The Adam Story & The Jesus Story

Romans, after a three-week miniseries through the Book of Habakkuk, we're picking up today where we left off in the Book of Romans.

If you don't already have the Bible in front of you, it would be a helpful thing to pull that out now.

If you can cast your mind back a few weeks, Jonathan unpacked for us the start of Chapter 5 of Romans, looking at these glorious words, Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And now Helen has just picked up for us that train of thought, reading from verse 6.

In this message, we're going to keep going forward and read from verse 12 to 21.

So, Romans 5, 12, I'm just going to get into it now.

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, to be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law.

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 is a pattern of the one to come.

Back in Romans, I've just been away for three weeks on my honeymoon, and my wife and I were in Christchurch a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday, and it is the weirdest thing to not be in church on a Sunday.

We were reading our books in Caspe, which is the water side of Christchurch, and I had this, I was just thinking about Sunday and church and life and faith, and I had a realization which probably every other person in this room has had, and I'm late to the party, but we spend maybe two hours a week in church, and 166 hours outside of church.

And so, what we do in these two hours needs to impact and affect the way that we follow Jesus in the 166 hours.

And of course, we know this, we do this at church.

Our sermons are helpful for us, but I felt in myself in Christchurch on my honeymoon, I felt a renewed passion for application, application of the Word of God.

I'm like, let's take this Bible, read it, understand it, think about how this might actually affect the way that we wake up on Monday morning.

Application.

And then I came home from my honeymoon, and I opened my Bible to Romans E5.

And I read these words, and I'm not proud of it, but my shoulders slump.

I'm fired up about application, and I can't even understand what Paul is saying in this passage, let alone apply it to my life.

But then in that place of slumped shoulders, I felt that the Lord remind me of what Jesus says in the Gospel of John, that He has given us the Spirit of Truth, who will guide us into the truth.

And so today, I'm very aware, acutely aware of our need for the Spirit of Truth to make this word come alive for us, that we may apply it.

And so, I extend to you an invitation this morning, the invitation which I felt earlier this week.

Hang in there.

Through the density and the logic of Romans, that the Spirit of Truth might make this word come into the soil of our heart and actually change the way we live.

We believe that the Bible can do that, don't we?

So that's why we come to the Bible now to try and find out how this might change the way we live in the 166 hours, with the help of the Spirit of Truth.

There is a logic.

I promise you, I think there is a logic to Paul's argument here in Romans E5.

Verse 12 says, sin entered the world through one man.

One man.

We know from a couple of lines later in Romans, this one man is Adam.

Adam, the forerunner of the human race, the first human, the director of the course of humanity.

We read the story of this one man, Adam, in Genesis 2 and 3.

God gives Adam one command, do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or the tree of life.

But Adam, in that first sin, decides he knows better than God.

He will put the command of God to the side and he, in cahoots with his wife Eve, eats from the tree anyway.

And in that moment, he puts God aside and asserts himself.

The word we have for that is sin.

That's what sin is.

One man, Adam.

One act, sin.

And fundamentally, that sin is turning away from the God of life.

So, trivia question.

What happens when you turn away from the God of life?

Death.

Death is the natural, logical, inescapable consequence of sin, because sin is turning away from the source of life itself.

How can anything come from that except for death?

One man, Adam, commits one sin, which naturally leads to one end, death.

I think that's the logic of verse 12.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death came through that one sin of that one man, and in this way, death came to all people, because all sinned.

One man, Adam, one act, sin, and one end, death.

In one sentence, Paul has given us an overview of the history of humanity, of Genesis 3.

So say what you will about Romans.

It's brilliant.

It's tricky, but it's brilliant.

We pick up, keep going forward from verse 13.

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law.

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 is a pattern of the one to come.

Paul says, there is sin apart from the law, which leads to death.

Adam, the first man, was given a specific command, do not eat from the tree.

And he turned away from God in breaking that command.

And as he did so, he died.

And he brought death into this world.

So, Paul's logic goes that everyone from Adam, that first man, all the way up to Moses, everyone in between, Adam was given a specific command, don't eat from the tree, Moses is the one in whom the law is given.

Even over those in the middle who didn't break a command, every one of them turned away from God and all that was left for them is death.

That's how Paul's logic is unfolding.

And so, verse 14 can say, death reigns from the time of Moses, from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even without the law.

Paul's point is, even in a world without the law, Torah, first five books of the Old Testament, even without a law telling you what is good, what is bad, and what the consequences of transgression are, death still reigns, because every person has sinned, and sin fundamentally is turning away from the God of life.

You don't need a law for sin to equal death.

It just does.

Sin inherently, naturally, unavoidably leads to death.

James says as much in chapter 1, verse 15, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.

In this world without God, ruled by sin, there is only death.

So, Paul anticipates the question, what was the role of the law?

If sin already led to death, what did the law do?

If we skip down to the end of the passage, verse 20 gives the answer.

The law was brought in by Moses, so that the trespass might increase.

The law comes in and etches in words of stone what was already true about sin, that sin leads to death.

So Paul's logic, again, one man, Adam, one act, sin, one end of death.

But the law comes in as an external power.

The law comes in and applies itself to the one act of Adam, of sin, to secure death for all.

The law is an external power multiplying the effect of sin.

And so, verse 12, in this way, death came to all people because all sinned.

One man, one act, the power of the law comes on to that act to secure one end, death for all.

This is the Adam Story.

The Adam Story, one man, one act, the power of the law comes on to that to secure one end, death for all.

The Adam Story.

I'm sorry if your name is Adam.

You're not probably feeling very good right now.

So let's call it the Ben Story, the Trotty Story, the Rachel Story, the Richard Story.

This is our story.

The Adam Story is the human story, because all of us have turned from God and elevated ourself in its place.

Redefining what is good and bad is the human story.

We live in a city and a culture where the increasingly pervasive worldview is secularism.

Secularism is the air that we breathe, the water that we swim in.

It is the story that the next generation is born into.

Gen Z, my generation, Gen Alpha, even the millennials above me, are born into a world that is deeply and increasingly deeply secular.

Secularism, by its very definition, means the total removal of God from the picture and the elevation of the self in his place.

Take God out of the picture and put the self in his place.

Secularism seeks to create a world without God.

A world where human beings together rule and decide, together, what is good, what is bad, what is the meaning of life, what is identity.

And we don't even pretend to have a God who tells us, answers to those questions.

And so secularism, this air that we breathe, offers its own answers to these questions.

What does it mean to be good?

To be true to the self.

What does it mean to be bad?

In other words, what is the worst sin you could commit?

To not be true to yourself.

What is the meaning of life?

To find out what this self is and to express that on the outside.

And what is identity?

Whatever I want it to be.

Whatever name that myself gives myself.

These are the answers that secularism gives to the fundamental questions of life.

I think Paul would say, secularism is fundamentally the Adam story.

Remember, the first sin, the essence of sin is removal of God, elevation of the self.

That's the textbook definition of secularism.

Removal of God, elevation of the self in his place.

We know, though, from Romans E5, this story leads to death.

When you turn away from the source of life, there is only death.

We know how this story ends.

The Adam Story, the Ben Story, we know how this story ends.

Death.

And I think Paul has in mind more than just the when-your-heart-stops-stop-beating kind of death.

He means death in the present.

A deathy kind of life is what the Adam Story leads to.

It creates death.

Secularism may not be inherently bad, but I do not think it is creating a world of good.

Because the Adam Story of secularism says, take God out of the picture, elevate yourself.

The worst thing you could possibly do is not be true to yourself.

The problem is, which self do I be true to?

When I'm driving and someone cuts me off in traffic, my inner self wants to share some choice words with that person.

When they're going 20k's under in the right lane, I want to test how loud my horn is.

That's coming from my inner self.

So secularism does not work to create a world of goodness.

When you take God out of the picture and elevate the self, because I don't care about anyone else if I am king of my kingdom.

I will tear you down, cuss at you, do terrible things to you if my self is king.

Secularism, the Adam Story, does not create a world of goodness, because there's something wrong in here.

I cannot elevate myself to that high position.

Look at this world that we live in.

Secularism, the Adam Story is so tired out there.

Look at the shooting in Auckland this week, at war in Ukraine, at even epidemic levels of anxiety and depression in the next generations coming up.

When we take God out of the picture and elevate above all else, the self, what I want to do, it does not create a world of goodness, of love.

The Adam Story is the story of the elevation of the self to king or queen.

Paul says in this way, by taking God out of the picture and elevating ourselves, because death came to all people, because all people have made themselves king and queen of their own life.

The Adam Story is one man.

Adam commits one act sin.

The power of the law applies itself to that one act, to multiply and secure one end, death for all.

This is the Adam Story.

The good news is, there's another story.

The Adam Story is not the end of the story, because the Jesus Story did something about it.

Helen read for us Romans E5 verse 6.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, when we were still living the Adam Story, turning our back on God and elevating the self in his place, at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates his love, that we were not righteous nor good, but we were sinners.

And while we were sinners, Christ died for us.

The Gospel is the Jesus Story.

Before you and I cleaned up our act, even while we were living in active rebellion against God, Jesus came to earth.

He died on a cross.

In fact, he took the end of our story on himself.

The Adam Story leads to death, but the Jesus Story, Jesus steps in and takes that end for us in order that we might have a new story.

A story of life.

And so, Paul says in Romans E5, but the gift.

He spent the first couple of verses painting the picture of the Adam Story, and then finally that glorious but.

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?

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.

For if by the trespass of the one man, the Adam Story, death reigns through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and if the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?

Consequently, the Jesus Story flips the Adam Story on its head.

The Jesus Story is one man, Jesus, one act, his death and resurrection as a package on the cross, and then one power, not the law that condemns, but grace applies itself to the one act of Jesus to multiply and secure one end, life for all.

That is the Jesus Story, and that is so much better than the Adam Story.

Romans E5 verse 20, The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase, but where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Jesus Story is a better story.

Any sci-fi fans?

I count myself in that group.

You know what a hologram is.

For those who don't know what a hologram is, it's a, think of Star Wars, the blue three-dimensional model or Iron Man or something.

The Bible is a hologram projector.

Let me explain.

The Bible, from the pages of scripture, projects a world for us to step into and live in.

Here in Romans E5, Paul tells two stories, the Adam Story, removal of God, elevation of the self and the Jesus Story, obedience to God, self-giving love for the others.

The Adam Story and the Jesus Story.

And like a hologram, the Bible projects the two worlds that these two stories create in front of us.

The Bible is a hologram projector.

It projects worlds.

Ephesians 2 talks about the kind of world that the Adam Story projects for us.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world, the ways of the Adam Story world, and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings.

The Greek word is lusts, I think it's stronger, it hits more.

The lusts of the flesh and following its desires and thoughts, elevating flesh to above all.

That's the world that the Bible projects that the Adam Story creates.

It projects a world that is not marked by goodness or love or hope or joy.

I love this thing, which I hadn't seen anyone else do it before, but this is cool.

It says in Ephesians 2, the kingdom of the air.

Air means oxygen and nitrogen, the thing around us, the thing we're breathing in.

Not metaphorical, not spiritual, not like heaven's all around us, just air, earthly, the thing that surrounds the earth.

In sharpest contrast, the Bible projects a vision of a different world.

Jesus calls it the kingdom of heaven.

The word heaven is uranos in Greek, and it means sky, clouds.

There's a play on air, but sky and clouds and air, in the sense of a realm that is other than earth.

The kingdom of heaven is other, it is different.

It's not a kingdom of this earth, of air.

This is the way Jesus talks about his kingdom, the second world that the Bible projects, Matthew 423.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of this kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.

And this is what it looks like.

Healing every disease and sickness among the people.

News about Jesus spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases.

Those suffering severe pain, the demon possessed, those having seizures and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

Large crowds from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the region across from the Jordan followed him.

Immediately after this, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus goes on to give the Sermon on the Mount, the most radical, counter-cultural, life-giving teaching in the history of the world.

That's the kind of world that Jesus brings to this world.

The Kingdom of Heaven is marked by radical, self-giving love for enemies, by justice for the poor and the marginalized and the oppressed, of generosity overflowing to our neighbors, of peace and joy and hope.

This is the world that the Jesus Story projects.

In fact, Jesus not only projects a future Kingdom of Heaven, in his life, he brings it crashing into the present.

That's what the Jesus Story does.

Jesus brings the Kingdom of Heaven crashing into earth.

And so, this utopian world of beautiful love for each other comes into the present through the life and work of Jesus.

The Kingdom of Heaven, not the Kingdom of the Air.

Not the Kingdom that everyone's breathing in.

Not the Adam Story, the Jesus Story comes in.

So Paul tells two stories.

The Adam Story and the Jesus Story.

And like a hologram, the Bible projects a vision of what these worlds look like.

So my only question to you as we finish is this.

Which world do you want to live in?

That was rhetorical, but I love that.

We agree together, the Jesus story is a better story than the Adam story.

That's the world I want to live in.

The Adam story says, let's get rid of God, let's all become kings and queens of ourself.

You look out for number one, me.

You look out for yourself, kingdom, kingdom, kingdom, queendom, queendom.

Everyone is on their own.

That does not create a good world.

Galatians 5 has this comparison.

It says, the acts of the flesh are obvious.

Sexual immorality, debauchery, greed, evil.

It's a terrible list if you turn to Galatians 5.

But the Jesus story, oh, the fruit of the Jesus story is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

You tell me that doesn't sound like a better world than the world that the Adam Story projects.

We are invited to step into the kingdom of heaven, to partner with the Holy Spirit in bringing it, crushing into your world, your life, your relationships with the people around you, to bring, literally bring heaven to earth by the power of the risen Jesus and in his spirit.

In the Jesus Story, I am not king of my kingdom, but there is someone who is king and he is a good king and his name is Jesus.

In the Jesus Story, King Jesus reigns over his kingdom and it breeds and it brings light and love and all of the fruit of the spirit.

Jesus says again in Matthew 11 verse 5, this is what the kingdom brings.

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

When the kingdom comes in fullness in the future, that is the world it creates.

But Jesus brings that into the present now.

The Bible is a hologram and it projects two worlds and it puts the invitation in front of you, which world do you want to step into?

I told you about my Christchurch experience.

I'm passionate about application.

So let me give you something very practical.

If you want to step into the world of the kingdom of heaven, do this, go home, read the Sermon on the Mount.

Read it, Matthew 5, 6 and 7.

Read the Sermon on the Mount.

Prayerfully, ask and allow the Holy Spirit to project, like a hologram, a vision of what that kingdom of heaven would look like if that was invading your life.

See it.

Ask the Spirit to lead you in what that would look like.

And step 3, step into it.

Step into it.

Step into the kingdom where Jesus is king and he reigns, and you obey him and the life-giving teaching that he gives in the Sermon on the Mount.

That's how we step into the world that the Jesus story projects.

So I'm going to pray now and pray that even as we gather together, this would be a taste of the kingdom of heaven come.

The lunch, what an opportunity to practice kingdom values and kingdom goodness.

So let me pray as the band comes up.

Our Lord Jesus, we are so grateful for everything you have done.

You lived a perfect life.

You took the end of our story on yourself.

You died on the cross.

But you rose again.

And now you have life.

And you invite us to step into that life, the life of the kingdom of heaven.

And so I pray for everyone here, all those listening to the sound of my voice right now, that you would fill us with the Holy Spirit.

Give us a vision of the goodness of the kingdom of heaven, permeating our life.

Show us what it means to make you king.

We take ourselves off the throne of our own lives.

We are not king or queen of our life, of our world, but you are king, Jesus.

So lead us, we pray.

Help us to partner with your redemptive work in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

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