Abstract
Peace from Good News
Emperor Augustus learned that a Roman gentleman—despite an oppressive and significant burden of debt—slept with quiet ease. Augustus desired to purchase the bed wherewith the gentleman lodged, thinking it must be wonderful for a man so intensely involved to obtain sleep upon it. Needleless to remark, it was a worthless purchase for the Roman Emperor.
If you were to think about your daily indebtedness to God during this Lenten season, could you be restful or sleep peacefully? Romans 5 introduces a revolutionary statement for those whose Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ: ‘we have peace with God.’ Peace with God is what the Good News produces in the lives of those who believe the message of salvation. The believer has peace to render the tribute of praise to God, and so discharge the extent of indebtedness to worship him.
Of course, the peace that characterized God’s creation was radically altered when death entered the world through the first man’s sin. As the Lord’s creation, Adam was granted remarkable honor in addition to significant responsibilities. When the Lord God placed (yânach, “rested”) Adam into the Garden of Eden, it was for the purpose of dwelling in peace and safety. God took Adam and caused him to rest in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:15). The concept of Sabbath rest, which is revealed progressively in Hebrews 3:7–4:11, is likely related to the prelapsarian world in which Adam—with important responsibilities—was “placed.”
The concepts of “cultivate” (‘âbad) and “keep” (shâmar) are two verbs used throughout the Pentateuch to designate spiritual devotion, which indicates that such designation applied to whatever activities (including the physical) were accomplished in relation to the dominion mandate within the Garden of Eden. God intended for humanity to work in fulfillment of that mandate in a place where genuine rest would be experienced. Adam was “rested”—with responsibilities—in the Garden with one prohibition: not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16-17). God next created ‘a helper suitable’ (woman) for Adam (v. 18).
The process of temptation leading to violation of the one prohibition is instructive because the same tactics were used against Eve (Gen 2:6), the Lord Jesus (Matt 4:1–11), and continue to be employed today (1 John 2:16). Every sin that is committed will involve at least one of three temptations: ‘the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life’. Eve surrendered to each temptation, yet the Lord Jesus resisted. Lent, of course, parallels the Lord’s great fast (Matt 4:2), which was a struggle with the devil (in addition to identifying with Israel’s forty-year wilderness wandering), and thereby Jesus modeled how to employ the authority of Scripture to contend with temptation.
The serpent is introduced both as a created being and as one who contested the word of God. He is said to be ‘more crafty [subtle] than any beast of the field which the L
As opposed to emphasizing the generosity of God, the serpent of old accentuated the negative: the prohibition. Until the account of Genesis 3:1–7, the only word that has been operative in producing and sustaining has been from the Creator. When the Lord God spoke, He created life and order, whereas the serpent introduced chaos and death with his words. Scripture truthfully depicts Satan as a deceiver (2 Cor 11:1–3), a liar, and a murderer (John 8:44). The devil challenged God’s word and his goodness, even to defy the Lord’s warning (Gen 3:4), and then substitute the truth with a lie (v. 5). ‘You will be like God’ is the same falsehood that Satan proliferates today (Isa 14:12–14; Rom 1:21–25). And yet, sadly, there are many today who believe such deception, and who also wrongly suppose there is no punishment for an unrepentant life.
Satan never suggested that God’s proscription was based upon the reality that humanity’s constitution did not require eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, rather than merely limiting human beings, God was proffering safety with his prohibition, which is the consistent emphasis of Genesis 1–2 in that the Lord always provided what was ‘good’. Adam certainly stressed the necessity for both himself and his wife to heed God’s word (2:16–17). Satan likely approached the woman (rather than the man) because it can be easier to dispute a specification given through someone else as opposed to tempting someone to disobey a firsthand command (the latter is what Adam received by revelation from God). Even though he was not deceived (1 Tim 2:14), Adam joined his wife in sinning against God, albeit he participated in the rebellion with understanding.
Romans 5:12–19 conveys the truth that Adam and Christ are representative men, with each at the head of two groups of people. Adam is head of all condemned sinners (because he was created first, and the entire human race originated with him, including Eve), and Christ of ‘those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness’. The actions of both Adam and Christ affect all whom they represent. The usage of the phrase ‘one man’ throughout Romans 5, which describes both Adam and Christ, emphasizes the individual responsibility that each man possessed as the head of those whom they represent. Adam exercised his responsibility by introducing ‘death through sin’ into the world, which spread to all humanity, so that ‘all sinned’ (v. 12; 6:23; cf. Gen 2:17; 1 Cor 15:45).
Although there are parallels between Adam and Christ (Rom 5:12–14), the two men are also different (vv. 15–19). The disparity is between what each man transmits to others through his actions: death and condemnation for one, and life and justification from Christ Jesus. Adam’s disobedience constituted many sinners, whereas Christ’s obedience constitutes many righteous.
God’s grace more than counterbalances the increase of sin. The work of Christ is, therefore, far greater than the act of Adam. Whereas the sin of Adam brought condemnation, Christ’s ‘gift of righteousness’ brought salvation to those who believe. Although everyone is under condemnation through Adam (who made sinners), one can be justified (made righteous) by trusting the work of Christ to grant peace with God. While sin remains unconfessed, the more miserably it affects the body and soul (Ps 32:3–5). Singing (v. 7) emerges from silence (v. 3) when one is honest with God in confessing sin, by acknowledging and repudiating it (vv. 5–6). As King David experienced, nothing is greater than the grace of God. ‘How blessed is he who transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!’ (Ps 32:1).