Romans 5:14
Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Sandwiched between two passages in Romans 5 celebrating the free gift of salvation brought by the second Adam, this verse was written by Paul to demonstrate why we needed him to end the reign of death. You see the word “type”. A type is an example, an image. In ancient times, Robert Mounce says, an impression would be made of an object into clay. Molten metal would then be poured to reproduce the image of the original object. You may be asking this question. How does Adam, the original sinner, produce an image for the only sinless man to reproduce. Paul explained that Adam brought sin into the world through his disobedient act and Jesus defeated sin in the world through the ultimate obedient act. In a strange and perverse way, Adam made the atonement of Jesus possible. In that, he was a type.
There have been many types in the Bible pointing to Jesus Christ. Moses led the Hebrews to redemption. David established the throne Jesus would inhabit. Hosea would reconcile with an unfaithful wife. May we seek today to be a type of Christ. May we reproduce his image by the refiner’s fire of suffering and trial. May the molten metal expose who we are in Christ, image bearers of God. While it seems death still reigns in our world, Jesus set the example of the conqueror of death, resurrected bodily to be the example for us to follow. May we be a type of…
The one who is to come.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church