Does Adam Represent You?

Rom 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

According to the Bible, he does. This doctrine is called the agency of Adam. A brief explanation may be in order:

The Bible tells us that "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23). It is a pillar of Christian teaching that every last human being has or will succumb to temptation and sin. Now, if something is 100% certain in the entire human population, past, present and future, one cannot say that individuals within the population have any choice in the matter. In essence, you cannot not sin. You do not have the power not to sin.

But this was not always the case. In Adam's case, he did have a choice. He did have the power not to sin. As we all know, the dweeb chose to sin.

Now, since Adam chose to sin, he and the rest of humanity lost that power. That's right. You and I and everyone else became sinners.

So if you feel that it is unfair of God to punish you for doing what you have no possibility of avoiding, you must understand that Adam was your representative, your agent. And as any watcher of Judge Judy knows, you are liable for the actions of your agent.

For example, if you hire a tree guy to take down the pine tree in your front yard, and said tree guy messes up the operation and brings said tree down upon your neighbor's new Jag, well, you are responsible. (Of course you can sue the tree guy, but the neighbor will come after you.) Because the tree guy was acting as your agent.

But, you say, I hired the tree guy! I never asked Adam to represent me! Well, that's too bad, because God chose Adam to represent you. Doesn't matter what you wanted. It's just the way it is.

How do you feel about that? Once again we come to the might makes right argument, the one that shuts us up but good. As Paul said (and I paraphrase): Who the hell are you to talk back to God?

But many Christians will then say, yes, but God also made Jesus your agent. He didn't sin, and you can switch reps and be a non-sinner. Potentially. Only if you do everything he says.

So, Adam you got whether you want him or not. To get Jesus, you'll have to do some major sucking up.

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