guess that I belonged in there, but I actually had no permission to enter the building I went inside and posted a notice on their bulletin board for our maid a little while later

I got a call from an Indian couple from from India who were interested in hiring her to look after their small child

So I invited them over and I expected that by that point my involvement in this was over, right?

I just arranged it I put up the notice the Indian couple would come and they would talk to tickets They would interview her and that would be all between them and her

I just posted the ad and arranged the meeting That's what I thought Boy, was

I wrong? the Indian couple from the United Nations came with their toddler and they greeted me and they sat in front of me and proceeded to Speak to me and to me only

About tickets. Although tickets was in the room Imagine the scenes kind of a typical with a living room dining room kind of combination with couch a couple chairs

And they're sitting in front of me tickets is there Mary's there? This couple comes in and they talked to me

About her who happened to be standing there, but they never at any time spoke to to her. I was surprised

But tried to go with the flow. That's often the way you deal with people from other cultures when you don't know what's going on Why are these people taking off their shoes before they enter the house?

I guess I better do it too You just kind of go with the flow right and I tried to sell them on hiring tickets

Well when the little child toddled over to tickets they took that as a good sign and so on the basis of that and their Interview with me about her they hired her

Now understand I wasn't just a reference They would have already known that we had given a good reference by the fact that I put up the notice at the

United Nations Building I was her from their point of view. I was her head From their point of view.

She was part of my household. And so to speak to her they had to speak to her head to me

When dealing with a person in another body a family a household an organization of some kind you don't deal with the person directly

But with the head that's the way many people all over the world This is the way they see things.

It's the way they see other people that people are in groups Usually in families or extended households, even if they're not related

Maybe they're employed by the household, but then they are still attached to that household Whoever's in that household is is under the head of that household in old

Roman culture They called them the head on the pattern familias the father of the family and he's not to talk about Minor children, it could be grown children a whole extended family and you he's the head of her

He decides everything that happens the head acts and speaks for those in the group.

I Difficult for many Americans to comprehend many Americans are just so absorbed in their individualism like a fishes in water that they can't imagine

Another way of looking at life. They're so absorbed into and surrounded by individualism.

They just take it for granted They've been shaped by at the CEO. That's what they think is reality. They really do feel that they are these autonomous detached

Individuals who might like they may occasionally like being part of gatherings and part of larger groups of people

And do things with other people but they don't really see themselves as part of a body Certainly, they recoil at the idea that they they have a head over them

Which they are under which acts for on their behalf and speaks for them Autonomy means self -ruling and individualism are so much a part of just kind of the air we breathe here

We're raised on it like a baby is on milk. We just assume that's that's the way of looking at life

The American Revolution has created the idea at least in some Americans minds that with these completely autonomous individuals were detached self -ruling not accountable to or for anyone

Well here in Romans 5 we see that like that Indian couple interviewing me For whether our maid should work for them

God deals with us through our heads and Ultimately, there are only two of them

Either Adam or Christ. Those are the only two revolutionaries in History Adam a rebel against God and Christ a rebel against Adams rebellious world

Everyone else every other revolutionary just carries on the work of those two

Those are the two heads Adam and Christ and here is hard as it may be for some of us to accept it because of Culture because these ideas run so counter to the way we're raised one of the heads sinned for us and The other was righteous for us and Here in these three short paragraphs.

We see three things first the condemnation in verses 12 to 14 second the contrast in verses 15 to 17 and finally the

Comparison in verses 18 to 21. Well first is the condemnation What did your head do for you

He got you condemnation And that first paragraph in verses 12 to 14 Paul tells us that death is

King death is a head over us Because our head Adam sinned death is the the penalty

For sin and we're under death Because Adam chose sin that death reigns

Like a head over a nation like a king on his throne from the time of Adam's sin until the time when the last enemy

Remember the last enemy death is put under Jesus's feet, which is still in our future there are two revolutionaries is

Adam and Christ Adam rebelled against God and so was condemned to death and Because he was our head.

He was the head of the whole Human race he acted on our behalf. He decided to go to war against God as It and as our head

We went with him and so we got condemnation Because of his act of war verse 12 begins saying that sin came through one man

Adam death and came to people through that sin Before the sin Adam and Eve had the ability to eat from the tree of life and so they could live internally and to be spared

But when they sinned God banned them from the garden and said lest he reach out his hand and take to eat of the tree of Life and live forever.

And so the rebel had to be driven out and as our as our head he sin

He was condemned and not simply for himself as an individual But as our head he was sinning and being condemned for us

So when he was driven out We no longer had access to the tree of life and we were left up to death

That's how the condemnation of sin the sentence against our sin came down to us

Now the individualist will immediately say well, that's not fair That's not fair Wasn't my sin.

Why should I be penalized for his sin? I'm my own person. I think I'm detached. I'm Responsible for my decisions.

Well, there are four things to say back to that to reply to that for proofs Prove that individualism is wrong for proofs of what you call headship theology.

It could go it's called federal headship I'm not quite sure why but let's call it federal headship that either

Adam or Christ acts for us There's scripture. There's experience. There's death and there's sin

But first the scripture particularly this scripture this passage right here I'm with chapter 5 verses 12 to 21 this passage says that either because of Adam or Christ there is there is death or life

There is sin or righteousness there's condemnation or justification

Verse 12 starts by saying sin came into the world through one man Adam Death spread to all men because all sinned think about that.

We pass over that really quickly. You can miss a lot We might think you're passing over very quickly.

Well because of because of our individualism we might think the way we just Programmed to think and also to be fair because Paul has already been argued earlier in Romans that we do all sin individually.

That is certainly true We do what sin individually and we are condemned for our sin that we sin individually

And we could think that that's what he's saying here. But now he's saying something different we could think though that he's saying that Adam sin brought death and We got that death

Because we also like Adam Individually sin, he's just Adam is just kind of the first bad example and We've been following his bad example ever since that's the way some people think right?

He someone first one goes to the door that we follow the way they go But so we've been following Adams pattern and we're just condemned though for our own sin, but notice the verb tense

He doesn't say Paul does not say As we would expect that he should put it the death spreads or is spreading even now present tense

Because all people said that's not what he says Does he he doesn't say death spreads because all people sin present tense ongoing as if people right now

Die now because of the sins that they commit now He doesn't say that I understand if you're going to say like those

Some of you remember the Church of Christ people I debated about two years ago that this passage is saying That death and guilt are ours

Because of our individual sense That's what those people I debated believe

We we are guilty Because of our individual sins we die because our individual sins nothing new with Adam Adam would just happen to be the forerunner

Happen to be the first one to do it and we kind of been following his pattern ever since but there's no other no real

Connection to Adam other than he was the first one through the door That's what they would argue if that's the case then verse 12 should say

Death is spreading present tense death is spreading to all because all are

Present tense now Sinning right now. That's what it should say

But instead it says death entered Like something done once for all past tense in the past death came with one point in the past death entered because all sinned all

Sent all people sinned in the sin past tense in the past How is that possible think about again sin past tense in the past all sin?

Even people even people like you and me Who were way in the future as far as Paul was concerned when he wrote this down?

We died When Adam sinned And we sinned when

Adam sinned Because we send it out Because his sin was ours because he sinned for us and And When we send in him because we were in him and he was sending for us so when he said we said when he said we were condemned because he is our head and So in him we were sinning

At that point we sent and so we're condemned to death. That's first 12

That begins an idea Paul is beginning an idea a contrast That just like sin came through Adam who sinned

For us condemning us and you'd immediately expect then the second half of the contrast just like Adam You would expect so in the same way

Christ brought life To all he is head over. That's what you would expect notice there

Yes, they put a kind of dash at the universe as well because he's beginning this contrast and then he breaks it off He breaks off the contrast of the bill and then backs up to further

Explain his idea. He picks it back up again in verse 18 everything from verses 13

For 17 is he's backing up and he's explaining the background for what he's gonna then start again in verse 18

Backing up wait in verse 13 sin was in the world before the law You're thinking okay, what does that mean?

Why do I care but during that long period between Adam and Moses? There's about you know thousands of years.

How was their sin before there was a law given? to violate You think about how is that possible?

How are they? How were they? Sinning when they had no law to break.

I had Adam sin because he had a law don't eat of that tree and He ate of it anyway, and so he said that he had a law he broke it

But how do people without a law sin, how does that work and If they have no law and they have therefore they have no sin.

Why do they die? If they're just attached individuals if if of course they're not

Because all we all sin in Adam. That's why in verse 14 death reigned from Adam to Moses Because they're all responsible for the sin of Adam before We all send in Adam and so even on those who didn't sin like Adam did breaking that this open command of God Don't eat of that tree still, you know, there were a lot of people better than Adam It didn't didn't have a law like that that they just kind of overtly broke and still they still they died

Because they were in Adam and had sinned in him They're responsible for his sin

Adam. He says is a type of Christ Right to two fathers two heads.

There's Adam There's Christ Adam was a type of Christ and the next verses and it describes how

Adam is like Christ and that they are heads Who acted for all the people under them? Verses 15 to 19, especially make this clear over and over and almost every verse

Or verses 15 to 19. It teaches what we call imputation. That is the sin of Adam is imputed to us

We're held responsible for it Imputation and almost every verse from 15 to 19 teaches that the headship of Adam or Christ it says in verse 15 if many died

Many he means all the way many died through one man's trespass one man

Adam He sinned but many died that's imputation. We have grace because of what the one man

Jesus Christ did that's also imputation his Righteousness is attributed imputed to us.

That's That's what Christ did for us verse 16 the one man's sin

Then the judgment following one trespass That is

Adams and it brought Condemnation his sin brought condemnation

For the rest of us for all Condemnation is the sentence of guilty at a court

It's the opposite of justification Condemnate you are condemned you are guilty.

He said you're pronounced guilty Then that is he said and we're all condemned for his sin the condemnation again is the opposite of justification.

It's the verdict at a trial You're guilty and The punishment you get is death in verse 17 death reigned because of one man's trespass not because Notice the verse 17 death reigned because of one man's trespass not because of each of us sinned individually on our own but because Adams sent

Because Adam sinned as our head and so we are condemned for his sin again in verse 18 one trespass.

That is Adams Led to condemnation again that guilty verdict on all men

So also one act of righteousness That's Christ's life They leads to justification

He's being declared, right? And it's not because of our righteous lives

But because of Christ as the new head the last Adam was right for us and his rightness is counted or Fancy work imputed to us

God counts remember God counts we believe

And finally verse 19 in case there is any more doubt that there are two heads who back for us by one man's disobedience

One man his disobedient Adams disobedience many Were made sinners the rest of us were made sinners not just by it not by our own disobedience

Although we were disobedient, but that's beside the point here not by our own disobedience where we made sinners but by Adams Disobedience where we made sinners we were seen by God declared guilty sinners by God because Adam acted for us in his sin as the rebel

But there's another revolutionary a second head By the one man's obedience.

This is Christ the one man's obedience Christ obedience the many will be made

Righteous be declared, right? You're right with God Because of what you did because of what

Christ did and that's attributed that's counted Imputed to you. So there's this objection.

Well, that is not fair that we're held responsible for someone else's acting for us Usually we're more

We're we're far more protesting having Adams guilt Adam's sin counted to us than we are

Christ's righteousness. We kind of like the latter one But the people support that that's not fair I should stand on my own two feet

I should be counted for what I did and me only but that's but this is simply what Scripture says Particularly this passage if we have an individualism that finds that hard to swallow instead of spitting out the

Bible this change our individualism The second is experience now this idea really isn't as hard to understand

As we might like sure if I put it just so bluntly that you know You are responsible for the sin of Adam.

Whoa, why you think I don't know. Why should his guilt be imputed to me?

That sounds too hard We think it sounds unfair and we might protest but I think even individual individualistic

Americans feel still feel themselves as part of a body of a group with a head and we know that if the president the

Congress that is the heads of our nation Decide that the United States will be a war with another country Then we are a war with that country

We might disagree with it. We can say that they're wrong that we should not have been a war with this country

We shouldn't be a war with him But we are a war whether we act like it or not because of the actions of our heads and If we protest enough and say well,

I don't I don't agree with that try to go to that other country Well first they probably won't let us in Because they'll say no we're at war with you right

I'll let you in our country and if they do they'll probably think you're a spy Because we're at war with you You're one of them.

You're under their head You're a war with us and because your head declared war

So they'll be looking at you. Maybe detain you Well, the third proof that God deals with us in groups under one head is the reality of death

You know, she says that's just part of what he's arguing here from verses 13 to 17 death spread to all men because why?

It's here to that era when there was no law. Why were people dying? If they're just held responsible if you just held responsible for your own sin, you have no law

You have no way to know that if you're sitting or not, why should you be? Why should you be killed?

Why should you die? We've all sinned individually this is the way that some people think I've sinned individually

I'm a detached autonomous being untouched by any other so one way So I understand if I die for my sin

But I don't want to die for Adams that assumes then there's somehow a person Could manage not to sin

From earliest childhood. This is a good boy or girl Always does his duty always has a good attitude

Grows up never since enough self -control This is this is the assumption that comes with that if I'm just held responsible

I die only because of my sin then If I can do that if I could manage from the earliest never to sin

Then I would live forever, right? That's the road to eternal life Just mustering up the discipline

To never sin. I mean if all if we if we all die because we sin

I Individually sin therefore I die Then wouldn't that mean that if that if one of us just one of us could finally manage not to sin

Just raise what right a good attitude ever always done doing the right thing that person that would then live forever

But it never happens Why does it happen? Because we're all guilty

Not just of our individual sins But of Adams sins and if death is just a result of our personal sin, then why sometimes tragically?

Again, understand. This is what some people think they think I died because of my sin, but if that's the case Why are there some people?

Who never had the opportunity to choose to sin? And so they die, but they still die they die as fetuses or babies toddlers

They die before they've ever had a chance to personally sin to personally make a evil choice a wrong choice

Individually they they've never been able to choose the sin, but they still die Right that happens.

I Mean if death is only the result of each of us individually choosing to sin I died because I sin

Then how come people die who have it yet? Had the opportunity to choose sin

Why does that why does that happen why are there infant deaths? If death is just for our individual sin

Well, of course the answer is death isn't just for our individual sin Notice the first 14 Paul mentions that even those who live from the time of Adam to Moses died

Before they even had a law that told them exactly what transgression was They were still guilty

They still suffered the penalty of of sin. They still suffered death. Why?

Because of Adam sin they send an atom in other words policy Look people were dying even before Moses gave them a law to tell them that they were individually

Doing wrong and death came to all people is in verse 12 Not simply because they each separately chose to sin but because their head

Adam chose for them Death is proof that they were condemned for Adam sin

So that leads to the fourth proof that God deals with us in groups under a head And we that is that we all sin now

Why does not even one person managed to live without sin over six billion people in the world billions more have

Already lived and died and yet never does one son or daughter of Adam Managed to get it perfectly, right?

Why? Now surely if if there's nothing inherited from Adam, he's just kind of the first bad example

Surely of all the billions of people someone would break from his bad example and gotta go their own way

No, I think I'm no I'm not gonna rebel I'm gonna submit to God and be a good person Sure, if there's nothing inherited from Adam, there's no guilt of his attribute to us

There's no simple nature that's passed down from him. Surely a few rare people Would break from his bad example

Maybe they would be like maybe they'd be really rare like Olympic athletes who can run the mile in under four minutes or the

Major League pitcher who can pitch a perfect game It would be rare and astounding but it should be possible right if we don't inherit anything from Adam If if the only sin is individual sin, but it doesn't happen

There is no sinless son or daughter of Adam because they are all born we are all born with the guilt of Adam for the sin that he did on our behalf and The simple nature that is passed down from him.

I understand there's two things to get from Adam there's guilt for his sin and there's Corruption that's sinful nature that leads us to our own sins

Finally if we protest well, that's just not fair It's just not fair that we have a sin that we did not personally choose

Counted to us You're held responsible. That's I didn't do it

Count notice in verse 14 that death reigned even over those who sinning was not like the transgression of Adam in other words, there are people who are better than Adam who

Who didn't sin and the same kind of egregious I don't have this open command of God donated that tree and he did it

Anyway, there are some people that didn't have that kind of Command from God who were better people than Adam and yet they still receive the condemnation of Adam Because he was their head now if we protest well, that's just not fair Well, keep in mind that every time we sin

We cast our vote with Adam Maybe we wish Adam hadn't done that but every time we said we said we say that's what we wish

Every time we send we whatever sin we commit. Well, there's just in our thoughts or desires we say

I'm with him. I'm a son or daughter of Adam I'm going with that. I'm going with that guy.

I too am a rebel against God And so our sins prove That we would have done the same so we have condemnation in verses 12 to 14 the opposite of justification and So we are sentenced to death and death is now

King it's the dictator in charge It rules from the time of the sin of Adam our head death is ruling until the time when

Christ our new head Puts it under his feet

Something he's already begun to do Which what he demonstrated in his own resurrection, which we celebrate once a week every

Sunday So we now live in that overlap time That's why we come together every Sunday the day he was raised

First day of the week to celebrate that we're in this overlap time the end of the reign of death is in sight

Because Jesus was raised from the dead But death is still reigning And with Christ reigning also and promising that he will put that into me fully under his feet

Well second is the contrast There are two heads is Adam and Christ now if we think we can be our own person be separate be individualistic

We're just another of Adams rebels. We're just following his pattern Really? We're really no different than the kid who takes up smoking or sags his pants because all the cool guys are doing it

But what Christ did is not like what Adam did in verse 15 they are

Contrasted Adam and Christ are different from each other the effect of them both as the two heads of the human race are

Contrasted and verses 15 to 17 three great contrasts and three verses.

There's the difference between the gallows and The nursery the difference between being found guilty and being declared innocent and finally the difference between two different kings

King death and Christ Letting us rule alive

Well first verse 15 the difference between the gallows, you know, we're condemned prisoners are hung executions are carried out and the nursery

What what two different kinds of places could you could possibly more to be more different The nursery where newborn babies are cared for such a vast difference the free gift

Which is justification as being declared right with God through faith because of grace is not like is

Contrasted to the trespass the sin of Adam Adam was told don't eat of that fruit

But he ate of it anyway, and so he trespassed he stepped over the line of God's command Both affected many people but they were different in their effect

Adam's trespass brought The penalty for sin that condemnation death the opposite of justification the declaration guilty and the sentence of Our guilt is death

Christ free gift in contrast to that brought Justification that is being right with God Declared the declaration not guilty and the result the opposite of execution life

Get grace and life that's the difference between execution and a healthy birth the difference between life and death and Second in verse 16 the difference between being found guilty and being declared innocent.

There's no middle ground and I kind of half guilty We're brought to God's court on suspicion of treason.

We're charged with rebellion Sedition like our head Adam now if we remain with Adam with him as our head

We're guilty and we will be condemned if we have Christ as our head, then we will be declared innocent

Understand who is your head the result of the trial will entirely depend on who your head is the result the verdict on you

Depends completely on who your head is The results are not alike he says

God's judgment of Adam's trespass resulted in condemnation Says sentence again of guilty opposite of justification sentence of guilty for all people.

That's the result of his sin It's for all people for whom Adam acted serve.

They deserve punishment. They deserve physical death now and spiritual death For eternity but in contrast to that the free gift of Christ's good life imputed that is counted to us resulted in Justification being seen right with God.

And so we walk away For justified from his court. We walk away from God's judgment free and innocent

Just if I never sinned or If Adam is our head Condemned and changed and shame all depending again all depending on who our head is

Third in verse 17. There's a great difference between the two different Kings Otherwise who's in charge who's ruling here?

There's King death and there's King Christ who's delegating to us rule and making us alive It's in verse 17 because of Adam's trespass death ruled as a king

Unimpeachable Dictatorially with an iron fist

There's no exception. No one gets out of his rule all die because of Adam's sin in contrast to that He says much more verse 17 notice that much more death on the other side then much more much different And now we'd expect him to say well life rules you think the analogy would be death ruling on the one hand and You think it's a life on the other but even better For us anyway, he says much more

If we receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of being declared right with God By faith that God counts us righteous and all we have to do is simply believe much more

Than being condemned declared guilty and Sentenced to death much more if we have

Jesus Christ as our new head having acted for us his good life imputed counted to us then

Much more will we he says we reign Will be the

Kings and Queens in life raised from the dead like Christ Ruling under him of course the difference is the diametrically opposed difference between being ruled over by the cruel dictator death or ruling ourselves under God but over death

That's as different as different can be Adam and Christ are the two great revolutionaries and are as different as night and day as life and death

What They have in common is then compared Adam and Christ the two great revolutionaries are first contrasted and then

Compared and what they have in common is what we touched on before but which many people have a very difficult time accepting

They have in common that they are the two heads acting on behalf of all the people they represent

For Adam that means that his one trespass and verse 18 brought Condemnation and verse 18 again now,

I believe he is he is coming back to where he was going to start in verse 12 Explain the background and now he's starting this this contrast again here a comparison also for Adam That means that his one trespass and verse 18 is one sin brought guilt

For all his sons and daughters that sentence of guilty For all his sons and daughters he acted for us and of course being individualist we protest that's not fair.

I Didn't do it. What should I be held responsible for his sin? We should only be held responsible for our own sin we think but be careful what you wish for First you don't want to be held responsible for your own sin

Okay, I don't think what I don't want to be held responsible For my own you have enough sin of your own and offense against an infinite

God is an infinite offense And so even if you've only said once and we all have many more times than that, but even if you've only sinned once Then you've committed an infinite offense.

You already owe a debt of your own that you could not repay Your own sin is too much guilt to bear

So we insult God's glory his holiness and his perfection We insult him with the very idea that our sin is

Just so small since a few little things we've done wrong and I can overcome them with a little self -improvements and some self -discipline

Maybe do some rituals that help me cleanse from my passions I can overcome it's not such a big deal that I can't overcome with a little work.

That's insulting God's glory How much we've offended him and so once we see how serious and heinous our sins are we realize that the idea of imputation and Headship that of Adams guilt counted to us.

Well, it may sound strange to us But it doesn't condemn us any more than we are already condemned for our own sins and That idea that Imputation the sin of one head counted to us the righteousness of another counted to us that idea as strange as it may sound to us individualist

Is really our only hope If Adam's sin is not imputed.

It's not counted to us then neither is Christ goodness If there's no imputation

We can't get Christ's righteousness his right life counted to us

So be careful what you wish for In verse 19, the principle of imputation is compared again

And we may record that the idea that we are made sinners by Adam's disobedience but only by that same principle of imputation that is counting the sin or the

Righteousness of the head to every member of the group that he is the head of only by that same principle

The same principle of Adam's guilt is counted to us So too is Christ's righteousness counted to us only by that Will we be accepted by God?

If we just have Adam is our head is the only head we have we're condemned

If we think like a lot of people to do today, we're just detached individuals. We're not responsible for Adam sin

We're not responsible anywhere else to sin just responsible for my own sins, but we have enough of those already So you don't want that but that's the way we think each of us are sinking down under the weight of those sins

That's what we think Then we're all lost We need

We desperately need Imputation We need a new head

Jesus Christ To live perfectly for us and for his perfect life

To be counted as ours is Righteousness imputed to us if we don't have

God counting his life Christ's life for us If we don't have that We're done for There's two great revolutionaries

Is Adam and Christ and they have one thing in common? We have to belong to one rebellion or the other now

We can fool ourselves and think that we get along nicely with the world and with some religion We can make God okay with us, but God sent his law to smoke out just us self -deception in verse 20

God sent the law for the purpose of showing people that they are sinners. It's the purpose of the law

It's really not a job description you do this and and God will approve of you It's not even a doctor's prescription.

You take this medicine and you'll get better No, it's it's a diagnosis this is a way to show you you are sinners

He gave the law so that we would stop fooling ourselves God didn't give it because he wanted to stop people from eating shrimp and pork

But so that they would see with it with the law that they are like their father

Adam that we're just like him a trespasser a sinner

Adam had only one rule to keep don't eat of that fruit and yet he couldn't keep it

And so God gave the law knowing that we would be provoked to violate it

That we would commit even more sin because of the law But he gave the law to humble us

Make us admit our sinfulness to show us. It's like putting a mirror in front of us showing how dirty we are

So we would know that we need a righteousness that is not our own That we would need that Counted to us to know that we need a new head to choose right

Where we have over and over chosen wrong We have this law to see therein that we have not been free from sin sin increased

But grace increased much more so that in verse 21, there's a comparison in the same way

That sin ruled like a death like a king in death in the same way grace ruled

Through this new right relationship we have with God By Christ's righteousness being counted to us bringing us eternal life that we get through our new head

Jesus Christ his right life is counted imputed to us So we're counted like we have a sin and so we get eternal life

Ultimately, we do not die the individualist who thinks that he is an islander to himself who thinks that he stands are on his own two feet and is only responsible for what he does and insults

God by imagining that he can work his way out of his own sins that his sins were So so small that a little religion a little morality will take care of them

We'll cover them up when the individualist hears about imputation Adam sin being counted to us about headship and Adams fall we send all the individualist screams

That's not fair But be careful what you wish for You don't really want fairness.

It's true that God has not been fair to us Condemnation would be fair after all we all send it out and we all send individually so it'd be perfectly fair condemn us all

Every time we send we vote for Adam. We say that we would have done the same thing. So death is fair and Don't we know that every funeral?

There's something wrong with death That we weren't meant for this

We were intended for something better than the grave despair

But we don't want fairness if God was just fair to us. There would only be Adam There would be no

Christ There would be just one man To lead us in the sin who sins for us.

No one to provide for us a relationship with God There would be no Christ being perfect for us if God was merely fair He would leave us oppressed by death

That would be fair Oh we scream counting Adam's sin to us to me is not fair But we don't really want fairness

You want to know what's not fair The cross isn't fair That the

Lord Jesus Christ the only one who did not have to die because he was not a son of Adam He had no sin of his own imputed to him

He didn't he didn't have the sin of Adam if you did him He had no sin of his own to be guilty of and so fairness dictates that he did not have to taste death

That our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for us so that we could be freed from the dictatorship of death

Which we fairly deserve that after all our sins our many trespasses still because of Christ We get to live under the freedom of grace