Listen to one of the least debated, least disputed verses in the Bible: Rom. 5:17 tells us that, as a result of Adam’s sin passed down to us all, “death reigns” (repeat).
Who can deny those two words, this obvious fact, that “death reigns” in this world? – Who can argue history is not one long story of Death’s rule & dominion over humanity? – [As we just saw earlier in our Scripture reading in Gen. 5, “and he died”….]
God warned man that if he sinned, Death should show no mercy, but would rule ruthlessly, with an iron sceptre: Gen. 2, speaking to Adam & Eve of the forbidden tree: “On the day that you eat from it, you will surely die.” –And so they did. – Gen. 3, “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return”, said the LORD. – And so the soil has devoured Adam’s sons & daughters ever since: “death reigns”.
The painful evidence is all around us. – News’ headlines are just obituaries in a different form: Right here at Northgate on Thursday, a guard shot dead. – At least 67 dead in Nairobi after a brutal mall siege last weekend. – At least 42 dead after a boat sank on the Niger River on Friday. – 85 Christians slain in a Pakistan church last Sunday. – The day before that, at least 515 dead in a Pakistan earthquake. – And this all just in the last week. – “Death reigns”.