OCTOBER 15, 2025 – ADAM AND CHRIST
READ: Rom. 5:12-21: … For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous …
Through Adam’s sin, death came upon all people (vv. 12,15,18,19). But why do we all bear guilt? The LORD punishes only those who sin themselves (Ezek. 18:20), doesn’t He?
Our shared guilt comes through original sin. Our nature has been so corrupted by Adam’s fall that we all sin in our lives.
But there is more; verse 12 says: through one man death came upon all people “in whom all sinned.” Other translations have: “because all sinned.” For the explanation, the context of verse 12 is important.
Paul makes here a comparison between Christ and Adam. In Adam, humanity fell into sin; in Christ, it may be delivered from it. In Adam, humanity entered the realm of sin and death. In Christ, it may enter the realm of grace and life. Verse 14 even says: Adam is a type, a shadow, of Him who was to come—Christ.
Paul says in verse 12 that the whole of humanity descended from Adam already sinned in the fall. We sinned along with Adam. We were already included in him. He was our representative and our forefather. This is a matter of faith that God teaches us. And so the riches of Christ shine all the more.
In verse 21 the law is added. God’s good law cannot save, but it brings our sins to light as transgression of God’s holy commandments, for fallen humanity resists God’s law. We make it worse. Our sinful nature even gladly goes against the law, making our guilt heavier still. Thus we all deserve eternal death.
But now look to Christ: He is the only Righteous One, the only One who has no sinful nature and who did not sin at all. He took our guilt upon Himself and delivered us from it.
Faith in Him brings us to eternal life. For through one act of obedience to God the Father, He delivers all who believe in Him from the deserved judgment and into eternal salvation.
Can Romans 5 be explained from the perspective of evolutionary theory?
Sing: Hymn 24 : 5,6 (1984) / 28:5,6 (2014)