Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
Death through Adam, Life Through Christ

Romans 5:12-21

“For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”
We all know the story of Adam, Eve, and the Serpent and the great betrayal of Adam to God. Adam’s disobedience not only broke his relationship with God, but also allowed sin to enter into the world.
We tend to blame Adam and Eve for the troubles, hard work, and toils we have to endure now, but they just allowed sin to enter this world, we sustain it. For example think back to when we were children, we were provided with everything we wanted and more, but when our parents said “don’t eat cookies before dinner” we were tempted to eat them all. Is that the fault of Adam or our own? We are all sinners.
This passage was written by Paul, who on many occasions teaches us important lessons through his writing. This is no different as Paul points out something so obvious in a not so obvious way. He compares our life through Adam and our life through Christ.
Life with Adam
Adam was created in God image as noted in the book of Genesis.  Adam is easy for us to identify with since we behave in the same way as he did in the garden of Eden. Paul points out the fault of Adam, how he brought death (spiritual death) to the world, and how through his trespass condemnation is all we had on this Earth. I say ‘had’ because Christ changed all of this.
Life with Christ
Paul points out in verse 17 that Adam did make a mistake and did bring death to all people, but through the Grace of God and through Jesus Christ we are alive again. Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice overcomes the darkness of the first sin. In verse 15 Paul mentions how “the gift is not like the trespass.” The gift here is the acceptance of Jesus Christ in your life, and the trespass is the original sin.
We can conclude from this passage that Grace is more powerful than sin, and through the existence of sin, grace is all the more present. Does this mean we should sin more so that grace increases? The answer to this question can be found in Romans chapter 6, I hope you take a deeper look into these chapters.
The first sin was provoked by the serpent, spread by Eve, which caused a betrayal by Adam. With God’s grace we can overcome sin when we accept Christ as our saviour.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving us your Grace through Jesus Christ so that we can overcome death. Help us to live our lives through Christ and not to identify our lives through Adam.
Thought of the Day:  Spiritual death was brought by Adam but eternal life is lived through Christ
Lysa Samuel, St. Mathew’s MTC, Toronto


Popular posts from this blog

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
  Constant, patient and welcoming love of God   St. Luke 15: 11-32  V.21: And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ The parable of the ‘Prodigal son’ is one of the most frequently quoted parables that Jesus told His disciples. The parable contains the rich mine of human virtues and emotions. This parable is lived and re-lived in progressing civilizations from time immemorial and continuing. It brings out in vivid detail the pathetic depth of human sinfulness and the glorious heights of God’s forgiveness.      As a story of human nature, fathers are generally merciful to their children in any circumstance. They are very protective and are eager to provide for and secure the lives of their offspring. Jesus is telling this parable to underscore the superlative love of God to His children. The nature of such love is reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 7:11. Humankind who are evil by nature, give good gifts t
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
PRIESTHOOD: THE ANOINTED MINISTRY Exodus 40:12-16 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting... wash them with water. Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest (Exodus 40: 12-13). Priesthood among the people of God was a divine command and initiation. God wanted some people to be separated for the special ministry among his people. God appointed Aaron and his descendants to take up this kind of ministry among the people of God. Priests are always separated and appointed as channels that connect God with his people. All throughout the history of Israel, priests played an important role in connecting people with God and to lead and guide them in the statutes of God. But there are incidents in the Bible where the priests failed in their duties and that led the people to go away from God. So the priests have a special and significant ministry to perform in this world among his people. Two important things
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
Revelation for Liberation Acts 27:18-26 Sherine Thomas Long Island MTC, NY 20  When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. “After winter comes the summer.  After night comes the dawn.  And after every storm, there comes clear open skies” so said a Scottish clergyman from the 1600s. It’s been said, that hope can sometimes be the most dangerous weapon.  However, it’s sometimes the hardest weapon to carry when you’re living with the loss of a loved one, something that almost feels like a terrible nightmare that’ll never go away.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry when day in and day out no one seems to hear or see those tears that are shed or silent cries that are made during a heartfelt prayer. It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you see your loved one lying on that hospital bed.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you search and seek out answers to tell a child as to why they’ve been a
Read more