Thinking about the difference between life and death today. It’s so simple, right?
But when you really start to think about it on a deeper level, it brings more power to the analogy Paul is using. Allow me to use a couple illustrations, and maybe some adjectives for good measure.
Someone I know just had a dear friend diagnosed with a terrible type of cancer. Someone I interviewed recently lost a loved one early to cancer. Someone I interviewed also lost a grandma recently. When you hear these things, the wind goes out of your sails a bit. You’re smiling, laughing, and having good conversation and then this type of news comes in to just completely change the tone of things. Death is a somber, serious, and difficult thing to encounter, whether you’re expecting it or not. There’s a reason people wear black and gray to funerals. Death brings that kind of mood.
Paul says sin is death in chapter 6 of Romans, and I couldn’t agree more.
But then, you contrast that with life, especially new life. A few people I know have become pregnant recently, and whenever someone shares the news, people get giddy with excitement. And when a new baby is actually born, people go bananas! The crowd goes wild! Everyone comes to visit (barring COVID), they bring gifts, they bring meals, they send cards and clothes, and all of the rest of it. Most of all, people want to hold that new baby. They want to snuggle it close, admire it, and the really crazy ones even want to smell it. They say babies have a fresh smell or something. Weird, but I get the new smell claims about other new things– new shoes, new cars, etc. New life and new things bring excitement, joy, exuberance!
So here’s another thing Paul says in Romans 6. He says you’re alive to God. New birth, new life, real life.
Sin leads to bondage and a dead end. Belief in Christ’s resurrection leads to life, and more and more of it.
Death vs. Life. The choice seems easy.
Omer Redden 