It’s Amazing What One Man Can Do!

4th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/17/11
Romans 5:12-15


It’s Amazing What One Man Can Do!
I. Adam’s sin ruined us.
II. Jesus’ work saved us.


“What can I do? I’m only one person.” We’ve heard people make that statement. It’s likely you’ve either said or thought those very words yourself. When confronted by a problem that seems to be far beyond our capabilities of solving, we throw in the towel even before trying. After all, we’re just one person and the problem affects so many.

Every so often you’ll see or hear advertising that encourages you to lay aside that excuse. Usually the ad is for a worthy social cause such as poverty or injustice or pollution. The ad will clearly admit that the problem is enormous, even worldwide, but it urges you to make a start towards a solution. It’s the power of just one person. It’s about what one person can do.

It’s about what one person can do. Never have those words been truer than when they’re spoken about the two men that Paul contrasts in this morning’s text from Romans 5. In just a few short verses—short but universally powerful—Paul explains what Adam did to us and what Jesus does for us. And when I say “us” I mean every person who has ever lived on this earth.

It’s amazing what one man can do! That’s our focus this morning and what a blessing it is for us to review that truth this morning.

Part I.

Lately there’s been much debate on the role of government in our lives. Is government’s role simply to provide peace, security and justice or is it government’s role to provide a safety net for all citizens? Another way of approaching this debate is to ask, “Am I responsible for myself and what happens to me or am I a helpless victim?” Surely every person’s situation is unique and that will affect where that individual falls in that debate but it’s also true that it’s a rather depressing and hopeless situation to come to the conclusion that you are simply a helpless victim and nothing you can do will make your situation any better.

In fact, we admire people who choose not to be victims. It warms our hearts and empowers us to hear that a person whom we deem to be a victim of a terrible situation chooses not to be a victim. Instead, they look on their tragic situation as an opportunity to do what they can to make their life better, even to reach out and help others. It’s a sobering thing to see someone who needs our help offering to help us. So, can’t we just encourage each other not to be a victim?

Not in the case that Paul presents in this morning’s text. No matter how positive your attitude may be, no matter how empowered you may feel, no matter how much encouragement you might receive, there’s nothing you can do to reverse the situation that you and I and every other person in this world are in. And it’s all because of what one man did—the first man, Adam.

Paul tells it like it is with these words, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” Adam sinned. We know the story. God told him not to eat the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Later on Paul makes the point that this was the only command God gave to Adam. Don’t commit this one sin. But it didn’t take long and that’s exactly what Adam did. The dirty deed was done.

But that was just the beginning of what is a universal problem. What occurred in the middle of a garden long ago has affected every human being since. Again, Paul writes, “In this way death came to all men.” The result of Adam’s sin is that everyone after him (with only two exceptions—Enoch and Elijah) died. And the reason for it? Adam’s sin brought the power of sin which is death into their lives.

A more familiar way of stating it is that Adam passed his sinfulness on to his children and they to their children and so on in one long, unbroken, hereditary string. We call it inherited or original sin. The Bible even describes that very death-dealing transfer. It says that Adam had a son in his own likeness, not in the likeness of God as Adam had been created (Gen. 5:3). And that’s how Adam’s sin ruined us in the worst way possible. We inherit a sinful condition from our parents and we show it daily by the sins we commit.

But this truth about inherited sin just doesn’t sound fair. Why should we be affected by something Adam did thousands of years ago? It might sound unjust on the surface, but it only makes sense. Think about it. It doesn’t make sense that two sinful people should be able to bring a holy child into this world. It only makes sense that the child should be just like they are—sinful. And that’s the way it is all because of what Adam did.

It’s amazing what one man can do! Adam’s sin ruined us.

So, if we inherited sin from our parents and we pass it on to our children and there’s nothing we can do to stop it, why dwell on this negative subject this morning? Why not choose to forget about a problem we can’t solve and focus on one that we can? Because we too easily forget that we are sinful by nature. Let me give you just one example. Contrary to what we might think, we don’t need a “how-to” guide from God on how to be happy, satisfied and successful in our lives. God’s word isn’t a 10-step course on achieving fulfillment in this life. We’ll never attain it—not to the degree that we want, anyway. And it’s all because of sin—the sin that Adam committed. It ruined everything in this world. Ever since that moment nothing goes exactly right. Even our best efforts are flawed and often so at their very core—our sinful motivation. Worst of all, Adam’s sin leads to our death—and not just the end of our life on earth, but also the end of our life with God. All because of one sin! It’s amazing what one man can do!

Part II.

What Adam did was amazing—tragically so. But Paul’s treatment of the truly amazing doesn’t end there with Adam’s story. He also speaks about the amazing thing another man did.

And he contrasts that amazing thing with these words, “But the gift is not like the trespass.” Paul talks about “the gift.” It’s difficult to render in English with one word—gift—what Paul writes with one word in the Greek. The word is a form of the Greek word for grace, God’s grace. And when we talk about God’s grace, we need to remember that his grace isn’t just a feeling, an emotion or a motivation. It’s also an action.

The amazing action that’s a free gift of God’s grace is our salvation. The fact that it’s grace means we don’t deserve it. Far from it. We deserve the opposite—death in hell. It also means that God isn’t obligated to give it to us, much in the way that our gift-giving works. God didn’t give us salvation because that’s what was expected of him, that’s what the event required, or he’d be ashamed if he didn’t give it to us. Not at all. He owed us nothing good.

That highlights God’s grace all the more. What a gift it is! The gift of salvation nullifies what Adam’s sin did to us. It overcomes the power of sin in us. It frees us from the guilt that sin brings and the damnation it deserves. God’s gift of salvation grabs us by the back of the neck and pulls us out of the hell we were heading for. It rescues us from eternal ruin.

If that were all it does, we would be forever grateful. But God’s gift of salvation does more than that.

Think of the person who rescues a kitten that has fallen into a storm sewer. They take the time and effort to pull the kitten to safety and place it on the grass out of harm’s way. That’s an amazing act of kindness. But if that’s all they do, danger and death for that kitten still lurk. How much better if they provide a home for the kitten or find one for it!

God’s grace not only rescues us from hell, it then makes us members of God’s kingdom by faith in Jesus. Your God has worked that saving faith in you. Faith in Jesus grabs on to the work that Jesus did for us and makes it our own. He lived a sinless life in our place. He died the death we deserve when he suffered hell on Calvary’s cross. His life and death have won heaven for us.

That heaven—that life with God—isn’t simply your deepest wish or a daily hope. It’s yours—absolutely so. By his work of living and dying for you, Jesus has also made you an heir of eternal life. How amazing considering what we deserve! As his word clearly states, your name is written in the book of life. God chose you in eternity to live with him in glory for eternity. What an amazing turnaround!

And now, while we wait for that glorious day to occur, God has special plans for you. The Apostle Peter tells us that he has made us to be priests in his kingdom to serve him and others. You see, God’s gift of salvation means we’re free of slaving away for him, hoping to earn our own heaven. That means we’re free to serve him and others out of love for him and appreciation to him for what he has done for us. Jesus has completely changed our lives forever!

It’s amazing what one man can do! Jesus’ work saves us.

When Paul contrasts what one man—Adam—did with what another man—Jesus—did, he isn’t denying the most basic truth of Christianity that makes this all possible. He isn’t denying that Jesus is also true God. That’s what makes this all possible. Jesus isn’t just a man; he’s also true God. His miracles and his resurrection from the dead assure us of it. His power in our lives is evidence of it. It’s amazing what one man can do because he’s also true God. And since he is, his work completely undoes what Adam’s sin has done to us. What hope that gives us! What power now fills us! Live in the certainty of what Jesus has done for you! Amen.