the malady and the remedy. Romans
chapter 5 verse 12 Therefore just as sin entered the world
through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came
to all people, because all sinned. From the very beginning, God
created mankind in His perfect image, holy, righteous, and without
blemish. But when Adam disobeyed God's
command in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the human race. This
first act of rebellion was not merely a private failure, it
was federal and representative. Adam stood as the covenant head
of all humanity. His sin plunged every one of
his descendants into guilt and spiritual death. The Bible reveals
that we do not merely imitate Adam's sin, we inherit his corrupted
nature. David cries out in anguish, Surely
I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived
me. We are born spiritually dead, estranged from God, and bent
toward wickedness. Our hearts are deceitful and
desperately wicked. This corruption affects every
part of our being, the mind, the will, the emotions, and the
affections, rendering us utterly unable to come to God by our
own strength. This truth humbles us by showing
that no human effort, no moral improvement, and no religious
ritual can remedy our condition. As Isaiah declares, all of us
have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are
like filthy rags, we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the
wind our sins sweep us away. Hence we stand condemned before
a holy God, deserving his eternal wrath. But in the gospel, God
has provided a glorious remedy. Just as sin and death came through
one man, so life and righteousness come through another, the Lord
Jesus Christ. For as in Adam all die, so in
Christ all will be made alive. When the Spirit grants new spiritual
life to us by the miracle of regeneration, then we are savingly
united to Christ by faith, and He imputes His spotless righteousness
to us. Dear believer, remember that
your salvation is entirely by God's sovereign grace. It is
not based on your own goodness, but on Christ's obedience and
sin-atoning sacrifice. Rest in the fact that the Lord
has taken away your guilt and given you a new nature. Be humbled
by your former condition, but rejoice greatly in your new life
in Him. Let this truth lead you to daily
worship the God of grace and mercy, who rescues rebellious
sinners, enlivens dead hearts, and secures eternal life.