The Need For A Saivor

The Need For A Saivor

Romans 5:12
¹² Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Death has an impressive record. It has laid low the best, the brightest, the strongest. It doesn’t play favorites, it’s not partial, the rich, the pour, the strong, the weak, the young and the old alike, all will have an encounter with Death. This is why Paul said “death passed upon all men” [Romans 5:12].

Since creation, the one quest every generation has devoted time to is the quest to defeat Death. Mankind has searched this planet, the tallest of mountains, the depths of the sea, even ventured to the moon (if you believe the story), all in a quest to find that one thing that would become the “fountain of youth”. But in all their searching, man has at best only been able to delay the inevitable. And rightly so, because the Word of God declares,

Hebrews 9:27
²⁷ And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

From the beginning, Death has been our foe, but the truth is it shouldn’t be. Why? Because it was Death that has given us hope. Why? It’s through death that we can have life.

Romans 5:6-11
⁶ For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. ¹⁰ For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. ¹¹ And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

We discussed it last session, God had a plan from the foundation of the world, and that plan contained, at its core, the element of death. Death was instituted to become the door that brings us into life. It was by the shedding of blood, the death of the Cross, the suffering of the Savior, that you and I can have hope. It’s because of His death, that we now receive atonement. It’s through His death, that we become reconciled. Are you thankful that our God had a plan from the beginning, and that plan included you and I today.

A Choice

From the beginning we have been give a choice: God or sin.

Romans 5:12-16
¹² Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 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 them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. ¹⁵ But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. ¹⁶ And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

It all comes down to this: God is life, sin is death. It’s that simple. If you chose God, you chose life, if you chose sin, you chose death. But it was Adam who set the course. It was the first Adam who messed it up for all who followed, but I am thankful that following the first Adam was a second Adam.

1 Corinthians 15:45
⁴⁵ And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Now consider this, if you are born once, you die twice. We mentioned it earlier, it’s “appointed unto man to die once, then the judgement.” [Hebrews 9:27]. But if you flip that around, if you are born twice, you die once. [John 3:3]

The first Adam was made a living soul that brought about death. The second Adam came to die but brought about life.

The first Adam was made a living soul, somebody say “that’s me”. You are a living soul. There’s something down deep on the inside of you that will live forever, your soul. When you die, it does not cease to exist. The truth is this, you will live somewhere forever, because God breathed into man the breath of life, and when He did man became a living soul, not just a living body, a living soul.

The second Adam, that’s Jesus, was different. He came and was born, He grew, He was “tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin” [Hebrews 4:15]. He lived and He died. He was human in every sense, except there was something extra in Jesus that isn’t in us, “a quickening Spirit.”

He was God manifested in flesh. You’ve got an eternal soul, that’s true, but you’re not and I’m not God. There’s a lot of things man can do, but there’s one thing that man can’t do, and that is make it to heaven alone. There must be a “quickening spirit” to get you from here to Glory. And the only way to get from here to Glory is to get a “quickening spirit” inside of you.

So, Pastor how do we do that? I’m glad you asked.

Romans 8:8-11
⁸ So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. ¹⁰ And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

That’s why you need the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the power of God, living in you, the power that’s going to lift you off the ground, or out of that grave, on that great and glorious day that He returns to rapture His Church. It is His “quickening power” that will overcome death once and for all. Not some fountain of youth, not some miracle drug, but it’s the reason we need a Savior.

Romans 5:17-19
¹⁷ For if by one man’s offence 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.) ¹⁸ Therefore as by the offence 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. ¹⁹ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

The first Adam was disobedient, but Jesus, the second Adam, was obedient unto death. The first Adam broke the law, the second Adam fulfilled the law. The first Adam brought offence, the second Adam brought grace. The first Adam brought bondage, but Jesus brought us and bought us freedom. The first Adam took the fruit off the tree, the second Adam became the fruit on the Cross. The first Adam cursed us, but the second Adam blessed us. The first Adam hurt us, but the second Adam healed us. The first Adam got us cast out, the second Adam brought us in. The first Adam pushed us down, the second Adam will raise us up.

Everything that was true of the first Adam is true of you. He sinned. We’ve sinned. He failed. We’ve failed. But now that you’ve joined the Kingdom of God. Now that you have been born into the family of God, everything that is true of the second Adam can now be true of you.

Jesus overcame the world. You can overcome the world. Why, because “Greater is He that is IN you, than he that is in the world” [1 John 4:4].

Think of the worst sin you’ve ever committed. Think of the worst time in your life where you were bound by sin. Bound by an addiction, possessed or led by an evil spirit, out in the world doing terrible things. Think of the absolute worse time in your life and let me let you in on a secret. The enemy will come in and remind you of that time. But when he does, here’s what you need to do. Get your Bible, open it up, and read aloud these words.

Romans 5:20-21
²⁰ Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: ²¹ that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

But where sin abounded, GRACE did much more abound. God’s grace is always greater than man’s sin. God’s love reaches deeper than your lowest point. God can and has overcome anything in your past, your present or your future.

We have all been born into sin. We all have sinned and come short. We all are in need of a Savior. And that’s why there was a second Adam. So that we could get a second chance and we can live a second time.