YouTube video sermon
Romans 5:12-17
Well, Christmas has once again come and gone, and we’ve come to that time of the season when we begin to take decorations down and clean things up. And it’s also that time of the year when we generally stumble across that lost or forgotten Christmas present – the one we tucked a little too far behind the tree, or the one we left in the hallway closet where we stored the side table that we moved to make room for the tree, or the gift card that was hiding in plain sight among the other Christmas greeting cards. I always seem to overlook a gift – not on purpose mind you – but with all of the excitement of exchanging gifts and opening gifts, and the chaos of wrapping paper, and second helpings of dinner, and everything else, somebody’s gift accidentally goes missing. That’s what I want us to consider this morning, as we conclude this series on The Gifts of Christmas.
Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Romans 5. For the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about the gifts that were brought to Jesus by the magi, the wise men. And we described who they were, where they came from, what their background was, and why they were important in the ancient world. And then we focused on a gift each week.
We focused on the gold that was given, and we saw that it was emblematic of Jesus coming to be the King of kings and Lord of lords. They actually said, “We have come to find the One who has been born the King of the Jews.” They were looking for a King and they brought a gift fit for a king; and that’s, gold. Then we considered frankincense and discovered that it was emblematic of the priesthood and the spiritual work of the priests in the tabernacle and the temple. And we saw how Jesus was our Great High Priest, and how the gift of frankincense foreshadowed and fulfilled that prophecy. And then last Sunday we looked at myrrh. We saw that it was used for perfuming, and beautification, and also as a pain killer, but it’s principal use was as an embalming agent. That, of course, was symbolic of what Jesus would do in His sacrificial death for us. So, we considered the gifts.
But today, I want to talk about THE gift (singular), not the gifts (plural) – the gift of salvation that comes through the person of Jesus Christ given to humanity by God. Hopefully, you’ve found your spot in Romans 5:12-17 (or you can always follow along on the screen).
One more brief comment before we read the sacred text of Scripture together. Normally, I read from and rely upon the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible in my preaching and teaching. It beautifully blends good, contemporary English with reverence and accuracy to the original text, and it’s the version that you hear me read each week – except today. Today, I’m going to be reading from the New Living Translation, because this is one of those rare texts of Scripture where even the ESV can be a little difficult to follow. So, follow along with me:
12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died – from the time of Adam to the time of Moses – even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
“Father, as we turn to the Bible, before we turn to Your table, we pray that You will meet with us. Grant that we might hear Your voice, that You will stir us by way of pure remembrance of what is true of the Christian, and that You will stir in the hearts of those who wonder and seek to lay hold of all Your great and precious promises made available to us in Your Son, the Lord, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.”
We can immediately see the difference between the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and the gift that the apostle Paul is talking about here. For starters, the gold, frankincense, and myrrh were gifts given by men to Christ. The gift that Paul writes about is a given by Christ to men. The second difference is that the gold, frankincense, and myrrh were given to Jesus when He was an infant, and they ultimately came to symbolize His future. But the gifts that Jesus offers to us – grace and mercy and forgiveness of sin through His sacrificial death – were given when He was grown and it’s not symbolic of our future, it’s central to it. And the final obvious difference is that gold, frankincense, and myrrh were monetary gifts. They were physical gifts, and thus their value is only on this earth. But the gift that comes through Jesus Christ is a spiritual gift that’s valuable in the court of heaven today as well as in all eternity.
So, these gifts were costly. They were expensive. But they didn’t cost the wise men everything. The Gift that Paul writes about, however, cost Jesus everything. He left heaven and came to earth. He humbled Himself. He poured Himself out, the Bible says. I want us to see these contrasts because they’re important, and also because that’s exactly what Paul does in this passage. He simply draws the contrast between Adam and Jesus.
Adam sinned. Jesus saved. When Adam sinned, death entered the world. That’s what verse 12 says. The proof that sin entered the world was death. And because of Adam’s sin, many died. Yet, Jesus came to put an end to death. And because of Jesus’ death, many can live. What Adam did brought bondage; what Jesus did brought freedom. Adam disobeyed God (his Creator); Jesus obeyed God (His Father). Adam sinned, and because of that everyone was declared unrighteous; Jesus died and paid the price, gave the gift, gave His life, and thus people can be declared righteous once again. Lots of contrasts. Huge differences between Adam and Jesus. And I just want to highlight three things about the gift that Jesus offers that we should know. It means something.
The Gift Means We Are Loved
Typically, when we give someone a gift, we give it to them in order to express our love and appreciation for them. And here’s why we do that – because true love isn’t passive, it’s active. People like to demonstrate their love, because that what love likes to do. It’s an active thing. It’s an active emotion. In the words of British poet and churchman, William Dunkerley:
Love ever gives.
Forgives, outlives,
And ever stands
With open hands.
And while it lives,
It gives,
For this is love’s prerogative
To give, and give, and give.
If you’re ever tempted to doubt God’s love, then consider the Gift: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). It doesn’t say, “For God was so angry at the world that He sent His Son to knock them all out.” No. “For God so loved the world,” because that’s His essence. That’s the very core of His nature. The Bible says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). And though that’s very easy on the ears, it’s hard for our minds to actually grasp.
In fact, it was so immense, it was so huge, it was so monumental that the apostle John said, “Behold, what manner of love is this…” In other words, “We’ve never known a love like this.” It’s so different. Human love is object-oriented; God’s love is subject-oriented. When we see something that we like, we place value on it. We say, “I really like that. I want that. I want to drive that.” Or a young man sees a young girl and says, “Ooh, I like what I see.” That’s what object-oriented love looks like and sounds like. I’m loving this person because I deem them as valuable based on their personality or looks or whatever. That’s human love.
God’s love is different. It’s not object-oriented. It’s subject-oriented. It’s based on His character. God loves you and me just because… That’s His nature. And He loves you and me very deeply. It’s not a superficial love. It’s a personal, intense, selfless love. So, the gift means we’re loved.
The Gift Means We Can Be Forgiven
Notice that I didn’t say the gift means we’re automatically forgiven, but there’s the possibility of forgiveness. That’s what Paul writes here. He says in verse 15, “For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.”
Before Adam sinned in the perfect environment of the garden, God basically said, “Have at it. Have a good time. Do anything you want. Go anywhere you want. But don’t touch the tree in the middle of the garden. Just don’t touch that, because in the day that you eat of it you will (anybody?) surely die.” And that’s the rub. That’s the rub of so many things that overpromise and underdeliver. Sin always overpromises: “Do this and it’ll satisfy you.”
That’s how addictions start. “I’ll do that and then I’ll be satisfied.” The rub is it doesn’t completely satisfy. You need more. But the more you do it, the more unsatisfied you become. It doesn’t really fill you up. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” When Adam and Eve took of that fruit in that garden, they immediately began to die. They started to die physically, but they were also spiritually separated from God. That’s what death is; it’s separation. We need to know this because we live in a world where it’s pretty easy to look around and say, “It’s bad out there.”
Why is that? I mean, after thousands of years, why is the world still the way it is? Who’s to blame? We still have wars. We still have anger. We still have people doing mean, horrible things. After all of this time, and all the education, and all of the other advancements we’ve made in science and technology and industry and medicine, and on and on. You’d think we’d get beyond the truth of “The wages of sin is death.” But no. Who do we blame? Some me say, “It’s the fault of the liberal media,” or, “It’s the fault of the Republican Party,” or “It’s the fault of the Democrats,” or, “It’s a white issue or a black issue.” No, no. It’s a sin issue. It’s not a skin issue. It’s a sin issue. That’s what’s wrong with the world. It’s deep within all of us. But the news of the Gift is that we can be forgiven.
As many of you know, I really enjoy fishing (freshwater mostly, but a good saltwater charter every now and then ain’t too bad either). One of the reasons I like freshwater fishing so much is the natural beauty and stillness. You’ve heard people say that ponds or lakes can sometimes look like a sheet of glass. Well, it’s true. Sometimes you can get out on the water, just before sunrise, and it’s so calm (no wind, no recreational boaters). It’s so clear, so perfect, so pristine that it looks like there’s two skies – one on top of the other. What could mess that up? A largemouth bass jumping out of the water as it hits a school of baitfish. And in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye that calm mirror lake is all ripples, and the image is marred.
That’s what happened when Adam sinned. He destroyed the reflection of God, the image of God. Then, Jesus comes along sometime later, and essentially says, “I’ll fix what’s been messed up. I’ll put the image of God back. I’ll make a person right-side up after they’ve been put upside down.”
So, Adam messed up the image and Jesus restored it. Ruined by one man’s misdeed, rescued by one Man’s merit. This whole section here is about death. Adam did this, and then death happened, and death, and death, and death. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). So, the Gift means we’re loved. And the Gift means we can be forgiven.
The Gift Has To Be Received
There are many people that know the gospel. They’ve been to church, and they’ve heard this all their lives. “Yeah, yeah, I know, God came out of heaven to this earth, was born in a manger, grew up, died on a cross, rose from the dead. So, it means God loves you. Yeah, I got that. It means you can be forgiven. Good. Yeah, I’ve heard that before. It means you can live forever. Good to know.” But it means you have to receive it or none of that is true for you. Gifts have to be received in order for them to be gifts, right? Imagine that you find that misplaced or forgotten gift with a name tag on it and give it to the person it was intended for, and they say, “Cool. That’s my name and that’s my gift. H’mm. Wow. Cool. Good.”
What good is that? Don’t you have to open the gift? Don’t you have to use the gift? Don’t you have to try the gift on and maybe exchange it for a larger size or a smaller size, depending? But you have to use it. You have to open it. You have to receive it, or it’s really of no value. And so, it is with this gift. The gift has to be received. In the gospel of John, we read this “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12).
The Greek word that’s used there is the word lambanó. It means “to lay hold by aggressively and actively accepting what is offered.” It’s the same word that’s used in Romans 5:17, “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”
This Christmas, you might not have received everything you wanted, but today you can receive what’s offered. And that’s love, and forgiveness, and life eternal. But in order to get all of those things you have to take the gift. You have to receive the gift. Otherwise, all of this is just mere words on a page, just me (a mere mortal) stringing sentences together and giving a speech. But if you receive what I’m saying, if you take what the apostle Paul is teaching, if you lay hold of what God through Christ has offered, well then, you’ll receive salvation. Romans 5:17 defines salvation as “triumph over sin and death.” In short, it’ll be the best Christmas gift you’ve ever had.
There are others of you here today and you’re thinking, “Well, Pastor, I’ve already accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation what’s in this for me?” If that’s you, perhaps the message for you is that you can get tired of THE gift. You received it with excitement and treasure it in the moment, but after a while it got replaced, it got moved to another room, it wound up on the closet shelf or in the corner of the garage collecting dust. For those of us that have already received the gift of God’s amazing grace and forgiveness and mercy and love through Jesus, perhaps we just need to be reminded of the beauty of the gift and the glorious nature of the One who gave us the Gift in the first place. And that’s why we come to His table.
“Father, what a wonderful season this is. We’ve just celebrated Christmas with all of the exchanging and receiving of gifts, and we’ve also just celebrated the gift of a New Year. God, if there’s anyone here this morning that hasn’t received Your free gift of salvation in Jesus, then I pray that the Holy Spirit wouldn’t let them go until that’s been settled. Lord, for the rest of us, we take these closing moments of today’s worship and remember the significance, and celebrate the beauty, and praise the glory that is Your gift of salvation to us through Jesus Christ, as we gather around His table. For we offer this prayer in His most holy name, amen.”