Undeniably, all diseases are cruel experiences no one desires. The discomfort, inconvenience, and, most of all, the pain they impose are some of the reasons we all try to avoid them. Although it is true that living a healthy lifestyle (such as exercising daily and eating healthy) minimizes the risk of contracting a disease, it does not eliminate it. Thus, it is not uncommon for even the healthiest person to fall into the cruel grasp of sickness. Perhaps what makes these uninvited illnesses truly cruel is that they are a stark reminder of just how frail our bodies truly are. Without a doubt, they serve as messengers that constantly remind mankind of God’s promise that “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Indeed, it goes without saying that to become ill is to be reminded that we are on limited, borrowed time slowly seeping away. Since this is true, God’s omniscience becomes resplendent when He declares that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a, emphasis added). He further explains through the inspired quill of His psalmist, “I said, ‘Lord, be merciful to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You’” (Psalm 41:4, emphasis added). It is imperative to comprehend that sin is a horrible disease for the soul of man. It is vicious and aggressive in nature that rapidly devours the hearts of men. In the heading of this composition, it was declared that all infirmities are cruel; however, it cannot be denied that some are more cruel than others. Those diseases considered to be most ruthless are typically viewed in this light because they are aggressive in nature and cannot be cured. Nonetheless there are some diseases that, although they may not be necessarily terminal, can transform a person’s life into a nightmare due to their infectious nature. In 2009 a new flu virus called the “Swine flu” was declared an epidemic in Mexico due to how quickly it was spreading throughout that nation. Thus, Mexican government officials deemed it necessary to close down several public and private establishments where infection had spread the most, in an effort to prevent any further spread of the virus. Those who had become infected with swine flu had to be quarantined not only to protect those who had not been infected by the virus, but for their own personal safety as well. This meant that infected husbands were to be separated from their healthy wives, infected mothers could not tend to their healthy children, and even loving grandparents were stopped from hugging their infected grandchildren. Thus the bitter experience of having to isolate people from their loved ones because they were sick with H1N1, was not a popular decision, but a necessary one to prevent a global widespread of the infection. It was a heartbreaking decision that was wisely made to avoid families being permanently separated by death linked to this virus. Behold another reason sin is a dreadful spiritual disease! It is unwise to believe that sin is not contagious. Our Father reveals through the inspired Paul that “just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12, emphasis added). The apostle Paul is not speaking of what some have erroneously tagged as the original sin that is “inherited” by every human being, since he clearly declares that all men are sinners because all men have sinned. His allusion to Adam sinning for the first time in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-24) must be carefully studied and properly understood to avoid this confusion. Observe the words selected by the Holy Spirit: “just as through one man sin entered the world.” The first thing we are taught is that Adam was not the creator of sin. Remember that when God created man and completed His creation, Holy Scripture proclaims “then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31, emphasis added). This included Adam since he was the first man to have been created. The inspired Koheleth concurs with Moses as he, too, writes “truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29, emphasis added). Therefore, because sin is a spiritual virus that infects, Adam was pure when God created him. God illuminates this truth as He describes their sanctity displayed by the fact that “they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25, emphasis added). This pericope exhibits the presence of innocence and the absence of malice. Although both Adam and Eve were standing before each other naked, neither one had an impure sexual thought. On the contrary, they were unaware of their nudity due to their childlike innocence until “the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:6-7a, emphasis added). Their innocence was lost as a consequence of their disobedience to God’s commandment and it was in that moment when man became infected by sin (Genesis 2:17). Thus, Adam was the carrier of sin; not its originator. In other words, he is what in the medical world is called “patient zero” and this is what Paul refers to as him giving sin “entrance” into the world. Yet, it is important to understand the other lesson the apostle is explaining. Once more, he is not teaching that all of mankind has “inherited” Adam’s sin because “behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, emphasis added). The lesson is that Adam gave mankind the example of how to sin. This is how he became the carrier of the spiritual disease. He infected mankind not by imposing his own sin upon us, but by being an example of how to sin. The apostle reiterates this in his comparison between Adam and Jesus as he promulgates, “for as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19, emphasis added). Due to the infectious character of sin, God sent His Son to contain the spread of this spiritual virus and “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5, emphasis added). Notice that for man to reach eternal glory he must follow the example of Christ; he does not inherit salvation from Christ. Thus, the same is true of Adam’s sin and how he infected the world. Thus, to be cured from sin one must follow Jesus’s example of righteousness in a world plagued by sin. If we have received the cure for sin, then we must beware of not becoming infected again. If we do get infected after being cured, it is vital to accept that a quarantine may be needed in order to be healed. To be continued…
