Adam & Christ Part 3

Now let's look at the Word. If you'll turn with me to Romans chapter 5, Romans chapter 5, this is the heart of the gospel. We are evangelicals. Evangelical means that we believe the heart of the message of God is the gospel of Jesus Christ and those doctrines that come out of that, that result from that, that are implications of this glorious truth and reality of salvation in Christ alone. In Romans chapter 5, we have been looking at verses 12 through 21 for a couple of weeks. This is the heart of this passage.

This is really the hinge upon which this whole section, the first eight chapters of Romans really hangs on. And so we're taking a closer look at that last week. We looked at how Christ is like Adam. How Christ is like Adam. In fact, if you look at Romans 5 verse 14, you notice it says at the very end of that verse, Adam who was a type of the one who was to come. That is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He was a pattern of Christ. And we saw the parallel between Adam and Christ. And the parallel between the effects of Adam's act, his sin and the effects of Christ's act, his one act of righteousness. And we saw that just as those who are in Adam die because of his sin imputed to them. So also those who are in Christ have his righteousness imputed to them. And just as the root cause of condemnation is not our personal acts of sin, but the sin of Adam himself in whom we are.

We were born into him so in the same way. The reason we have a righteous standing before God is not because of our personal acts of goodness, but because of the act of Jesus Christ, his righteousness that was displayed and came to fruition on the cross of Jesus Christ. Now the point of saying, at this point in verse 14 that Jesus, that Adam is a pattern of Christ, is to drive home to our hearts, to signal to us that justification, being right with God, comes to us not on the ground of our obedience, but on the ground of Christ's obedience and our union with him by faith alone. This is really crucial. It's something that Christians struggle with all the time. A lot of Christians live their entire lives worrying about the fact they're not living up to somebody's expectations.

Most of the time it's God, but sometimes it's those who represent God, other believers, people, and they never come to actually rest fully and completely and absolutely in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Someone was asking me this week about when Martin Luther actually got saved. Well, I don't know. And I don't think he knew exactly, but he came to a clear understanding of the gospel at a point in time in his life when he came to understand that his righteousness, the only righteousness it would make him fit before Almighty God, was an alien righteousness. That it wasn't his. It was a righteousness of Christ that is given to all those who rest faith in him.

Today, what we want to look at is verses 15 through 17, and what we're going to see here is how Christ and Adam are different. How Christ is not like Adam. Now what we have seen so far, these verses form a unit and what he is going to tell us in verses 15 through 17, after telling us there is this parallel, there is this comparison between Adam and Christ.

Now he's going to show us that Christ is very different than Adam. Now this, you can tell that these verses go together. Notice not just the fact that they're one paragraph, but look in your text. Look in the in Romans chapter 5 verse 15.

Let me read verses 15 through 17. And listen to these words and notice what is repeated over and over again. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, that is, Adams in this context obviously, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment followed one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

If because of one man's trespass death reign through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. You'll notice that how these things these verses are tied together. The first words of verses 15 and 16 notice are that even though Adam is a type of Christ, he says here that the work of Christ, the person of Christ is not like Adam. There's a similarity and a correspondence, but the similarity and correspondence are meant to accomplish something. He points out how they are similar in the first three verses in order to show that there is a difference and a superiority in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The work of Christ, the one act of righteousness and Christ is different and superior to the one act of Adam.

That is the emphasis here. I asked you last week to make up a little, I had some homework for you and that was to take a sheet of paper and put Christ on one side and Adam on the other and then go through this passage and see how they are compared and contrasted. Then you would have come up with something like this. On the side of Adam we see this one act of sin on the side of Christ, this one act of righteousness. With Adam it resulted in condemnation with Christ. It resulted in justification and those are two corresponding contrasting words.

We were condemned in Adam and we can be justified in Christ and then finally we saw the result of Adam's sin upon the race is death. The result of Christ's act of righteousness on those who are in Christ is life. Sin, righteousness, condemnation, justification, death, life.

But I want to point out something. Paul here is not simply making this comparison. He isn't simply saying everything that negative that Adam did and caused the human race has now been abolished and removed from the scene in the person of Christ. He is not simply saying that what Adam did to us was removed and we have been taken back to the place of Adam now, that we are in a place of innocence before God. He is not saying that. He is saying much, much more than that.

He is saying if we measured, if the measurement of what Adam did in his, in the effect upon the human race is 100 then what Christ has done for those who are in Christ is 100 billion. It is far greater. What Christ gives us in salvation is far greater than the damage that Adam did in the fall as the head of the race.

And so what we're going to do is we look at these three verses and verses 15, 16, 17, as we go through here, what I want to do is point out that in every verse there is a significant truth within that verse but then there is a primary teaching that is larger and bigger that we want to look at. We don't want to miss that. And so let's take a look at each one of these three verses in the next few minutes.

First, in verse 15 when Paul writes, but the free gift, that is what Christ has done and the righteousness that is given to us because of that, this free gift he says is not like the trespass that is Adam's failure to obey God. For if many died through one man's trespass much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. Now there is a truth thought here that's really significant. It's not the primary teaching of this verse but it's an important truth. This verse reveals the real parallel between Christ and Adam and that is that many are in Adam and many die because of this condemnation in Adam and on the other hand many are in Christ and many experience grace because of this one man's act of grace upon the cross. So this significant truth is that judgment came because of one man and salvation comes because of one man.

Now what's important about this? It's this. The uniqueness of Christ and His grace and His righteousness that Paul wants us to embrace and enjoy and drink from. He wants us to understand that this salvation that God offers through Christ is the only salvation. It is the only salvation. The uniqueness of Christ, this is what is the most offensive thing about the gospel to the modern world.

The world in which you are breathing air right now is very much influenced by postmodernism and within this atmosphere you see it and hear it and read it all the time and that is that everybody has their own truth. There is no such thing as an absolute truth and the only untruthful thing you can do is to claim that your truth is the only truth. As long as you say your truth is my truth and you got your own truth that's fine. You can say anything you want but if you say there is absolute truth and that absolute truth is revealed in Jesus Christ you are a great offense to many people in this world. So be prepared. You're either going to be spineless and not tell the truth about the gospel or you're going to stand up and tell the truth about the gospel and you're going to be an offense.

Believe me you're going to be an offense. Don't be offensive. Don't be offensive but you will be an offense. If you confess the fact that you believe there is absolute truth and that absolute truth is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ that He is the only way of salvation. The only way to God it's going to be a great offense in this world. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if there are some sitting in this room today that even hearing that you may even be a Christian and that sounds offensive to you because you're drinking from a well you're breathing an air that is polluted by this kind of thinking that there is no absolute truth and so you would like to shape Christianity in such a way that it would be attractive and not offensive and all you have to say is well this is just one way to God.

There are many others but I have found this really helps me. I found that believing on Christ has made the difference in my life. Now it may not in yours and you may find more hope in Buddha or becoming a Muslim or becoming a pagan. If you say that you will remove the offense of the gospel. The offense of the gospel is this is the only way. The only way to God is through the cross of Jesus Christ.

That's one of the truths that's implied in this passage but the primary truth of verse 15. Notice that in some way there is not a parallel between Adam and Christ and notice what it is in the verse. The free gift is not like the transgression.

Now what is the free gift? Well look down on verse 17 it tells you what it is. In verse 17 we are told that the free gift is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The gift that God has given to us for Christ is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So the gift of righteousness is not like the transgression. Righteousness and transgression are opponents.

Transgression means that Adam violated the law of God. The gift of righteousness is the righteousness of Christ displayed and accomplished by obeying God even to the cost of his own life and his separation from the Father. Here when the transgression and righteousness are contrasted righteousness and the grace that gives it is far more certain preeminent than the transgression. Notice the words that he uses there. Much more. That's a crucial phrase here.

Much more. When he's comparing the transgression of Adam and the righteousness, the gift of righteousness that comes through Christ he says he compares it with this phrase much more as the transgression of one much more the grace and gift of one the Lord Jesus Christ. So we were a paraphrase this we would say for it by the transgression of the one the many died much more certainly did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abound to the many. In other words the abundant grace that flows out of Christ and the results of it is going to abound to many that is more certain than the fact that this transgression has flowed to the whole human race.

Now why is it more certain that the grace of God abounds than that the judgment of death follows transgression. Now we know it does because everybody dies and that's Paul's argument. We know that judgment has come up on the human race because everybody dies death reigns. So how can we say that it's more certain that the grace of God through Jesus Christ is going to abound to the many that is all who come to faith in him?

Well the answer is because God's ultimate purpose is not judgment but his ultimate purpose is to display the glory of his grace. Think about that a minute. I want to tell you there are a lot of Christians around who think the greatest truth in all the world is that God's going to judge the wicked.

Now he is going to but that's not the greatest truth. The greatest truth is the glorious display of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Don't take more joy in the fact that there's going to be a hell. John R. W. Stott, who's a British theologian, is one of among a handful of evangelical theologians who have been teaching over the last few years but in a tentative way that hell is not eternal.

Now I believe they're wrong but here's the thing that Stott said that does shake us. He said the thing that bothers me is not that no one agrees with me. It's that people want to believe that there is an eternal hell and he says I don't want to believe that.

Now I think he's wrong. There is an eternal hell. You know there are some Christians that are more excited about the judgment of God than they are. They display of the glory of God, the grace of God, the grace of God, the display of his grace and saving people through the work of Jesus Christ is the great purpose of God. How do we know this?

Well, several ways. For example, the aim of history we're told in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 6, which you've studied in your house groups, is that the praise that all of history, the aim of all of history, is the praise of the glory of his grace. He said blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly. So according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world to become blameless before him, holy and blameless before him in love, having predestined us into adoption sons. And then he says, why for the praise of the glory of his grace? I would suggest to you that struggle with this doctrine of election, don't get it in perspective.

The doctrine of election is for the praise of the glory of his grace. That's why that's the purpose of it. It displays, it's the reason God did it this way is it's so that he could display the glory of his grace. So that all of us in heaven would be praising his grace instead of praising our own efforts. You know that none of you when we get to heaven are going to be bragging about your Christian life? None of you are going to be bragging about how you were faithful and you stayed with it and you did everything right?

You're all going to be bragging on the glory of the display of the grace of God and Christ Jesus. See that's God's great purpose. We're told in Romans chapter 9 that God endures the vessels of wrath. Why does he allow people to be born who are not going to believe on Christ? Who are going to spend eternity away from him? He says he endures the vessels of wrath in order to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy.

He puts up with this in order to display this. And then we're told in Romans chapter 8 verses 20 and 21 that judgment came upon creation with a view to a greater hope than judgment. Judgment isn't the ultimate work of God. In fact, we're told in scripture the Old Testament that it's a strange work. It's a strange work. You know what his heart is?

His heart is to save. That's what we're told. He desires all men to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Now you can work out the difficulty with that but in this verse we're told that the ultimate purpose of God and creating and governing the world the way he does is the display of his abounding grace and Christ. Can we agree on that? If you struggle over election, can you agree with this? That the ultimate purpose of God in creating and governing the world the way that he does is the display of his abounding grace and Christ. Isn't that wonderful? This is a kind of God we serve who is determined to display his glorious grace.

That's the primary truth of that's unveiled here in Romans 515. If judgment followed Adam's transgression he says it is much more certain that God's grace abounded and will abound throughout all eternity because judgment is not God's ultimate purpose in the universe, the ultimate purpose of God in creating and governing the world the way he does is to display his abounding grace. Not to the exclusion of the display of justice and judgment but justice and judgment is like the background and what is in the foreground. The display of this glorious reality of God is his abounding grace. This is what God is all about. The God's ultimate purpose in the world is the display of the glory of his grace and the person of Jesus Christ.

See the glory of grace, the glory of God's grace is the glory of Jesus Christ. The more you get to know him the more you realize that. Jesus Christ is the grace of God incarnate and all of history, all of its sin and redemption is about the display of the glory of God's grace. Why did he allow such failure in his people in the Old Testament? Why did we see them stumbling and falling over and over and over again and God lifting them up, bringing judgment and chastisement and then them repenting and being delivered again? It is to display the glory of his grace.

Why has he worked the way he has in your life? Display the glory of his grace. Some of you've gone through things you can't figure out why in the world God has allowed it to happen in your life. Why is he allowed this to happen? Why is he allowed this turn in the road? Why have I had to experience this?

I can tell you the big purposes, the display of the glory of his grace. And one of these days you're going to say, amen, I can see how even the greatest tragedies in my life were part of the working of a God who desires to display the great glory of his grace in Christ Jesus. That's the meaning of history and that's the point here in verse 15. Put it in that perspective. It's amazing how this can change your inner life. How this can change your mood.

When you begin to look at the events of your life today, the things you're facing today, when you look at them through the perspective of the display of the glory of his grace, even through these events. Notice in verse 16, in verse 16 it's Paul writes, and the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin, for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. Now the significant truth in this passage is, a significant truth is that the basis of our justification is the free gift of Christ's righteousness. That's the basis of our being right with God. This shows us that the foundation, there is a foundation for justification. It isn't just that God says, you know, I really like you.

I'm just going to declare you righteous and I'm going to receive you and treat you like my own child. Now there's a basis for that. The basis for that is the work of Jesus Christ. And this is why it's so crucial for you to understand that when Christ came into the world, he came into the world because God and eternity passed said, I'm going to make you my son. I'm going to bring you into my family. I'm going to make you my own.

And so he sent Christ to accomplish that. It's based upon his glorious work. And notice how it's described in verse 18, it's called the one act of righteousness. Verse 19, it's called the obedience of the one that is of Jesus Christ. Justification isn't just a new relationship with God or a new status before God that just hangs in the air. It's based on the fact of what Christ has done and you're union with Him.

Now that's a significant truth. The free gift results in justification. The free gift is not just justification. The free gift is the righteousness that God has given you that you're clothed with. That God sees you in because you have believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the most glorious and important and significant possession you have.

Did you know that? The righteousness of Christ is a possession that you have through faith. And so you could be bankrupted tomorrow and you'd still be rich. Truly rich. You could lose everything you have. The Democrats could get in, the economy go bad or the Republicans could stay in the economy go bad.

And you'd still be rich because you have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The primary truth of verse 16 is revealed in the explanatory clause. What's the explanatory clause? Look at verse 16. You can see it real clear. See that little word for that begins a second sentence in verse 16.

See it? Look at it. When I say see it, that's why I want your eyes to go down to your text and you can see that there's a sentence that begins in the middle of the verse and it says, for the judgment, well that's called an explanatory clause. In other words, he's explaining what he just said. What he just said was the free gift is not like the result of one man's sin. And then he says, here's why.

Why is that true, Paul? Well, here's why. Here's the contrast. One transgression of Adam leading to condemnation versus many transgressions. That is all of yours and mine and everybody else in the world combined. All of that led to justification.

What's the point? The point is to display the greatness of grace far outstrips the display of God's judgment. You see, one trespass led to condemnation of the whole race. Many transgressions, that is all of the transgressions of all the people who will ever believe on Jesus Christ, all of God's elect, all of their transgressions, heaped upon Christ, led to justification. What a glorious truth.

Now, think about this. Condemnation is just the natural and fitting response to transgression, isn't it? Somebody transgresses and condemnation. That is the righteous judge. Do you want righteous judges, don't you? Don't you get angry when you hear about a judge who brings somebody before him who's committed a heinous crime and lets him off on some technicality?

Doesn't that anger you? Why does that anger you? Because you're made in the image of God and you believe in justice. You can't help it unless you're so perverted in your conscience. It's so sins that you no longer want justice, but I don't think anybody here is like that. You want justice.

And so, when he says that the condemnation flows out of this one act of disobedience, of transgression, of an act of rebellion that Adam committed against God, he says condemnation is what we would expect. The head of the race, acting as our representative, rebelled against God's authority. The result was condemnation, condemnation, what we would expect. You go to a court house and you watch a trial, and you see someone on trial, the evidence is presented, it's clear the man's guilty, and the judge says you are guilty, and here is the penalty. And we say that's what he ought to do. That's what we expect.

But justification is not a natural or fitting response to many transgressions. Think about that. One transgression results in condemnation.

But then he says a multitude of transgressions results in justification. In other words, it wasn't just the sin of Adam, it was your sins that was laid upon him as well. And yet it resulted in justification. The transgression calls for condemnation, but many transgressions call for great condemnation, and yet we got justification. That's an amazing reality. See some Christians think, well, no, what Christianity is is you've got to get your head straight and start living right and get your act together.

And then when you stand on the final judgment day, God will say, okay, you're all right, come on in. And the problem is all of us know that if there was a scale and we could weigh our righteous acts with our unrighteous acts, you know, like our unrighteous acts, like not loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, not loving your neighbor as yourself, you know, those kinds of things. If you were to weigh all those acts in which you violated the law of God, you refused to love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, the million times that you have, and you were to weigh your righteous acts, it would go like this, your many transgressions.

And so what the gospel says is, that your justification blows out of the many multitude of transgressions you have committed, but you are declared right through this one act of obedience by the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how is that done? Well, notice this, God's grace triumphs over many transgressions and justifies us on the basis of this, that should be one the substitute, righteousness of Christ. Try him over all of your transgressions. You ever have the fear that somebody's going to find out the truth about you? I remember who was it was telling me this, that when you go on the internet, somebody was telling me, I don't even know if it's actually true, but somewhere there is recorded every move that you make on the internet.

If somebody could just get to those records, they could find out every single thing you have ever viewed on the internet. What if that was true about everything in your life? And you were found out. Guess what? There is an all-seeing eye. The God of the universe, this omniscient God knows everything about you.

And he has not heaped just your known sins upon Christ. He has even heaped up all those sins that nobody knows about, but you. And you know what, there are even some sins that you don't know about. There are some sins the Bible says that you've committed, that you weren't even aware of the sinfulness of it. You didn't even count it to be sined, because we're so unrighteous, he says, in 1 John 1, if we say that we haven't sinned, if I say that I haven't committed sins, then I make God a liar, and his truth is not in us. You know, sometimes it takes the word of God, the light of the word of God, shined on our lives for us to see the truth about our own life.

There are people today. I've had a conversation this past week with a believer who is headed for sin, and doesn't even believe that it's sin, even though it is a absolutely clear, transparent, obvious teaching of Scripture that's being violated. A command of God, saying to God, I'm going to do what I want to do. That's called sin. That's a transgression of the law of God. What Paul says is all of those transgressions have been heaped up on Christ, and he has brought us not condemnation, not condemnation, but justification.

I mean, that's the most glorious truth I've ever heard. Do you know who the judge is? It's going to sit on the judgment, the great white throne judgment. Who is this judge? Who is this man who's been appointed as a judge of the living and the dead?

Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who has the scars in his hands and his feet and his side. When he sits on the great white throne judgment, you'll be able to see those scars. It's the one who died for sinners, and he knows our sins, and he's the one who's declared his righteous.

And so Paul says, in Romans 8, who can condemn us? Who can condemn us? Christ Jesus died and rose again. He's the one who's taken my transgressions. What a glorious truth. And then, verse 17, listen to this, if because of one man's trespass death ran through that one man, much more will those who received the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Don't you notice this significant truth that's in this passage? And that is the minion atom include all humanity. Nobody's exempt. Everybody's a descendant of Adam. That's the biblical teaching. That's what the Bible teaches, that every single human being that lives on the face of this earth or ever will live as a descendant of Adam and the many that he's referring to here, all the descendants of Adam.

But the many in Christ are those who receive him. You can see this. Those who receive, notice the last part of verse 17, those who receive the abundance of grace. He implies that there are those who do not receive it. Those who do not believe, those who reject the provision.

But he says, all those who receive it will receive righteousness. Now, notice this, the primary truth of verse 17 is that triumph of God's grace will not simply replace life with death, but will make us reign in life in the presence of God forever. Let me show you where I get that. Look at verse 17 real close. And this takes a little, this takes a little, this takes attention. Look at verse 17, really close.

Listen to this. If because of one man's trespass death reigned, death reigned. In other words, death reigned through that one man so that everybody died without exception.

But notice this, much more, it is more certain that those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness will reign. Who will reign? Not life, but those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. If death reigned through Adam, Paul says much more will we reign in life? We exchange rulers over us. We're told death and life, but then we become rulers.

Someday through Jesus Christ, we will move from being ruled by death to becoming ourselves rulers in life. It's one of the teachings of Scripture. We don't rule now. We're not triumphalists. We don't believe that we're in the kingdom, but we don't believe the kingdom has come, but we believe that one of these days we're going to reign in life.

Second Timothy 2, Paul says, if we endure, we also will reign with him. Now that's an amazing thing. We're all going to reign as kings upon this earth. That's what the Scriptures teach. This is the abundance of the work of Christ in comparison to the act of Adam that plunged us all into condemnation. Think back to the Garden of Eden for a moment that God creates Adam and Eve to rule over His creation.

He basically makes Adam and Eve co-regions over the earth. They're at a rule over the earth under the ultimate rule of God, but what do they do? Well, they rebel against God. They usurp God's authority and are plunged into condemnation. The kingdom has turned upside down. Instead of raining, they're being rained over by life and sin, rather death and sin and condemnation and bondage.

So what is salvation going to bring? Is it just going to bring us back to where we were before? No. We are going to be co-regions with the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to reign with Christ. That's a wonderful declaration of the supremacy and glory of God's grace.

It takes sinners like us to receive His grace and He makes us kings in the age to come. It's going to bring us into this new kind of existence and life and relationship with the living God who rules over all. It's almost too good to be true. In fact, I can tell some of you can't even imagine it. You.

Well, maybe it's harder for you to believe the guy next to you is going to reign with Christ. That's a scary thought, isn't it? You're going to reign. That's what the text says. If you believe it, if you humbly rest in it, this glorious truth will change your life. It'll change all of life because many of us are so dominated by the things that we feel ruled over by in this world, whether it's sickness, pain, destroyed relationships, a bad record, a bad heart, all kinds of things.

And it's hard for us to imagine a day when not only are all these things going to be removed and taken off us, but we're going to reign with Christ Jesus. I believe that Paul wants you to meditate on this and let it sink in. He actually wants you to allow it to sink in and understand what he is saying. Your inheritance is to reign like a king in the presence of God. Turn with me to Revelation chapter three. Revelation chapter three.

These are the words of Jesus. Revelation chapter three, verse 21. Verse 21. To the church of Leodicea, the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ says, the one who conquers, and what he says in the faith, in the context, the one who conquers is, get this. Who is the one who's going to conquer? He says, the one who conquers is the one who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who has faith, who lives by faith in Christ. He says, the one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. I want you to think about the parallel of that for a second. He says that believers are going to sit on the throne of Christ in the way that Christ sits on the throne of the Father. We're going to be co-regions with the Lord Jesus Christ. What an amazing thing.

Now, that tells you that God's got a lot of work to do, doesn't. He has a lot of work to do because he is transforming us and preparing us for the kingdom. We might function in the kingdom and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ. So, what have we said?

Well, as we look through these three verses, the primary truth of verse 15 is that God's ultimate aim is to display the preeminence and glory of His grace over judgment. The primary work of God is not judgment. The primary work of God is the display of His grace. The reason that God makes such a strong appeal to the whole world that we are ambassadors that go into all the world and say, be reconciled to God, receive the salvation and this forgiveness and this grace that He freely offers is because the God primary goal is to display the glory of His grace. The second thing we saw in verse 16 is that God's grace triumphs over not just over one transgression but over all transgressions of those who believe on Christ. Every transgression, every violation of God's will and law is taken care of in the work of Jesus Christ.

There isn't going to be some little section in heaven. A little ghetto over here where the people who really blew it bad, but they made it in by the skin of their teeth. You know, Paul says there will be those who, when they offer their works to Christ, all their works are going to be burnt up, but they will be saved yet as through fire. And what he means by that, you're going to have nothing to offer because everything you've done for Christ, you've done with the wrong motive, but you'll be saved.

But you know what? It's a glorious salvation. You're going to enter into the presence of the living Christ and reign with Him. And then the primary truth of verse 17 is the triumph of God's grace will not simply replace life with death, but it will give us this glorious experience of reigning in life with the Father forever and ever. Are you tired of being defeated in life? It's amazing to me.

The number of conversations I've had over the last couple of months of people who are so beat down because of the affairs of life, the issues of life, the things that are going on in their life and the troubles they have. God says, I want you to understand something. There's a day coming in which you're going to reign in life. When things are not going to dominate you, but you are going to reign in life through Jesus Christ. So Paul would say to us today, lay hold of these great truths about grace. Take hold of them.

Trust Christ. Rest your trust in Him today. He'll be a righteousness in your life and your joy. He wants our eyes to be open so that our life becomes a celebration of his grace, a celebration of his grace. What a glorious reality. The reason that we say to people, judgment day is coming is not because we relish judgment, but because we love the grace of God and we want them to experience it and enter into it.

Today as we come to the Lord's table, this is the Christ. The Christ who has done this work for us. This is the Christ who is here with us at this table to partake of this Lord's supper. He left us the simple meal, a loaf of bread, and a cup of wine. And he says, this loaf represents my body, which was given for you. This loaf represents the fact that the God of the universe, the one who didn't think it was robbery to be equal with God, emptied himself and took on a real humanity.

He became a servant and took on a real humanity and entered into our world, into our life, into our fallen world in order to die for us, to rescue us. And he says, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. And when you drink this cup, you are celebrating the fact and remembering the fact that your standing and your relationship and your future with God is based upon the shed blood of Jesus Christ who died in the place of sinners. So as we come around this table, meditate on those realities, those truths. Let them sink in, even as you taste this bread and taste this fruit of the vine, non-alcoholic fruit of the vine, as you taste it, may it cause you to remember the great work of Jesus Christ for you and the fellowship that we have with him and with one another. So as a group comes up and plays, I'm going to come up and pass out the elements and then we'll all partake together once they're all passed out, okay?