For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
~ 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 

Remember some of those all-camp games? I find it interesting that some kids can be on the winning team, and they didn’t really contribute anything to winning. All they did was stand around and complain. And yet, their team wins!? Hey, it’s all part of camp. 

That’s a great picture of our salvation.

Paul says in today’s verses that death comes to all because we’re on Adam’s team, so to speak. Since death is the just punishment for sin (Romans 6:23), we simply don’t have the ability to do anything good for God. Actually you could say that what we contribute to our salvation is our sin—the very reason we need to be saved. Elsewhere Paul says that we were dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). 

Pretty dismal. 

But along comes the man. Some Bible translations even capitalize it in verse 21 to help us understand that the true Man is Jesus Christ. 

Those who are represented by Christ are made alive by receiving the resurrection from the death penalty for our sins. We’ve contributed nothing to this. We couldn’t, because we were dead. To be spiritually resuscitated we needed someone to do something miraculous for us. Something like a resurrection. A spiritual birth. Regeneration. 

This is the glory of salvation. What we desperately need, God graciously provides in Christ. 

Everything else that we experience in the Christian life flows from this fountain-head. Our good works, our transformed desires, our faith, our love—all flow as a result of being made alive. Although we still battle the self-centeredness and the laziness in our hearts, in a sense, we can’t stop the transformed flow of good stuff. We were dead and have now been made alive. 

Sometimes I’m still like that camper standing around complaining. But why am I complaining? I should be glad just to be alive.

Are you?