Understand Christianity

Introduction: Romans 5:12-21 has had more influence on Christian theology than any other passage in the New Testament.  In my judgment this passage is the most profound and the most central in Christian theology.  A failure to understand this passage is to misunderstand the whole Christian gospel.  Yet, the spiritual depth of this passage is greater than any of us will ever fully grasp in this lifetime.  Before we address the issues related to daily living, we need to understand the doctrinal background of our victory in Christ.  This passage in a nutshell addresses all the grand themes of Scripture: Creation, the Fall, and Redemption.  Today, I want only to deal with verse 12 which is profound it itself.  Three significant doctrines are packed into this verse:

1. The one man; 2. The fall of man; 3. Sin and death.

1. Questions abound concerning this one man.  Was there just one original man?  Did God create only one original pair, and are we descended from them?  Were Adam and Eve historical persons?   

2. When one departs from the biblical teaching on original creation, one has departed from Christianity.  All other world-views directly or indirectly attack the biblical doctrines of God, man, and sin.  

  3.  The nineteenth century produced a theory that was “ably conceived and brilliantly defended” and attacked the heart of Christianity.  The popularity of this theory was so convincing that it made its way into the colleges and universities as well as the public schools.  Soon it was accepted as true because it was defended by the scientific community.  To argue against such a large body of expert opinion was considered presumptuous and a mark of ignorance.  This theory was considered to be settled fact and I expect everyone here was taught that theory in public school.   

In an attempt to preserve Christianity some well-meaning, but misled people, have tried to blend the biblical view with the evolutionary theory.  Such efforts only water down Christianity and in essence undermine true biblical teaching.  I believe the evolutionary theory has been ably critiqued and the biblical view convincingly defended by scholars beginning in the late nineteenth century and by many scholars in the twentieth century.  But this topic needs special attention on another occasion.  

4.  These phases of development cannot be adequately explained except through God’s intervention.  Science has never been able to explain the existence of matter.  How can science explain going from nothing to something?  And in spite of valiant attempts science cannot explain the beginning of life.  Consider the words of Jesus Himself as He confirms the Genesis account of creation while discussing the question of divorce with the Pharisees. 

 ESV  Matthew 19:4 He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,   

 ESV  Mark 10:5 And Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.' 

It seems that if one wants to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, it requires that one believe in the original creation of one man and one woman.  

5.  Man was made in the image of God. Hear these words from Genesis 1.  

 ESV  Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 

The original man was made from the dust of the ground and is a trinity.  

Simply stated, “A tree has a body, but no soul and no spirit.  An animal has a body and a soul, but no spirit.  A man has a body, a soul and a spirit.”  There is so much more we could say about man.  But for our purposes in this chapter we need to understand that God created one original man, and from that original man the rest of humanity came forth.  Without that understanding the rest of the comparison between Adam and Christ makes no sense.  

1. In the same way that many try to disprove the biblical teaching that God created man in His image, they also try to disprove the biblical teaching that sin came into the world through the sin of one 

man (i.e. Adam).  They attempt this futile act by resorting to the disproved theory of evolution.  They assume that man evolved from lower species to the complex man we have today.  There is no compatibility between those who accept the biblical account and those who do not.  At its core the discord is between those who are opposed to God and those who are not.  

2. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, there were consequences for the whole human race.  The image of God which Adam possessed at the beginning became tarnished.  Adam lost his moral and intellectual likeness to God.  While it is true that he still possessed remnants of the divine image, significant changes took place.  Adam still had a conscience and knew right from wrong.  He still was aware of his own personality and individuality.  Adam’s free will was affected by the fall.  He could still exercise his choice in many ways.  However, he could not choose God and the things of God in his fallen state.  Those same changes would then be passed on to the rest of the human race.   (1 Corinthians 2:14).  

3. What was the nature of that original sin?  Please note that Adam was the one held accountable for the fall, not Eve.  Numerous attempts have been advanced to identify the sin that resulted in the fall of the human race.  In the Middle Ages when celibacy was introduced into the church, some taught that the original sin was the sex act.  Such a notion is difficult to accept since God told Adam and Eve, before the fall, to “be fruitful and multiply.”   Others have suggested that drinking wine was the original sin.  But the fruit of the forbidden tree was eaten before the curse, not to mention that death and fermentation were the results of the fall, not the cause of the fall.  The simplest way to understand the nature of that sin is to take the text in Genesis as it is written.  That is, the sin that resulted in the fall was Adam’s disobedience of wanting his own way and thus eating of the forbidden fruit.   

4. Another question that is prompted by this discussion has to do with the origin of evil.  If God is all good and all-powerful and created all things good, where did evil come from?  The Bible is clear that evil existed before Adam in the person of Satan.   Since all beings, angels and Satan are created beings, when then, did Lucifer become Satan?  Let me suggest that there may be a gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.   A great many things may have happened between those two verses that we are not told.  Scripture does not tell us when Lucifer became Satan.  However, piecing together other passages of Scripture it seems that Satan fell before the events in the Garden of Eden.  Ezekiel 28:12 says of Lucifer that he was perfect, full of wisdom, and beauty.  But Isaiah 14 gives a clue in answering the question about Satan. 

 ESV  Isaiah 14:13 You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' 

In Ezekiel 28:15 God says to Lucifer, “You were blameless in your ways until iniquity was found in you.”  A professor of mine in seminary use to say, “God is not the author of evil, but He is the author of the author of evil.”  This comment is made to remove any suggestion that somehow God is not all good.   1 John 1: 5 says, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

5. Our text stands secure.  “Through one man sin entered the world.”  Even from the early chapters of Genesis we see that corruption of man is displayed before us.  Gen 6:5 ESV  Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.   Throughout the rest of the OT we see the effects of that one sin passed on to the rest of the human race.  Quoting passages from the Psalms Paul describes the sinfulness of man.  ESV  Romans 3:11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." 13 "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." 14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known." 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes." 

Try as hard as one might to deny the existence of original sin, it still stands.  One commentator says, “Apart from the doctrine of the Fall, there is no explanation for the course of human history.  If the first three chapters of Genesis were destroyed, the facts of history would demand that they be rewritten to account for all that has followed since the day when man turned away from God.”  

1. Physical death and spiritual death are the result of original sin.  When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, spiritual life was gone from him, even though he remained alive physically.  When it came time for Adam to face God, he ran and hid.  Adam’s response is a vivid example of man’s fear of physical death, because he knows that he must face God after he dies.  Throughout history attempts have been made to teach that death  ends everything.  There is nothing after we die.  But even though many would say that; somehow they still have a fear of death.  

2.  The fear of death is very real for those who are not prepared to meet their Maker.  Romans 5:12-21 not only sums up the previous teaching in Romans and all that follows, but it answers the question of how one can be prepared to meet God.  

3.  Humans always object to the teaching that Adam’s sin affected us.  They argue that they did not participate in that first sin.  And further, isn’t it unfair for God to hold me accountable because of Adam’s sin?  Some have argued that what really happened was that Adam simply set a bad example.  And when we follow that example, we are sinning like Adam did.  But it is our own sin for which we are held accountable, not Adam’s.  Such logic may make sense to the human mind, but it does not erase the clear statement of Romans 5:12. “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”   

Others have bragged that had they been in the Garden of Eden and confronted with the same temptation, they would not have sinned.  My response to such foolishness is that if they had been in the Garden of Eden and tempted as Adam was, they would not only have sinned, but would have sinned sooner!  

4. The Scripture is quite clear that Adam’s sin became your sin.  Adam was not just your representative; you were actually involved in Adam’s sin.  When Adam sinned, you sinned.  Further, as you stand before God, you are guilty on two counts.  You are guilty by nature and by choice.  But the good news is that God in His mercy and love for His own has done something about your condition.  And that is what we will see as we continue our study in Romans 5.  

(Ill.)  A Christian gentleman was traveling in the South and staying at a large hotel.  He spoke to his waitress about her soul and she began to justify herself.  ……  One day he asked her to bring him something from the kitchen.  “Why, certainly; anything you want.”    He asked her to bring him a pancake cooked on just one side.