Romans 5:12-21
There are 2 significant people in this section, Adam and Christ. The simple truth here is that we are in sin and death from our first ever forefather Adam. Secular people do not deny that there is sin and death but their explanation is that sin is an imperfection, soon to be overcome. It is just something which makes a person less desirable. With regards to death, a secularist’s explanation will be that death is natural. We are made to die. Christians however, do not hold to this view. Sin is disobedience to God, something far graver than just mere imperfection. And death is the consequence, a penalty for sin. We were not made to die. Death is the result of sin.
From just one act of sin on Adam’s part, the human race is being condemned to death. Even unborn infants are dead in sin before they are born. Though newborns or children have not consciously sinned, they are still sinners, having inherited the sinful nature of Adam and then death because of sin. Adam was made the first man that ever existed and a representative of the human race. As such, his sin brought judgement down on us. This is not to say that we are all perfect except Adam because we adopted the sinful nature and lived according to its desires.
Just as Adam’s one act brought down the whole race, Christ’s’ act of obedience to the cross brought righteousness. There are many contrasts between Adam and Christ:
- the trespass of Adam vs the gift of God
- death caused by sin vs eternal life
- condemnation vs justification
- sin vs righteousness
- the disobedience of Adam vs the obedience of Christ
- law vs grace
This brings to attention the victory of grace over law. Grace is God’s favour toward the undeserving. In fact, we deserve the exact opposite. Most of us know grace as God’s Riches At Christ Expense. We have been justified by grace. Everyday, we receive something that we do not deserve and that is our right standing before God. How will that change the way you live?
When there was already sin the world, the law was added so that man is conscious of sin. We have knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. The law is what defines sin, reveals its nature and exposes its power. As such, the law also convicts us of our sin. But the greatest of all is “when sin increased, grace increased all the more”. There is no sin too big for forgiveness. In other versions of the bible, the words “abound”, “multiplied” and “immeasurably exceeded” were used. Our sins can be counted but God’s grace is immeasurable. Further to this, we tend to see grace as a positive attitude but it is more than that. Grace is the power that reaches into the pit and pulls us up. Grace sees us staggering and comes to bear us up. Grace sees us dying and gives us eternal life. Grace sees us destitute and gives us access to God’s inexhaustible riches. There is no greater triumph than the triumph of grace over sin.
