12. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned�13 for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Paul sets out to establish two very important connections in these verses. The first link is that between Adam and mankind. The second is between Adam and Jesus Christ. These connections are essential,
for they explain the way in which God purposed to save men from their sins. In particular, the work of Christ is presented as the reversal of the work of Adam. The curse which Adam brought on the human race has its cure in Christ.
Adam was regarded, rightly so, as the source of sin�s entrance into the world. With his act of disobedience, sin first entered human history. No believer would disagree with this. But Adam�s sin did much more than this�it brought guilt upon all mankind. Adam�s sin and resulting guilt was imputed to all his descendants. Adam sinned, and because of this he died. Adam sinned, and because of this, all men die. All men die because they sinned, in Adam.
Adam�s sin, along with its guilt and penalty, was imputed to all those who were born of Adam. Adam�s sin and death were imputed to mankind, for all mankind have come from Adam. In some way that is difficult to understand, all mankind sinned in and with Adam.133
Paul explains this more fully in verse 13. �The wages of sin is death,� both for Adam (Genesis 2:16-17) and for all others (Romans 6:23). All those who lived from the time of Adam until the time of Moses, when the Law was given, died. They did not die, Paul tells us, because of their own sins, for the Law was not yet given, and their sins were not a transgression of God�s commandments. Sin existed in those days, but it was not imputed, because there was no law. Why then did all those from Adam to Moses die? Because they all sinned, in Adam, and were therefore guilty and worthy of death.
It is very important that we understand what Paul is not saying here, as well as what he is saying. Paul is not saying that we all sin because Adam sinned, though this is true.134 Paul is saying that we all sinned when Adam sinned. Paul is saying that we are all guilty of sin, in Adam, and thus we fall under the divine death penalty. The period of time between Adam and Moses best demonstrates this, because those who died during this time period did not have their own sins imputed to them.
The point then is this: Adam�s sin and its consequences included and involved the entire human race. This does not really sound fair, does it? Come on, admit it. This sounds, at first, like a terrible injustice. Why should we suffer because of Adam?
There is a solution to our problem. First, we must understand and interpret Paul�s words here in the light of what he has already written. Men are not guilty sinners only because Adam sinned, corrupting and implicating the rest of the human race. Paul has already taught in chapters 1-3 that all men, without exception, are guilty sinners, because each of us is guilty of unbelief and disobedience toward God. All men have received some revelation about God from His creation. Some men have the added revelation of God�s Law. But regardless of how much men have had revealed to them about God, they have rejected Him and refused to worship or to obey Him. As a result, Paul has said, all men are guilty sinners, worthy of death.
Are we guilty sinners because Adam sinned? Yes, we are. But we are also guilty sinners because we have sinned. We are not under divine condemnation only because Adam sinned; we are condemned as sinners because we have sinned. Adam sinned, and we are guilty (Romans 5:12-14). All have sinned and are also guilty (Romans 3:23).
Does the curse of sin on the entire human race, due to the act of one man, trouble us? Then we must press on to the second link which Paul makes in our text. Not only is there a link between Adam�s sin and mankind�s universal guilt, there is a link between Adam and Christ. In verse 14, Paul informs us that Adam �is a type of Him who was to come.� Adam is a type of Christ.135
What seems to be bad news becomes very good news. There is a correspondence between Adam and Christ. Adam, we are told, is like Christ. It is this likeness, this link, which enabled our Lord Jesus Christ to die on Calvary, and to rise from the dead, and in so doing to free men from the curse brought upon them by Adam. Adam�s curse has its cure, in Christ, who is like Adam in some way. Before Paul will play out this �likeness,� he will first show how our Lord was distinct from Adam. It is in His �unlikeness� as well as in His �likeness� that our Lord provided men with the opportunity to be saved from their sins.
Be the first to comment