Well, almost everybody has heroes. You boys and girls have heroes and sometimes we'll hear the humorous stories of a little boy on the playground or the ball field arguing with a friend and he's saying that my daddy is better than your daddy or my daddy is smarter than your daddy or little girl my mama is prettier than your mama or my mama's a better cook than your mama and those kind of conversations go on because Our parents are our heroes, at least when we're young. Our parents are our heroes. And it's good that our parents are our heroes. But heroes are part of life, part of Greek culture, and Greek myths were full of heroes. And we have our own heroes. We have cultural heroes. We would have sports heroes. certain men have done in their sports for their sports, what Tiger Wood did for golf because of his superiority. He became the hero of many people and attracted many people to the game of golf. We have cultural heroes. Some of mine are Stonewall Jackson or Mortimer Adler, men greatly admired for many characteristics that I would long myself to emulate. And of course, the Bible is full of role models for us and gives us many heroes. But tonight, we're going to think about the greatest hero in the Bible. Perhaps you haven't thought about the Savior in that manner, but because of his superiority, he indeed should be our greatest hero. And the apostle shows us that tonight as he contrasts Christ as the second Adam, the last man, with the first man, the first Adam. Now let me remind you what's going on here. Chapter 11, the Apostle finished his glorious statement about the great benefits of justification that belong to us, and calling us then to exalt in the hope of the gospel, exalt in our tribulations, exalt in all the glory of Christ, who is our reconciliation. And in that process, he reminded us of what Christ has done for us, how God demonstrated his love to us, and how Christ is, in fact, our reconciliation. And then in verse 12, with this word wherefore or therefore, he actually builds out of that which he has just said about Christ in order to lay further a foundation. How is it that Christ can do these things for us? And he begins, though, with Adam in verse 12. It's very important that you understand the role of Adam in, as I said last week, God's divine government and in the history of redemption, because if you don't understand the role of Adam, your understanding of the role of Christ is going to be defective. So in verse 12, the apostle reminds us, teaches us that Adam was the covenant head of the human race. that God entered into this covenant with Adam that upon perfect obedience, particularly to the testing of his will with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, if Adam obeyed, the entire human race would have been a perfected Adam brought to a level of unlosable righteousness. And eventually, at some point, we'd be transformed into eternal glory. But of course, as Paul tells us, And as we had that little thing from McGuffey's reader, in Adam's fall, we sinned all. In Adam's sin and rebellion, the entire human race was plummeted into what we call original sin. And under the guilt and condemnation of Adam's first sin, proven by the reality of death that has reigned in the human race from Adam and Eve up until the very day in which we live and until Christ indeed returns. Now, at the end of verse 12, Paul goes into a very long parenthesis. The first in verses 13 and 14, and I want you to just grasp this because actually the three verses before us tonight are probably the most difficult verses in the book of Romans. And if you're like me, you've read over them and you kind of, you didn't get tongue tangled, you got mind tangled. And just, you know, what all is Paul, what is Paul doing here? But it's a long parenthesis. And so you notice there's a slash. So really what he does in verse 12 is just as, and he picks that back up in verse 18 with the so then. So meanwhile, all that comes between is explanatory. So the preface begins with verse 13, and in verses 13 and 14, he simply proves that it's through Adam's one transgression that all are born sinners, that are guilty of sin and sinners, and that is demonstrated by the reality of death. Then he makes this most amazing comment, a bit disconcerting probably, in the end of verse 14. Adam, in his offense, is the type of him who was to come. Adam's the last person in the world that we would think of as the type of Christ. We can think of David and some of the great godly kings of the old covenant, but Adam? the murderer of the human race, how is he a type of Christ? He's a type of Christ in terms of this covenant transaction. God dealing with a covenant head, for all those whom he represented." So he puts that parenthesis there in 13 and 14 to come up into this that Adam is a type of Christ, which leads to a parenthesis inside the parenthesis. That's why this section can get so difficult. So our text tonight is now a not as much of an explanation as a series of contrasts. So yes, Adam's a type of Christ, but as soon as we say that, we must then put up these fences, and we must carefully qualify and define what we mean. So that's what Paul is doing in verses 15 to 17. And I intend to show you here, by God's grace, that Jesus Christ, who is the last Adam, by his superior work purchased for his people righteousness and life. Jesus Christ, who is the last Adam, who by his superior work purchased for his people righteousness and life. And we're gonna look at the superiority of this transaction in three ways. In verse 15, superior in the standard of the transaction. Verse 16, superior in the extent of the transaction. and verse 17, superior in the result of the transaction. Superior in the standard, superior in the extent, superior in the result. Now in verse 15, The Apostle teaches that our Savior is the second Adam, is superior in the standard of the transaction. You notice that having said that Adam is a type of Christ, he immediately qualifies this in verse 15, but the free gift is not like the transgression. So he immediately warns us, wait a minute now. and don't jump to wrong conclusions. There is a great difference between Adam as the covenant head and Christ as the covenant head. And he shows these differences by these comparisons for if by much more. So the first comparison then is this superior in the standard of transaction. I want to point out three things here. In the first place, I want you to notice who the covenant heads are as Paul lays them out for us once again in verse 15. Adam is referred to as the one who transgressed, and we saw it was the one covenant commandment that he transgressed. Adam is the first covenant head, and he is the one who transgressed. In contrast, notice how he describes the Savior, the one man, Jesus Christ. Perhaps you noticed, and maybe even wondered about it, For example, in 1st Timothy 2, when Paul talks about the mediator, he emphasizes the man, Christ Jesus. Or in his sermon in Athens, the resurrection of the man who will judge. And what's going on? Why is Christ emphasizing the man? Because he must have this parallel. In the man Adam, we all fell. There had to be a man as our covenant head. could be a suitable representative for us who could stand in our place before God. But of course, he quickly adds to the man, Jesus Christ, and they're telling us, reminding us, the man, in fact, is the God-man, as we confessed this morning in the Nicene Creed. The one who is Jesus, who is Jehovah, who saves. He is the one who is Emmanuel, God incarnate. And he is the Christ, the perfect prophet, priest, and king, who has done everything necessary to accomplish salvation for his people, and now in heaven. is applying that salvation to us. So the first contrast here is between a man in whom we fell and the man, Jesus Christ, in whom we are saved. Now, the second thing I would want you to notice in this verse 15 is who are the objects of the work of these two covenant heads. And perhaps you've wondered about this because Paul uses the word many. For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, much more did the grace of God and the free gift or the gift by grace of the one man abound to the many. In fact, in this section, Paul will contrast, he will go back and forth from many to all. Now, by beginning with Adam, we can understand what many means because many with Adam was not some portion of the human race. No, many was used here. He's already said all have fallen in Adam. So where to interpret many is all those who are in Adam. And many is used to show the fullness of all those who were in Adam. There are no exceptions. Thus, when many is used for the man Jesus Christ, he is referring to all those who are in Jesus Christ. In other words, Adam died for his physical posterity, and Christ died for his spiritual posterity, all those whom the Father chose in Him in eternity and gave to Him in the new covenant, the covenant of grace. And so here many of those for whom Christ acted shows the fullness again. Everyone whom the Father chose, he gave to Christ. And not one for whom Christ would obey and die would be lost. Not one would not be brought in. No, the many would be saved through the covenant head. Now, these are more or less the minor contrasts between the individuals and between those for whom they acted. Important contrast now in verse 15 is what I've called this extent. of, excuse me, the standard of the transaction. You'll notice what we have contrasted here, my friends, is justice and grace. It's a beautiful contrast. In Adam, it is God's justice that is pictured, exemplified, and got purity God's justice. Now it was a gracious covenant that God made with Adam on our behalf, but the penalty was an absolute act of justice, God would have not been the holy God, who has revealed Himself to us in Scripture, if Adam had not fallen into death and sin, and all for whom he acted." So we have the one standard here, and that is the standard of justice. But notice how Paul contrasts the standard of grace, how he heaps term upon term, much more. Here's the contrast. If by the one, the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace, or the free gift, he's not content to use one word. He's using two different terms here to contrast the super abundant grace of God standing over against the justice of God. And we know that all of God's attributes are one in him. But God's glorious attribute, God's glory is God's goodness. And he tells us his goodness is his compassion, his grace, his long suffering, his abundance and loving kindness and faithfulness. And here Paul heaps term upon term to remind us, as James will say, that mercy trumps judgment. The old writers would say that justice was God's strange work, and that grace was God's abundant work. So here's a standard. Adam deserved what he received, and all of us deserve in Adam what we have received in Adam's condemnation. But not one of us. deserved that which Christ has purchased for us, and you well know that. For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. In Acts, Paul preaches at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, 11, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as they also Jew and Gentile being saved, all of us saved by the grace of God. Or as Paul will comment in 2 Corinthians 8, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich. The super abundant grace of God, that is the standard of our salvation. That is the glorious outpouring of God's love and mercy to us. And revel in the grace of God. I mentioned a prayer meeting this past week, how we must learn not only to be persistent with God in prayer, but to argue with God in prayer. And here is an argument you may use, and I prayed this Wednesday night. Here's an argument you may use when you pray for lost loved ones in your family and for other unconverted people, that it is in conversion of the lost that God's grace shines forth. So much more glorious than justice. Edward said that justice will have to be exercised all eternity. Ah, but in Christ Jesus, justice is satisfied because of grace. And thus plead with God that mercy will trump judgment as you pray for lost people. Plead with God that as it's the super abundance of grace that comes through Christ Jesus, that this is what he will manifest, how honored he is when someone is saved and how rejuvenated is the church. And so the work of the second man, the last Adam, is superior in the standard of the transaction. Now, just as Paul relates these superiorities, each one gets better than the previous as well. So next, the contrast in verse 16 is that it is superior in the extent of the transaction. You'll notice again, with the initial contrast, the gift, now he's focused on grace, the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. So he says, I'm gonna show you another contrast, one more aspect of superiority. For on the one hand, that's an Adam, the judgment arose from one transgression, resulting in condemnation. But on the other hand, now in the second Adam, the man, Jesus Christ, the free gift by God's grace arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. Now, it's easy to miss the contrast here. What Paul is showing us is that it was Adam's one simple act by his rebellion, one thing happened, and that's condemnation. Yes, because we're born dead in sins and trespasses and with the absence of God's righteousness, out of that one penalty of God's justice will come our sin. But in Adam, there was only one result, one act, one result, condemnation. But because condemnation then, we then have the absence of God's righteousness and our character is corrupt as well because we're born dead in sins and trespasses, not just physically dead. We have committed innumerable transgressions. And all the billions of people for whom Christ died have committed billions of transactions. That is the contrast here. This is what the Holy Spirit wants you to understand that, yeah, a simple transaction of justice, but this transaction of grace, we must remember what the Savior has done for us, that on the other hand, the free grace arose are from many transgressions." In other words, Christ dealt with all of the transgressions of the many, of the all, who were given to him. By his obedience, by his death on the cross, he fully satisfied the justice of God. He kept the covenant transaction that Adam failed to keep, so that then justification comes to all those for whom Christ acted. Do you understand that? You know what justification is? Don't ever forget it. Justification is the pardon of our sins, but also, and we'll come to this in the next section next week, that God constitutes us and declares us to be innocent in His sight. We have committed innumerable transgressions. Our own universe of transgressions are before God because of this work of Christ as if we never sinned, legally. Legally, as if we never sinned. He says in his courtroom, you're innocent, you're righteous because of this work of Christ. Oh, what a superior extent of the work of our Savior, what he has done. How much more glorious he is than Father Adam. And so, superior in the standard, superior in the extent. But now we see—and let me just remind you of Colossians 2, where Paul focuses on this as well, verses 13 and 14. When you were dead in your transgressions and uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, with Christ, having forgiven us all of our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us. He's taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. What a glorious Savior. And what a glorious transaction. But it comes now to a climax in verse 17. Superior in the result of the transaction. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more, you see our contrast, those who receive the abundance of grace and gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ." This comparison just simply boggles the mind. It is beyond our simple grasp. We can grasp the first part, for we experienced it, don't we? Because of Adam's transgression, Paul has already said this in verses 12 through 14, because of that transgression of the one, the one transgression of the one, death reigned. And that's a profound effect of what Adam did. Death reigned through Adam. All died physically, all are born dead in sin or created dead in sins and trespasses under the wrath of God until God does something for them. And you know about the reigning power of death, don't you? You felt it yourself, perhaps a fear of death before you were converted, even perhaps now some of you are afraid of death. Death reigns. It's a terrible enemy, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. It's an awful enemy, it's unnatural. It is a ripping apart that which God created to be whole. It is ripping apart of relationships that God created to be fulfilling and lasting. It is a terrible specter that looms over mankind. with this fatal reality that none can ever escape. Oh, we, you know, we want to escape it. All these gimmicks to live forever. All back to Ponce de Leon. And ever since then, men trying to live forever. And now AI is supposed to help us live forever. And it's just all idolatry. You cannot escape death. The average is going to be 70, 80 years. There'll be some that die much younger. There'll be some that will live much longer, but it's the reality of life. But it rains. It's this dreadful monster with its gaping jaws. But of course, that only represents the reality of spiritual death, where we're estranged from God and we are under the dominion of sin. And we can't escape that dominion of sin. It's got its clasp upon us. We're in the fetters of sin. We would not sin, but we sin and we sin all the more. And we'll make resolutions and we'll have personal reformation and we'll sin all the more. We put off one sin and seven, Jesus says, will take its place. Death reigns through the one man. But now the contrast is absolutely wonderful. For he then says, through the one much more, those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Oh, there's so much here. for us to unpack. Notice how he focuses then on faith. Those who receive the abundance of grace. Here's the necessity of faith taking hold of Jesus Christ and his perfect work. Notice that perfect work. It is the abundance of grace that is described in verse 15. It brings in first justification. As we saw in verse 16, believing in Christ, the abundance of God's grace brings us righteousness. This gift of righteousness is simply another term to refer to our justification. But now, because we have received this justification, we've put it on. We are clothed now in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so Notice the language. Many. Oops, I lost my spot here. So we will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Now, do you see how he's moved from justification to the reality of eternal life? We will reign in life and eternal inheritance that we have right now. The very moment that you repent and you take hold of Jesus Christ and you ask God to save you because of the perfect work of Christ, you receive eternal life. But that eternal life then also brings you into this new relationship, no longer simply as servants, but co-heirs. You notice we're going to reign now in life with Christ. As I thought about this, my mind went back. I just read earlier this week of the vision in Zechariah chapter three. And it just occurred to me today, the parallels. So in Zechariah three, Joshua is the high priest. And in this vision, Zechariah sees him standing before the angel of the Lord. That would be our savior, the second person of the Godhead. Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire? And that's who we are, isn't it? That's what we see in this passage, just another figure. We are a brand plucked from the fire by the abundant grace of God. Now, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, standing before the angel. He spoke, the angel of the Lord, and he said to those who were standing before him, remove the filthy garments from him. And again, he said, see, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festival robes. And then I said, Zachariah gets in on the act, let them put a clean turban on his head, which was part of the sign of the priesthood. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments while the angel of Jehovah was standing by. This is the justification. the filthy garments were removed. He now is clothed in these festival garments, the pure righteousness that from this perspective in Zechariah would be purchased by Christ, but for us has been purchased by Christ. And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, if you will walk in my ways, if you will perform my service, then you will also govern my house. and also have charge of my courts, and I will grant you free access among those who are standing here." Now we see as well here is a type of Christ that as priest he also is going to govern. But this figure now is behind what Paul is writing here in verse 17 when he says that through this abundance of grace and the gift of justification, we, for whom Christ acted, will reign in life. So we don't just have life. We have eternal life, it begins now. As we read in, and I got completely confused, I wasn't using any of the larger catechism. I meant to use the larger catechism tonight. But what we have here is the reality of life now, in these things in question answer 36, at death and then at the resurrection of Christ. This is eternal life. But we have to add this other part. Just as Joshua reigned, We reign in life with the one, Jesus Christ. He who is the exalted king of kings. And some of the writers say that actually the kings in lower case actually refers to us. He is the king who reigns over all his other kings. Remember Paul says that right now we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Right now we reign with Christ as heirs, as Paul says in Romans 8, and co-heirs with him. We will, with Christ, exercise judgment on the day of judgment, judging, reprobate angels and men. But now we're reigning in life. But understand reign in life then speaks to us of freedom, right? Ability. We reign now over our own bodies. We can reign over the dominion of sin because we've died to sin in Christ Jesus. We've been raised to newness of life. We're reigning over the dominion of that that had dominion over us. We're reigning over death for it no longer is a specter, merely a doorway for us into the glories of eternity. And all of this is accomplished through the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, by his superior work, has purchased for you not just justification and righteousness, but life. What a superhero. This one who has a superior standard of transaction, the superior extent of what the transaction includes and the superior result of the transaction. So where does it bring you tonight? Well, you should be filled with wonder and awe at the wonderful wisdom of God I often say this trying to get people uncomfortable in their chairs. You know, it was God's will that Adam fell. God could have had a human race that he could have brought to himself through a man. Oh, that's paltry, you see. Yes, that's paltry. No, that's not what God ever planned. Remember, you're chosen from eternity. No, it was God's eternal plan that Adam would fall. In Adam's fall, we sinned all so that He then will send the second Adam, the last man, who by the superior work is God incarnate, kept all of the demands of the first broken covenant, paid the penalty of the first broken covenant, and established for each one of us the glories of our justification, adoption, sanctification, the glory of eternal life, the glory of reigning with Christ in such a way That's just all glory, as we sang in Psalm 96, abounds to the Lord God. Isn't it amazing? Dwell there often in this plan of God's plan of redemption. And then you see, as you have your heroes, you talk about them. And that's natural. That if there are things that we admire in other people, whether it's history or in the culture or particularly in the Bible, We like to talk about our heroes, but we also want to praise our heroes. And we should want to praise the Lord Christ, the man, Jesus Christ. And that is part of the engine of our worship, isn't it? That we are so captivated by this reality of the superiority of God's plan of redemption and of our Savior. But then we also are going to talk to others about him. You see, this is what witnessing is. You know, if you're in the line in the grocery store, you don't think twice if you want to tell somebody about what your favorite pitcher did yesterday or some author you just read or perhaps a painting you just saw or any number of things. Maybe it's just your grandchildren. But you know, we just talk to people about what's important. My friends, if Christ is important to us as this great superhero, then we'll find ourselves just talking about him, right? Boasting in our hero, telling others about him that he might become their hero as well. And of course, this brings us to this very important reality then that I must ask each of you to ask yourself tonight. Is he your hero? By that I mean, have you confessed your sins, repented of them, and turned in the superabundant grace of God to trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? That means for pardon of sin. That means for righteousness. That means for the destruction of the dominion of sin in your life. That's the question you must answer tonight before God. Answer that question honestly, and be sure, because there's no other way. If you say it, Adam, you see what the result is. It's condemnation, death reigning in you. But in Christ Jesus, through abundant grace, there is a sacrifice for all of your sins, and there's this being clothed in the righteousness of Christ and reigning with him forevermore. Let us pray. Lord God, we praise you for this revelation, a difficult passage grammatically, and yet, Lord, it says so much to us about your wisdom, your divine government, and the beauty and glory of our Savior, and the glorious salvation that belongs to us in Him. Oh, Lord, give us grace to respond appropriately If there are any here tonight, children or adults, Lord, that are yet clinging to their own worth and righteousness, might your spirit even now show them through this transaction that they must repent of their sins and turn from them and take hold of Christ Jesus. And Lord, may our own worship become all the more rich and full in the daily meditation and realization of this great plan of redemption and what you have perfectly accomplished for us in Christ. And may we renew now, Lord, our resolve to speak to others about this glorious Savior. Help us to do it naturally and not in any awkward way, but simply to talk freely about the greatest man who has ever lived, the God-man. and whose name we pray. Lord, we bring now our offering to you as a symbol of this resolve that we have to be better witnesses. We dedicate ourselves to praise you and to speak of you, Lord, and we bring now the offering as a pledge unto that end. And we pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen.