“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12, KJV 1900)
In the early 1900s, several scientists began experimenting to produce chemical and nuclear chain reactions. The thought was to capitalize on the release of energy from these. Since nuclear reactions released millions of times more energy per reaction than chemical reactions, nuclear reactions were pursued for energy and destructive purposes. In nuclear powerplants, the chain reactions are controlled, but in nuclear bombs, they are not. The result in uncontrolled nuclear chain reactions is a devastating blast of energy. The first use of such a bomb was in Hiroshima Japan where 66,000 people were killed by the blast and another 69,000 were injured.
As devastating as this blast was to Hiroshima, there is another even more devastating chain reaction that brings forth death. This chain reaction brought forth death to more than just a city. It brought death to all mankind. The chain reaction was started by one man’s sin, Adam. God had told Adam that to disobey his specific instruction, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, would bring forth death (Gen 2:17). Yet, Adam disobeyed and began a chain reaction of sin. His rebellion against God’s specific instructions, brought sin to all humanity.
All people then inherited the nature of Adam, a sinful nature. Thus today, we see the effects of sin in the world. We have wars, greed, selfishness, and I could go on, but time will not permit. The point is that sin brings forth death and thus all humanity is plagued with the destructive power of this chain reaction of sin. The destructive power of the chain reaction of sin includes spiritual death, which affects all people. It includes physical death for all will die. It also includes eternal death, man’s eternal judgment for sin.
There is only one way to stop the destructive effects of this chain reaction of sin. God, sent His own Son to pay the penalty of sin by dying on the cross. Only placing one’s faith in Jesus will give one spiritual life and the way to escape the wrath of God at the final judgment.
Renewing the Heart 