To all of you at Epiphany who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

O Lord God, we called to you for help, and you answered us. We thank you for the love you have shown us in Jesus Christ, our Savior. Through him you have rescued us from death and given us life eternal. Though sin entered the world through Adam, Christ has forgiven all that sin. Thank you for keeping your promise and sending us the greatest gift this world has ever known – your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

There’s a scene I like in the movie "What about Bob?" Bob is upset because his psychologist is going on vacation. So the psychologist pulls out a pad and starts to write out a prescription. Bob says, "No more pills. I have enough pills at home." The doctor said, "This is not pills." And he hands Bob a slip of paper that says, "I’m on vacation."

And he said, "Bob, from this moment on, you are on vacation. Not a vacation from your job. Not a vacation from your daily life. But a vacation from your problems. Every time a problem comes up. Every time you start to get worried. You pull this prescription out and tell yourself, "I’m on vacation. I’m not going to worry about it. Doctor’s orders."

That’s just a movie. But, wouldn’t it be nice to write ourselves a prescription that says we can take a vacation from our problems? Today we continue in our sermon series of taking a summer vacation in Rome. Just like with any summer vacation there can be problems – flat tire, traffic, poor weather, sunburn, illness, and more. Paul tells us in our sermon text from Romans that we as Christian vacationers should expect problems. However, Paul also introduces us to the only person who can write the prescription for the vacation we have always dreamed about. We may have a problem, but Christ is the prescription.

What is our problem? What is the biggest of all the problems we have? It’s the one problem that no one likes to talk about -– the problem of death. Death is really everyone’s problem. Death doesn’t care who you are – regardless of your job, your physical condition, your family responsibilities – death doesn’t care about those things. Young or old, in shape or overweight, black, brown or white – we are all going to die.

What is the death rate in America, compared to, say, a third-world country like Afghanistan or Somalia? It’s the same - 100%. Death doesn’t care where you live, or how healthy or wealthy you are.

Why doesn’t anyone want to talk about the problem of death? Two reasons. Reason number one: because there is no solution. No one will ever come up with a cure for death, a way to prevent it. Another reason people don’t want to talk about death, is because people are unsure of what happens next. Is there really a heaven? Is there really a hell? Or, is it like in the movies – after you die you become a ghost and float around the earth? Or are you reincarnated and become a cat or a tree? What happens after you die? There is great confusion, there is no solid solution, and because of that, no one wants to talk about it.

We live in a culture of denial. We pretend that death doesn’t exist, but it does. Rather than live in denial, let’s face this problem head-on this morning. Let’s look in the Bible, and as we do, you might be surprised to find that there is a prescription for the problem of death.

Paul acknowledges that death is a problem for all of humanity. Verse 12 says "death comes to all men." Verse 14 says "death reigns." OK, death is a problem. But if we knew the cause of death, maybe we could find the solution. Well, the Bible also tells us the cause. "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." Sin is ultimately the cause of death. And it all began with one man – Adam.

In Genesis 3, we see the biggest disaster in the history of the world – the fall into sin. Adam failed to obey God. And when that happened, sin entered the world. I don’t think people really understand the magnitude of what happened that fateful day in the Garden of Eden.

Imagine being at your home, and you’re having a big get-together – family, friends. You receive a package, and on the package it says; "Anthrax – do not open." But like a dummy you decide to open it anyway. You struggle to open it, and then the package bursts open, anthrax everywhere! All your family, all your friends – they inhale the anthrax and die. Ultimately, whose fault is that? Yours!

When Adam sinned, thousands of years ago, it was as though he had opened a package he shouldn’t have opened. When he disobeyed, sin entered his body, entered the world, and affected everything and everybody. Billions and billions of people have been affected by that one moment in the Garden of Eden. Spiritual anthrax – sin, entered the world. And it’s lethal - it results in death. Because of what Adam did, our world has become one big spiritual ground zero.

From that moment on, people were born with the problem of sin. There is a test you can perform on yourself to see if you’ve been infected. Let’s take the test this morning. Here it is – ask yourself – have I made any mistakes in the last week? Have I been lazy, selfish, envious, or quarrelsome, even for a moment? Have I had any unkind or impure thoughts? Have I perfectly carried out my responsibilities as an employer or employee, husband, wife, single person, parent or child? If you are honest and answer yes to those questions, then you have been infected with the deadly disease of sin. You will die.

Physical death, though, is the least of your problems. Shortly after our text, Paul tells us, "The result of one trespass was condemnation for all men." (5:18) When Adam sinned, he not only brought sin and physical death into the world. He also brought condemnation. What happens after a person dies? "Condemnation." In the Bible, "condemnation" means hell – eternal punishment for sin.

All of you have felt the effects of this problem. There is fighting in your family. Your kids don’t want to do their homework while in school and then are bored when they’re out of school. There is tension and friction in the workplace. You’ve been diagnosed with cancer or diabetes. Your grandfather has died or your mother or a brother or friend. We feel the effects of Adam’s sin upon us daily.

Do you see why most people don’t like to talk about this subject? It can be pretty depressing seeing the psychologist of God’s Word. All our problems are pointed out to us. That is, until we are written the prescription.

Where is the prescription? We find it right here, in God’s Word. God intervenes. God is not some sort of aloof, faraway God that doesn’t care. He comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ, our God, looked down at the world. He saw our problem. He loved us too much to let us suffer and die eternally. And so Christ our God stepped into our world as a human being. He visited our ground zero as one of us. He saw how we all have been infected by Adam’s sin. And he offered a solution, a way out, a way for you and me to escape.

He faced the devil head-on. He did what Adam and Eve couldn’t do, and what we have failed to do all our lives. He resisted temptation. And then he took upon himself all of our sins and the sins of the whole world.

Imagine being in a room with all the anthrax ever made in the entire world – it’s all right there in front of you. Imagine inhaling all of it, so that no one would ever have to worry about that sort of thing again.

That’s what Jesus did – he came into our world, and took all of the sins of the world and placed them on himself. And then he suffered the consequences, didn’t he? The condemnation that we deserved – that’s what Jesus suffered when he went to the cross. Instead of us being condemned for our sins after we die, Jesus was condemned instead.

There was once a movie called "The Last Emperor". The young child is anointed as the last emperor of China and lives a life of luxury with 1000 servants at his command. "What happens when you do wrong?" his brother asks. "When I do wrong, someone else is punished," the boy replies. Then he demonstrates, by breaking a jar, and one of his servants is beaten. In Christianity, Jesus reverses that ancient pattern. When the servants (that’s us) make a mistake, the King is punished. That’s how it works. Instead of us being condemned eternally for our sins, Jesus was condemned instead.

Jesus is the prescription to the problem of sin and death! We read: "But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!" "The trespass" was truly terrible and inexcusable. Adam’s fall was no accident; rather, it was deliberate rebellion against God. But, Paul says, God provided the more than adequate medicine for sin’s poison – "the gift." The source of the gift is "God’s grace" and "the grace of the one man Jesus Christ."

How many people are affected by this problem? Billions. How many are offered the solution? Billions! Paul said that Christ’s gift overflows to "many" – to all people infected with Adam’s sin. God offers this solution to all people. Because of one man, Jesus Christ, and what he did, all who have faith in Jesus are saved.

Think about what this means for you. If God could forgive Adam for eating the forbidden fruit; David of adultery and murder; Noah of drunkenness; Abraham of lying; Saul for persecuting the church; the thief on the cross for stealing; Zacchaeus for cheating; then he can forgive you and me. Completely. Fully. Immediately. Unconditionally.

You usually only seek out a psychologist or counselor when you have a problem. Well, all of you definitely have a problem. So let’s go to God’s Word together for the solution. There we find that God’s Word has clearly written that all of us are sinners. We will all die. We deserve to die eternally. Thank God, that his Word has also clearly written the prescription for our problem. Christ is that glorious prescription. Though we are sick with sin, through Christ we are saved. Though we will die, through Christ we will live. Though we deserve hell, through Christ we are given heaven. Use, cherish, and enjoy this prescription – today and forever. Amen.

To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:27)