Through one man...

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned
V 12

So death is a result of sin and in particularly the sin of Adam. Yet one thing that the fossil record shows clearly is that the act of dying had been going on for a long time before Adam was around, so how should we understand this?

In this passage Adam is being used in a representational way. We know this because, well, for one thing Adam wasn’t the first person to sin - Eve nipped in there before him (as Paul highlights in 1 Tim 2 v 14).

So Adam is the representational ‘one man’ through whom sin came into the world. It’s worth recognising here that sin is the choice to do the wrong thing. As Adam and Eve where the first creatures to have a relationship with God, to know him and to know his will, it makes sense that they were the first to be able to choose to go a different way - sin.

The passage in Romans goes on to elaborate how Adam was a ‘type’ of the one who was to come. This is why he is again paired up with Jesus (see also here). The thinking moves on as follows:

For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
V 17

Paul is using Adam to help us understand the significance of Christ. All who are saved are saved through the Lord Jesus. What’s interesting is that this must therefore include those who were born before Jesus existed. Other passages reveal this to be true.

This then helps us understand how death could have existed before Adam. God creates things in anticipation. He created a world where death is the only certainty of life in anticipation of Adam’s sin. He also brought salvation to men in anticipation of the work of Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous… so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
V 18 - 21