Read
Adam and Christ
12 Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die. 13Sin was in the world before the Law came. But no record of sin was kept, because there was no Law. 14Yet death still had power over all who lived from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. This happened, though not everyone disobeyed a direct command from God, as Adam did.
In some ways Adam is like Christ who came later. 15But the gift of God's undeserved grace was very different from Adam's sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God's gift of undeserved grace to many people.
16There is a lot of difference between Adam's sin and God's gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God's gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times. 17Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has treated us with undeserved grace, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.
18 Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life. 19Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.
20The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen. Yet where sin was powerful, God's gift of undeserved grace was even more powerful. 21Sin ruled by means of death. But God's gift of grace now rules, and God has accepted us because of Jesus Christ our Lord. This means that we will have eternal life.
Reflect
Adam, the first man, sinned when he listened to the voice of the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit in the garden. He was exiled from the Garden of Eden, and passed sin on to all of us (Genesis 3:22-24). We all do wrong.
Sometimes people think of sin as breaking God’s commands which he gave to Moses. These commandments were written down and the Jews called them “the Law.” The most important we call “the Ten Commandments.” You can read these in Exodus 20.
Paul argues here that sin is more than breaking the commandments that God gave to Moses. Jesus made the same point when he challenged the rich young ruler, who claimed to have kept all the commandments. Jesus told him that he still needed to sell all that he had and give to the poor and then to follow him. This was more than the rich man was prepared to do (Luke 18:18-24).
The Jewish Law did not keep people from sinning. Something altogether different was needed if people were to be reconciled to God.
Jesus came to bring that “something altogether different.” He took our sin on his own shoulders and died for us to bring us back to God. What happened on the cross is so profound that the greatest theologians can’t plumb its depth. But Jesus’ love, shown to us in his death, is something that even a child – especially a child – can understand.
When we put our faith in Jesus to forgive us and accept us, the power of sin in our lives is broken. God gives us the gift of his Holy Spirit to live in us and change us from the inside. I know this in experience, and you can too.
Respond
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all your kindness to us, more than we will ever understand. Thank you for breaking the power of sin! Amen.
Annabel Robinson
Annabel was born in Kew, near London, England. She committed her life to Jesus Christ at a Scripture Union camp when she was 16, and immediately found joy and peace. At Oxford she was active in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, where she met her husband, Reid. They emigrated to Canada in 1965, where she taught Classics at the University of Regina until 2007. She has two children, Heather in Oslo and Alasdair in Calgary.