Romans 5

There are two landmark events in the spiritual history of man. The first is the introduction of sin. God gave a specific command to Adam, and Adam disobeyed that command. From that point forward man was enslaved to sin. Death was given reign over the world and man was powerless to stop it. Man still is powerless to stop it.

Further down the line, God gave man the Law. The Law was designed to help man recognize his sin and his ultimate fate of death. It revealed the despair of humanity. One man made a single mistake and condemned all of those behind him to a penalty of death. It seems unfair, but it's not all that uncommon. One man in the White House can order thousands to battle and death, one man in the Kremlin can devastate an entire continent with the push of a button, it's not all that unreasonable to think that decisions on a universal, spiritual scale could impact generations to come.

But it didn't stay that way. Much like decisions that we make in the physical world, change happens and new opportunities are presented. Through Christ, the reign of death was broken. Through Christ, the sin was forgiven and the opportunity for redemption was made available to humankind. So, through a single man humanity was condemned and through a single man humanity was saved.

The first Adam and the second Adam were both the direct offspring of God. The first was merely an image of God, and the second was the embodiment of God. There's a huge difference. In the first, God was creating a new kind of being; a human being. In the second, God was creating a way to relate to a human being. In the first, the condemnation was extended to all without discrimination, and in the second, salvation was provided only to those that believe.

Stop following in the footsteps of the first Adam, you can't possibly succeed. Start following in the footsteps of the second.