“Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.” Romans 5:13-14 NLT 

Footsteps #301 In Romans 5:13-14 Paul has been driving home the importance of the law, not as a means of salvation, but of condemnation. By clarifying God’s will, it holds people accountable. And breaking it means eternal death. Paul never ceases to point out that it is from that dreary ending that Christ wants to save us. All have sinned, all need Christ’s atonement.  V15 declares that Adam’s sin succeeded in creating alienation and destruction in every part of Adam and Eve’s life. First, they became separated from God. They “hid themselves…and were afraid” (Gen.38-10.) 

Such alienation is quite understandable on the human plane. For example, children who have violated their mother’s will do not wish to meet her or look her in the face. They have something in their heart that they wish to hide. Likewise, guilt renders God’s presence unbearable. 

Then came the first family argument. When God asked Adam if he had eaten any of the forbidden fruit, he quickly blamed Eve. “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12, RSV). It’s Your fault because You gave her to me. It’s her fault! So much for the world’s only perfect marriage. 

The great tragedy of the social effects of sin is that they didn’t stop in Genesis 3. The message of Genesis 4 through 11 is one of the ever-widening social impacts of sin. Today we view it daily in the news. 

The third success of sin was to alienate a person from his or her “self”. After God finished questioning Adam, He moved to Eve. “What,” He asked her, “Is this that you have done?” “The devil made me do it,” she replied (Gen. 3:13 paraphrased). Here we come face to face with the problem of people being unwilling and, in most cases, unable to face up to themselves and to evaluate honestly their actions and underlying motives. As Jeremiah pointed out, “the heart is deceitful above all things” (Jer. 17:9, RSV). 

The ultimate success of sin, of course, was to bring about both spiritual and physical death (Gen. 3:19).  So much for the bad news!