By implication, a number of important principles become evident and are exemplified in our text. As we conclude, let us consider four of these principles.
(1) God takes sin seriously. Throughout the Bible, and in the world about us, men are constantly trying to minimize sin and its consequences. But the Bible constantly emphasizes the seriousness of sin. Our text dramatically illustrates the seriousness of sin. Look at the devastation one sin brought to the human race: Adam�s sin brought about his own death, but it also condemned all mankind to death.
Who can say that sin is not serious?
Adam�s transgression was not even such that most people would call it sin. At best, men might look upon Adam�s sin as a misdemeanor, something as evil as spitting on the sidewalk (still illegal in some towns and cities, I am told). Adam simply ate the fruit of a tree.139 What was the problem? The problem was that God had commanded Adam not to eat of the tree (Genesis 2:16-17). An act which men would hardly even think of as sin becomes the cause of man�s downfall. God does take sin very seriously, and so must we.
It is not surprising that those who deny Jesus Christ as God�s Savior would tend to minimize sin. But it is greatly disappointing that Christians do likewise. Why do many of us ignore some of God�s commands�because we do not think they apply to us, or because we disagree with God�s commands, or simply because we do not want to obey? Here is but one illustration. The Bible has some very clear words to the church about the role which women should play in relation to their husbands. Why has the majority of Christendom found compelling reasons to utterly ignore such commands, as though they did not exist? God does not command us to do those things with which we agree, or in the doing of which we find good reason to obey. God tests our obedience by commanding us to do that which is contrary to our intellect, emotions, and will but which is consistent with His character and His Word. Let us beware of setting aside God�s commands. Adam did, and we died. Jesus was obedient, and thus we live.
(2) Our identity is found either in Adam or in Christ. Self-esteem has become the watchword of our age. Sin is now defined by at least one preacher as poor self-esteem. Sinful acts are said to be rooted in poor self-esteem. The highest good seems to be to have a �good self-image.� And thus the world, joined by many Christians, occupies itself by constantly looking backward and inward, into self, to develop a healthy self-love. Paul will have none of this. For Paul, looking backward, even to those things in which he once took great pride, meant he now saw them as dung (Philippians 3).
Ultimately, our identity and our worth are wrapped up in one of two persons: Adam or Christ. All that we are in and of ourselves, we are in Adam. We may contemplate and fabricate our own worth as much as we like, but we are, in Adam, sinners, worthy of death. Why do we keep trying to make something good of something the Bible calls bad? The identity of the Christian is in Christ. Let us dwell upon Him. Let us look to Him. Let us keep Him central in our hearts and minds. This is the consistent exhortation of the Word of God, and especially of the New Testament epistles.
(3) Those who are the victims of Adam�s sin are also guilty of personal sin, of their own doing. The word �victim� is rapidly becoming one of the most popular terms in our English vocabulary. We are considered victims of an infinite array of abuses. As �victims� we are absolved of all guilt and responsibility. We not only are justified in blaming others, we are urged to do so. We are told we are victims, and thus we say, �It isn�t my fault, I was victimized.�
In one sense, all mankind is the victim of Adam�s sin. But let us remember that while Paul seems to speak of mankind as a victim of Adam�s sin in Romans 5, he also says that we sinned in Adam. We are not relieved of our own guilt and culpability in the matter of sin. Even those who lived before the Law was given were sinners. We who have the full revelation of God in Christ and in His Word are even more accountable. But beyond this, we must not forget that in Romans 1-3 Paul finds every man guilty before God, not because of what Adam did, but because each individual has rejected the revelation of God given to him or to her. Yes, we are guilty because Adam sinned (Romans 5), but we are also guilty because we have sinned (Romans 1-3, especially 3:23).
In Romans Paul does not dwell on men as victims but on men as responsible individuals. We are, first, responsible for our decision concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are, as Christians, responsible for our actions. Let us not over-emphasize the victim aspect of life but rather the fact that in Christ we are victors, �more than conquerors� (Romans 8:37).
(4) Birth is both the cause and the cure for man�s sin. In studying this Romans passage, it occurred to me that perhaps no other New Testament text better explains the words of our Lord, spoken to Nicodemus, �Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God� (John 3:3). John introduced this man Nicodemus as a �Pharisee� and as a �ruler of the Jews� (John 3:1), but Jesus referred to him as, �the teacher of Israel� (3:10). No doubt this teacher, this renowned teacher, had taught about Adam, about his fall, and the downfall of the human race. But Nicodemus, if he was like the rest of the Pharisees, trusted in his physical descent from Abraham and in the possession of the Law. What a shock it must have been for Nicodemus when Jesus told him that entrance into God�s kingdom required a second birth!
Yet this expression, �born again,� should not have been a foreign thought to Nicodemus. It should have caused him to think in those terms in which Paul is speaking in Romans 5. How was it that the human race fell into sin? It was on account of Adam. But how did each individual fall under the curse? It was by being born. Birth made one a son of Adam and thus a sinner (see David�s words in Psalm 51:5-7). The solution to the guilt of sin, encountered at birth, was another birth, a second birth. In order to be saved, men must exchange their identity with Adam (by which they are condemned) to an identity with Christ (by which they are justified). As birth was the source of a man�s sin, so another birth is the solution.
This is what the gospel is all about. Jesus Christ came to the earth to offer men a cure for the curse which Adam�s sin brought upon all mankind. The gospel confronts us with a choice. Will we remain in Adam, subject to the penalty of death? Or will we accept God�s provision for a new identity, in Christ? Being �born again� is our Lord�s way of speaking of that point in a person�s life when they acknowledge their own sin, their own guilt, and the just sentence upon them of death. It is ceasing to trust in what we are and clinging to who Jesus Christ is. It is finding our identity in Christ, rather than in Adam. It is turning from condemnation to justification, from death to life, and from Adam to Jesus Christ.
Have you been born again? As it was necessary for Nicodemus, a famous religious leader and teacher, it is necessary for you. Will you choose death or life, Adam or Christ? There is no more important decision you will ever make than this. The salvation which God has offered in Jesus Christ is not automatic. It must be received (Romans 5:17). Receive it today.
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