From Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— 13 sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14 Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16 And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. 17 If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 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. 19 For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
We are preparing a journey in which we will try to face our sins and focus on the One who delivered us from them. The Apostle Paul in his gospel, The Letter to the Romans, attempts to help us understand sin and more importantly, He who conquered it. The Hebrew understanding of sin was that it was introduced by Adam and Eve's disobedience to God. The introduction of sin brought in death, and death like an out of control terminal disease, spread to all humanity. And through their scriptural understanding of sin, from Adam to Moses, sin claimed all lives. It was not until Moses received the law did humanity understand sin and its terrible consequences. But Jesus introduced us to the grace of God and the free gift of salvation from sin. Paul calls this justification; being made acceptable in the face of unacceptability. The gift of Christ superseded the "gift" of Adam. Adam's gift made many sinners; Christ' gift allows for many to become righteous.
Sin is missing the mark or falling short of where we know God would have us be. It is a blot on our hearts and spirits that should not be there, yet by our wrong choices or failure to obey God we have allowed sin to come into our lives. The journey of Lent is a time to reflect on our needing God and God's gift of Jesus Christ to remove our sin and replace it with life and peace. Sin that grows brings guilt and shame. Christ came to lift us up from there to a place of hope and more importantly a place of life in abundance.
All of us have sinned, as Paul states earlier in his gospel, but because of Jesus Christ, all can be made clean of sin. We do not have to stay in our sin; Christ offers us a change of address. We do not have to live with guilt, we can turn that over to Him and Jesus will give us new life free from guilt and free from shame. Christ takes our burdens and lightens our load. The way towards God is made clearer and on we journey.
We're hardest on ourselves than God. When we ask for forgiveness, we receive it. We sometimes don't take that seriously and the memory of that sin stays with us to torture and torment us for as long as we want. But we don't have to want that; we have to want freedom from heavy, burdensome memories and receive the true freedom that brings us joy from above. Ask and receive that today.
PRAYER: Thank You, Loving God for being more ready to forgive us than we are to ourselves. Let all those who ask for freedom from sin receive it along with Your peace and hope. Help us prepare for a journey that will lead us away from sin and temptation to a life of peace and love. This is our prayer, lifted up in faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
