Useful Bible Studies > Romans Commentary > chapter 5

Paul compares Adam and Christ

Romans 5:12-14

Here, Paul begins to teach another lesson from the Old Testament (the first part of the Bible). The Book of Genesis tells us that the first man was Adam (Genesis chapter 2 and 3). God created Adam to be perfect, but Adam did not obey God’s command.

Sin means people’s wrong thoughts, words and actions. Therefore, Adam, the first man, was guilty of sin. All people come from Adam and all people behave like him: we are all guilty of sin (3:23).

God never wanted people to suffer death; in a perfect world, people do not die (Revelation 21:1-4). However, after Adam’s sin, our present world was not perfect. Sin had entered the world, and the result of sin is death (Genesis 3:19; Romans 6:23).

So, sin, and its effects upon the world, were clear even before God gave his law to Moses. That law expressed God’s perfect standards. The law allowed people to see clearly what wrong things they were doing. However, the books of Moses (the first 5 books in the Bible) also included God’s promises to rescue people from sin and death, by means of Christ.

The first of those promises appears in Genesis 3:15. By his sin, Adam had given power to the devil. However, God promised that another man, Christ, would come to destroy the devil’s power. So, Adam is called a type, or pattern, of Christ. The word ‘type’ here means someone from whose life we can learn lessons about Christ. Adam and Christ were similar because their lives have an effect on the lives of many people. However, the actual effect of their acts was opposite to each other. Adam brought sin and death into the world. Christ brings a right relationship with God, and life that never ends.

Next part: The two most important events that have ever happened (Romans 5:15-17)

 

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