THE POWER OF ONE
Several years ago the U.S. Army catchphrase for the purpose of recruiting was “Be all that you can be.” In an effort to appeal to changing culture and the individualistic mindset of today’s young people, advertising specialists changed the catchphrase to “An army of one.” Promoters believed that in the heart of every person there was a desire to achieve something significant, not as a team necessarily but as an individual. Today’s young man or woman believes in the power of one.
Senior army officers hated the new slogan. One said, “No army worth its salt operates as a bunch of individuals.” And this is true of any body, organization or team of any kind. No one person can achieve what a like-minded group of people can achieve.
Yet the dominant philosophy in society today is still “the power of one.” The same logic is applied to leadership and even graduation speeches: never underestimate what one person can do – you can change the world.
There are only two instances in history where one person changed the world. One plunged the world into darkness; the other was the light of the world.
Paul has taught us why humankind was worthy of God’s wrath in the first chapters of Romans. Then he taught us how righteousness only comes through faith in Jesus. He explained justification through faith and what the benefits are of justification. Now, in Romans 5:12-21, he shows us how the power of one act plunged all of humanity into sin, and how the power of a greater one rescued us from that sin.
What we have here is God’s provision for every believer in Jesus Christ, without exception, to live in continual, unbroken victory over every evil habit, every impatient spirit, every lustful thought, every discouraging circumstance, and every crushing disappointment in life. This morning we are going to examine the amazing grace of God in giving to us the gift of life through Jesus Christ. We will see how the power of one can change your life forever.
1. How sin entered the world
a) Through one man…What we are talking about here is “original sin.” This is the clearest statement on the idea that the nature of sin has been passed on to the whole human race. In other words, the reason we sin is because Adam sinned.
This is the answer to the question “How did sin enter the world?” Paul wrote, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (5:12).
All the horror this world has known, the Holocaust, the wars, the hatred and deception, all the pain you can think of, came from one simple act of rebellion in the Garden. Through one man, sin entered the world, and death along with it, for death is the punishment for sin.
How fair is it to pin Adam’s sin on us? How is it that just because he wanted to eat a forbidden fruit, we are all condemned? As it says, “because all sinned.” Our sense of fairness stems from our view of individual responsibility versus corporate responsibility. I don’t want to be responsible for someone else’s mistakes, do I? But Paul teaches that in Adam, all have sinned.
Either we all sinned by copying and repeating Adam’s sin, or all sinned when Adam sinned and were included in his sinning. The first would be a case of imitation in that we sinned like Adam, and the second a case of participation, or sinning in and with Adam. In one sense we could say we learned to sin, and the other we were born sinful. Paul teaches the second option: we sinned with Adam; we are born sinful.
Babies are perfect evidence of this nature. In a study on humanity, the Minnesota Crime Commission stated, “Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it – his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toy, his uncle’s watch. Deny him these wants and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness, which would be murderous if he were not so helpless…He has no morals, no knowledge, no skills.” The Commission concluded that, left to their own way, every child would grow up a criminal. Perhaps this is too extreme, but the point is worth noting: no one is born without the taint of Adam’s sin.
It seems we have to be taught not to be bad. Even as adults we are prone to go against the rules. We want to do things that are self-destructive and hurtful to others, even our families. There is a moral poison that makes us act in irrational, twisted ways so that even what we know is wrong, we still want to do. This is original sin.
b) The reign of death – Along with sin came death. We are victims of the twin evils of sin and death. As a result of Adam’s sin death reigned from the time of Adam until Moses. What Paul means by “Moses” is the coming of the law. There were no commands except the one God gave to Adam to not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Yet, even without commands, people died because of sin. Sin brought death into the world.
Death is not just physical. Death and the fear of death are engrained in all of us. When we are young we make plans and have our ambitions, but as we grow older there is a growing sense of futility about life. Is this all there is? Did I do all that I should have? Does my life count for anything? To drown out the fear of a decaying mind and body people pursue pleasure, vacations, and the good life, whatever that may be. Some even have extramarital affairs. Why? Fear of death.
Death has come with sin to steal our joy, to take away life even while we are still living. Death reigns because sin is in the world. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23); “For the wages of sin is death…” (6:23). All of us sinned in Adam; we are all linked. And together we come under the influence of death.
2. The Gift is not like the Trespass
a) The Gift is greater than the Trespass – So the power of one man’s sin has had a devastating effect on the world. In these next verses (15-17) we read how the gift has an even greater influence on the world.
The word “But” is hugely significant: “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!” (5:15). That “but” signifies a contrast between the gift and the trespass. The trespass is Adam’s sin. What is the gift?
The gift is what every human being is looking for, the gift of righteousness. This is the sense of worth, the sense of significance to life, and the sense of balance we lost. This is the gift that the Lord Jesus wants to give us. The gift is far greater than the trespass.
Adam’s sin had a far-reaching affect on all of us. But God’s grace through Jesus Christ reaches further. Twice Paul says “how much more,” here and again in v. 17, indicating that the work of Christ is more powerful than Adam’s actions. So no matter how much we have sinned, God’s grace is greater than anything you have done.
b) The Gift covers all our sin – There is no comparison between the gift and the trespass in terms of effectiveness. Paul said, “Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification” (5:16).
Do the math – it’s amazing. One broken commandment, eating a piece of fruit, brought judgment – death. All who lived after that one event would have to die. We have become so accustomed to death we don’t even realize that death is unnatural. So Christ died; he became a part of that unnatural process to be like one of us and die, even though he had never sinned. Jesus should never have had to die for that fact alone. He died having taken on thousands and millions of trespasses upon himself, and brought justification and life to those who believed in him. That’s the math: Adam sinned once and brought death to all; Jesus died once and brought life to all despite the millions of sins that had been committed.
Ray Stedman said something profound, he said, “All your life, as many times as you sin, you cannot out-sin the grace of God. No matter how many trespasses are involved in your record, there is freedom in Christ and forgiveness for all of them.” I love that: you cannot out-sin the grace of God.
God’s grace is not an easy thing to understand. We might fathom that one sin could have disastrous consequences. What we really have trouble believing is that all the accumulated sins and guilt of all the ages could be answered by God’s free gift. This is beyond our understanding. But miracles usually are.
c) The Gift brings life – Death reigned from Adam to Moses we read in v. 14. Remember, death rules how we live and act in this life? That reign is broken by the gift of God in Christ. Paul said, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who received God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (5:17).
What is life? Life is love, joy and excitement. It is that vitality which runs through your body and spirit, that contentment and fulfillment and satisfaction coming from the gift of God in Jesus Christ. If death is emptiness, loneliness, misery, depression, boredom and restlessness, our lives are full of the effects of death. Paul tells us that Christ’s death provides abundant grace and love which can overthrow the rule of death so that we are under the reign of life.
In Christ we find satisfaction, we find rest for our souls. Death no longer scares us. Instead we discover that we do not need to yearn for the Resort getaways and spas, we have real life right here, right now, a thousand times greater than what the world can offer in pleasures. We have peace with God; we have his love poured out; we have a relationship with the Creator, our Father; we have life, real life.
Adam’s sin permeated all his children so that we are born sinners, but Christ’s gift cancels the power of sin and gives us life.
3. God’s Plan for Man
a) Comparing Adam and Christ - Paul does not give up his argument too easily. If verses 15-17 were a contrast between Adam and Christ, then verses 18-19 and 21 are a comparison of Adam and Christ. You see, in v. 14, it said Adam was “a pattern of the one to come.” There is a link between Adam and Christ somehow, and it is that link that allowed Christ to die for our sins. In some way Adam was a foreshadow or a type of the one to come.
What are the comparisons between Adam and Christ? We read, “Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 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…just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (5:18-19, 20).
We can break it down simply as this:
v.18 – one trespass < one righteous act
v. 19 – the disobedience of one < the obedience of one
v. 21 – sin reigned in death < grace reigns resulting in life
In these comparisons, Christ is superior. Christ’s life is more powerful in effect than Adam’s. You cannot control the old man inside of you. Old Adam is the power of sin that prompts you to sin and you cannot rein him in. I can’t either. Old Adam is too strong for young Klassen. But God has cut off the old life and through Christ has put it to death so that the new life reigns in us. That’s why when we fall down we can keep getting back up. We have the resurrection power of God in us helping us to put sin to death and live for Christ.
Sometimes we say that we have been declared righteous. Look at v. 19 and we will see that we are “made” righteous. This is the gift. We don’t have to earn it. We are already righteous because we believe in Jesus.
b) The purpose of the law – Finally, we conclude with verse 20, “The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase.”
You might think it strange to conclude with such a bizarre verse, but in this verse is a secret I want to share with you. Someone may ask “Why did God give the Israelites the Ten Commandments?” Paul would have answered that the Commandments were never given to make men do right. We think that the law was given to help us to do good, but they weren’t. They were given to show men how wrong they already are. The law was given to make us sin more.
Back in v. 13 we read that sin was in the world before the law was given, but there is no sin where there is no law. Some time ago someone put a stop sign at the school crossing in Kleefeld. Unless there were children crossing no one thought to stop. Once the sign went up I realized that stopping was expected at that crossing. If I didn’t stop, even if there were no children, I then broke the law.
Why did God give the law? To increase sin. Why? So that grace could surpass sin. No one comes to the Father but by Jesus Christ. Not by works but by grace do we enter into the life that God gives freely.
Here’s the secret in v. 20: God planned this. Do you think that God was surprised when Adam and Eve took the fruit he told them not to eat and ate it? Was God taken off guard so that now he had to think of a way to solve the problem of sin? Was the sacrifice of his Son an afterthought, a kneejerk reaction to the sinfulness of humankind? Sounds silly when I put it like that, doesn’t it?
It is hard to comprehend, but God planned the salvation story from beginning to end. In Revelation 13:8 we see a glimpse of the forethought God put into this. It says in the KJV, “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Again in the NIV, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” And God’s Word, “That book belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the creation of the world.”
God knew that Adam would sin. God knew ahead of time that Christ would need to die for the sins of the world. And God had a plan for us.
Birth is both the cause and the cure for man’s sin. By birth we are Adam’s seed and we have in us the sinful nature or original sin from Adam’s trespass. There is only one answer for this birth issue:
Jesus and a Jewish ruler were talking about this very problem one night. As they discussed theology and the problem of sin, Jesus shared the answer with Nicodemus: “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
It puzzled Nicodemus to think of a second birth as the only way to God’s kingdom. But there it was, and as Israel’s teacher he should have seen it.
How did the human race fall into sin? By Adam’s trespass. How did each of us fall under the curse of this sin? By being born. Birth made you and me a son or daughter of Adam and as such, a sinner. The solution to the sin and guilt incurred by our birth is another birth. In order to be saved, we must exchange our identity with Adam for an identity with Christ. Birth is our problem, another birth is our salvation
Being born again is Christ’s way of saying I acknowledge my sin and am willing to trust in Jesus for the new life he offers. It is taking on the new identity in Christ so that sin does not recognize me and Satan has no hold on me. To be born again is to know life, true life.
“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22).
That is the power of One, the Only One, Jesus Christ.
AMEN
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