Romans 5:12-21, The Great Exchange
Redeeming Life family,
As you look at Romans 5:12-21 in your House Fellowships this week, I'd like you to consider the gospel. I mean really think about it. Here Paul tells us that Adam gave (or imputed) sin to us. From the moment we're conceived, we have the stain of sin on us. It's our sin nature and we have it like we have skin or hair or blood. It's just a part of us.
But Paul also tells us that Jesus will trade our sin (both the sin nature and the actual acts we've committed against God ourselves) for his righteousness. Jesus will give (or impute) his good standing before God (justification) to us and in exchange it for our sin. Wow, what a good trade for us; but that seems like a really bad trade for Jesus. Why would he make such a trade?
This is the gospel, the good news. And it is really, really good. When we see why Jesus would do such a thing, the gospel becomes sweeter and sweeter every day we walk with the Lord and believers.
Looking at this text, I actually asked myself, "What is the application for us here?" It's a good question but in this text it seems really obvious. In Adam there's death; in Jesus there's life.
Here's another way to think about it. Imagine a line in the sand. On one side is Adam and everybody made in his sinful-likeness (Genesis 5:1-3). On the other side is Jesus saying something like, "everybody stained with sin dies and cannot be in the presence of God, but if you cross this line and join me, I will take the punishment for you by the work that I have already completed. I will give everybody on this side of the line my righteousness." What's the application here? Cross that line! We need Jesus to live. This is a trade you can't live without.
Yet it seems we sometimes come to a point where we think the gospel is done after we accept Jesus. That's not at all true. The gospel is for Christians. We need it all the time. We must depend on this good news. It is our hope. Jesus is our hope. And we are called to share this good news and the hope within us with the world. But if the news is really as good as we say it is--the trade we make with Jesus really that amazing--why are we not shouting it from the rooftops? Is it too difficult to share the good news?
Here are some simple videos that may help you think about ways you can discuss the gospel in terms your family, friends, and co-workers might be able to understand. You may like the highly emotional and dramatic flare of the prisoner. Or maybe you like the literary narrative style. Or maybe you're a 3-circles napkin kind of person. I don't know, but I do think we as a church really ought to be so in love with the gospel that we share it as often as we can, with as many people as we can.
Soli Deo gloria!
Pastor Bryan
As you look at Romans 5:12-21 in your House Fellowships this week, I'd like you to consider the gospel. I mean really think about it. Here Paul tells us that Adam gave (or imputed) sin to us. From the moment we're conceived, we have the stain of sin on us. It's our sin nature and we have it like we have skin or hair or blood. It's just a part of us.
But Paul also tells us that Jesus will trade our sin (both the sin nature and the actual acts we've committed against God ourselves) for his righteousness. Jesus will give (or impute) his good standing before God (justification) to us and in exchange it for our sin. Wow, what a good trade for us; but that seems like a really bad trade for Jesus. Why would he make such a trade?
This is the gospel, the good news. And it is really, really good. When we see why Jesus would do such a thing, the gospel becomes sweeter and sweeter every day we walk with the Lord and believers.
Looking at this text, I actually asked myself, "What is the application for us here?" It's a good question but in this text it seems really obvious. In Adam there's death; in Jesus there's life.
Here's another way to think about it. Imagine a line in the sand. On one side is Adam and everybody made in his sinful-likeness (Genesis 5:1-3). On the other side is Jesus saying something like, "everybody stained with sin dies and cannot be in the presence of God, but if you cross this line and join me, I will take the punishment for you by the work that I have already completed. I will give everybody on this side of the line my righteousness." What's the application here? Cross that line! We need Jesus to live. This is a trade you can't live without.
Yet it seems we sometimes come to a point where we think the gospel is done after we accept Jesus. That's not at all true. The gospel is for Christians. We need it all the time. We must depend on this good news. It is our hope. Jesus is our hope. And we are called to share this good news and the hope within us with the world. But if the news is really as good as we say it is--the trade we make with Jesus really that amazing--why are we not shouting it from the rooftops? Is it too difficult to share the good news?
Here are some simple videos that may help you think about ways you can discuss the gospel in terms your family, friends, and co-workers might be able to understand. You may like the highly emotional and dramatic flare of the prisoner. Or maybe you like the literary narrative style. Or maybe you're a 3-circles napkin kind of person. I don't know, but I do think we as a church really ought to be so in love with the gospel that we share it as often as we can, with as many people as we can.
Soli Deo gloria!
Pastor Bryan
3-Circles
What is the Gospel?
The Gospel