Romans 5:12-14
HOW PARADISE WAS LOST
Intro: Paul has spent considerable amounts of time in
the book of Romans proving that man is a sinner. He
has shown us that every class of human in the world is
guilty in the eyes of God. Folks, there is no denying
that truth! If you doubt that man is guilty, then travel to
any spot on the globe, pick up any newspaper or listen
to any news broadcast anywhere and the truth will be
made plain to you once and for all. Man is a sinner!
In these verses, Paul tells us how man came to be
the way he is. Just for a moment, let's be honest with
one another. For every person in this room, there are
times when you have desires and impulses in your mind
that, if followed, would ruin your marriages, your
careers, your finances, your name and your fellowship
with the Lord. We all have those thoughts from time to
time, and sadly, many act upon them! Even when we
know the consequences of our actions, we still want
and do things that are wicked. Why is that?
The answer lies within a doctrine called "Original
Sin". This doctrine teaches us that man is a sinner by
nature. He doesn't become a sinner by doing evil.
Rather, man does evil because he is a sinner! There is
another name for this condition and it is called "Total
Depravity". Basically, what this teaches us is that
mankind is evil to the core and that there is no good in
him at all, Romans 3:10-12.
It wasn't this way in the beginning! We are told that
God created man in His image, Genesis 1:26. Man was
holy, man was righteous and man was the close friend
of God. Man was placed in a perfect paradise, where
he enjoyed the riches of God's perfect creation. So,
what happened? Our text holds the answer to that
question this evening. These tell us How Paradise
Was Lost.
In these verses, we will learn about sin. We will see
where it came from and how it effects us even to this
day. We will see ourselves in all of our wretchedness,
but that is a sight we need to see. Therefore, let's join
Paul in these three verses as we consider the thought
How Paradise Was Lost.
I. V. 12a THE ROOTS OF SIN
(From a perfect beginning to a pitiful failure, the study
of sin's effects on the human race is a study in tragedy
and death.)
A. Sin had its origins in the heart of Lucifer, Isaiah
14:12-15. Lucifer was not content to be the
"anointed cherub that covereth", Ezekiel
28:11-15. He sinned against the Lord, but his
sin did had no effect on humanity.
B. Sin entered the human family by the actions of
the first man Adam. He had been created in the
very image of God. He had been placed in a
perfect environment, with a perfect companion.
He was the master of a perfect world. There
was only one restriction on Adam. He was
forbidden to eat the fruit of one tree in the
Garden of Eden, Genesis 2:15-17. The penalty
for eating from this tree was death! You would
think that Adam would be content in that perfect
paradise, but the Bible tells us that Adam broke
the one Law that he had been given by God,
Genesis 3:1-7.
(Ill. Had we been standing there that day
watching Adam and eve take the forbidden fruit,
we not have heard any explosions. There would
have been no bells and whistles. However, in
that instant of time, humanity died! The fall out
from that moment of disobedience have been
catastrophic for the human family!)
C. The moment Adam sinned as been termed by
theologians and "The Fall". Sadly, Adam's fall
did not just affect Adam, but it affected the whole
world! Note: "sin entered into the world."
There is no way to explain the world part from
the fall! There is only one way to explain things
like murder, abortion, theft, racism, hatred,
fornication, adultery, idolatry, and all kinds of
wickedness: "By one man sin entered into the
world." How do you explain a Susan Smith?
How do you explain a legal slaughterhouse
where abortions are performed for profit? How
do you explain homosexuality? How do you
explain any of the millions of crimes that are
committed against humanity? There is only one
explanation: "By one man sin entered into the
world."
D. All sin and all the results of sin can be traced
back to one moment in time. It can all be traced
back to when Adam, the first man, sinned
against God. Adam's transgression was how
paradise was ruined.
I. The Roots Of Sin
II. V. 12c THE REALITY OF SIN
A. Now, we want to move away from talking about
what Adam did thousands of years ago. We
want to talk about your life and mine right now.
Notice the last phrase of verse 12, "all have
sinned". How could anything be any plainer?
"ALL have sinned"! This verse is not saying
that all men are sinners, even though we are!
This verse is not saying that all men commit sin,
even though we do. To properly understand this
verse, you need to look at the tense of the word
sinned. Notice that it is PAST tense. We all
sinned before we even got here!
B. Basically, what Paul is telling us is that when
Adam sinned, you sinned. When Adam
disobeyed, you disobeyed. When Adam fell, you
fell. One fellow has said that "When Adam fell,
everyone bruised their knees." I think the
problem is much more serious than that! When
Adam sinned, we all died spiritually!
C. To understand this, we need to understand that
Adam was the first man. We all trace our
lineage back to him. In fact, Adam was the
representative man. What happened to Adam
happened to all of us. In the eyes of God, Adam
was given the authority to act for the entire
human race. Therefore, when he sinned, we
were in his loins and we sinned as well. When
Adam fell, he passed his sinful condition down to
every human that has ever been born. His sin
tainted the bloodstream of all humanity. Every
human being born into this world is born carrying
the virus of sin and death. We are diseased!
(Ill. Think of it this way, Adam was driving the
bus of humanity. When he drove the bus off the
cliff, we went with him.)
D. Because of this infection of sin that fills our blood,
we are born with a natural drive toward evil. This
clearly evident in the lives of little children.
Children have to be taught how to do everything.
You have to teach them how to dress, how to
behave, how to brush their teeth, how to take a
bath, how to tie their shoes, etc. However,
children never have to be taught how to do evil!
They are born with a bent toward sin, Psalm
58:3. That may sound hard, but it is true!
People do not become evil because they
commit sin. People commit sin because they
are evil by their very natures! Notice the
following comments:
"Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is
completely selfish and self-centered. He
wants what he wants when he wants it--his
bottle, his mother's attention, his playmate's
toy, his uncle's watch. Deny him these wants,
and he seethes with rage and
aggressiveness, which would be murderous,
were he not so helpless. He is dirty. He has
no morals, no knowledge, no skills. This
means that all children, not just certain
children, are born delinquent. If permitted to
continue in the self-centered world of his
infancy, given free reign to his impulsive
actions to satisfy his wants, every child
would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a
rapist." (Ray Stedman, From Guilt to Glory, I, p.
131)
E. You see, people became bad way back in the
Garden of Eden. You were born with a bad
record and with a lust for wrong. In fact, there is
no sin that is beyond the realm of possibility for
you. You say not me! Could you murder? If the
circumstances were right! Could you commit
adultery? Some of you have dreamed of it this
very week! Could you steal? If necessary!
Could you tell a lie? Certainly! The bottom line
is that humans are evil to the core. There is no
good in any of us. We are wicked beyond belief!
And, that is the reality of sin!
I. The Roots Of Sin
II. The Reality Of Sin
III. V. 12b-14a
THE RESULTS OF SIN
A. The results of sin can be summed up in one
horrible word: Death. When men sin, they are
doomed to die, Romans 6:23. What Paul is
trying to tell us in these verses is that death
entered the world not because man broke the
specific Laws and commandments of God, but
death entered the world through sin. Even
those, according to verse 13 who were not guilty
of any specific violation of God's Law, because
the Law had not yet been given, still died. Just
a glimpse at Genesis chapter 5 is enough to
convince us of the terrible results of sin in the
human family. Notice the repetition of the
phrase "...and he died." That says it all! The
result of sin is always death, James 1:14-15.
B. Death is so certain that there are industries that
are built around the truth that you will die. Think
of the mortuary and the life insurance industries.
They exist because people die. Death is as
certain as is life, Hebrews 9:27.
C. Sadly, many do not understand that death is
more than just laying down this body. In truth,
sin produces 3 specific kinds of death in
humans.
1. Spiritual Death - This is the natural state of
all humanity as they are born into this world.
Spiritual death is in reality being separated
from God, Ephesians 2:1-2; 4:18.
2. Physical Death - This is the place all
humans come to, when these temporal,
earthly bodies are laid aside, Hebrews 9:27.
3. Eternal Death - This is also known as "the
second death". It refers not only to eternal
separation from the presence of God, 2
Thessalonians 1:8-9; but also of eternal
torment in the Lake of Fire, Revelation
20:14-15. It is the ultimate doom of every
person who is not saved by the grace of God.
(Ill. Every lost person here this evening needs to
understand that you are spiritually dead this
evening, one day you will die physically and then
you will spend eternity enduring the second
death. Saved people need to know that we have
already passed from death unto life, John 5:24.
We might have to pass through physical death
when we lay these bodies down, but we are alive
evermore spiritually and we will never have to
face the second death!)
I. The Roots Of Sin
II. The Reality Of Sin
III. The Results OF Sin
IV. V. 14b THE REMEDY FOR SIN
(Ill. I am going to touch briefly on the text for next week.
Notice that Paul ends verse 14 with a transition
statement. He tells us that Adam "is the figure of Him
that was to come." He is telling us that the first Adam
was a type, or picture of the Second Adam. However,
their similarities do not run that deep. You see, where
the first Adam failed, the second Adam prevailed!)
A. The first Adam gave humanity a gift. It was the
gift of sin. This gift brought with it the ultimate
price of death, Romans 6:23.
B. The Second Adam, the Lord Jesus, also gave us
gifts. Notice what they are, Romans 5:15-17.
Five times in these verses Paul uses the term
"gift". Notice what they teach us about what the
Second Adam gave humanity.
1. The Free Gift - Romans 5:15
2. The Gift of Grace - Romans 5:15
3. The Gift of Justification - Romans 5:17
4. The Gift of Righteousness - Romans 5:17
5. The Gift of Eternal Life - Romans 6:23
C. What then is the remedy for sin? It is simple
receiving God's gift! You see, God loved this sin
cursed world and sent His Son to die on the
cross. Now, all who will receive the atoning work
of Jesus as their own will receive the free gift of
salvation through faith. It is a gift that none can
afford not to receive.
Conc: This whole message centers around one great
question: Have you ever received God's gift of salvation
as you own? If not, then you are still dead in your sins
and are destined to endure the second death. If you
are not saved this evening, I beg you to come to Jesus
while you can and be saved. If you reject the gift and
go to Hell, then don't blame Adam, don't blame God,
don't blame Jesus Christ, don't blame the church, don't
blame the preacher. Blame no one but yourself! The
free gift of salvation through grace is available to you
right now if you will reach out and take it by faith. Your
eternal destiny depends on what you do with the free
gift of grace.
