DEATH DEFIED by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction: Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. Easter is about how Jesus conquered death for us. For those of you who may not know, we are in our series on the end times through the book of Romans. We prayerfully chose to begin in Romans because it not only has much to say about end times, but it also gives us the proper foundation for key doctrines. Without a proper foundation, we will easily misunderstand end times, especially the book of Revelation. So, today, in our series on Romans, we come to the subject of death, and our message is titled DEATH DEFIED. 

Romans 5 (page #1738) 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—

Context: The Greek word for death is “Thanatos.” It is found as a noun about “120 times in the New Testament, especially in Romans (22 times) and Revelation (19 times)” (See NIDNTTE). Also, the verb “Apothenesko” is found about 110 times in the New Testament and about 23 times just in Romans. There are also a few other forms of death found in Paul’s letter to the Romans. The point is that death is an important subject to the Apostle Paul, especially in the Book of Romans. The reason Paul is discussing the subject of death with the believers in Rome in the first century is because he wants them to understand that whether they were born Gentiles or whether they were born Jewish they were all under the condemnation of sin and death equally. The reason for that is because Adam was our federal or covenantal head. The only way we can get out of sin and death is by switching families – we must make a transfer from the family of Adam to the family of Christ.

Application: Have you made a transfer from the family of Adam to the family of Christ? Do you realize that you are born in the family of sin and condemnation and death? Do you realize that you must be reborn/born again in the family of grace and forgiveness and reconciliation?

Again, someone might ask, “What does ‘death’ have to do with end-times prophecy?” 

• Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power…”
• Revelation 20:14 “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”
• Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

As you can see, death has a lot to do with end times prophecy. With all that said, how should we understand the death and sin through Paul’s letter to the Romans?

For starters, Romans 5:12 is one of the most hotly debated passages in the Bible. In fact, the debate began over 1700 years since the time of Augustine (354-430)! At the heart of this passage is the matter of “original sin.” Listen again to Romans 5 (page #1738) 12“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin…” Who is this one man that Paul is talking about? Adam. Genesis 2 (page #3) 16 “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” The Hebrew word is “moth.” Genesis 3       2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” Satan deceived Eve. Listen to what God said when he confronted Adam – Genesis 3:19 “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” What was this Death? It was both physical (separation from the body) and spiritual (separation from God). In the Old Testament, it is described as a cosmic power. Paul mentions this in I Corinthians 15 when he quotes Isaiah 25:8 “He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken” and Hosea 13:14 “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction!”

Application: We’ve all had to face the rule of death over us, at least physically. It is terrible when you have to place your loved one in the ground. Worse than the physical death is the spiritual.

Let’s continue in Romans 5:12b “…and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Some of ya’ll might be thinking, “Ok, Adam sinned, but what does that have to do with me? Why do I have to suffer the consequences of his actions? Why does death have to come to me because Adam sinned?” That’s the issue here. How does that work? The big debate hinges on the Greek word for “because.” In fact, they are 2 Greek words “eph haw.” It is a prepositional phrase. There are as many as 6 different views (Cranfield), but 3 are the most common:

1. Copy view: Because all sinned as “after Adam’s example.” Pelagius (5^th century monk from Ireland) argued that we are not connected with Adam. We have a choice not to sin. We sin when we copy Adam. For e.g. Has your one-year-old met Adam? They can have 10 toys and if a kid comes in and wants one, “mine!”
2. Corporate view: Because all sinned as “in Adam.” Augustine (4^th – 5^th century bishop of North Africa) argued that we sinned in Adam. We are condemned and guilty because we were in Adam. For e.g. My grandmother was a nurse during World War 1 in the British Army. What if she had died? I wouldn’t be here.
3. Corrupted view: Because all sinned as in “inheriting the nature of Adam.” We are born with the germ of sin. We are all born infected with sin with the nature of Adam. For e.g. Many of us have stories of children acting like a family member they never met! So, we are condemned because we sin individually in our inherited nature.

Based on Paul’s writings: It’s both the second (Corporate) and the third (Corrupted) view. Sin and death have come into the world through Adam. People sin and die not only because of Adam’s sin but also because they sin themselves due to Adam’s nature in them. Condemned for what he did and condemned for what we do, but Adam’s sin is fundamental and foundational.

Romans 5.      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.

Getting saved means transferring from the family of Adam to the family of Christ:

• Trespass vs Gift

Romans 5:15 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. 

• Condemnation vs Justification

Romans 5:16 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. 

• Death vs Life

Romans 5:17 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.)

• Judgment vs Justification of Life

Romans 5:18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 

• Disobedience vs Obedience

Romans 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Christ united himself to death to free us from the bonds of death. Now, death no longer has power over us. Instead, it is the means through which we live in Christ. Death now becomes God’s way of bringing us life. He took the curse brought about the Enemy and turned it on its head:

• Romans 6       3 “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
• Philippians 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”
• 2 Corinthians 4      11 “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.”
• Colossians 2:20 “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations”
• Colossians 3       3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
• Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Christian life is God’s call to come and die and in doing so live.

Story of children taken from a war-torn part of the world and brought into good and safe homes still slept on the floor with pieces of bread hidden in their clothes.

Application: Whose family do you belong to? Family of Adam or the Family of Christ?