Romans 5:12-19.                               Death and Life!!!                                                              5/3/17

¹² 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—

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. ¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ 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! ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹ 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.

Today as we begin another Lenten Journey, we are reminded of why death is ever prevalent in our world and how life is possible in the face of it. So again there is a very simple and basic message here that we need to take seriously, or face the eternal consequences. At the same time, it is a message that we all too often want to evade because it ‘nails’ the truth about us, which we don’t want to accept. But that is the issue at stake here.

The reality of the death that we all face goes way back to the Garden of Eden. We human beings have decided for ourselves that we don’t want to be told what to do; or more to the point, what not to do. We want to do our own thing and we want to have control over our own lives. And the consequences are deadly.

The Old Testament Reading this morning from Genesis reminds us again of the origins of the death that we all face. God gave us everything good; the very best of everything, with lack of nothing. There was only one rule that he gave Adam and Eve. You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.  And we all know the results: it didn’t take humanity long, before it was enticed into disregarding what God had said. We listened to the lie, that it will not kill us, and now death is every present for us all. There is no escaping.

Here again we can’t just blame God, or Eve for this sad situation that we now face as a result. Each and every one of are sinful. Each and every one of us has chosen to listen to the lie, and to do what is right in our own eye. Each and every one of has brought this death on ourselves.

The sad question then is: do we want to acknowledge that this is why we are in the predicament that we are? Yes, we want out from the suffering and death, but we want to blame everyone and everything else for the problem. We as a humanity also want to solve the problem ourselves, rather than look to the one who created us, to help us out. Our pride all too often gets in the way.

So we are left in the predicament that we find ourselves. No matter how hard we try, or the promises made by modern science and the philosophies of our present age, the sad fact is that it will continue to be present. God is true to his Word: if you sin, you will die. We all sin and we all fall short of the glory of God, so the condemnation stands.

But thankfully that is not the end of the story. 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. One righteous act has done something absolutely amazing. Justification and life are now there for all people.

Paul here goes into great lengths to spell out the significance and depth of this exchange. Even though the argumentation is somewhat difficult to follow, the clear point is that through the sin of Adam condemnation and death have come on all of us, for all of us have sinned. But the gift of justification and life through Jesus Christ is far greater and more impressive.

Let me read: 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!  One man’s action brings death - how horrible is that; while the other man’s action brings life, out of death. That happens out of pure grace – undeserved love toward the one who faces death. Life instead of death surely is the greatest.

Paul goes on: 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, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Now it would be easy for us to get all hung up over the statement that we all are facing condemnation because of Adam’s sin. And even more so today because of our views of equal rights, so the blame should thereby fall on Eve instead of Adam. We could claim that we are all suffering because of their disobedience, and so it should not be passed on to us as well. But of course we need to remember that each one us also have sinned and disobeyed God.

But we do not need to dwell on this point, or use it to satisfy our own pride or whatever. For Paul clear point is that through Jesus Christ justification and life has now been extended to us all. This is absolutely amazing that God through Jesus Christ and his death on the cross should declare us as being justified before God, despite our many sins. This life overrides everything else.

So now even though our earthly bodies will still die, we have the certainty of eternal life with God. Our earthly death will be the fulfilment our final freedom from all sin suffering and death. In its place we will have a full life with the very best of everything. Most importantly we will be with our Lord who has loved us and done so much for us. To him be all praise and glory forever more. Amen

So with this in mind we continue our Lenten journey. Because of this death and life that is before us, we now will surely make this a time when we reflect on and take these things seriously. For our lives are so full of so many other thoughts and actions that we all too often forget about these things and become complacent in our faith and Christian life.

Lent is a time when we are reminded of our sinfulness and the death that results, so that it sharpens our reliance on our Lord and what he has done for us. In life today we are so focused on what we do and what our everyday world puts before us, that we forget about these things. We also don’t want to think about our own death and why, so we then no longer think about Christ and his importance also. The consequences of this are disastrous, as we can see all around us today.

So it is necessary for us to take time to reflect on the seriousness of our situation. To remember that it is the rebellion that lies in each of our sinful human natures that brings this death into our lives. If we wilfully and arrogantly continue in this disobedience to our dying breath the Lord has no choice but to leave us to our own desires and the eternal death that will ensure.

However be sure that The Lord in his love for of us will do all he can to remind us of our dire situation and of the grace that is extended to us through Jesus Christ. But if we sin against the Holy Spirit and reject his guidance and help and wilfully continue in disobedience, we are told that he has no choice but to reject us. So the call throughout Lent, and in fact daily throughout life, is to live a life of repentance. Daily recognizing the death that is ever present because of sin and so turning to our Lord and the help and life that he has freely extended to us.

We will daily look to him to help us to stand firm against the temptations that are ever put before us. We will seek Jesus help, knowing that he faced the devil’s temptations in the wildness, by holding fast to God’s Word. So this Lent we surely will want the Spirits help to keep us focused on and obedient to his Word so that we do not lose out and that death be the final verdict for us.

Along with that may this time be one that heightens our desire to be drawn to and stay close to our Lord and Saviour Jesus and the life that he has extended to us. This is the greatest and most important thing that could happen in life for us. So may we be kept mindful of it and be ever so grateful for what he has done for us. In the face of death, we have been extended true and everlasting life; to him be all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish