“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” - Romans 5:12
Murder, kidnapping, terrorism, theft, child abuse, rape, lust, cheating, lying…it’s everywhere you look. Turn on the TV or read the newspaper and it is almost all you will hear. Story after story of errors, mistakes, misjudgments…the Bible calls it sin. The world is full of sinners. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in theology to figure that out. But have you ever wondered why? How did we get here and will it ever get better? The answer is found in Romans 5:12.
In this verse, we have the two greatest problems that humanity faces: sin and death. Sin entered the world through Adam. He is the “one man” this verse refers to. Adam was the door through which sin entered the world. And sin was the door through which death entered the world. This death is not just physical (the separation of the soul from the body), but also spiritual (the separation of the soul from God).
Adam’s sin infected the entire human race. We are naturally born sinners. We aren’t sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. This is why King David wrote, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). Sin is not just what we do, it is who we are apart from Christ. The first line ever printed in North America was in The New England Primer, a schoolbook that colonial children used to learn how to read. It said, “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.” In the earliest part of our nation’s history, there was an acknowledgment that people were born with a sinful nature that dates back to Adam.
What a different world we would live in if everyone understood this truth: I am a sinner in need of a Savior. Adam sinfully infected the entire human race. We are inherently sinners because we have inherited a sinful nature. We will all die physically because of sin. But thanks be to Jesus that because of His sacrifice on the cross, we no longer have to die spiritually. In Him there is hope. In Him there is life. In Him, there is grace.
Father, thank You that even though I was born in sin, I do not have to die in sin. Because of Jesus, I can live eternally with You in heaven. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Topics: Sin
