Lent 1
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even for those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam....
-- Romans 5:14
As a child, I wondered how God could be so mean as to punish all of us for the sin of Adam. Paul tied the sin of Adam and the power of death together. The sin of Adam was disobedience to God's clear command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. By breaking trust with God, humanity -- the basic definition of the word "adam" -- felt the loneliness of the universe. Death and its avoidance became the primary focus. As Paul stated, this was true even for those whose transgressions differed from that of Adam. When we assume that death, not God, has the final word, then death claims our ultimate loyalty. Whether it manifests itself in lust for power, wealth, reputation, and the like, we seek that which will ward off the inevitability of death. Even our practice of religion can become a form of worshiping death. We accept Jesus as our Savior because we want eternal life. Paul countered this distortion of faith with "the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of one man, Jesus Christ...." If we seek to escape the power of death by meeting a criteria of faith by which we must be saved, we are bound by the laws of religion and still under the power of death. If, however, we are saved by grace, and not by works, then the power of death is broken. Now we live, not to escape death, which has already been defeated in Christ, but to glorify God. Life is now lived not in fear but in thanksgiving. "Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all."
-- Romans 5:14
As a child, I wondered how God could be so mean as to punish all of us for the sin of Adam. Paul tied the sin of Adam and the power of death together. The sin of Adam was disobedience to God's clear command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. By breaking trust with God, humanity -- the basic definition of the word "adam" -- felt the loneliness of the universe. Death and its avoidance became the primary focus. As Paul stated, this was true even for those whose transgressions differed from that of Adam. When we assume that death, not God, has the final word, then death claims our ultimate loyalty. Whether it manifests itself in lust for power, wealth, reputation, and the like, we seek that which will ward off the inevitability of death. Even our practice of religion can become a form of worshiping death. We accept Jesus as our Savior because we want eternal life. Paul countered this distortion of faith with "the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of one man, Jesus Christ...." If we seek to escape the power of death by meeting a criteria of faith by which we must be saved, we are bound by the laws of religion and still under the power of death. If, however, we are saved by grace, and not by works, then the power of death is broken. Now we live, not to escape death, which has already been defeated in Christ, but to glorify God. Life is now lived not in fear but in thanksgiving. "Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all."
