One Decision
Written by Tammy Iund Woodard
A Decision Made By One Man Impacted Generations.
Romans 5:12 - When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Adam’s decision impacted generations in a negative way. Due to the sin of Adam, we are all born dead in our trespasses and sin. Romans 5 explains to us that our human nature is a sinful nature. Ephesians 2:1-2 NKJV, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,”
A Decision Made by God Impacted Generations.
It’s always good to pay special attention when the bible mentions something more than once as in Romans 5.
15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
Jesus was God’s gift to us so that sin would no longer rule over our life. When we accept the gracious gift of God, Jesus' sacrifice, in our life then sin no longer rules over us. Sin ruling our life will bring about death to us, Romans 6:23 NLT, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” The gracious gift of God was the sacrifice of Jesus for our eternal life. 2 Corinthians 5:21, NLT, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” What’s so incredible is that God gave His ONLY son to pay the wages of our sin and YET, we still have a choice. We still have to accept the gracious gift.
A Decision Made By One Man Impacted Generations
I want to share the decision of another man that impacted generations for Jesus. The decision of my grandfather. Here’s an excerpt I shared at his funeral:
One choice….to serve God...blessed generations.
Isn’t it amazing what one choice for Jesus can do?
Grandpa knew Jesus…..my mom knew Jesus….my Grandpa led my father to Jesus.
Due to the life of my mother and my father, my father’s family came to know Jesus.
Grandpa led members of my dad’s family to Jesus.
Because of the legacy of Grandpa, I came to know Jesus.
God is saying it’s your turn. It’s time for the generations that are left to pick up the mantle of the legacy that was left for us. We keep looking to others but God keeps saying to us they’ve run their race. Now it’s your turn. God wants to work through you now. That’s the cry of God’s heart to the remaining generations. This man ran his race and he had a long life but if he could speak anything to you now it would be that it’s your turn to run your race. He gave us all he could in this life. He gave us the godly heritage to grow in and to build on but it’s time to run your race.
A Decision Made By God Impacted Generations
One man, Adam, rejected the plan of God. One man, my grandfather, accepted the gift of God. Each man impacted generations.
Let’s go back to Romans 5:1-2, NLT, "Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” Undeserved privilege. The Greek translation for this phrase is “friendly relation with God whereby we are acceptable to him and have assurance that he is favorably disposed toward us”. We have access to God. We have abundant life. We walk in the righteousness of Christ. We have not earned it. We have accepted it. We accept the gracious gift of God’s sacrifice in our place. Again, one man, Adam, rejected the plan of God. One man, my grandfather, accepted the gift of God. Each man impacted generations. What will be your impact on the generations?
Call to Action
Read and reflect on the following scriptures this week.
Matthew 18:1-6
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Romans 12:1, 4-8
Ephesians 4:22-24
Matthew 22:37-40
Matthew 28:19-20
Reflection
Have you accepted the free gracious gift of God’s sacrifice?
What choices have you made that impact generations?
Where is your life crossing generations?
