If you have your Bibles, I'd love for you to join me in Romans chapter 5. In 1666, which was a very long time ago for some of us, some of you are much closer, The term pandemic was first used. It describes a continuously spreading disease in a country or a region. I studied out pandemics, I don't know why, that's been fresh on the mind from the last few years. There was the Athenian plague, which killed around 25% of Athenians and people in the surrounding areas. There was the Antonine plague. Marcus Aurelius is actually one of the nearly 5 million estimated deaths during that pandemic. There was the Justinian plague, which is estimated to have killed 60% of the Mediterranean world. There was the Black Death, also known as the Plague, or the Bubonic Plague, considered to be the most fatal, killing around 200 million people. More recently, there was the Spanish Flu, which killed an estimated 50 million people. And I thought, what more do people want to meditate on on Easter Sunday than pandemics and death? So Happy Easter to you. When we read history, we grasp that this is something humankind has encountered for our entire history. But I can stand in front of you this morning and say factually, as deadly as these pandemics were, and certainly they were, they were not the first pandemic to affect mankind, and certainly they were not the worst to do so. You see, there is a plague of a different kind. It's a far more deadly epidemic that has spread throughout the world. Currently, it is infecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 billion people. It is a plague called sin. It is global in its nature and it is fatal. The statistics have certainly been consistent. One out of one die. That's the beauty of Easter Sunday. That's why we gather to celebrate the resurrection. It tells us there is hope for a cure. And hope is something that we long for desperately. Webster defines hope as a desire accompanied by expectation in fulfillment. One said, when we're trapped in a tunnel of misery, hope points us to the light at the end. When we're overworked and exhausted, hope gives us fresh energy. When we are discouraged, hope lifts our spirits. When we are tempted to quit, hope keeps us going. When we lose our way and confusion blurs the destination, hope dulls the edge of panic. When we struggle with a crippling disease or a lingering illness, hope helps us persevere beyond the pain. When we fear the worst, hope brings reminders that God is still in control. When we must endure the consequences of bad decisions, hope fuels our recovery. When we find ourselves unemployed, hope tells us we still have a future. When we're forced to sit back and wait, hope gives us the patience to trust. When we feel rejected and abandoned, hope reminds us that we're not alone, we'll make it. When we say our final farewell to someone we love, hope And that which lies beyond gets us through our grief. Simply put, hope is essential. It is vital to each and every one of us. That's what this day entirely represents. Nobody likes the idea of death, though in some form or fashion we have all come to grips, or must come to grips with the fact that it awaits each and every one of us. Maybe our generation, unlike any that has preceded it, has chased some state of denial concerning death. Tried every age-defying tactic or technique that they can possibly run down. People are frantic today trying to defy age, and I think probably all of us, to some degree, have entered into that. Frantic as you may be. Equipped as you may be to defy, the reality is death is coming for every one of us. It may be able to be postponed, but cannot ultimately be avoided. The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 9, 27, it is appointed unto men and women, it is appointed unto all mankind once to die. After this, the judgment. It's a fact of nature. All of us will die. I wonder if we have ever meditated on that reality and what it means to us, scripturally speaking. The Bible tells us this global pandemic of sin, which is fatal, we have been able to find its source and we have been able to identify the antidote. And here in Romans chapter five, we read something incredibly important. Wherefore, verse 12 says, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Now I know perhaps you were hoping for a tomb and a stone message, but we're in Romans 5. What I want you to understand is there's a theological principle that exists in Romans chapter 5 which has practical implications for every one of us that are seated here. It is the principle of one man, all men. This principle is woven into the fabric of Romans chapter 5. It means that this passage of Scripture is applicable to every one of us. Now the Apostle Paul in ancient times wrote this letter that we have before us as the book of Romans. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit, each and every word preserved for our good and to the intent that we might understand what God wants us to know. Paul is working in the book of Romans up to this point like a prosecuting attorney trying to convince us of the sinfulness of humankind and it is an incredibly effective argument. And by the time we arrive at Romans chapter five, he is beginning to peel back and show us the layers underneath so that we might theologically understand why all of us are in the condition that we are in. One man, all men. Did you note in verse 12 he said, by one man sin entered, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men. One man, all men, sin. That's what he's declaring. Because one man sinned, all men have sinned. We're talking about Adam. In Hebrew, Adam would communicate mankind, all of humankind wrapped up in Adam. In other words, through Adam's disobedience, the pandemic of sin entered the world. The original sin that was committed there in the garden affects all of us. Now, you, like me, can be a petulant child. How many of you can be a little petty at times? How many of you can be a little defensive at times? I would like to argue back to the holy judge that is God and say, hold on a second, I wasn't there in the garden. You can pin a lot on me, but that one you cannot pin on me. That's a good thought, but it doesn't stand up to the test of Scripture. Because when we look at that last phrase in verse 12, the Apostle Paul tightens the noose when he says this, all have sinned, past tense. Now if anybody in here is self-aware, and I'd imagine that's most of us, there are certainly some that lack that capacity. But anybody that is self-aware would acknowledge that they have sinned. In fact, walking in this morning, you're viewing moms and dads trying to get dressed up and to a particular destination on time. You're watching moms and dads with children trying to get them dressed up and to a destination on time. And you can see in some of your faces that you have already, in the privacy of your home or in the car on the way over here, have sinned egregiously. You've said a few things you wish you could take back. Your spirit has been anything but Easter-y. The reality is, each of us have probably already committed sin today, but what the Bible is not saying here is, hey, everybody eventually sins, so just understand, you're probably in that camp. What the Bible is saying in Romans 5, 12 is one man, all men, sin. Communicating to us this fact in the past tense, all have sinned in Adam. One man, Adam, sinned. Therefore, all men have sinned, and we call that having a sin nature. You're born with it. At conception, your sin nature belongs to you and to me. David the psalmist was writing in the 51st Psalm, he said this, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. David is not saying that his mother was sinning when he was conceived, but rather he was saying that at conception, he was already a sinner. In other words, what is declared is there is never a time in anyone's life where they are not considered a possessor of Adam's nature, which is sin, even at conception. Try as you may to wiggle free. Try as you may to argue against. One man, Adam, sinned. Therefore, all men have sinned. And sin, according to the Scripture, has consequences. Again, it's the one man, all men principle. One man, all men, sin. One man, all men, death. Paul also wrote this in verse 12, death by sin. Death passed upon all men. The phrase in there is sin entered into the world. There's a lot in that phrase, sin entered into the world. That very phrase, to enter, is used to describe somebody who opens the door to a house and walks in. One wrote this, Paul is describing the introduction of sin and death into the world. Let me expand and paraphrase what verse 12 would be saying. Adam opened the door to the house where all of humanity lived and he invited sin to come in. And sin came in. But sin then stopped and held the door open so that death could slip in too. That is the perfect imagery of what happened. One man, all men, sin. One man, all men, death. The wages of sin is death. What eventually happened to our forefather, Adam. When you arrive in Genesis chapter five, it reads like a funeral dirge. Because these words are repeated throughout, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. When sin entered into the world, death came with it. Adam sinned and Adam died. And the scripture declares again in Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death. Again, Paul is pulling no punches. He is aggressively arguing like a prosecuting attorney. He is defeating every argument that you raise up with. He has facts, he has precedent. He is communicating to the holy judge that all of humankind is lost in sin, and because of that, all humankind must die. The Greek word that is used there even for wages, when it says the wages of sin is death, refers to the daily food ration that would have been given to a Roman soldier. Oftentimes, they were paid in salt. It was a good commodity, so you work hard, you're worth your salt. See, if you learn nothing else, you got that. The soldier got paid for what he did for the day, and the Apostle Paul is declaring, and so will the sinner. One day you, as an unbeliever, will be paid for that which you have done, and for that which you are by nature a sinner. Death, in its existence, is proof of sin. Your sin and my sin are proven by death, the one man, all men principle. We can shake our fists. We can scream that this is so unfair, but one man sinned, all men have sinned. One man pays with death, all men pay with death. Thankfully, we arrive here in Romans chapter five at verse 17, where we read this, one man, all men also can bring life. Listen into verse 17. This isn't Baptist ideology. This isn't something that I think up. This is from the scriptures. For if, by one man's offense, death reigned by one, Much more, they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Now, I know that's a lot to unravel. But if you're even listening on a simple level, you heard repeated again the one man, all men principle. And what we have arrived at here is in direct contrast to verse 14, where we read that death reigned by Adam. Now we're introduced to life by Christ. In Adam, you have the reign of death. In Christ, you have the reign of life. Adam, as the head of the human race, sinned. And in Adam, all have sinned. And now, the human race is guilty and pays with death. On the other hand, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, did not sin, and all who unite themselves by faith to Him are pardoned and justified and seen as sinless. You can say, it wasn't my fault, it was Adam's. But the beauty is we can say it's not my righteousness, but Christ's. One wrote this, just as we get to blame or get the blame for Adam's sin, so we get the credit for Jesus Christ's sinlessness. One man, all men, life. Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Thus, Jesus Christ is the antidote for the fatal epidemic of sin that has infected all of humanity. Why we gather today and celebrate the resurrection as a historical fact, but there are also practical implications for each of us. We're reading in Romans 5 the theological fallout for the reality of the resurrection in Jesus Christ. And theology doesn't have to be packed between covers of a book and stodgy and dull. It means something to us. And the scriptural fact is by Adam all of us are sinners by nature. And we must pay the consequence with death. But God, in His infinite wisdom, and in His amazing love, and with His incredible mercy, sovereignly has seen fit to gift to us life through Jesus Christ. And it's free. In fact, all through this passage of Scripture, we see that in verse 15, it was the free gift. In verse 16, it is the gift. At the end of verse 16, it is the free gift. What is the gift? It is eternal life. That's just as unfair. If we wanted to maintain that argument, it's just as unfair that I get to be robed in the righteousness and sinlessness of Jesus Christ as it is that I were to be blamed for the sin and the guilt and the condemnation of Adam. But the fact is, one man, all men sin. One man, all men death. One man, all men can have eternal life through Jesus Christ. As I have referenced Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord and only through Jesus. There is no other way of salvation. I'm glad that you exert an effort at kindness, but you can't kind your way into heaven. You can't work your way into heaven. It is a free gift. You cannot, no matter how good you attempt to be, ever merit eternal life. It is a free gift. And the free gift to us comes at the high cost of the death and the burial and the resurrection to Jesus Christ. You see, as we celebrated just a week ago, Jesus was hailed as King when He entered Jerusalem. He was praised as a Savior arriving on the scene. And within a few short days, they were shouting and chanting, crucify Him. And Jesus, in the peaceful garden of Gethsemane, would be arrested by armed troops. Drug up the steps to Caiaphas and Annas where He was illegally tried. He would be marched over in front of Pontius Pilate. He would have questions asked of him there by the Roman government. They would beat Jesus. They would mock Jesus. They would whip and they would scourge Jesus. They would take the crown of thorns and smash it down on his head. They would, in unison as a riotous mob, laugh at his pain. But Jesus was not taken by force, Jesus willingly went. For Jesus tells us, no man takes my life from me, I lay it down. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, in futility the human mind might think He was pinned to the cross by those nails, but He was willing. He sacrificed Himself for you and for me. This is God in the flesh. At any moment, He could have asked His Father to send legions of angels. A mere word from His mouth could have brought it all to an end. Yet, Jesus stayed on the cross, and He shed His blood, and He cries out the words, It is finished. And in that moment, the curse of sin which Adam brought upon all humankind is broken. And the payment for sin, which is death, has all of its power robbed from it when Jesus comes out of the tomb on the third day. We have hope. It's not easy to hear that you're a sinner. Nobody likes to feel less than. It's not easy nor is it comfortable to be reminded that death is inescapable. But those two facts are utterly eliminated and erased and eradicated by the reality that through the shed blood of Jesus, His sinlessness, His sacrifice, we can have salvation. That's why we read in Romans 6-6, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed. My sin was paid for by Jesus on the cross. Christ died to the penalty of the sin, once for all time conquering death, and we can be risen with Christ. The same power that brought Jesus to life is the power that brings me from death in my sin to life everlasting when I place my faith in Jesus Christ. You say, wait a second, we're still all going to die. No doubt. But I love how one wrote it. Death is now, to the believer, simply the hand that turns the latch and opens the door to heaven. Death is a defeated tyrant that no longer reigns over the believer. Yes, death is the king in this world, but for us, he's nothing more than a hired hand who opens the door whenever a believer dies and says, here, let me help you. Your king awaits you. The everlasting king has called you home. That's what death is. That is why we are infused with hope in a hopeless world. In Acts chapter 16, the Philippian jailer comes to this St. Paul, who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes the book of Romans, and he asks him this, what must I do to be saved? What must I do to have my sins paid for? What must I do to gain eternal life? And the answer that the apostle gives in Acts 16.31 is this. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The answer that Paul gave has not changed. It's still the answer. In a world where one man, all men have sinned. One man, all men pay with death. And thankfully to one man, all men can have life everlasting and can be justified and seen as sinless because of Jesus Christ. Would you just for a moment bow your heads and close your eyes with me? Thanks for listening this week to the Graceway Baptist Church Podcast. For more information about our church and our ministries, head on over to our website at gracewaycharlotte.org. We are a church located in South Charlotte. We are growing and our ministries are doing big things for Christ. If you're looking for a way to get plugged into what we're doing, email us at info at gracewaycharlotte.org. Also, stay in the loop with everything happening by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Our handle is GracewayCharlotte. Thanks again for listening to the Graceway Charlotte podcast. We'll see you next week.