Sometimes facing reality is the hardest thing we find ourselves doing. We would all like to think that human beings are basically good, born innocent and can only be derailed in this life or the next by poor choices. Unfortunately, that isn't the case.

Today's passage in Romans 5 peels back the curtain, zooming out on the true consequences of what happened in Eden. One deception, two decisions (Eve and Adam), with eternal ripples throughout creation. Paul invites us to see this reality through a larger lens. Sin is more than a personal failure. It is a deep fracture which reshaped the entire human story.

Eve was deceived, but Adam made a choice; a choice affecting not only him but altering the relational fabric of every human to come after him. The perfect trust with God was broken, death and destruction became the air we breathe. This explains why brokenness and longing seems so universal. We don't just inherit a broken biology, but a fractured way and state of being.

But Adam doesn't get the final say. Paul uses the same relational framework which explains the fall to also explain the redemption from it. One act of mistrust affected everything; one act of faithfulness restored it all.

Jesus, through His death and resurrection, did more than cancel the penalties of sin, He also restored the broken relationships. Adam grasped, Jesus surrendered. Adam hid, Jesus came near. Adam fractured trust, Jesus embodied obedience rooted in trust and love.

This worldview will reshape how we see ourselves and others. People are not simply bad rule keepers, they are wounded image-bearers living in a story that went wrong and is now being set right again.

Grace isn't God lowering His standards or excusing any behavior, it's God healing all that was broken.

How does viewing sin as a universal, shared human condition rather than simply isolated failures shape your compassion towards others?

What does it mean for you, practically, that Jesus restores relationship, not just status?