Jesus undid the first sin (Rom 3-8)

Most of us have read about how the serpent tricked Adam and Eve into the first sin.

God warned them not to eat from the fruit/apple and they did.

He warned them that in that day that they sinned, they would die. They did it.

Death was released into the world… and it affects all of us.

The process is shown in the image below, in the left hand column. The serpent, the sin, death and the consequences are curses.

This problem affets everyone. Rape, murder, divorce, theft… its all sin and its all a form of decay or death.

The whole world is under the influence of death and is decaying… this is captured in the scientific law called “2nd law of thermodynamics”

The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics describes basic principles familiar in everyday life. It is partially a universal law of decay; the ultimate cause of why everything ultimately falls apart and disintegrates over time.

But the prophets promised someone would come to establish God’s righteousness in the world and to save the world from sin and death. This Christ (or Messiah) would be like King David, but He would not build a physically powerful Kingdom, instead Isaiah said He would deal with sin and death and the consequences of sin and death.

God’s righteousness required that something pay for the sins done. That was why He brought in the Levitical sacrifices. But no matter how many sacrifices, Israel still were taken off to Babylon TWICE and then had a period of 500 years of silence. Right before that silence God sent many simultaneous prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah etc.) to say the same thing… God is sending someone to create a NEW covenant and to defeat sin and death and the consequences of sin and death.

Jesus Christ is the only candidate to be that Person. No other person in history offered Himself as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of the whole world, no other person began a new covenant with God, no other person was from the right lineage/birth and so.

So what did Jesus Christ do? He made a way for us to be right with God…

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. – Rom 3:21

Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. – Rom 3:24-25

he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. – Rom 3:26

And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised. – Rom 4:12

So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. – Rom 4:16

What kind of faith did Abraham have? He was fully convinced that God is ABLE to do whatever He promises!

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping… Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger… He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. … – Rom 4:18, 20, 21 

So what are we to be sure of?

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. – Rom 5:1

… we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ… – Rom 5:9

… our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son… we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. – Rom 5:10

we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. – Rom 5:11

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. – Rom 5:17

Did you notice how these verses say the same thing “will live in triumph over sin and death” and this corresponds to the 13 promises I listed from the writings of the prophets (e.g. IS 28) which also speak of an end to sin and death.

How do we get it? Can we miss getting it? Two verses speak of God’s “gift” (Rom 5:17, Rom 4:16) and those two verses also speak of us receiving the gift. Receiving is a choice.

Paul summarises this section of his teaching by saying this (snipped…)

When he died, he died once to break the power of sin… you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin… – Rom 6:10-11

He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Rom 8:3

The 13 promises I outlined from the writings of the prophets correspond well to what Paul says here in these 5 chapters in the book of Romans. Take another look at the comparison.

• Where the serpent enslaved us to our inner nature, Jesus gives us a new nature.
• Where we sin, we are sinners, we will sin every day of our life… Jesus Christ gives us His robes of righteousness as a free gift.
• Where our sin brought death into our lives… Jesus Christ brings His own life into us as a free gift.
• Where our sin would have brought curses into our lives, instead Jesus Christ became a curse to take all our curses and because through Him Abraham became our father… we are children of God AND because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, now we have the blessings of Deut 28 and of so many other chapters in the bible. Instead of curses, Jesus Christ brought blessings into our lives!

Some people may be asking, how do I get this? I have two replies… Jesus asks you ONE question

When He reached the house and went in, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him, Yes, Lord. Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith and trust and reliance [on the power invested in Me] be it done to you; And their eyes were opened. – Matt 9:28-30

And secondly I would like to show you why you may be saved but still not have these promises in your life… there are two things to see here…

1. Justification (righteousness/right standing before God)
2. Salvation by our mouth

For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God),

and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation. – Rom 10:10

Conversely some people might be looking for rightousness/right standing with God, but be unwilling to receive salvation through Jesus Christ.

For those who believe, the situation is now very different… His payment was perfect and complete for all time… He put the bite back into the apple!

… and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him, Yes, Lord… According to your faith and trust and reliance [on the power invested in Me] be it done to you; And their eyes were opened. – Matt 9:28-30

God bless you!