Romans 5:10-14,21
For if, when we were God's enemies, --
Before we turn to God in repentance and trust in Jesus to pay our debt for us, we were at enmity with God, his enemies.
we were reconciled to Him --
We were changed, as I change my checkbook to agree with the bank statement, so we were reconciled to God, to agree with His holiness, and remove the things that were against us to becoming His righteousness: a miracle in each one of us.
through the death of His Son, --
Because the Son of God, Jesus, God's Christ, was born a Man and died Man's death, the debt we each owe, in the place of each one of us; this is how we have been reconciled, because our debt is paid.
how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! --
Because Jesus conquered Death, He rose from the grave. The life He rose with was more than the human life had been, He returned with Resurrection Life. And because He was Resurrected, so will we. This is the full Redemption, when we will be fully and completely saved, when we also will be Resurrected.
Not only is this so, --
This is our hope in the Lord, that He will return to take us to be with Himself forever, Resurrected with His Eternal Life, like Him.
but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. --
We can be joyful in realizing the Truth of both our future Resurrection and being right with God right now.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, --
The first man Adam chose to disobey God, which was the first human sin, and the paycheck for sin is death, so death entered the world through this one man.
and in this way death came to all men because all sinned. --
We all are born from the genealogical line of Adam, so we genetically inherit the sin-nature that Adam's natural life became when he sinned. So each of us has that bent toward sin, that makes it easier, or more convenient to choose to do the wrong thing, or to not do the right thing. So we have all, each human person that has ever lived, missed the mark of God's perfection, so we all deserve to die, and we all die.
For before the Law was given, sin was in the world. --
Even before there were rules given to describe what was wrong, people still made foolish and evil decisions to do what they knew was wrong, they still sinned.
But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. --
When there's no law or rule against it, no one can be convicted of it.
Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as Adam did --
People still died, even though they couldn't be charged with breaking a rule, they still suffered the consequences of their choices.
who was a pattern of the One to come.
Adam was a pattern of a member of Mankind who had a decision, a choice to make. Adam made the wrong choice; Jesus made the right choice. He is the One to come, the second Man who had the authority to make a choice that would affect not only himself, but many others, even, all others.
Adam's sin affects every human person who lived or lives or will live.
Jesus's righteousness can affect every person who lived or lives or will live. He is the Second Adam, who can reverse the harm the First Adam caused.
Just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might rein through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. --
So we each have the choice to do right or to do wrong. Each of us is responsible to choose rightly, and is accountable to God for the choices we make, rightly or wrongly. In Adam we all will die. In Jesus Christ we are given the possibility of living forever.
It's our choice.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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