Romans_5
Scripture Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Observation-What does it say? As Paul opens up the letter to the Roman church, we see several instances pointing to our inability to connect with God on our own. Paul even exposes a prideful attitude within the Roman church, who were in the practice of judging others for actions they were also committing (chapter 2:1-16). In chapters three and four, Paul encourages them to seek God through faith, like Abraham did, and not to rely on works.
In chapter five, Paul points back to the old testament, comparing Jesus to Abraham. Paul highlights the foreshadowing of the story of Adam and how it was a metaphor for what Jesus would do through his death on the cross. Adam, the first man, introduced sin and death into the world by not obeying God’s command. Jesus, the Son of Man, though his obedience to God’s command, reintroduced us to community with God. But, the grace we receive through Jesus is much more abundant than the death we have in Adam.
Understanding-What does it mean? I really struggled with English class all throughout school, especially grammar and spelling. My spelling and grammar were so bad that I failed most of my writing assignments on that alone. This became very discouraging and made me completely apathetic towards English. But this apathy made me miss out on some of the better parts of writing and stories, like the many literary devices, such as foreshadowing. As I have gotten older, I love to read a book and be pleasantly surprised when I get towards the end of the book and have the “ah ha” moment. For me, the “ah ha” moment is when I read a sentence and finally realize why something else was written at the beginning.
What's incredible about the Bible, is the amount of “ah ha” moments you can have. The story, written by so many different authors, over hundreds of years apart, uses all kinds of literary devices to help us understand God’s awesome power and love for us. In comparing Adam and Jesus, we get a taste of the foreshadowing that is used throughout the old testament. It’s a little glimpse of how much God loves us. He took such care, and paid so much attention to the little details.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 Before we were even a twinkle in our parents eyes, God planned out how he was going to tell us he loved us. He orchestrated all the parts, all the players, to make this great story that we get to take part of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=300&v=7_CGP-12AE0&feature=emb_logo
Life Application Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for the love you have displayed since before I was aware of it. Help me to use my life to share this story with those around me.