I'll voucher back to the book of Romans chapter number five, Romans chapter number five. And we're looking at the big picture and seeing Christ in all the scriptures. This is an important one today. I mean, I really can tell it Jesus Christ, our federal head, if I want to give it a good theological sounding sermon title. But I personally dislike it is either or. It's either Jesus Christ or Adam. You're going to be represented by either or, and there's no in between. And so this morning, that's what we want to see within the context of Romans chapter five and verse 12 through 21. It was in our reading of the scriptures this morning, but I want to just jump ahead to verse number 19 and read from there and we'll get into the message. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the word of God. We're thankful for the one who represents us in the throne room of heaven. The one who stepped into time and came here, become a sacrifice for us, And Lord took his perfect obedience and applied it to our account. God, that we who were not obedient, we who were sinners, we who were guilty, might have his righteousness, might have his just life, his perfect life represent us. And Father, we thank you for your son. We're thankful for the one who stands in our place, who took the punishment of sin. God, may we ever be thankful for this. God, I pray that we leave here with the understanding there's only two representatives that we have, and may we find ourselves being represented by the perfect work and righteousness of your son, Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray, amen. This chapter really deals with, you started your verse number 12, does kind of a contrast between the condemning act of Saddam, Saddam, I don't know where that come from, a contrast between the condemning act of Adam versus the redeeming actions of Jesus Christ. You'll find as you go through here that there is, they're different in many ways. In fact, I stole this from John MacArthur, and I'm not one of you, but I thought I should have saw this first. It definitely would have made my sermonizing easier. I'm not past doing somebody's good sermon outline. I'll just tell you that right now. And if you're offended by that, well, you just have to get over it. But he said they're different in their effectiveness, the contrast between the condemning work of Adam and the saving and redeeming actions of Jesus Christ, their difference in their effectiveness. I mean, what we find is that in the effectiveness, one was much greater than the other. One had a greater success in their work. in their extent and how far. The contrast between the two is different as night and day in its efficacy, meaning that what was the satisfactory end, what was the expected degree of it to work was greater in the work of Christ than Adam. and its importance, its essence is greater, and its power, energy, it's greater. I mean, just what MacArthur said with those things, I probably could have preached a week, but I thought how fitting it is that we look here and see the distinction between the work of Jesus Christ and the work of Adam. The first man and the last man. It's how the Bible describes them. You have Adam, who was the first man. In 1 Corinthians 15, Jesus Christ is described as the last Adam, which actually is eschatos, that we get the word eschatology. He is the last Adam, the last man. His work was the one who settled it all. Now, we use these terms. Federal headship and I don't want you to get too tore up by that, but let's think of it this way When we say someone is a federal head, we're saying somebody who represents a group United together in a nation or Federation or covenant somebody represents a group of people Now we can look at this for an example and this worries me this day and age honestly if aliens did exist and they come down and said Show us your leader It'd be troubling, wouldn't it, to have maybe a leader we have be the one who represents us. I better move quickly. But we think of that. When we say a federal head could be one who represents a nation, speaking on behalf of the nation or speaking on behalf of the world. And what we have in Romans chapter number five, Paul is teaching that God deals with the human race in a system we would call federalism. That's the term. Now, simply put, federalism is this. It has everything to do with representation, with one person acting on behalf of another. God has put here, literally if you want to simplify it, appointed two representatives in history for man, Adam and Christ. Adam didn't do so well. He was put here on this earth and he was put in paradise and he was really to extend the borders. He was to fill the earth with seed bearing images that God had created throughout the earth. And he failed, he sinned and paradise was lost. And so we have that account, he disobeyed God. And the result was when he sinned, Everybody that was of his descendants, everybody that's ever been born, was born with a sinful nature, with an inclination to sin. And they all share in his guilt. They all share in the same penalty that he received, and that is death. And so that's what Paul means when he says in verse number 12, wherefore as by one man sinned entered into the world and death by sin, so death passed upon all men. We are all guilty because we are sinners by nature. We are from a fallen family, and we inherited exactly what they were. We have that likeness. And so Paul wants to support this argument in verse number 14, when he says, never left death reign from Adam to Moses, even them that had not sinned after the same likeness or the same way of Adam's transgression. But notice this, that Adam who is the figure of him who is to come. So Adam was a type of Jesus Christ. Now what I say, he was to reproduce seed-bearing images, those images that Adam was, he was in the likeness and the image of God, and they were to fill the earth. Jesus Christ comes as the last Adam, the eschatos Adam, and guess what he does? Adam's seed was physical, Jesus Christ's seed is spiritual, and it is to fill the earth take dominion here upon the earth with seed bearing images, people that are born again, people that are saved that bear the image of God and we propagate the gospel as a picture of the gospel going out into all the world. That is our mandate just as Adam had his mandate in the very beginning when we went from paradise to heaven. that was there before them, the paradise lost and destroyed, but in Jesus Christ, we'll not only see that the seed bearing images go out, but one day paradise will not be just restored, it will be glorified in a new heavens and a new earth. You see, he's greater than Adam, we might say. He's a greater, and so Adam is a figure or a type of Jesus Christ in some pattern of his life. his federal headship can teach us about Jesus' work of his representation here upon the earth. The work of both represents, that both represents, whether it be Adam, whether it be Jesus, has absolutely stunning effects for everybody in the present and in the past and in the age to come. Those effects are radically different. Now, there are many other connecting verses we'll say here, and I'm gonna share just a few, and I'll try to keep moving, not chase too many rabbits down trails. But 1 Corinthians 15, 21 through 22, for since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead, for in Adam, what all die, and Christ shall all be made alive. Now notice 1 Corinthians 15 and 45 through 49, as it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul. The last Adam, or we call the Eschatos Adam, was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit, he that was not first was spiritual, but he that which is natural and afterward that which is spiritual. So let me sum this up and play with the first Adam that came was natural, but the one who come after him was supernatural. The first man is of the earth. He's earth, that's where Adam was created from, from the earth. And everybody that's from Adam is from the earth. and earthly, but such are they that are earthly. But he also says, but guess what? The last Adam, he's not from the earth, but rather he is heavenly. He comes from the heavens. And we have borne the image of the earthly. We'll also, if we're in Christ, bear the image of the heavenly, which is Jesus Christ. You see, this is not Brother Grant just pulling things out of the air, showing the contrast between Adam and Jesus Christ and the importance, this is Bible. And it's even fundamental to understanding how God works in his work of redemptive history. So this is an essential teaching actually. We're represented by one person or another. It's either Jesus Christ or it's Adam. That's the either or that we see here. Who is the one who represents us collectively, we might say. Now, Adam as the figure of Christ. Let me just say a few things here. Adam is the parent of the human race, the natural race. The word in Adam means mankind in Hebrew. The whole human race is in cooperative solidarity in that they come from Adam, and Adam is the one who represents us all. Adam sinned, Adam fell, Adam comes short of the glory of God, he was a sinner. is the parent, we might say, if we put it in a very similar vernacular we can understand, of the spiritual race. In fact, he's considered the everlasting father in Isaiah 53 and 10. It says, yet the Lord pleased to brood him bruise him, and have put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed." Now, notice this, he made his soul an offering for sin. He died and paid the price of sin's penalty, and he shall see his seed. That's his descendants, which is not physical, but spiritual, and he shall prolong his day, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. In Adam, natural man stands and falls. In Christ, fallen man stands. In Adam, we are all dead. In Christ, you're made alive. In Adam, he was earthly. Christ, he's heavenly. Adam was born, he was created. You have one who is the very creator. You'll find that Adam had no earthly father. But God, Jesus Christ had no earthly father. Both are called what? The sons of God, one by creation and the other by eternal supernatural generation. You see, there's a great distinction there. Adam was made the heir of the world and he lost it. Christ has reclaimed all that Adam has lost and he is the heir of all things. Adam was conquered by Satan and defeated by Satan. Jesus Christ was shown the world and all the world has to offer. And yet he is the one who triumphed and put Jesus under his foot heel and conquered Satan. Adam sold man to death. Christ paid the price and purchased man from sin's penalty. Adam is remembered for his failure. Christ is remembered for his triumph. And that's why I believe we go to the book of Revelation. It's the unveiling of Jesus Christ. It's not about an Antichrist. It's not about Israel. It's not about the history of Israel. I want you to understand it's about the triumph of the Lamb. It defeats all his enemies. And we should see the Bible through the lens of Jesus Christ. Adam was defeated by death. Jesus Christ conquered death. Adam's bride was from his side. You'll find that Christ's bride is by his side throughout all eternity. There's a lot. Now the figure is not only seen in likeness, but it's seen in contrast. We say a type, because sometimes a type can be a contrast. to the fulfillment, right? It's a contrast. And so in her text, we're introduced to the idea of federalism. Adam is the representative of mankind. Some people call it the doctrine of solidarity. All mankind is under the headship of two men, whether Adam or Christ. Man's connection with Adam, you know what it involves? It involves sin's penalty and death and judgment. Man's connection to Christ involves life and life eternal. Up to this time in the book of Romans, Paul had been dealing with the sins as they are expressed in the human life. Now he's going to demonstrate the origin and the reason we sin. And you know where the origin started? It started in Edith Paul. And you know the reason we sin? Because we are of Adam, right? Physically, we're the descendants of Adam. Now you see the ruin of Adam. The ruin of Adam in verses 12 through 14. Wherefore is by one man sin entered into the world. And so death passed upon all men, all have sin. Now, I want to tell you, I'm not going to hell because of Adam's sin. I'm going, if I die lost, I go to hell because of my own sin. But you say, but how can Adam represent you? Well, I'm descended of Adam and every person ever born is descended of Adam. And we're born with his nature. and we sin because we have a sinful nature. Now I wanna just, and I'll drive a little bit of this home here just in a minute, but I want you to understand when sin happens, death happens. Sin has spread to the human race, death has come too. I mean, not only there's spiritual death, we're born into, there's physical death, and then there's eternal death. And you see we need to be delivered from the representation of Adam because that's the only kind of death we will ever face if those three times and so let me let me move on Psalm 51 5 the psalmist says I was shaping an iniquity What's he mean? I was born with a sinful nature. In sin did my mother conceive me. He's not saying the act of his mother having a baby was sinful, but he's saying because he was born of a woman and a man, he inherited a sinful nature. And Psalm 58, three, the wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they are born speaking lies. You believe, you know, I want you to understand. Some people think their babies are awful sweet and they're awful innocent. You know, they're born with a sinful nature too. Amen. And they need to be redeemed. They need to be saved. That's why we preach the gospel to them and take them to church, teach them the word of God. And you said, well, brother Grant, wait a minute. It's not my baby. I can remember bringing Isaac home and first thing we'd lay him down. He screamed like something was in there eating him alive. Soon as we flipped the light on, he'd be all googling and laughing and all that. Turned the light off, screaming like he's dying. Rush in there, ain't nothing wrong with that baby. He's just wanting attention. You know, he's lying. He's lying. Let me tell you something, children, you don't have to teach them to lie. They lie. You don't have to teach them to deceive, they deceive. You don't have to teach somebody to steal, they steal. They do that because they have a sinful nature. We're in solidarity with who? With Adam. We have a sinful nature just like Adam had. You see, death started because Adam sinned and we inherited the nature of Adam. How many of you kids, any kids bark like a dog here this morning? Any kids wanna bark? They're dying to bark. I can look at their face. They're dying to go woof woof. Right? You really are. Some of you I can say shake. You shake my hand like a dog would. And if I say wag your tail, some of you probably won't ask you to do that. I say how? You can how. But you know, you can bark. You can wag your tail. You can how. That don't make you a dog. That don't make you a dog. You know, your sinning doesn't make you a sinner. But I tell you why a dog barks and why a dog howls, why it wags its tail, you know why? Because that's the nature of a dog. It's the nature, it does what its nature has it do. And for you to do those things, it kind of goes against your nature. But I want you to understand that anybody can bark, howl, whatever, that doesn't make them a dog. But I tell you what a dog will do, it'll do those things because it's its nature to do things. And you know why you sin? Because it's your nature to sin. Right? It's your nature. That's what you do naturally. And so there's a penalty for sin, the wages, the cost of sin is death. There's what I said, there's physical death, there's eternal death, but the gift of God is eternal after Jesus Christ our Lord. So on one hand, there's Adam, when you inherit the nature and the penalty of that is what? Death. But the gift of God and another obviously top in distinction is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Adam and the power of sin in this world was pointed out in verses 13 through 14. And I want you to pay attention to some of this. There's so many people get confused with some of this stuff today. And I don't think it should be that complicated because some people, they say, you got to preach the law. People won't get saved. Show me that scripture. How was Abraham saved? Because he was saved before the law. How was Adam saved? They didn't have the law, Mosaic law. What kind of law did they have? They had natural law because every person born according to the Book of Romans instilled upon their conscience is right and wrong in the moral precepts of God. It's on their conscience. And you see, until the law, sin was in the world. Wait a minute. How could that be if that's the case? As some people teach, you don't understand sin. You don't understand right and wrong, unless you know the Mosaic law. Let me just tell you something. Sin was in the world long before Moses got to Sinai, okay? And not only that, death was in the world. And it says, but sin is not imputed when there's no law. You can't punish somebody If they've done something, if there's no wall that says it's wrong. But how do they punish? How do they punish? Well, as you read, Paul's done addressed that, but look at verse 14. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the same likeness, the same way that Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him to come. And you say, so Brother Grant, what are you saying when you point out this? Well, there's some things I think it's obvious here. Paul is arguing that there was death before the giving of the Mosaic covenant. Yes, sin. in a sense, is a rebellion and a rejection of what is right and what God has decreed is right. So guess what? There was sin yet in the world, but how was that if there must be law, if there must be law? And Paul acknowledges this in verse number 13. And he says, yes, there was law, but what kind of law? It's what we would call natural law. You understand that? Everybody born knows certain things is just wrong. They know it's wrong. Now, you may not have what we call positive law. And what I mean, you had to have a clear commandment from revelation or from a covenant of scripture that says, you must be circumcised. I promise you, nobody's ever read the Bible. They'll raise their children and think, you know what? We've got to please God. We better circumcise our babies. They wouldn't have done that. It was against everything. But you know why it was sin? Because God instructed Abraham, this is what you do. And they understood that from that day forward. And guess what? When covenants change, sometimes these positive laws, we would say, change. Because you had the Mosaic law come about, suddenly now, there's a sign to seal the Mosaic covenant. You honor the Sabbath day. And if you don't honor the Sabbath day, you're not entering into my covenant, right? And I mean, I could chase that down for days, even while they was punished in Babylon for 70 years, but they didn't keep the covenant that God made, the very sign and seal of the Mosaic covenant, the people didn't keep. And you say, well, brother Grant, what do you mean? How would they have known to keep that, unless God had told them to do that? Half the people said, well, that's a creation order. No, it's not. In creation he rested, but there wasn't an ordinance for everybody in the world to obey the Sabbath day. In fact, I don't see any of the patriarchs observing it. It wasn't observed until God told them to do it. So how did they sin? But if you read in the book of Romans, and you go into the Romans chapter number two, you're gonna find God has written, he's revealed himself in nature, in creation, in a conscience of men, and they knew what was right and wrong, and they rebelled against the knowledge of God. They sinned. I got news for you today. Beloved they don't have to know the Bible and still yet sin in fact in other words the law come along and it defined sin But man not even having a definition of sin knew he was sinning Have you ever looked at a you know your dog catch him doing something you scold him He knows what he did was wrong now that dog can't explain to you what we just knew was wrong and Have you ever caught a child doing something? They know it's wrong. You didn't have to explain it to them, but they knew it was wrong. We do a lot of things. We don't have to have a specific rule. We just know it's wrong. It's on the conscience as God created us in what? His likeness and in his image. And so the fact the law had not been manifest yet, if what he's saying in verses 13 and 14, the law hadn't been manifest yet, it didn't mean that there was people out there that had not sinned. So let me move on. Adam had one law, and what was it? Don't eat of the tree of knowledge, and yet he disobeyed, right? But those who followed him had no specific law until God gave the law at Sinai. Yet death was just as much real from Adam to Moses as it is today. And you say, so Brother Grant, what do you mean? I'm saying to you, if we look here, the Bible in Romans chapter two and 12 says, for as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law. For as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. For the hearers of the law are just before God, or excuse me, for not the hearers of the law, but the doers of the law shall be justified. And he says for Gentiles, which have not the law, Get this, the Gentile world didn't have the Mosaic covenant, they didn't have the law that Moses had, yet the Bible says not having the law, or excuse me, done by nature of the things that are contained in the law, having not the law or law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another in the day that God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." If I was to listen to half these preachers today that run around, they're going to be all law. And even a lot of the reformed brethren, I'd want to shake my head at them. Because you've got to preach Moses. You've got to preach the law. That's what gets them under conviction. Calvin said you've got to use the law as a whip to keep people in line. The law doesn't do that. In fact, if you read the law, it actually increases sin. Huh? Increase sin. You say, so Brother Grant, what are you saying? I'll tell you what, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. You go preach Jesus Christ, Him dying for sinners, was buried and rose again triumphantly, the Holy Spirit of God is the convictor, and He'll show a person their sin, they don't know that, they don't know the 10 commandments, heck, they don't have to know five of the commandments, they don't have to know two of them, and the Holy Spirit convict them and draw them, and they'll be saved by the grace of God. Why? Because he convicts the hearts of men, and regenerates the heart. Man, I gotta keep moving here. See, I've started chasing some rabbits, and my guy gotta speed this up. He'll be throwing goldfish, or wanna take my goldfish back next week. And so, let me go on. I want you to see the redemption of all in Christ. Look at verse 15 through 19. Verse 15 through 19. But not as the offense, So also is a free gift. For through the offense of one, many be dead. In King James, it's tricky reading some of this. You think, what? I have read it multiple times. I encourage you to read some other passages and some versions. and may be cleared up for it. For through the offense of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ has abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the free gift. For the judgment was by one, and condemnation, the free gift of many offenses and the justification. And so, let me just speed things up here, but what he's doing here is he begins to show us in verse number 15, that Jesus Christ's death and the gift of salvation is greater than the transgression of Adam. You see, through the offense of one, many were dead, be dead, but much more. You see that? Much more. By the grace of God, by the gift of grace, which is by one man hath abounded, and it means super abounded, super abundantly put upon many. You see that? And so the death of Jesus Christ and the gift of salvation is greater than Adam's transgression. There's a contrast between Jesus Christ's gift and the transgression of Adam, Christ's act of salvation has a greater impact than Adam's act of rebellion. In 2 Timothy 1.10, but it is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who is abolished death, and have brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Now, let me say this, Christ's justification is greater than Adam's transgression. In verse number 16, it says, not as it were by one that sin, so is the gift for judgment was by one unto condemnation, but the free gift of many offenses unto justification. Christ's active and passive obedience is superior to Adam's disobedience. The result of the free gift of salvation is not simply restoration, but justification. And what I mean by that, God didn't just restore us to the place that Adam was at from the beginning. People talk about free will. Adam had free will in the beginning. He didn't. He had free will. Nobody really has true free will now. I'm gonna blow you out of the water. Everybody has a sinful nature. Just as like a dog wants to bark, you want to see him. Adam was neutral. He was neutral at one point. We don't start from a point of neutrality. And to be honest with you, I'm glad when God saves us, he don't just set us back to a place of neutrality and then it's up for us to be obedient to all that he's asked. Can we tell you why? Because I don't have the power or the ability to remain obedient and do all that he has asked. He doesn't restore us to the place of innocence as Adam was and leave it up to us to maintain and keep away from sin. No, when he saves us, When He justifies us, He don't come along and just place us back where we can choose ourself, but rather He saves us eternally. He completely absolves us of sin and puts our sin on His account. To the wit, God was in Christ, the Bible says, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses, their sins, unto them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. How glorious did God save us? He don't just save us and put us back to neutral. But the Bible tells us in Romans 8 and 29, for whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. The image of who? Not Adam, but His Son. And that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestinated, what did He do? He called. What did He do with those He called? He justified, just as if they never sinned. We can say He put them back in a neutral state, but it's beyond that. Whom He justified, He glorified. So He don't just start the work, He finishes the work that He did in us. So who did He glorify? Those He justified. Whom did He justify? Those whom He called. Whom did He call? Those whom He predestinated. I don't care how you look at it, Jesus Christ Completed it all he did it all And so I Christ justification is greater than Adam's transgression The Christ reign of life is greater than Adam's reign of death verse 17 by one man's offense death reign by one That's Adam and much more They that receive the abundance of grace the gift of righteousness shall reign in life of one Jesus Christ It's all Paul saying, Christ's reign of life is greater than Adam's reign of death, making a contrast to this one figure. We might say in 2 Corinthians 5.17, there for any man being Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. What, that Adam, those things are passed away, all things become new. 1 Corinthians 15.57, but thanks be to God, but give us us our victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, before we were saying, Before you were saved, the only thing you could do is respond to your old nature. You wouldn't have a place of neutrality. You was like a dog that saw a squirrel run up a tree and you had to bark. You was like a dog that saw a car grow down in your driveway, you had to chase it, right? Because that was in your nature, right? If a dog has that in his nature, you will never get it out of him, right? I've never seen a dog you've trained. You could put a shock collar on them and light them up and they'll pay attention. But it's in their nature to chase, they'll do it. And it'll drive you crazy, but that's what they do. You know why we sin? Because that's in our nature. When we're saved, the only thing we can do is respond to our nature. It's like when I drive past Dairy Queen, my car has the nature of just pulling into the driveway right there. through the drive-through. We may not have been as bad as we possibly could have been, but we were always subject to the nature. We sinned. It ruled us. It mastered us. We couldn't help it. But now when we're saved, we're given a new nature. We're indwelt by the power of the Holy Spirit. And we're no longer the servants of sin and of death. Now we serve Christ. And the more we serve Christ, the less power of sin has over our new nature. I want you to understand, Christ's obedience is greater than Adam's disobedience. We see it in verse number 18 and 19. And what does he mean? The guilt of Adam's disobedience was imputed to everyone of his descendants. And I mean, it was put on their account. And they were made sinners. But the obedience of Jesus Christ has caused all those that believe in him to be made righteous in God's sight. And so next I want to say Christ abundance is greater than Adam's abundance of sin. Look at verse number 20. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. And notice it abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. You know what the law did? The law was, we could say, yes, it was a schoolmaster. That's what it did. The law made us conscious of sin, the Mosaic law. It actually defined sin, but the law entered or it crept in, not that offense might be done away with, not that it might be a whip to keep people from being disobedient to God. You know why the law came? The Bible tells us that the law entered that offense might abound. Now, what's he mean by that? What does he mean by that? Well, the law entered a crepe in. In other words, the law came that the offense of the law may increase. You say, that doesn't make sense. Why would God do that? It doesn't mean that the law makes one a sinner or that God delights in seeing people sin. It means that the law gives us the acute awareness of sin in our conscience. And we understand we're responsible for our actions. What happens if you set a child in a room, and you put some candy there on the table, and some pop there, or leave them at the house, and you don't have to eat. You left them and say, all right, I don't care if you eat this, but stay out of the candy, stay out of the cake. You know what they're going to think about all day? I don't think about that candy, and I don't think about that cake. And I'm going to think, man, if I drink pop, mom and dad might not find out about it. If I do this, they'll not know. That's what our sinful nature does. And you know what happened when God gave the law It provokes people of the forbidden fruit. It provokes them and by provoking them, the purpose of the law reveals to us clearly when God says, no, we want it, we desire it. And when we realize that and we think about that, we understand that we're sinners, that our nature desires the things that God has said no to. And that's why it's there. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Christ abundance is greater than Adam's abundance of sin. Where sin abounded, the word abounded means super increased or super abound. It pictures an unending, overflowing grace, a grace with no bounds, no limits. It's like the waves of the ocean that are coming to shore, one right after another, and another, and another, and it never ceases, it is saying God's grace is abundant, super abundantly, more than Adam's transgression. I am thankful for that. Now we get to the responsibility of the human race. Verse 21. Their sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. that what we see that sin has reigned unto death, but the grace of God is gonna reign through righteousness and eternal life. And you say, so brother Grant, what can we have? The conclusion of Paul is the preeminent reign of Christ for righteousness and salvation and for life. And it's greater preeminent over the reign of Adam and his sin. And those are born in the similitude and have sinned and the likeness of Adam, that Jesus Christ, reign of righteousness, is greater than sin or death. You see, it is either or. You're going to have one person represent you. Who's going to represent you? Is it going to be, are you going to be a fallen son of Adam? Or are you going to be a living son of the true and living God, Jesus Christ? Are you gonna be, you can say, but Brother Grant, I've had people think because they're from Jewish descent, well, we're part of God's chosen people. Beloved, I got no news for you. Nobody is part of God's chosen people because they're born physically in this world. You can be a child of Abraham, but you gotta be born again. You gotta be a spiritual descendant of the king from Jerusalem, we'll say. I wanna say today, you must know him by faith. You either choose Christ as your representative, or you've already chose Adam to be the one who represents you before God. And as you read this passage, there's nothing that Adam can offer but death and judgment and the punishment of eternal sin. That's what you get if Adam is the one who represents you. But if you have Jesus Christ as the one who represents you, you will have eternal life. I want to say the redeemed have gained more through the last Adam than they lost through the first Adam. The redeemed occupy the most exalted position in the world. Before the fall, Adam dwelt in an earthly paradise. That paradise is destroyed, that paradise is gone. But when those that are saved by the grace of God are part of God's children, been adopted into his family, they shall not only dwell in a paradise that is restored here upon the earth, a paradise glorified without sin, that has an eternal day, and there should never be sin that enters in anymore. Before the fall, all Adam had was a natural life. And if you die, the only life you'll ever have, if you're in Adam, is a natural life. That is it. But in Christ, we become partakers of a heavenly nature. In Adam, we all stood guilty. Now we stand as sons under no condemnation under Jesus Christ. Before Adam, Adam stood innocent. But believers in Christ are righteous, and this is a positive state. We have a better inheritance now in Christ. Adam may have been Lord over Eden, but believers are the heirs of all things. In Christ, we have abounding joy. In Christ, we have intimacy with the Father, greater than Adam ever knew. Under Christ, we're taken into union with the Godhead. You see in Hebrews 2 and 11, it says, for both he that sanctified and they that are sanctified are all one. The Bible teaches us in Romans 8, 17, for we are all joint heirs. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, it shall be that we suffer, we shall also be glorified together. In Adam, all are condemned. In fact, Paul wrote, there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ. If you're in Adam, you're already condemned, but if you're in Christ, there's no condemnation. And I will say this today, and this is a simple conclusion, who represents you? Are you in Adam or are you in Christ? Because if you've not been born again, if you have not been saved by the grace of God, if you have not repented and trusted in Jesus Christ and him alone, the one that represents you only offers death and judgment for all eternity. Jesus Christ, if you'll throw yourself at his mercy, And He'll be the one that represents you. You'll have life abundant. Today, I want to tell you there's only two ways. It's either in Adam or in Christ. Our Father, I thank you for the Word of God. I'm thankful this time to preach. I pray this.