“Out of Death”

Scripture: Romans 5:12-21

Throughout the centuries, humanity has been both tormented and intrigued by the specter of death. And these two emotions exist for the same reason – no one knows much about the phenomenon. We fear those things that we can’t easily define and understand, and we are, at the same time, captivated by the unknown.
And what about life? Everyone knows what life is all about, because everyone exists in it. Life doesn’t mean the same, or bring the same for everyone, and it isn’t always easy, but very few have any fear of life.

From a worldly viewpoint, human life is good and human death is bad, but the truth is that few people understand the consequences of either! And the spiritual aspects of life and death? That is even stranger – there is even more confusion over the spiritual concepts of life and death, and some even try to avoid it by denying that they even exist.

Since the earliest days of the Church, there has been controversy over what happens after human life ends. The gospel writers convey Jesus’ words on the subjects, and even the epistle writers comment over and over again on the issue of life versus death, and still confusion reigns.

In today’s lesson, Paul addresses the issue of what differentiates spiritual life from spiritual death, and I will venture a guess before we even begin that it still won’t bring us a perfect understanding. But that’s never stopped us from trying before! So let us begin.

Read Romans 5:12-14

Last week, as we considered the first 11 verses of this chapter, the concept of justification, or God’s great act that set our relationship with him in the right aspect, was put in perspective for us. Today, Paul continues to show us why the Lord’s act is necessary, and why a relationship with Jesus is vital for our spiritual lives.

He begins at the beginning with Adam and Eve, who only had one commandment to follow, and temptation would lead them to break it. “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 of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) And, of course, they ate, and death would be theirs. Oh, they didn’t experience human death immediately, but while it was not in their future initially, it would now come soon. But human death was not the most important aspect of the curse – spiritual death, or the breaking of the created relationship between humanity and Almighty God, would also come to be. And that would happen almost immediately, which, in turn, would cause their rejection from the eternal garden.

This first sin – the original sin– brought about the curse of labor in life and darkness in death (Genesis 3:1-19), and there was no remedy available at the hand of humanity. Eternal life had been created for Adam by God, and there was only one thing that he had to do to keep that life – “Don’t eat the fruit on that tree!”. When his faithfulness failed, so did the promise. And until the coming of Moses and the giving of the Law, all hope was lost to human life. No hope, no justification, no opportunity, no life.

Read Romans 5:15-17

“The gift is not like the trespass.” Paul is saying that the gift of justification by Christ doesn’t just balance out the sin. It “is not like” sin because the gift of God goes far beyond the penalty of Adam. Sin would happen almost without challenge within the glory of that beautiful garden, while redemption had to fight its way back against the overwhelming darkness of death. In overcoming the curse of sin, Grace, in essence, had to create a whole new reality, a whole new covenantal relationship that would be offered, not just to one person, but to the entire world.

One man, Adam, began the downward spiral of sin into death by breaking one commandment, while one other Man, Jesus Christ, would be the gift that, for all who would accept it, would break the fall from grace. It was the gift of Divine Sacrifice that the world needed, and the cross of Christ would accomplish that very thing.

William Frazier wrote:
In failing to keep the cross at the center of salvation, and the death of Jesus at the center of the cross, Christians and the Christian point will continue to pass each other in the night.
-- As quoted in William B. Frazier, “The Incredible Christian Capacity for Missing the Christian Point”, America, 21 November 1992, 400.

We don’t like the image of death (we still don’t understand it!), and we like even less the thought that God would, or even could, die for the benefit of his created. And yet, that is just what he did.

Read Romans 5:18-21

It was the result of one sin that began the condemnation of humanity, and it is one act of pure righteousness that reestablishes the relationship that had been broken. Adam, the symbol that encompasses all of humanity, chose to break the covenant that God had created for him, and only God could put it right again. There was nothing that Adam could do to heal the rift, there was nothing that anyone could do, through all of time, that could get us back in God’s good graces. If the Lord wanted us to be reconciled with him, then he would have to make the way.
Paul explained it this way - “it was the disobedience of the one man [that] many were made sinners,” and it was “the obedience of the one man [that] many will be made righteous.” But how far must obedience go? Disobedience was easy – one simple act was all it took. But what about Jesus? Was his obedience only on Calvary?
Think about the gospels and of all the stories that surround Jesus’ ministry. He was in perfect conformity with all that the Father had ever commanded, and only overturned those laws that had come from the minds and hearts of humanity - he would remain in agreement when the Pharisees challenged him again and again with their law; he would never compromise when his closest friends couldn’t seem to get it right; he would be in perfect harmony with God when approached by Satan in the wilderness; the message that he delivered never changed - whether he was teaching Jews or Gentiles, it never deviated; and his commitment to salvation for us continued to lead him up that long and bloody hill and onto the cross. For Jesus, obedience to the Father’s Will was never in question – it was, therefore he did.

Righteous obedience is not a one or two or even ten-time thing. It is life long, and that is why we will never be able to amass enough merit by being right and good. It is because of the human condition that we never have been, nor will we ever be, perfect. A “full time righteousness” is simply not in our makeup, so we have no choice except to look to the only one who is always righteous. And what is the cause of all this imperfection? Paul says that it is because of the law – that it is the Law that causes sin. I think he is right.
Think about the laws in our own nation. Personally, I don’t think that anyone has the slightest inkling as to how many laws we actually have on the books in Washington. And if that isn’t bad enough, how many more laws do each State in the Union have, how many laws do towns and cities and villages have? And when I was growing up, my Dad added a few more for my brothers and me that government never thought of! I think that it is safe to say that no matter where you live, no matter how focused you may be on being a good citizen, no matter how careful you are to be obedient to the laws of our nation, and state and town and village and city – and parents (!), it’s inconceivable that there is a single moment of any day in which we do not break some law!

We need Jesus! And God’s laws are nowhere near as extensive as our nation’s laws. Break one of our nation’s laws (and there is no doubt that we will and we do!) and the only recourse is to pay a penalty. Break one of God’s laws (Adam did, and so do we!), and we have two choices – pay the penalty, which is death to our Divine relationship, or seek restoration through the justifying act of Jesus. The way of the world is penalty. The way of God is reconciliation. The way of the world is death and darkness. The way of God is light and life.

There is a statistic that puts this into an interesting perspective:
Do not ride in automobiles; they cause 20 percent of all fatal accidents.
Do not stay at home; 17 percent of all accidents occur in the home.
Do not walk on the street or sidewalk; 14 percent of all accidents occur to pedestrians.
Do not travel by air, rail or water; 16 percent of all accidents happen on these.

However, only .001% of all deaths reported occur in worship services. Hence, the safest place for you to be is in church. Sunday School is also relatively safe.
--Executive Speechwriter Newsletter, 8, No.1, (1993), 8.

So what do you think – safe in the Lord and dead to the world, or just plain dead? Choose for yourself this day where and how you will live. (Joshua 24:14-15)