The Great Exchange
Romans 5:6-20
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1.
One of my favorite movies is Act of Valor, which
is about a team of Navy Seals that goes after a terrorist group.
a.
And while there are some really cool scenes of
firefights (the riverboat scene is, to me, one of the top ten action scenes
ever filmed!)
b.
The underlying theme of the movie the valor of
the men, and how they’re willing to go to any length to complete their mission.
d.
Without hesitation, Lt Rourke jumps on the
grenade, shielding his teammates from the effects of the blast, giving his life
to save his team.
e.
Truly an act of valor!
2.
But what about the bad guys? Well, they
are summarily gunned down, because, hey, they’re bad guys!
a.
If that grenade had accidentally bounced into
the group of terrorists, I doubt LT Rourke would’ve jumped on it! (“well,
that was helpful..”)
3.
That’s what Paul is saying here: There are
a few people, not many, that would give their life to save a family member, a
loved one, a friend, a comrade…
a.
But who would sacrifice himself to save a terrorist,
or a criminal?
b.
There is one - Jesus! In an unprecedented
demonstration of love, Jesus gave His life to save sinners!
c.
He died to save the terrorist, the mass
murderer, the child molester – and yes, you and me!
6 For when we were still without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a
righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare
to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that,
but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
now received the reconciliation.
4.
The first important phrase is “when we were
still without strength...Christ died for the ungodly.”
a.
What that means is: “I have no strength to
save myself, I’m ungodly. I’m a sinner.”
b.
Granted, this is a difficult statement for men
to make because it drives a stake into the heart of the arrogance of mankind.
c.
We dont want to admit that we’re weak, we don’t
want to admit that we cannot save ourselves,
d.
We don't want to admit that there is a God who
formed the universe, and that that God is worthy to be worshiped!
5.
This week the news reported that a research team
led by Dr. John Stamatoyannopoulos, Associate Professor of genome sciences and
of medicine University of Washington, discovered that there is a second code
embedded into the human DNA genome.
a.
It wasn’t until the 1950’s that scientists first
began to recognize that these molecular structures they’d been studying were
actually biological software code that provided instructions – a language - for
cells to form into their proper structures needed for life.
b.
Now they've discovered that these genomes use
genetic code to write not one but two separate languages. One describes how
proteins are made, and the other instructs the cell on how genes are to be
controlled.
c.
One language is literally written on top of the
other, which is why the second language remained hidden for so long.
“For over 40 years we have
assumed that DNA changes affecting the genetic code solely impact how proteins
are made. Now we know that this basic
assumption about reading the human genome missed half of the picture. These new
findings highlight that DNA is an incredibly powerful information storage
device, which nature has fully exploited in unexpected ways.” Dr John Stamatoyannopoulos.
6.
Think about that statement: “nature has fully
exploited in unexpected ways” Really?
a.
How is it that a team of scientists that are
brilliant enough to figure this out, can be so blind as to say “wow, nature did
an incredible job of randomly putting together this code that is more complex
than anything we could ever design…”
b.
How? Because of the unwillingness of men to
acknowledge the existence of God.
c.
You see, Dr Stamatoyannopoulos, God designed
that code into our DNA so that you could discover it, and so that you could
witness the wonderful and marvelous design of God – the very fingerprints of
God, embedded in the code of humanity.
d.
So you could come to the knowledge that His Son
Jesus Christ died for you!
7.
Paul uses an interesting word to describe what
Jesus did: “Christ died for (hyper / hoop-er) the ungodly”
a.
This ancient Greek word has the meaning of “for
the sake of, on behalf of, instead of.”
Christ died for (for the sake of /
on behalf of / instead of) the ungodly… Vs 6
8.
Here's the reality that this statement declares:
We cannot save ourselves! We don’t have the strength, nor the ability.
a.
And if you recall the first two chapters of
Romans, we learned that we’re not righteous either! We’re all guilty!
b.
But thankfully, “the weak and the guilty” are
exactly the ones Christ died for!
“If Christ died for the
ungodly, this fact leaves the ungodly no excuse if they do not come to him, and
believe in him unto salvation. Had it been otherwise they might have pleaded,
‘We are not fit to come.’ But you are ungodly, and Christ died for the ungodly,
why not for you?” - Spurgeon
9.
That's why Paul says Christ died for the
ungodly, because if He had died for the godly, then none of us would have been
included!
a.
See once I come to terms with the fact that I’m
without strength; that I'm ungodly and I don’t have the power to save myself,
b.
Then it opens the door to being willing to
receive that Christ died FOR (instead of) ME!
c.
In other words – it brings me face to face with
the reality of The Great Exchange
The Great Exchange
12 Therefore, just as through one
man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all
men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is
not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to
Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the
transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
10. Even
though the law wasn't given until Moses, from Adam to Moses people still died,
because sin and death reigned in the world.
a.
And because of the decision of Adam, sin and
death entered the world.
11. I
don't know about you, but I don’t like being negatively impacted by the actions
of others.
a.
Say you’re sitting in a coffee shop, and someone
carelessly bumps your table, spilling coffee all in your laptop, destroying all
of your files, AHHHGGG!
b.
You’re on your way to propose to your
girlfriend, you’ve made reservations at Port City Chop House, you’ve got the
ring, you’ve practiced the whole thing over and over – and some idiot runs a
red light, smashes into you, and you end up in the back of an ambulance on your
way to New Hanover hospital.
c.
Last fall someone stole my wife’s car out of our
driveway – the next few days were all messed up trying to work through that
mess, get keys remade, dealing with the police and the insurance company…
d.
When someone does something that messes up our
lives, even for a few minutes, it really irks us…
12. Then
we might look out at our world, and guess what; The whole world is messed up!
Sin, pain, hurt, and death, there's a lot of messed up things, who caused
all of this wreckage?
a.
Paul answers: It’s Adam’s fault!
b.
Everything that’s wrong with the world today,
the death and destruction, is the result of Adam’s failure.
c.
Everything that’s wrong with people that have
impacted you, hurt you, stolen from you, wronged you, is the result of Adam’s
failure.
d.
Everything that’s wrong with your family,
everything that’s wrong with you, is the result of Adam’s failure.
e.
All of it stems from the nature of sin and death
that we inherited at birth from Adam, and it abounds in the world.
f.
So… thanks Adam! Man you totally blew it
for all of us! You just had to eat the apple!
13. But
before I get too upset with Adam, I should recognize: I wouldn’t have
done any better, neither would you!
a.
Try going for one week without sinning, or
better, one day – one hour! (some
of you are sinning right now, you’re mad at your spouse, or your thinking “I
wish he’d shut up so we can go get lunch!)
14. Here’s
the reality; Adam was the best we had to offer!
a.
Think about it, he was the most perfect man
alive; he didn’t have any “daddy issues,” his parents didn't divorce.
b.
He wasn't scarred by family dysfunction, no one
beat him, no one molested him, you could say he had the perfect upbringing!
c.
He had the most perfect women in the world,
d.
...and the whole world was his!
15. Adam
was our champion! Our champion went up against Satan, and he failed. And
because Adam failed, we all failed.
a.
Just like when we send our champions to the Olympics,
if they lose, we all lose.
b.
Because of Adam’s failure, his offense, there
were repercussions.
16. #1
- Because Adam failed, death entered the human race.
a.
Death is a powerful messenger – it haunts us, it
follows us, it is the great equalizer.
b.
People can say that Adam is a myth, or that the
bible is baloney, but no one can deny that people die, they’ve been dying since
Adam!
17. #2
- Because Adam failed, sin entered the human race...
a.
From Adam’s son Cain, who murdered his brother
Abel, to the young man that just pled guilty to the murder of Joshua Prouty
last December.
b.
Sin and death have spread through the entire
human race – just as if there were some genetic code defect in Adam’s DNA,
c.
and because all mankind are descendants of Adam,
all of mankind were born with that defect.
d.
We cannot escape our sin nature, we were born
with it.
e.
We cannot escape the fact of physical death, we
were born with it.
18. If
you think about it, it’s a pretty bleak situation.
a.
If the human race were left in that state, we
would be truly without hope.
b.
We would live sinful lives, and we would die
separated from God.
19. But
before we get bummed out, before we curse Adam, before we get upset that our
champion lost the battle, Paul tells us “wait a minute!
a.
Yes Adam failed, but Adam was the warmup act, he
was a "type of Him who was to come"
b.
We have another champion!
20. Jesus
Christ IS OUR CHAMPION! And remember, when our Champion wins, WE ALL WIN!
15 But the free gift is not like
the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of
God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the
judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free
gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.
21. See
God knew the state we were in, He knew it the moment Adam sinned, He knew it
BEFORE Adam sinned!
a.
And out of love, God chose to not leave us in
that state, He had a plan, from the beginning, all along, God knew exactly what
He would do
b.
He declared it after Adam sinned...
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise
your head, and you shall bruise His heel. Gen 3:15
22. God
declared that He would send us a champion,
a.
Our champion would rescue us, He would provide a
way for us to be reconciled to God
b.
Our champion would provide a way for us to be
brought into relationship with God
c.
God’s plan was to enact the Great Exchange, where
we are given an opportunity exchange our sinful, death destined life, for the
righteousness and eternal life of Jesus Christ.
23. Through
one Man – our Champion – Jesus Christ – we can be reborn into a new life
a.
A life where our sin is taken away, and we are GIVEN
the righteousness of our Champion
b.
A life where death is taken away, and we are
GIVEN the eternal life of our Champion
24. Paul
is describing the great exchange, where Jesus takes our sin, becomes sin, takes
the punishment for our sin,
a.
He takes our death, receives the death penalty
in our place,
b.
and in return He gives us His righteousness, and
His eternal life,
25. And
at the center of this great exchange, at the core, is the "much more"
grace of God.
The “much more” grace of God
17 For if by the one man’s offense
death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus
Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense (Adam) judgment came
to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act
(Jesus) the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s
obedience many will be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered that the
offense might aboun (the law was given so we could see how sinful we are). But
where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in
death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
26. Look
at verses 9, 10, 17, 20 and underline the words “much more”
…much more
then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him. (vs 9)
…much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (vs 10)
… much more
those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will
reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (vs 17)
… where sin abounded, grace abounded much more (vs 20)
27. This
is a great word, “abound” literally means “super / mega abound,” as in exponential
increase.
a.
Say you bought 10,000 shares of a stock for
$0.01, a $100 investment, and the stock climbed to $100 a share, suddenly your
shares are worth $1M – that’s super-abounding!
b.
That's the much more grace of God
28. The
word also carries the meaning of constant and continual power – like waves
crashing on the shore.
a.
Years ago my company sent me to Honolulu for six
weeks to support a new operator center, and one day i drove up to the
North Shore, and can I tell you those waves are impressive.
b.
They are massive, and they just crash into
shore, one after another, and endless energy...
c.
Picture of the much more grace of God in our
lives.
d.
And no matter how much sin abounded in our life,
the “much more” grace of God abounds MORE!
e.
We cannot “out sin” the grace of God!
29. Here's
the reality; Yes, you were born with a sin nature, you were born with the curse
of death, you can’t change that,
a.
But you can be “reborn” - and that rebirth
brings a whole new reality.
30. When
a person places their faith in Jesus Christ, a great exchange occurs:
a.
Instead of the just punishment for our sin, we
now have the “much more” grace of God for salvation.
b.
Instead of being an enemy of God, we now have
the “much more” grace of God to be reconciled to God, to have peace with God.
c.
Instead of a life of defeat, where sin rules us
we now have the “much more” grace of God to “reign in life” – victorious living,
NOW, not just when we get to heaven.
d.
Instead of being guilty, we now have the “much
more” grace of God to receive the gift of righteousness, we are granted the
status with God as if we had lived the perfect, sinless life of His Son Jesus
Christ.
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Clay Ritter. This data file is the sole property of Clay Ritter. It may be
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