12.31.24 – Rom. 5:17 Good News For The New Year!

SPEAKER 01 : 0:05

So continuing this comparison that Paul makes between the extensiveness of Adam’s sin and death with the extensiveness of Christ’s righteousness and life, it’s a wonderful bit of good news. And Paul now moves to verse 16, or we move to verse 16. of Romans, and the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. Now, remember, this is a comparison of opposites, not at this point the comparison of similarities. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. Well, what was the gift of the one who sinned? Adam, of course, and that sin was death. Death came to the whole planet. No one was accepted. But look at the comparison now with Jesus. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, that’s Adam, that one sin of his that caused the whole human race to go down. Now then, the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. So you see then that first of all is a comparison. That is a comparison of similarities. The extent of Adam’s sin, which was death upon all, was the same extent of Christ’s gift, which is life and justification upon all. That’s the comparison of similarities, the extent of it all. But the difference, the comparison of difference, is that Adam brought death and Christ brought life and justification. So what we’re seeing in these passages, once again, and Paul is repeating himself, let’s see, one, two, three, four, five times in this chapter, because he is struggling like you and I are to put it into words that are best understood, to put this massive plan of God into expressions that can be grasped by us. That’s what Paul’s doing. And if you find you have a difficulty, well, don’t worry. You’re the same with Paul. He has a difficulty too. We’re trying to put our minds and our words around this massive grace of God. What is being said here is that everything that Adam did is going to be undone by Christ. That all that Christ does is to undo everything that Adam did. This is the salvation of all the world. This is what you want to grasp in regard to the book of Romans. When you hear about faith in the book of Romans, that the righteous are justified by faith, your mind probably begins to limit that justification because it says, well, it’s only to those who have faith. But that is not Paul’s intent. Paul’s intent is salvation is to all who have faith because works will never save everybody, but faith will. It’s not salvation is by Christ as long as you have faith, but salvation is by Christ who gives you faith. That’s what we’re looking at here. And this is why this is so encouraging for all of us. You think of your loved ones. You think of your family who are going through struggles, or your sons and daughters who may be going through addictions and dark places in their lives, and you worry for their salvation. Lift up your heart and let your prayer be to God, Lord God, take my sons and daughters through the valley of the shadow of death if you have to, but bring them out into life, and I thank you that you are doing that. And you have to think of yourself. Many people who listen to radio, listen to Christian radio, do so because they don’t go to church. And why don’t they go to church? Because they’ve lost confidence in their right to do so. They feel that they’re unworthy Christians. Or maybe some people are lazy, but that’s a separate issue. The issue is whether you feel unworthy. and you feel that you cannot cross the threshold of the church because you’ve sinned too much and God may have had enough of you. The message that you and I must hold within our hearts is that God’s grace is invincible. His love will never be denied until it has accomplished what He determines. When you are overwhelmed with sin and you get into anxiety praying, Oh God, forgive me. Oh God, help me. Oh God, be merciful to me. Also pray to God, Father, though I am such a broken down sinner and just cannot say no to my sins, I thank you that you are drawing me to yourself, that you will complete the work you started in me. He that hath begun a good work will bring it to conclusion. Where is that? Is that in Philippians? I’ve forgotten for a minute. And so we go on. We keep trusting and believing. So one of the repetitions Paul makes is now in verse 17. For if by the one man’s offense death spread through the one, Now remember, how far did death spread? To everyone, to the ends of the earth, for all are under the power of death. For if by the one man’s offense, Adam’s offense, death reigned—I said spread, but the word is reigned here, and that’s an important word I’ll mention in a minute—reigned through one man— much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Now, there are some people who run afoul of this verse, and they say, ah, this is not a complete comparison, because Adam brings death upon everyone, but Christ brings grace and life only to those who receive it. That is the mistake you make, because Paul is not saying much more those who receive abundance of grace will reign in life, but the receivers of grace. It’s not an action described here, but a passive state, the receivers. We are all receivers of God’s abundant grace. and the gift of righteousness, and we will reign. Now, how does God make us all receivers? Well, we’ll come to chapters 9 through 11. God elects people. Oh, you say he’s going to elect a few and not the rest. No. Romans 9 through 11 reveals that God is going to elect all. God’s election plan is the election of the whole human race, but he calls different people at different times. And when does he call them? He calls them when he’s maneuvered them into a state of helplessness in regard to their own righteousness. Have you been brought to that place where you’ve sort of given up on your own ability to be righteous and you have received and accepted Christ’s righteousness? Then you are a receiver, you see, of this abundant grace and righteousness in Christ. So this is a comparison again. One man’s offense brought the reign of death. But one man’s sacrifice, Jesus Christ, will bring the reign of righteousness. And I want you to notice, as I pointed out a short while ago, the word reign here. Death isn’t simply something that happens to us. It reigns over us. There’s nothing we can do about it. We can’t stop it. We can’t reverse it. We can’t decide not to go there. We are victims of death. Adam’s sin made us victims of death. We had no part in that death, that sin, but we had part in his death for sure. In the same way, we have no part in Christ’s righteousness, but it reigns over us. How wonderful! And the process of becoming a Christian, coming into God’s heart, is the process of learning that God has already taken us into his kingdom. We are heirs of the kingdom, and we start to believe it. God is saying, I have reconciled you to myself. When did you do that, Lord? At the cross. Well, where was I, Lord? At the cross. You were dead. Well, where was I when I was alive? I mean, I didn’t come to you of my own accord. No, God says, I brought you to myself while you were an enemy. You remember that verse 5, verse 10? If God can bring one man to himself while he is an enemy still, he can bring the whole world to himself while they are enemies still. That is God’s work of grace. It is beyond our comprehension. It is so wide and deep and high. God’s grace is his determined love to rescue every last sheep and goat. He’s able to do it because he brings us to the crises of faith. No man accepts God by a calm faith, by a faith that just sort of sails into the kingdom because he’s good at heart and thinks he deserves it. No, we are all brought to a crisis, a crisis that makes us realize that our humanity simply doesn’t cut it. that we have too much brokenness to accomplish this task on our own, and we are frightened and nervous and worried and anxious, and God reveals His grace to us in Jesus Christ at that moment, at that time, and we reach out our hand for His mercy because He has brought us to our own emptiness, and this is what enables us to receive His mercy. So, read that verse one more time. For if by the one man’s offense, that’s Adam’s, death reigned through the one, that is, death reigned upon everyone, of course, much more those who received, that is, the receiver’s, of the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, will also reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Now, you may be a defeated enemy. You may be defeated right now. Perhaps an addiction has just thrown you completely off kilter, and you’re down on your luck, you’re broke, your health is damaged, and you are in despair. But according to the gospel, now listen to this, you reign. How in the world can that be said? because Christ is reigning over sin, over evil. He has gained victory over it on your behalf. So though your voice may be weak and your faith trembling, you say to God, Father, I am broken, I am ruined, I am overcome. But I thank you that in Jesus Christ I reign, and you by faith, by you, dear Lord, by your grace, revealing it to my faith, will show me the reality of that as time goes on, bit by bit, day by day, year by year, until you enter the kingdom. And so, you believe. This belief is absurd, and yet it conquers death. Thank you for listening today, everyone. Colin Cook here, and how it happens. I want to wish you a very happy new year. May you be prospered in health and above all in spirit and faith in Jesus Christ. And may you get a few extra dollars in your pocket, too. God bless you. And also keep listening to this broadcast because I believe it will help you throughout the new year of 2025. So you tune in at any time of the day or night on your smartphone. Simply download a free app, soundcloud.com or pudbean.com and key in how it happens with Colin Cook when you get there. Happy listening. See you next year. Cheerio and God bless.