Romans 5:18

Romans 5:18

No one likes to be excluded. We can see this most clearly in children, who are always jostling for the best position with each other, whether that's first in line or the one picked for a special task or the first to be given whatever is being handed out to everyone in the class. There are provisions in the Old Testament for a non-Jew to convert and be recognized with certain rights as an adopted member of God's People, but for the most part inclusion was a matter of birth more than choice. If you were a non-Jew, you couldn't go past the Court of the Gentiles; if you were a woman, you couldn't enter beyond the specified point; if you weren't a Levite, you weren't eligible for a job at the Temple; if you were a Levite, you couldn't offer sacrifices or enter the Holy of Holies. We've all been included in the condemnation for our sins but now we're offered inclusion in a much better prize. We're no longer excluded from a well-ordered relationship with God simply because of our nationality. We're no longer faced with death because we weren't born into God's People. The path closed by Adam's sin is reopened to us so we can be picked at the front of the class for eternal life. If you ever jostled your classmates to be first in line, this is a much greater prize than anything your teacher handed out. And it's open to all.