Monday, October 24, 2011

Verse 22

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

It ought not be that way.

It will be set right.

This verse tells us that death enters through Adam. Our first ancestors brought all death into the world. This is important to remember. Death isn't a part of life. It's not a force we should honor, respect, or easily accept.

It is an enemy.

It ought not be that way.

God created a world based on immortality, but with sin mortality entered. It's foreign. It's outside. It's enemy.

But . . . it will be set right.

Because, "in Christ all will be made alive." To be made alive again that is a reversal of the first death. To be made alive again is a setting right of the wrong. To be made alive again is the only answer to this world. Not coping, not accepting mortality, not embracing nihilism.

In Christ all will be made alive!

Unlike the "all" connected to Adam however, this "all" is not without exception. The first "all" is clearly stating that all who die, die through the death of Adam. The "all" found within "in Christ all will be made alive" is not inclusive. Rather, from the context of Paul's argument it can only rightly be understood to mean that "all who will be raised will be raised by Christ and by nothing else."

And, only those who are in Christ are those who will be made alive in that way.

So, the question becomes clear. The death of Adam is universal. There's no avoiding it. But, Christ's offer of resurrection is conditional. We need examine ourselves and ask what to do with this.

When it comes down to it, there's only a few important questions in life. Here's the top three.

Is there a God?

What kind of god is this God?

Am I in Christ?

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