He is risen indeed!
Alleluia! Amen. The word of God for our consideration is
found in Romans 5:12-15: “12Therefore,
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 – 13for before
the law was given, sin was in the world.
But sin is not taken into account when there is
no law. 14Nevertheless, death
reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not
sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to
come. 15But the gift is not
like the trespass. For if the many died
by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that
came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!”
In
the name of Jesus, our wonderful living Savior, dear brothers and sisters in
Christ.
On a cold, dark
night, he edged with a drunken stupor toward an icy bridge. As the flakes of snow fell around him, he couldn’t seem to put out of his mind what had happened
recently in his life: he was on the
verge of losing his job and business. He might go to jail. His family life was suffering. As he looked back at his life, he saw
disappointment, missed opportunities, wasted potential. As he looked at his present life, he couldn’t see much worth living for.
What
was his solution? To take a walk to the
edge of that icy bridge, and jump off.
End it all. If
life wasn’t worth living for, why should he waste anymore time?
Do
you recognize who I’m talking about? His story makes up one of the most popular
Christmas movies of all time. His name
is George Bailey, the lead character in the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
I’m sure
many of you are familiar with the story.
After experiencing some awful down times in his life, George decides to
jump off a bridge. Of course, as the
story goes, just before he jumps off an angel named Clarence comes and stops
him. Clarence then shows George all the
good he’s done for others in his life. After this journey through his past, George
returns home to find his family and friends waiting for him and his job
secured. As he’s
embraced by his loving wife and family, he concludes,
“IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE”
It’s one
of the most popular films of all time. And I’ve often thought about why that is. Sure, the acting is great and the story line
is compelling. But
I think there’s more to it. I think the
makers of the film connect with many people in a deeper way. You see, the questions that George Bailey
faces, “What’s my life like? Is my life
really all that much worth living for? Is it a
wonderful life?” are questions that can often creep into our minds.
So what’s the answer? What’s your life like?
Is it a wonderful life?
You
might feel some hesitation and you try to answer that question. There might be a lot of
things in your life that give you joy and pleasure and happiness and
contentment. But then
again, there might be a few or many things that make you worry, or sad, or
angry, or blue. You might struggle to
answer the question whether your life is wonderful, because an honest
evaluation of things quickly tells you that your life isn’t
perfect.
You
see, there’s something in your life that was never
supposed to be there. You inherited it
from your parents. It entered your life
the moment you were conceived. And it’s going to
stay in your life until the moment you die.
What
is it? The apostle Paul tells you in the
first verse of our lesson today. He
says, “sin entered the world through one man, and
death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”
What
is it? That thing that entered your
life, bringing death with it, was sin.
It entered the world when the first man and woman, Adam and Eve,
disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and ate the fruit they were not to
eat. Adam and Eve became sinful. And the result of
that?
Well, what comes from
an apple tree? “Apples!” you’d say. Well, what
comes from sinful parents? Sinful children! Yes,
sinful Adam and Eve’s children were born with sin. And
their children were born with sin. And their children were born with sin. All the way down the
line.
From Adam and Eve, to Moses, to your parents, to you
and me. As our text says, sin and death “came to
all men, because all sinned.” The
Greek word translated as “came” means to distribute out to each
individual. Kind of like a dealer
distributing cards to each member of a card game. To flesh out the picture, the hand that we’ve each been dealt – the life passed down to each of us,
includes sin. And
unfortunately, sin effects everything in our lives.
Even the things that we enjoy. For instance, 2 people get married.
A wonderful blessing from God. But then what
happens when sin shows up? Arguments,
hostility, disagreement, anger, each partner failing to
always put the needs of the other in front of their own, failing to
always love the other with all their heart.
The result?
A marriage less than wonderful.
A
child is born into the world. A wonderful blessing from God. But then what
happens? Sin shows up and before long,
that parent and child aren’t always interacting so
wonderfully. The child resists the
parents discipline, fails to honor their parents perfectly 100% of the time. And those parents
fail to love their children perfectly.
They fail to be 100% honorable, like God their heavenly Father is, 100%
of the time. The
result? A
family life less than wonderful.
God
gives us the gift of sexuality, and sin shows up. Lust emerges, and soon the sinful human
starts using this gift selfishly. God
gives us the gift of money, and then sin shows up. Greed emerges and we become focused on how
that money can make us happy now and serve us rather than others. God gives us the gift of friends, and soon
envy shows up and we find ourselves comparing ourselves to others, gossiping
about others, trying to make ourselves look better. God gives us the gift of his Word, and sin
shows up. And soon
we find ourselves not always thinking that what God has to say is all that
important, that blowing off devotional time or a worship service here or there
isn’t that big a deal.
Yes,
in every aspect of our lives, sin shows up. It makes so much of our earthly
lives seem less than wonderful. And it also means that our earthly lives won’t last
forever. It means that we’ll experience death on this earth. And because sin
separates us from God, it ultimately means that we deserve to die forever in
hell.
So
is it a wonderful life?
Doesn’t
really seem that way, hey? Indeed, it
would not be a life worth living if that was it. But that isn’t the
whole story.
Oh no. There’s quite a bit
more to the story. And
you won’t find it from an angel trying to get his wings, or from looking back
to try to find good things you’ve done for others in your life. No. But you will find it right there in front of you.
The
other half of the story is in verse 15 of our text. Paul tells us that just as we’ve
been given sin from our parents, we’ve been given an overflowing gift of grace
from someone else. What’s
this gift like? Listen up, “But the
gift is not like the trespass. For if
the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and
the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the
many!”
Sin
entered the whole world through Adam and Eve and came to all people. But friends, a gift
of grace has overflowed to the whole world through another man, Jesus Christ.
What’s this gift like?
It’s truly wonderful. That’s because His
life was truly wonderful. He was born and lived a life without sin. He always loved God perfectly,
he always loved others as he should. He
was always perfect.
And then,
after that wonderful life, he died a wonderful death. Sounds kind of
strange to say that, huh? It might, but it’s true. His death
was wonderful, because by dying on the cross, he paid the punishment for all of
our sins. He took all our sins, all
those times we failed to put God number 1 in our lives, failed to put others
before ourselves, yes every time sin showed up in our lives – he paid for on
that cross.
And then
He had a wonderful follow up. He rose
from the grave. Proving that our sins are wiped away. Proving that we look great to God. Proving that the death that comes with sin
will not defeat us. Proving
that our lives now overflow with the wonderful gift of God’s grace.
Yeah,
BUT!!!! We
might say. It might be true that Jesus
paid for sin, but it’s still here!! It’s still with
us! We still mess up time
and time again. We still
sin! And we
still suffer the effects of sin – worry, doubt, anger, shame, death! How can life be wonderful?
It’s true
that we still sin, and that we still suffer the effects of sin in so many
ways. But let’s
do a little comparison here.
Sin brings guilt. When we mess up, we feel guilty. But God answers
back. In His overflowing grace - His
unconditional, undeserved love - he forgives us. He sees Jesus perfect life in place of all
the sins we’ve committed in the past, present, and
future.
Sin brings worry.
We live in a changing world where the future seems uncertain. But God in His
overflowing grace brings certainty. He
promises us that he works out all for our good, that he knows every hair on our
heads, and that he will be with us forever.
Sin brings loneliness.
Our loved ones move away, pass away.
But God in His overflowing grace promises to be
with us always, to the very end of the age.
He promises that he will never leave us. That we are
never alone.
Sin brings pain.
It brings broken relationships, broken dreams. But God brings
peace. In His overflowing grace He promises to guide us, and comfort us, and carry us
through all our earthly suffering in His loving arms. He promises to heal the
wounds that sin brings with His life giving Word.
God’s overflowing grace is far greater than
any of sins effects. In fact,
there is no comparison. As verse 15
declares, “how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace
of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!”
It’s true! God’s grace overflows in your life! The all powerful, all loving Creator of the
universe pours out His love into every moment, every aspect of your life. He forgives you more than you can
comprehend! He guides you and protects
you more than you could ever realize! And He loves you more than you could ever imagine!
At the conclusion of the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”,
a screen comes up with the words “The End.”
But guess what?
Those words will never come into your wonderful life. Because after you fall asleep in death during
your earthly life, you will live forever.
Never again experiencing any pain, crying, mourning or
sin. Never again suffering any
discomfort. And
living in paradise, in perfection, in heaven.
That’s what your life will be forever.
And you
know what that means?
You’ve got
a wonderful life! Amen.
“I have come that they may have
life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)