New Kind Of Life

Brothers and sisters: Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned. If by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous. Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:12, 15, 17-19, 20-21)

This reading presents an interesting challenge for interpretation.  The basis for what is said about Jesus Christ is the existence of the one man – Adam – and his sin.  But Adam did not exist, and neither did Eve.  The story is a metaphor to make the point that sin causes suffering.  Much of the Bible is metaphor and meaningful stories.   Nevertheless, Adam makes for a great contrast with the real man, Jesus.

Death did not come to humanity through Adam’s bite of the fruit.  Men and women from creation through evolution have always been born, lived, and died.   No surprise there.  Death is part of life, Sinning is that which we are all capable of doing, and often in excess.  So, what is Paul in his letter to the Romans trying to convey?

Paul appears to have used Adam as a symbol of the universality of sin.  According to Marcus Borg, Paul cited a “disordering of creation caused and sustained by Jew and Gentile alike.”  Paul appeared to conclude: “In Christ there is a new possibility; in Jesus there is the possibility of a new kind of life.” And that’s the key for followers of Jesus.  With him there is hope that our lives will be of a new kind based on mercy, forgiveness, and love.  

Deacon David Pierce