February 9 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: Romans 5:12-14 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

There are several interesting things taught in today's passage of Scripture concerning sin and death. First we see the reality of sin. Verse 12 tells us that all men are sinners, but it also states that sin entered the world through one man, Adam. We will get back to the consequences of Adam's sin in a moment. The second thing that we see is that death came into the world because of sin. This is important for two reasons. First, it explains why men die. Were there no sin, there would be no death, but Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 that "the wages of sin is death". What we earn for being sinners is that we die. Second, the fact that death came as a result of sin emphasizes the truth of the Biblical account of God's creation of the world.

There are several theories of "creation" in existence today which try to blend the Biblical account of Genesis 1-2 with evolutionary science. These include such theories as the Day-Age Theory, which says that each of the six days in Genesis 1 was actually a geological age of perhaps millions of years, and also the Gap Theory, which states that there is a multi-million or billion year gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 during which the years required for evolution occur. Not only do these "theories" contradict the clear teaching of Genesis 1-2, they also contradict Romans 5:12. According to verse 12, there was no death until after Adam's sin. That being the case, how could all those animals, fish, and insects seen in the fossil record have died? According to evolution, and the theories that attempt to combine evolution with the Bible, all those creatures died long before man existed on earth. According to our text today, that is impossible. Death entered into the world after Adam's sin, and not one moment before. Only the literal acceptance of the six days of creation as spelled out in Genesis 1 allows for this to be true.

I want to get back to the consequences of Adam's sin. Adam's sin produced death, but it also produced a sin nature in every human. In Psalm 51:5 David wrote,

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Gen. 2:17).

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."