Is Sin Really a Big Deal? Part 3: Everyone Sins

Background Passage: Genesis 3:1-24
Today’s Focal Passage: Romans 5:12-14

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned. 13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to one's account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression. He is a prototype of the Coming One.

Punnett Squares

Only one thing stuck out to enough to be retained in all my years of high school and collegiate level biology: the Punnett Square. I remember being so fascinated with trying to determine traits like eye and hair color based on dominant and recessive gene theories.

Eye Color b b
B Bb Bb
b bb bb

Looks like a mom with blue eyes and a heterozygous dad with brown eyes have a 50/50 chance of having kids with either blue or brown eyes. It all depends on the presence of the dominant brown-eyed gene.

Punnett squares became even more important to me when my wife was pregnant. I knew that I was a carrier for the cystic fibrosis gene, so naturally we had her tested. For me, the disease ran in my family. Turns out she was also a carrier, for the same gene mutation. The coincidence was mindboggling. That meant we had a 25% chance of having a child that displayed cystic fibrosis and a 50% chance of having a child that was simply a gene carrier. Both of our daughters are carriers but neither display the disease.

Sin entered the world through one man and was passed on to all men. Sin is the dominant gene and it is always present. We all inherited sin from Adam and there isn’t one life in any of our family trees who didn’t display sin and pass a sinful nature on to their kids and their kids’ kids.

Fortunately for us, Romans 5 also contains verses 18 and 19:

So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone. 19 For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

Our sin nature is a very real condition we all live with. Our sin’s forgiveness is a very real option we can’t live without. Sin entered the world through man. Salvation entered the world through Christ and that salvation starts with acknowledging the fact that we are indeed sinners and in need of forgiveness.

o Who in your life needs to know what the Bible teaches about sin and forgiveness?

o Today, pray that God will author conversations with those friends and family members who need to hear the truth about sin’s consequences and also Christ’s gift of eternal life and freedom from sin.