1. The offence originated with man, the free gift in the grace of God.
2. The offence operated necessarily by a just law, the gift is free through Jesus Christ.
3. The offence results in death, the free gift abounds unto everlasting life. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The offence and the free gift
If from the offense of one--so insignificant in its way--there could go forth an action which spread over the whole multitude of mankind, will not the conclusion hold afortiori that from the grace of God, and the gift through this grace of one man, acting on the opposite side, so powerful and rich as they are, there must result an action, the extension of which shall not be less than that of the offence, and shall, consequently, reach the whole of that multitude? If a very weak spring could inundate a whole meadow, would it not be safe to conclude that a much more abundant spring, if spread over the same space of ground, would not fail to submerge it entirely? (Prof. Godet.)
The first and second Adam compared in reference
I. To the universality of their influence. The first Adam destroyed all, the second has obtained grace for all--with this difference, that in the former case the ruin came inevitably, but the reception of the grace is suspended upon man’s free choice.
II. To the intensity of their influence. The first Adam has by one sin given occasion to all sin; the second has by one act of grace expiated all sin--with this difference, that Adam’s sin in itself was not greater than any other sin, but the grace of Christ outweighs the aggregate guilt of all sin.
III. To the final results of their influence. The first Adam has subjected mankind to the bondage of death, the second confers upon all, who will receive it, dominion in life--with this difference, that the fulness of grace in Christ not only meets the curse in Adam, but far surpasses the grace originally conferred upon man. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Life in Christ contrasted with death in Adam
Note--
I. The intrinsic nature of the things here contrasted; and we shall see that if the one arrangement could be adopted by God, much more likely is it that the other would be also, as being more strictly congenial with all that we know of His glorious character. God might permit us to sin and suffer in Adam, with reference to some future good to come out of it: He might permit it in harmony with His wisdom, holiness, and love; but still He could have no delight in it for its own sake. Yet we find that He has seen it right to permit these things to transpire: how much more, then, may we believe in the arrangement of grace, by which salvation is brought to our ruined race! But how do we know the feelings of the Most High in reference to this matter? What reason have we for supposing that it pleases Him more to give us life in Christ than to see us die in Adam? We take our views from His own word (Exo_34:6-7; Psa_86:5; Psa_86:15; Psa_145:8-9; Eze_18:23; Eze_18:31-32; Eze_33:11; Joh_3:16; Joh_4:16). Say not, then, complainingly that God has permitted you to die in Adam, but rather believe that He delights to give you life in Christ.
II. That grace relates to a larger number of transgressions than did the first condemnation (Rom_5:16). The gift by one is quite unlike the sin by one, inasmuch as in the sin there was but one offence committed, and instantly judgment upon it; whereas, in the matter of the gift by grace, there is forgiveness ensured for many offences. Hitherto, we have been regarding the sin of mankind as one, and in that one sin all men became guilty before God. Let us, then, look at the nature and the number of our offences, all of which need to and can be forgiven through the atoning work of Christ. There are the sins of our ungodly life; there are also our sins since we entered on a godly career. We are daily guilty of omissions of duty, or grievous shortcomings in the mode of fulfilling our obligations. But beyond all this, there are positive faults and evils in the best of us. Yet--blessed be God!--these sins, however numerous, may be all pardoned through the blood of Christ; for the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
III. That grace is essentially a stronger principle than sin (Rom_5:17). Life is more mighty than death. The range of death is limited; it can only ravage that which already exists. But life is a creative power to whose possible achievements we can assign no limits. Death is a negative principle, life a positive one. Death is a condition of the creature, life has its source and fulness in the infinite Creator. Under the domination of death we are made its groaning and unwilling victims; but under the reign of life we are caught up to the throne, and share with gladness in the monarch’s might and joy. (T. G. Horton.)
The grace of God
I.Transcends sin.
1. In its origin. Sin proceeds from the offence of one man and destroys many; grace proceeds from God through one man, Jesus Christ, and therefore not only reaches many, but abounds.
2. In its operation. One offence brought condemnation, but grace not only counteracts the effects of that one offence but of many others.
3. In its results. One offence brought death, but grace wherever received not only gives back life, but gives it more abundantly.
II. Is coextensive with sin.
1. It cannot reach further because it presupposes sin.
2. It does reach as far, because the free gift unto justification of life is unto all men, because the many made sinners might also be made righteous.
3. If grace anywhere fails it is not through any limitation of its action, but through the wilful impenitency of man. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Honey from a lion
This text affords many openings for controversy. It can be made to bristle with difficulties. It would be easy to set up a thorn hedge and keep the sheep out of the pasture, or to so pelt each other with the stones as to leave the fruit untasted. I feel more inclined to chime in with that ancient father against whom a clamorous disputant shouted, “Hear me! Hear me!” “No,” said the father, “I will not hear you, nor shall you hear me, but we will both be quiet and hear what Christ has to say.” Note--
I. The appointed way of our salvation is by the free gift of God. Salvation is bestowed--
1. Without regard to any merit, supposed or real. Grace is not a fit gift for the righteous, but for the undeserving. It is according to the nature of God to pity the miserable and forgive the guilty, “for He is good, and His mercy endureth forever.”
2. Irrespective of any merit which God foresees will be in man. Foresight of the existence of grace cannot be the cause of grace. God Himself does not foresee that there will be any good thing in any man, except what He foresees that He will put there.
3. Without reference to conditions which imply any desert. But I hear one murmur, “God will not give grace to men who do not repent and believe.” I answer, “God gives men grace to repent and believe, and no man does so till first grace is given him.” Repentance and faith may be conditions of receiving, but they are not conditions of purchasing, for salvation is without money and without price.
4. Over the head of sin and in the teeth of rebellion, “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,” etc. Many of us have been saved by grace of the most abounding and extraordinary sort.
5. Through the one man Jesus Christ. People talk about a “one man ministry.” I was lost by a one man ministry when father Adam fell in Eden, but I was saved by a one man ministry when Jesus bore my sin in His own body on the tree.
II. It is certain that great evils have come to us by the fall.
1. We have lost the Garden of Eden and all its delights, privileges, and immunities, its communion with God, and its freedom from death.
2. We have been born to a heritage of sorrow.
3. We came into the world with a bias towards evil.
4. We are made liable to death, and are sure to bow our heads beneath the fatal stroke.
5. While we live we know that the sweat of our brow must pay the price of our bread.
6. Our children must be born with pangs and travail.
III. From the fall we infer the more abundant certainty that salvation by grace through Christ Jesus shall come to believers. For--
1. This appears to be more delightful to the heart of God. I can understand that God, having so arranged it that the human race should be regarded as one, should allow the consequences of sin to fall upon succeeding generations of men; but yet I know that He takes no pleasure in the death of any, and finds no delight in afflicting mankind. If God has so arranged it that in the Second Adam men rise and live, it seems to me most gloriously consistent with His gracious nature and infinite love that all who believe in Jesus should be saved through Him.
2. It seems more inevitable that men should be saved by the death of Christ than that men should be lost by the sin of Adam. It might seem possible that, after Adam had sinned, God might have said, “Notwithstanding this covenant of works, I will not lay this burden upon the children of Adam”; but it is not possible that after the eternal Son of God has become man, and has bowed His head to death, God should say, “Yet after all I will not save men for Christ’s sake.”
3. Look at the difference as to the causes of the two effects. Look at the occasion of our ruin--“the offence of one”--a finite being, who therefore cannot be compared in power with the grace of the infinite God; the sin of a moment, and therefore cannot be compared for force and energy with the everlasting purpose of Divine love. The grace of God is like His nature, omnipotent and unlimited. God is not only gracious to this degree or to that, but He is gracious beyond measure; we read of “the exceeding riches of His grace.” He is “the God of all grace.”
4. The difference of the channels by which the evil and the good were severally communicated to us. In each case it was “by one,” but what a difference in the persons!
(1) Let us not think too little of the head of the human family. Yet what is the first Adam as compared with the Second? He is but of the earth, earthy, but the Second Man is the Lord from heaven. Surely, then, if Adam with that puny hand of his could pull down the house of our humanity, that greater Man, who is also the Son of God, can fully restore us.
(2) Adam commits one fault and spoils us, but Christ’s achievements are many as the stars of heaven.
(3) Adam did but eat of the forbidden fruit, but Christ died. Is there any comparison between the one act of rebellion in the garden and the matchless deed of superlative obedience upon the Cross of Calvary which crowned a life of service?
5. From the text you may derive a great deal of comfort.
(1) A babe is born into the world amid great anxiety because of its mother’s pains; but while these prove how the consequences of the fall are with us (“in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children”), they also assure us that the Second Adam can abundantly bring us bliss through a second birth.
(2) Inasmuch as we have seen the thorn and the thistle because of one Adam, we may expect to see a blessing on the earth because of the Second Adam. Therefore with unbounded confidence do I believe the promise: “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree,” etc.
(3) Did not the Lord say, “In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread”? Ought not your labour to be an argument by which your faith shall prove that in Christ Jesus there remaineth a rest for the people of God.
(4) Did the first Adam through his disobedience lift the latch for death? It is surely so. Therefore I believe with the greater assurance that the Second Adam can give life to these dry bones, can awake all these sleepers, and raise them in newness of life.
IV. If from the fall of Adam such great results flow, greater results must flow from the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ. Suppose that Adam bad never sinned, and we were unfallen beings, yet our standing would have remained in jeopardy. We have now lost everything in Adam, and so the uncertain tenure has come to an end; but we that have believed have obtained an inheritance which we hold by a title which Satan himself cannot dispute: “All things are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” By the great transgression of Adam we lost our life in him; but in Christ we live again with a higher and nobler life. The Lord Jesus has also brought us into a nearer relationship to God than we could have possessed by any other means. We were God’s creatures, but now we are His sons. We have lost paradise, but we shall possess that of which the earthly garden was but a lowly type: we might have eaten of the luscious fruits of Eden, but now we eat of the bread which came down from heaven; we might have heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, but now, like Enoch, we may walk with God after a nobler and closer fashion. We are now capable of a joy which unfallen spirits could not have known--the bliss of pardoned sin. The bonds which bind redeemed ones to their God are the strongest which exist. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The love of God
is a love which gives another love; it is the grace of a Father giving the love of a Brother. (Prof. Godet.)
The advantages accruing to the race from the fall
How common and bitter is the outcry against our first parent for the mischief he entailed on his posterity; and it were well if the complaint ended there, but it glances from Adam to his Creator. “Did not God foresee that he would abuse his liberty, and know all the baneful consequences of the act? Why, then, did He permit it?” Because He knew that “not as the offence, so is the free gift”; that the evil resulting from the former was not as the good resulting from the latter, not worthy to be compared with it. If Adam had not fallen--
I. Christ had not died and the world had missed the most amazing display of God’s love. So--
1. There could have been no such thing as faith in God thus loving the world; nor faith in Christ as “loving us, and giving Himself for us”; nor faith in the Spirit as renewing the image of God in our hearts.
2. The same blank could have been left in our love. We might have loved God as our Creator and Preserver, but we could not have loved Him under the nearest and dearest relation. We might have loved the Son of God as being “the brightness of His Father’s glory,” but not as having borne our sins. We could not have loved the Spirit as revealing to us the Father and the Son, as opening our eyes and turning us from darkness to light, etc.
3. Nor could we have loved our neighbour to the same extent: “If God so loved us we ought to love one another.”
II. We had missed the innumerable benefits which flow through our sufferings. Had there been no suffering, a considerable part of religion, and in some respects the most excellent part, could have had no place.
1. Upon this foundation our passive graces are built; yea, the noblest of them--the love which endureth all things. Here is the ground for resignation, for confidence in God, for patience, meekness, gentleness, long suffering, etc.
2. These afford opportunities for doing good which could not otherwise have existed.
III. Heaven would have been less glorious.
1. We should have missed the fruit of those graces which could not have flourished but for our struggle with sin here. Superior nobleness on earth means superior happiness in heaven.
2. We should have missed the reward which will accrue to innumerable good works which could not otherwise have been wrought, such as relief of distress, etc.
3. We should have missed the “exceeding and eternal weight of glory” which is to be the recompense of our light affliction.
IV. Our salvation would have been less secure. Unless in Adam all had died, every man must have personally answered for himself, and, as a consequence, if he had once sinned there would have been no possibility of his rising again. Now who would wish to hazard eternity on one stake? But under the economy of redemption if we fall we may rise again. Conclusion: See, then, how little reason there is to repine at the fall of our first parents, since here from we may derive such unspeakable advantages. If God had decreed that millions should suffer in hell because Adam sinned it would have been a different matter; but on the contrary, He has decreed that every man may be a gainer by it, and no man can be a loser but through his own choice. (J. Wesley, M. A.)
