Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

In one paragraph

This message came from Romans 5:12 through 6:4, the passage Paul uses to contrast Adam and Christ as the two men with whom every human being is identified. Pastor Mark walked through the text to show that death through Adam is the default condition for all people, and that life through Christ is the gift God has made available to those who believe. The morning also included the baptism of Lisa...

Read together

1. Romans 1:16-17 cited as the theme of the letter, the gospel as the power unto salvation for all who believe
2. Romans 5:12 sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, death came to all people
3. Romans 5:13 sin was in the world before the law was given but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law
4. Romans 5:14 death reigned from Adam to Moses even over those who did not sin by breaking a command as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come
5. Romans 5:15 the gift is not like the trespass; God's grace through Jesus Christ overflows to the many
6. Romans 5:16 the gift of God cannot be compared to the result of one man's sin; judgment followed one sin but the gift followed many trespasses
7. Romans 5:17 how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace reign in life through Jesus Christ
8. Romans 5:18 one trespass resulted in condemnation for all; one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all
9. Romans 5:19 through disobedience of one man many were made sinners; through obedience of one man many will be made righteous
10. Romans 5:20 the law was brought in so that trespass might increase, but where sin increased grace increased all the more
11. Romans 5:21 as sin reigned in death, so grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ
12. Romans 6:1 rhetorical question: shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase
13. Romans 6:2 Paul's emphatic rejection: how shall we who died to sin still live in it
14. Romans 6:3 all who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death
15. Romans 6:4 buried with him through baptism so that as Christ was raised we too might walk in newness of life
16. 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive
17. Ephesians 1:18-23 read as the closing benediction, covering the hope of God's calling and the surpassing greatness of his power toward believers

Talk about it

1. Pastor Mark described Adam as our 'federal head,' meaning his sin became the default condition for all of humanity. How does it sit with you personally to think of yourself as someone who begins life already identified with Adam, before you have done anything yourself?
2. The missionary Ted mentioned that a stranger offering you 99 good things freely while keeping back only one would seem generous, not cruel. How does that picture change the way you think about God's command to Adam in the garden?
3. Pastor Mark read that 'the law was brought in so that the trespass might increase,' meaning the law was meant to show us our shortfall. Before you understood what God required of you, how aware were you of your own sin, and what changed when you saw it more clearly?
4. The sermon contrasted Adam's fatal disobedience with Christ's triumphant obedience. Pastor Mark said both started with a clean slate, but only one remained obedient. What does it mean practically, day to day, to choose to identify with Christ rather than to keep living out of your identification with Adam?
5. Pastor Mark said that if we truly understand the depth of our sin and the grace that forgives it, our response is not 'I can do whatever I want' but rather 'God, what would you have me do?' Where do you find yourself on that spectrum right now, and what would help you move further toward that second response?