Journey to the Cross

Pause

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on our world.

Listen

Just as through one human being sin came into the world, and death came through sin, so death has come to everyone, since everyone has sinned. Although sin was in the world, since there was no Law, it wasn’t taken into account until the Law came. But death ruled from Adam until Moses, even over those who didn’t sin in the same way Adam did—Adam was a type of the one who was coming.

But the free gift of Christ isn’t like Adam’s failure. If many people died through what one person did wrong, God’s grace is multiplied even more for many people with the gift—of the one person Jesus Christ—that comes through grace.

Romans 5:12-15

Think

Paul likes to talk. He uses so many words, that sometimes you have to study to get it – which is part of our responsibility as Christians. So here we are talking about Adam again and sin. I suppose you should get ready for a few weeks of conversation about sin, an important part of Lent. And it is important on our journey as believers in Christ. We all sin.

Sin has lots of definitions. My favorite right now is this one: Sin is whatever separates you from God. So, sin can be too much attention on any one thing or person. It can be ignoring signs and sounds of God by having our heads buried in our phones. It can also be lying and cheating, intentionally taking advantage of those whom God calls us to take care of. Sin is tricky, and again, all of us sin.

Well, except one person – Jesus. Paul wraps this up well – “God’s grace is multiplied even more with the gift of Jesus.” So, think about your sins today. Tell God about them and ask God’s forgiveness. And then, accept God’s multiplied grace.

David Burroughs

Pray

God, thank you for Adam, for Abraham, for Moses, for Rahab, for Deborah, and for Paul. Thank you for all the heroes of faith who paved the way for me to find a way to be in relationship with you through Jesus. Amen.

Go

May God give you grace never to sell yourself short; grace to risk something big for something good; grace to remember that the world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.

William Sloane Coffin