Romans 5:14

Romans 5:14

"Type" or "figure" here is important because it lays the groundwork for the next several verses. It means we can see similarities in Adam's story and Jesus' story which will help us understand Jesus and what He did for us better than by looking only at the New Testament. Reading about Adam can clarify what we read about Jesus even though Jesus is the fulfillment--the expansion or the perfection--of what Adam did and like every analogy it can be taken too far. Yet it can be very helpful and through the end of chapter 5 we see it used by highlighting a series of parallels between Adam and Jesus. In each one Adam's choice brought something horrible to all humans while Jesus' sacrifice brought a restoration plus much more. We could read only about Jesus and be fine but learning more and understanding more improves our relationship. If we truly love Him, why would we not choose to grow in our relationship with Him? So we read about Adam's Fall in order to better recognize what we lost through it and understand more fully how Christ Jesus restored what we lost and brought us so much more. So with Christ we are much further ahead (in a certain sense) than we would have been if we had never rejected God to begin with.