From One to All – July 7, 2020

If the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Romans 5:15

From One to All

“Now you’ve ruined it for everyone.” One student breaks the rules, and the whole class has to stay in from recess. One sibling is careless, and now no one can play with the broken toy.

One trespass. One act of disobedience. That’s all it took. There were only two people in the world at the time—Adam and his wife Eve. God gave them one command: “Don’t eat the fruit from that one tree. If you do, you will surely die.”

They didn’t listen. They thought they knew better. They disobeyed. From that moment on, they were no longer able to obey God’s commands. They deserved God’s wrath. Eventually, they would face physical death. And unless something was done about it, eternal punishment in hell would follow. And every one of their descendants inherited their disobedient spirit and the deadly consequences that come with it. And that includes you and me.

But something was done about it. We can’t make up for the wrong we do—not before God. But God gave us something we didn’t deserve. He gave us a gift—the gift of his own Son. Jesus, God’s Son, undid the devastating effects of Adam’s disobedience and our disobedience that followed.

Jesus took the blame for Adam’s disobedience and ours. Jesus accepted the consequences for every act, word, and thought that fails to meet God’s demands. And he made right what was oh so wrong.

Because Jesus was the perfect Son of God, the price he paid with his life was enough to count for everyone—for Adam and all of his descendants, for you and for me.

Adam ruined it, but so do we whenever we disobey God’s commands. But Jesus fixed it. He removes every wrong we’ve done and replaces it with the right things he did. He accepts our death and gives us his life.

Now, something far better than recess time or a favorite toy is ours. Now, we get to live forever as forgiven children of God surrounded by God’s love.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, in overflowing love, you sent your Son to undo what my sins have done. For this I praise and thank you! Amen.