Message by Faith Koh
“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.” Romans 5:19
Romans 5 Part II guides readers
through the two most pivotal characters in history. It provides a side-by-side comparison
between Adam and Christ and helps us to see the significance of one man’s
influence. The cause and effect in the lives of Adam and Christ: disobedience
vs. obedience causes, death vs. life.
I. Death through Adam
The history of Adam dates back to the very beginning. Genesis 3 gives birth to the original command and the original sin; sin caused by pride. A proud mind is the trunk in which all periphery sins branch out. In the story of Adam and Eve, God said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Gen 2:16-17). This was given by God as an act of love for man’s everlasting happiness in paradise. But, prompted by Satan, Eve misquotes God and twists his words saying, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”(Gen 3:2) From Eve’s perturbed perspective, God is restrictive and close-minded. The chain reaction heightens progressively: Satan induces the small seeds of pride to produce doubt and ingratitude. Ultimately, her sin (her history in Adam) led to death (Gen 3:19).
However, that is not the end. Verse 12 tells us “…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—” You may think that this is just another archaic tale of a man’s demise that simply has nothing to do with you. But the fact of the matter is that every single one of us takes part in Adam’s story. Because we all sin, so like Adam we will all die. This is our nature. Adam’s history of sin and death are our human nature, and it reigned from “the time of Adam to the time of Moses” all the way until now, this very moment. Just this last week, I visited Maryland and Pennsylvania with my cousins and friends. It was almost like I was in the Garden of Eden. The time spent in fellowship with my family filled me with the joy and freedom that Adam must have experienced in the garden. But literally out of nowhere during one of the long car rides, Satan attacked me from my blind spot. He took hold of me, and he tempted me to indulge in his poison (sin). When I took a bite, I began to choke on my imperfections both in the spiritual and physical. Fear, hatred, and self-pity poured out of me. It was like I was vomiting darkness…sounds gross, but that’s how I felt. I felt disgusting and in that moment, my life seemed impotent. Taken by sin, I felt unimportant and worthless so much that I wanted to die. Never have I felt so controlled by death. Because of my history in Adam, I know that my sin begets death. Some may say that Adam was then and now is now. But actually, Adam’s sin in disobedience from thousands and thousands of years ago takes part in both you and me today. It’s for that reason that you experience death physically (our earthly bodies are destined to emaciate in the ground) and spiritually (we experience it in elemental form).
Broken relationships with parents or friends. Loneliness. Jealousy. Insecurity—that’s death; you’re always unsure of yourself, your identity is fragmented and confidence is incessantly teetering back and forth. Self-condemnation…like, “Why can’t I be this way, why do I always make the same mistakes all the time?” Lust: evil thoughts and images kill our hearts and minds. Anger. Or guilt—you may look back at past mistakes with yourself or with other people and you can’t help but feel stuck. Or maybe some of you have even come to a certain crossroad in your life where you have considered suicide.
Do you see how in some way or another we have all, every single one of us, been confronted by death? Then my point has been made clear: We know that our sin involuntarily places us in the chronicles of Adam.
Sin is a deadly epidemic. It has plagued our world in its entirety.
Then what are we to do? We know that by birth, because of our sin, we entered into Adam…so is that it? Are just we doomed to death? Or is there something or someone more powerful that can overcome it all? Paul shares with us something that is not like the trespass. God offers us a gift. He offers us life, and his name is Jesus.
II. Life through Christ
One act of disobedience by Adam, and the whole world is fated to die. But through one man Christ, the whole world now has life. In vs 15 it says “how much more did…the gift that came by grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” The gift of life by grace overflows. All throughout Christ’s prolific history, we see that time and time again he offers life to the many. Can we read verse 16 and 17 together?
The history of Adam dates back to the very beginning. Genesis 3 gives birth to the original command and the original sin; sin caused by pride. A proud mind is the trunk in which all periphery sins branch out. In the story of Adam and Eve, God said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Gen 2:16-17). This was given by God as an act of love for man’s everlasting happiness in paradise. But, prompted by Satan, Eve misquotes God and twists his words saying, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”(Gen 3:2) From Eve’s perturbed perspective, God is restrictive and close-minded. The chain reaction heightens progressively: Satan induces the small seeds of pride to produce doubt and ingratitude. Ultimately, her sin (her history in Adam) led to death (Gen 3:19).
However, that is not the end. Verse 12 tells us “…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—” You may think that this is just another archaic tale of a man’s demise that simply has nothing to do with you. But the fact of the matter is that every single one of us takes part in Adam’s story. Because we all sin, so like Adam we will all die. This is our nature. Adam’s history of sin and death are our human nature, and it reigned from “the time of Adam to the time of Moses” all the way until now, this very moment. Just this last week, I visited Maryland and Pennsylvania with my cousins and friends. It was almost like I was in the Garden of Eden. The time spent in fellowship with my family filled me with the joy and freedom that Adam must have experienced in the garden. But literally out of nowhere during one of the long car rides, Satan attacked me from my blind spot. He took hold of me, and he tempted me to indulge in his poison (sin). When I took a bite, I began to choke on my imperfections both in the spiritual and physical. Fear, hatred, and self-pity poured out of me. It was like I was vomiting darkness…sounds gross, but that’s how I felt. I felt disgusting and in that moment, my life seemed impotent. Taken by sin, I felt unimportant and worthless so much that I wanted to die. Never have I felt so controlled by death. Because of my history in Adam, I know that my sin begets death. Some may say that Adam was then and now is now. But actually, Adam’s sin in disobedience from thousands and thousands of years ago takes part in both you and me today. It’s for that reason that you experience death physically (our earthly bodies are destined to emaciate in the ground) and spiritually (we experience it in elemental form).
Broken relationships with parents or friends. Loneliness. Jealousy. Insecurity—that’s death; you’re always unsure of yourself, your identity is fragmented and confidence is incessantly teetering back and forth. Self-condemnation…like, “Why can’t I be this way, why do I always make the same mistakes all the time?” Lust: evil thoughts and images kill our hearts and minds. Anger. Or guilt—you may look back at past mistakes with yourself or with other people and you can’t help but feel stuck. Or maybe some of you have even come to a certain crossroad in your life where you have considered suicide.
Do you see how in some way or another we have all, every single one of us, been confronted by death? Then my point has been made clear: We know that our sin involuntarily places us in the chronicles of Adam.
Sin is a deadly epidemic. It has plagued our world in its entirety.
Then what are we to do? We know that by birth, because of our sin, we entered into Adam…so is that it? Are just we doomed to death? Or is there something or someone more powerful that can overcome it all? Paul shares with us something that is not like the trespass. God offers us a gift. He offers us life, and his name is Jesus.
II. Life through Christ
One act of disobedience by Adam, and the whole world is fated to die. But through one man Christ, the whole world now has life. In vs 15 it says “how much more did…the gift that came by grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” The gift of life by grace overflows. All throughout Christ’s prolific history, we see that time and time again he offers life to the many. Can we read verse 16 and 17 together?
“”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!”
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!”
There is a story of a woman who was dry, lonely. In her
[futile] attempts to quench her desire for something more, she turned to men. 6
men, in fact, yet none could satisfy her thirst. She lived in Adam, and because
of her history, she was out casted by society. In Adam, she was what vs. 16
says; judged and condemned. But the
gift followed her trespasses and brought justification. Not because of what she
did, but purely because of Jesus, who encountered her at a well and gave her
living “water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). When we consider Jesus’
history from beginning to end, all we can see is life. Luke 17 presents readers
with the story of Jesus who healed not one leper, but ten. That’s his abundant
provision of grace. In Matthew 9, Jesus restores the paralytic and with one
touch, he renews the bleeding woman. On numerous accounts, he gave sight to the
blind. In John 9 he raises a young girl from the dead and in John 11, calls
Lazarus out from the tomb. Even when Jesus was dying, with his final breath, he
offered you life by putting to death all sins. Any records you may have had in
Adam have been erased when Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Jesus is
the source of life.
With the gift comes a remedy of greatest efficacy, one that completely expels us from our background in Adam. With the life through Christ, we inherit justification and we will be made righteous. So for any of you who were once bound to guilt in Adam, now in Jesus there is peace. Instead of hatred or jealousy, there is love. No more bitterness, but forgiveness and forbearance. Lust and anger are now traded for self-control and freedom. In Jesus’ history, there are no remnants of death; only joy, kindness, and goodness reigning in our hearts.
With the gift comes a remedy of greatest efficacy, one that completely expels us from our background in Adam. With the life through Christ, we inherit justification and we will be made righteous. So for any of you who were once bound to guilt in Adam, now in Jesus there is peace. Instead of hatred or jealousy, there is love. No more bitterness, but forgiveness and forbearance. Lust and anger are now traded for self-control and freedom. In Jesus’ history, there are no remnants of death; only joy, kindness, and goodness reigning in our hearts.
III. From Adam to Christ, Death to Life
Let’s take a step back for a moment and look at the bigger picture. Verse 19 puts things into perspective for us. “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.” Adam’s disobedience brought sin, Jesus’ obedience ushered sin out and brought life. Through Jesus’ obedience to God’s word, all men are saved through faith. One person Jesus Christ obeyed to the point of death and in doing so, he brought forth a saving grace for all of mankind.
In Adam, our logic is that one man is just another life lived. That’s our logic. That’s what makes sense to us, right? God’s math tells us otherwise. In Jesus, one decision of faith to obey is equivalent to an eternal history in his creation story. Adam sees one as one. But God sees one and then he sees the world. When I was in Adam, I lived under the rule of death. Growing up in the certain situations I found myself in, from an early age my mind was programmed into a very performance-heavy, appearance-driven way. In piano, violin, and art, I had to work towards recitals, competitions and exhibitions to display my work. As a dancer, people judge you based on your “style” and how you present yourself to the community. Even in church, I had this established predilection of what I needed to do and how I needed to look, in order to feel accepted by others. I wanted to be perfect Faith Koh who was known for music, art, dance, academics. Faith Koh who is such a good daughter and sister; well-liked by everybody. The confrontation I had with Satan was one of the many that has been building up over time. I could never seem to keep up with all the standards I laid out for myself. It felt like trying to swim up a waterfall, only to fall once more because of my human limitations and sin. It constantly left me feeling like I could never be good at anything. I was extremely resentful and insecure about my character flaws and my physical appearance. When I was in DC, I struggled a lot with these thoughts. There was one point in the trip where I was so overwhelmed that while everyone went out to enjoy the beach, I stayed in the van and cried myself to sleep. But God saw me, and called out to me through 1Corinthians 15 biblestudy where I learned about the gospel message, power and glory that follows the resurrection. God understood me and in His love, he sent his son to die on the cross. Christ died for these exact sins. Because of the resurrection, I will one day be renewed with a heavenly body and soul (1Corinthians 15:40) I will be wholly refined into a unique and perfect splendor, crafted in the image of God once more. When I stepped out to Jesus in faith, I no longer felt controlled by self-condemnation or meaninglessness. I could finally break free from my crooked understanding of what happiness was, and I could enter into the true grace that can only be found in Jesus. This is the grace I received in Jesus’ history. Although I deserved death, Jesus died and conquered my sin when he rose from the grave.
That doesn’t mean all sinful endeavors are over, though. Because the law was given to us, the trespass increases. In fact, the law was brought in for that specific reason—so that the trespass could increase (vs 20). This probably sounds unreasonable at first. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we didn’t have so many laws to break? It makes much more sense for God to decrease the trespass through the law. But God had a purpose: he gave us the law in preparation for the gospel. The better we understand the law, the more conscious we are of our sins and the stronger our desire for a Savior becomes. In case you didn’t quite catch it—this is again, God’s math. For “…where sin increased, grace increased all the more” Paul portrays God’s grace perfectly. God’s grace is overflowing. It is abundant and it reigns. There’s that one lyric by the David Crowder band “If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking”. The grace of god is overwhelming because it increases exponentially. When we stand in grace, we don’t need to question God’s love as did Eve. There’s no reason to doubt! We have proof on the cross that Jesus came in love. Though I continue to stumble and fall in trespass of the law, I fully trust that I will fall in the sea of God’s grace.
Let’s take a step back for a moment and look at the bigger picture. Verse 19 puts things into perspective for us. “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.” Adam’s disobedience brought sin, Jesus’ obedience ushered sin out and brought life. Through Jesus’ obedience to God’s word, all men are saved through faith. One person Jesus Christ obeyed to the point of death and in doing so, he brought forth a saving grace for all of mankind.
In Adam, our logic is that one man is just another life lived. That’s our logic. That’s what makes sense to us, right? God’s math tells us otherwise. In Jesus, one decision of faith to obey is equivalent to an eternal history in his creation story. Adam sees one as one. But God sees one and then he sees the world. When I was in Adam, I lived under the rule of death. Growing up in the certain situations I found myself in, from an early age my mind was programmed into a very performance-heavy, appearance-driven way. In piano, violin, and art, I had to work towards recitals, competitions and exhibitions to display my work. As a dancer, people judge you based on your “style” and how you present yourself to the community. Even in church, I had this established predilection of what I needed to do and how I needed to look, in order to feel accepted by others. I wanted to be perfect Faith Koh who was known for music, art, dance, academics. Faith Koh who is such a good daughter and sister; well-liked by everybody. The confrontation I had with Satan was one of the many that has been building up over time. I could never seem to keep up with all the standards I laid out for myself. It felt like trying to swim up a waterfall, only to fall once more because of my human limitations and sin. It constantly left me feeling like I could never be good at anything. I was extremely resentful and insecure about my character flaws and my physical appearance. When I was in DC, I struggled a lot with these thoughts. There was one point in the trip where I was so overwhelmed that while everyone went out to enjoy the beach, I stayed in the van and cried myself to sleep. But God saw me, and called out to me through 1Corinthians 15 biblestudy where I learned about the gospel message, power and glory that follows the resurrection. God understood me and in His love, he sent his son to die on the cross. Christ died for these exact sins. Because of the resurrection, I will one day be renewed with a heavenly body and soul (1Corinthians 15:40) I will be wholly refined into a unique and perfect splendor, crafted in the image of God once more. When I stepped out to Jesus in faith, I no longer felt controlled by self-condemnation or meaninglessness. I could finally break free from my crooked understanding of what happiness was, and I could enter into the true grace that can only be found in Jesus. This is the grace I received in Jesus’ history. Although I deserved death, Jesus died and conquered my sin when he rose from the grave.
That doesn’t mean all sinful endeavors are over, though. Because the law was given to us, the trespass increases. In fact, the law was brought in for that specific reason—so that the trespass could increase (vs 20). This probably sounds unreasonable at first. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we didn’t have so many laws to break? It makes much more sense for God to decrease the trespass through the law. But God had a purpose: he gave us the law in preparation for the gospel. The better we understand the law, the more conscious we are of our sins and the stronger our desire for a Savior becomes. In case you didn’t quite catch it—this is again, God’s math. For “…where sin increased, grace increased all the more” Paul portrays God’s grace perfectly. God’s grace is overflowing. It is abundant and it reigns. There’s that one lyric by the David Crowder band “If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking”. The grace of god is overwhelming because it increases exponentially. When we stand in grace, we don’t need to question God’s love as did Eve. There’s no reason to doubt! We have proof on the cross that Jesus came in love. Though I continue to stumble and fall in trespass of the law, I fully trust that I will fall in the sea of God’s grace.
Jesus did all this for us, so now you
may wonder how one can shift from the history of Adam to the history of Christ.
The solution is simple: you need to believe. Believe that Jesus’ blood is your
atonement for sin. This change from death to life (Adam to Christ), comes at
the foot of the cross. As your sister and friend, it is my earnest hope for
each and every one of you to make the clear decision to believe in Jesus’ death
and resurrection this Easter. I can promise you from my own experience that His
grace is profoundly liberating. I sincerely invite each of you to take part in
the history that has been pre-hemmed by the flawlessness of God, for all of you
are exceptionally critical in his sight.
Let me remind you once more how important a person’s decision is. One man Adam led to death, whereas one man Christ led to life. Both plot on an eternal scale. The decision of one man—just one man—to either obey or disobey…can alter history forever, for one is the beginning of totality. Now it all comes down to this: which history will you decide to take part in?
Let me remind you once more how important a person’s decision is. One man Adam led to death, whereas one man Christ led to life. Both plot on an eternal scale. The decision of one man—just one man—to either obey or disobey…can alter history forever, for one is the beginning of totality. Now it all comes down to this: which history will you decide to take part in?
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