Adam & Christ

When Adam sinned, we all said that since the tragedy of the human condition. This is why we are born into the sick and fallen world of sick unfallen people because for our first father did consequences not just for him but for the whole of humanity. He ruined the family receivers consequences every Lutheran and the examiner. So we see the results of our own broken today on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson will show us. There is one who came to restore the family to set us free, free of enmity, free of separation free of guilt, while not in our previous sessions. We've begun to ask for this great theme of union with Christ on whipping a little like the folks in Joshua's time monitoring run Jericho until the penny drops. This is such a significant truth that starts in Scripture.

So what we been doing this would be looking at some passages but give us different angles on the central idea of union with Christ, I'm coming now in the soft fourth study to think about Adam and Christ union with Adam and union with Christ, and of course the great passage that gives us a foundation for our thinking is in Romans chapter 5 in verses 12 through 21.

This is by any measure an exceedingly complex passage on for that reason, I want to read it so that we can feel something of the complexity and depth in it.

I meant what I want to do is to try to unfold it in its basic simplicities so that we can catch some sense of how marvelous a vision the service of what it means to become a Christian socialist ball valve for just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all send for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin does not come to talk where there is no law yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the trespass.

For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many of the free gift is not like the result of that one month to the judgment following one trespass condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification for us because of one man's trespass death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Buffer is one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification of life for all men.

For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Know the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more so that those sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We said last time, but becoming a Christian is a much bigger thing than most of us, indeed any of us anticipated when we first of all came to faith in Jesus Christ. We want at that moment by the Holy Spirit through faith united to Christ, we are actually not only believed on the Lord Jesus. We believe into the Lord Jesus into fellowship with her mentor union and communion with him on this opens up far as Paul is teaching us in various places a whole world of blessing every spiritual blessing is ours in our Lord Jesus Christ and we might say that this is teaching but undergirds the chapters in Romans with which most of us are most familiar. Chapter 5 and six and seven and eight, but these verses we just read chapter 5 verses 12 to 21 of puzzled many Christians still puzzle. Many Christian scholars. What an F are they doing here. They are so complicated. Why does Paul at this point introduce Adam. What is the logic of his mind, but he thinks about the gospel. In this way, I constantly think we answer to that question is as follows, but in many ways this is the central point of everything he's saying in the first three chapters. Everything he has said so far Lisa's darling into this foundation everything that he says from this point onwards leads us upwards from this foundation. Remember how he reasons enrollments. He tells us that God has revealed himself clearly that we have rejected his glory that we have worshiped the creature rather than the creator.

The consequence has been our sinfulness, he argues, in chapter 2 but no one is possibly able to justify himself before God even as a religious person. All of sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every month is shot the whole world is held guilty before God and only because of the propitiation crisis made the redemption that is in Christ, is it possible for anyone to be saved and they will be saved by faith in the Lord Jesus and then he defends that by saying this is always been the way of salvation.

Abraham was not saved by his own righteousness. David was not served by his own righteousness. Only through the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Are we justified then in chapter 5 verses one through 11. He has spoken about the privileges that become ours in Jesus Christ, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God with unable to rejoice, even in our sufferings, we rejoice in God himself notices always taking a step back and centers do you see how all of this. Our sinful condition and are justified, condition are actually rooted in the lives of two men. Adam on the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember how in first Corinthians 15. He uses similar language, but he calls Adam, the first man under calls.

The Lord Jesus. The second man in the last Adam and you can sense their he's asking us to stand by from the whole of history and to see the whole of history to place our own lives within the context of the significance of these two men it is as though God's plan for the whole of history is tied up on the one hand with Adam and on the other hand with Jesus Christ and he's saying really isn't. If you do not understand the significance of these two individuals.

You will neither be able to understand the significance of history nor will you be able to understand the significance of your own Christian life. It's as though he's saying Christian. Don't you realize you have been brought into something that is far bigger than you ever imagined far bigger than simply your old and coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You've been caught up into the biggest narrative of all though of course Paul wrote these words almost 2000 years ago, but isn't it interesting that in our one time and you feel this every level you hear this in the academic level. If you listen the theological world youth unit in the generalist world of political speech. What do people want to know that all was talking about the narrative on cutest analysis, but they don't often get the narrative right because they don't usually have a big enough narrative and were living in a time of course when we've lost all sense of personal identity and saw children at school. In many places are being encouraged to statement on identity. In other words, you make yourself up but why would you need to make yourself out answer because you don't know who you are. If you know who you are. You don't need to make yourself out if you don't know who you are.

If you don't have a big garden narrative than your own decisions. If you don't have a narrative that spans the whole of history then it is inevitable, but do you live a destabilized life and will now living in the Tiedeman the Western world when our younger people are all see where governments are spending vast amounts of money almost incalculable amounts of money trying to help young people to decide who they are in the background to the masses because we've actually rejected who the Scriptures say we are of this is what makes such a big difference to be a Christian and this is also why it's so important for us as Christians not to think of ourselves as isolated individuals, but to see ourselves in the big picture and for that reason they shouldn't really surprise us that Romans five verses 12 to 21 is a very dense and complicated passage because Paul is teaching us realities that were not accustomed to thinking about this basic reality is loose the whole of the history of the human race depends on what two men have done Adam, the first man in our Lord Jesus Christ. The second month. Adam, the first and Adam the last I knew see how that's the basic principle that runs through this passage I think I can. If this is a tapestry of the whole of human history. I think I can put my fingers into the tapestry and do what you should never do with an expensive tapestry. I can pool on three strands of the whole tapestry unravels the force. It's a story about two men to actions and to the results. It's a simple assignment.

Two men to actions to results but to man. Well he introduces them to us. That is the first album under this the last of fund the central point of what Paul says here about Adam is he was not just an individual. He was not just an isolated person.

She was the first man and he was the head of the whole human race. One could put it this way. He was the father of the full humanity because he was the father of the whole humanity. He was the representative of the whole of humanity so that whatever he did would have consequences and implications for all of those who belonged to his family actually were quite accustomed to that thought. Sometimes people say to me but but that's unfair about what should happen. I've never actually met anyone who has inherited $1 million from the father who said you know this whole business of our inheritance.

It's quite unfair.

We shouldn't be doing things like we should be into the business of redistributing wealth, but we all recognized intuitively and instinctively that is something about the way we have been created that involves us in the lives of our parents and involves them in our lives. And Paula simply setting this before us on a massive scale. He says the implications of what our first father did because he was our father. He was our representative we belong to him on the form that is in and feel of what Adam did, but comes down to, but here's the good news.

The same is true of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, not simply as another isolated individual. But to be the head to be the father, we might say of a completely new humanity wondered about that wonderful prophecy of the Lord Jesus. What we read Christmastime so often he was the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, everlasting father is not a confusion of the persons of the Trinity was truly an insight into who Jesus was going to be.

He was going to be the father of a new humanity. Those who would be born again into his kingdom and because God is so constituted the human race that one man might represent all men, so it was possible in order to re-comfort us from our sinful condition that he would undo the first man had done by sending a second man on the last Stanton who would be able to represent his people so that everything that he accomplished would not only be his because he did not need to do it for himself could also be bearers.

So Paul is teaching us think about the whole story of the human race is a story of two unions and all of us belong to one union multivalent union where all by nature and Adam. Those who have been born again by God's spirit of being born again into this new family of which the father and the hand is the Lord Jesus Christ. So first of all, there are these two men. Second, he goes on to underscore follows that these two men engaged into radically different acts. So on the one hand he's drawing a comparison but is a sense in which Adam and Christ are like each other. They are both the father figures of entire bracelets, but he says there is a sense also an important sense in which the radically different from one another that acts are so different he wants us to sense the work of Jesus Christ takes on a lust for you specially when you see it against the background of the work around them. You men do remember you went to the jewelers shop and what you're thinking about is the ring you're going to buy on the jeweler comes out with the rings.

Did you notice how quickly he slipped a black cloth onto the table. I was not because when he set the Joule where whether it was expensive or not so expensive. It looks a lot more expensive against the black cloth.

It was a Leica wall. You saw the lust of the Joule more clearly against the dark background policy doing something like, not by some sleight-of-hand, but by helping us to see that the lust of the work of Jesus Christ shine so brightly when we realize the catastrophe, but our first followed Adam created for old man constantly says what did Adam do and he ran distracts the vocabulary of certain he speaks about Adam certainly speaks about his breach of the commandment he speaks about his trespass. He speaks about his disobedience under says point you need to grasp is that when he sinned and fell because he was our father unrepresentative in him all of us soon and fell.

That is the tragedy of the human condition. This is why we are born into the sick and fallen world of sick unfallen people because for our first father did consequences not just for him but for the whole of humanity. He ruined the family that I read a fair amount in the history of the 19th century and every second person who seems to rise up to a position of prominence for the father who virtually ruined the family and so the sun had to get under that ruin not only live his unsuccessful life here to undo the failure of the ruin. His father had cars and this is what is happened on the other side says Paul whereas Adam sinned and disobeyed and broke the command. By contrast, he calls it the one act of righteousness of the one man whereas Adam's disobedience lasted for a few seconds and then for the whole course of his life. The old regions of the Lord Jesus that is contrasted with that is no beach in surf's up to three years. Paul puts it in Philippians 2 how he became obedient even region today even obedient – on the cross, the whole of his life was heading there one perfect life lived in perfect obedience to the heavenly father to begin to undo the disobedience of our first father Adam torn photos of course by his death upon the cross. Put simply, we are Adam failed Jesus succeeded.

Put simply, where Adam came under condemnation. Jesus went under that condemnation, and to put on our behalf and paid the penalty for Adam's failure so that everything we have lost in Adam has been regained for us everything that Adam did to turn away from God. Jesus reverse by living this perfect life of obedience and faithfulness is a wonderful expression of lesson Elgar's oratorio, the dream of Jeron TS for the uses of Pulliam him actually by John Henry Newman. Some of the verses you don't want to sing, but some of the verses you do want to sing praise to the holiest in the height to him is called an in and in the density praise and all his works most wonderful, most sure in all his ways old loving wisdom of our God. When all was sin and shame second Adam to the fight and to the rescue came all wisest love flesh and blood, but did Adam fail should strive afresh against the full should strive and should prevail. Two men to radically different acts and two gloriously different effects through Adam's sin entered under and that soon Olson through Adam's sin, Ray because of Adam all die, but in Jesus Christ through Jesus Christ gray center through Jesus Christ. Obedience was offered through Jesus Christ. Atonement was made through Jesus Christ life from grace comes to those who belong to him on sources. Paul, the wonderful reality is this, but there is a new reading takes place in the lives of those who belong to Jesus Christ, the reign of righteousness. The ring of life, and indeed the rating of grace.

I think it was tough. Steege in the hymn writer who captured what Paul says most perfectly old Jesus, full of pardoning grace more full of grace.

The niacin, that's what you discover when we were united to this view had of the new humanity that is grace the cover all your sin without exception. Such a wonderful thing to be united to Christ. The difference between Adam and Christ one brought death, the other brings life. Dr. Sinclair Ferguson is better teacher today on Renewing Your Mind as we continue with portions of his new series union with Christ. The Bible says that we are crucified with Christ baptized into him set free from sin and hidden in Christ, glorious truth that have radical implications for how we live. This is a new series that is not been released to the public and we wanted you to be the first to receive it.

It's a 12 part series on two DVDs and we will send it to you for your gift of any amount you can reach is online@renewingyourmind.org or you can call us with your gift at 800-435-4343. In a recent staff meeting, our president and CEO Chris Larson the run longer. A letter written by our founder Dr. RC Sproul in our our aim is always been to encourage believers in their understanding of God's holiness in the RC's words remind us of that goal in Iraq. I wanted to share a bit of this with you. He wrote, if we lived in constant awareness that we were acting before the face of God, our lives would surely be different. This is why we cannot rest upon door be satisfied with mere human levels of accountability to live. Coram Dayo is to live all of life in the presence of God under the authority of God and to the glory of God. It was wonderful to hear those words from RC in there that's why were here every day on Renewing Your Mind is why we produced teaching series books and table talk magazine to remind us that we are living before the face of God and were thankful for your financial support, which allows us to continue this work will tomorrow Sinclair shows is another aspect of what it means to be in union with Christ in our focus will be on that passage in second Corinthians chapter 5 where the apostle Paul says if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Please join us for Renewing Your Mind