Week 12 - Tuesday

How Sin Came Into the World

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, (Romans 5:12a)

For the next couple of weeks we will be studying Romans 5:12-21. This is considered by many to be the most difficult passage in the book of Romans. As is so often the case, difficult passages like this contain some of the Bible's most wonderful truths. That is why it's important to take the time to carefully study the Bible. To fail to do so, will result in your missing out on a lot of the riches that God's word contains. Paul begins this passage with the word therefore in order to connect it to what he has just written. In Romans 5:1-11, Paul went into great detail explaining that when a person puts their faith in Christ, their salvation is guaranteed forever. Next, Paul deals with the question that he must have known a lot of the readers of Romans would have. The question is this, how is it possible that just one man could provide salvation for every person who would ever live? That's a very good question, isn't it? Even though it's been almost 2,000 years since Jesus died on the cross, in order to be saved, a person must still believe that His death paid the penalty for their sins. Just how can that be possible? How can a man who lived and died so long ago affect the ultimate destiny of every person? In this passage Paul uses the first man who ever lived, Adam, to show that the actions of one person can indeed affect the destiny of all people.

To prove his point, Paul takes us back to beginning of mankind. When God created the world it was completely without sin. The Bible says that God saw all He had made and it was very good (Gen. 1:31). God then put the first man, Adam, in charge of the Garden of Eden and gave him only one restriction. He could eat from any tree in the garden, except for one. God commanded Adam, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat ..." (Gen. 2:16-17). Most people are familiar with how the story goes from here. Satan appeared to Adam's wife, Eve, in the form of a snake and convinced her to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree. Even though it was Eve who ate first, the main responsibility was still Adam's. God had given Adam that one restriction before Eve was even created and God had placed Adam in charge of the Garden. Adam was right there with Eve when she took the forbidden bite. Because Adam did not stop her from eating the fruit, the first sin was his. Not only did Adam not stop Eve but he also let her lead him into disobeying too.

Even though Adam was the first person to disobey God, sin did not begin with Adam, it only entered into the world through him. Sin had begun some time before that in heaven with Satan. Satan, who is also known as Lucifer, had once been God's greatest angel. But Satan rebelled against God and he was cast out of heaven (Ezek. 28:14-16). By the time Adam sinned, Satan had already fallen or he would not have been on earth tempting Eve. The point Paul is making in Romans 5:12 is this, when God created the world it was completely without sin. The first man, Adam, was also sinless when God created him. However, the first time Adam gave into temptation and disobeyed God, he acquired an inclination to sin that he did not have before. It took just one sin, and a tendency to sin became a permanent part of his character. Because Adam was the first man who ever lived, the entire human race is descended from him. As a result, Adam's sin nature has been passed on to every person since. Now if every person could become a sinner through the action of one man, doesn't it seem right that they could be saved from their sins by the action of one man also?

Readings for today: Gen. 3:1-6; Acts 17:26; Rom. 5:19; 1 Cor. 15:22