Dear Gup: welcome!
"This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed - not a single detail missed - and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole. This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time." -Jesus, the Christ-
"For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous.” -
Romans 5:19
Many = πολύς/ polys
Many "made sinners">>>>>many "made righteous".
The Equation of all equations!
I think Romans 5 is where we predominantly get the
notion idea that there was a universal, corporate judgment in Adam, but that Christ's redemption or atonement is for individual sins.
There are many comparative and contrasting statements in Romans 5.
Rom 5:15-18 NASB
15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16 The gift is not like [that which came] through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment [arose] from one [transgression] resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift [arose] from many transgressions resulting in justification. 17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. 18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
V15 contrasts the gift of righteousness with death
V16 contrasts judgment arising from 1 sin with the many sins that are covered by righteousness (showing Christ's atonement covers the many sins of each individual and not just the one sin of Adam).
V17 equates the universal restoration to life of all men with the universal condemnation to death of all men.
This doesn't necessarily mean Salvation of all men... as I showed in my previous post, we will have universal resurrection (or justification to life) of all, but then we will have a second judgment and a second death for those not in Christ.
Think of it this way. Adam's one, single sin condemned all people, plants, animals, and even the ground. Truly, the whole of creation was cursed as a result of Adam's sin. So Adam's judgement is universal, corporate. To resurrect every human being who is under Adam's judgment all one has to do is forgive one, single sin. So when Romans 5:16 says the justification is NOT LIKE the condemnation (these are terms of judgment), we know that the "many sins" being covered are the individual sins of each person, not the one, single sin of Adam. It is saying the difference is that Christ's atonement covers a
different judgment than Adam's judgment.
Numbers 14:18
The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.
Ezekiel 18:20
The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
Here we see the Law saying what now is (under Adam's judgment), but Ezekiel is future prophecy and talks about how things will be in the Great White Throne judgment - an individual judgment.
Rev 20:11-12 NASB
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
So we see the book of life comes into play in the SECOND, individual judgment, not as it pertains to Adam's corporate judgment.
1Co 15:21-22 NASB
21 For since by a man [came] death, by a man also [came] the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Until a single, righteous person existed, a corporate universal judgment was just. However, once Jesus came and demonstrated his righteousness by The Law, thereby becoming the first righteous person in history, it would have invalidated Adam's judgment as unjust. Therefore, Adam's corporate judgment has to be repealed in lieu of individual judgments. Therefore Christ has brought justification of life to every thing so that it may undergoe individual judgment. This is good news for the planet, the ground, the plants, the animals... etc... since they cannot sin, they will have no more curse. But for man, we can sin, so we can be judged and have a second death.
He died for all the snot nosed people in the world in order to reconcile them to God in spite of their trespasses and stupidity. Then He gave us the mandate to tell them they were reconciled in God's eyes before they were even born, 2000 years ago.
