Adam’s Family

They’re creepy and they’re kooky

Mysterious and spooky

They’re altogether ooky

The Addams Family

 Do you remember the bizarre TV family that this song refers to? Gomez and Morticia Addams, heading up a strange collection of relatives, including a dwarf-sized ball of hair with a hat, a disembodied hand, a robed uncle with his own personal electrical current, and two normal-looking children who are actually as weird as everyone else in the family.

The Bible points out that we all belong to another ooky family – Adam’s Family. Romans 5:12 says that “sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and in this way, death came to all men, because all sinned.” It seems that Adam’s sin of disobedience to God had a far-reaching consequence: an inclination towards sin and an inheritance of death for all who would come after him – the whole human family. Yes, that includes you and me. Adam started a family that would be sinners by nature, right from birth. “But”, one may protest, “can a pure, innocent little child have sin in his or her heart?” Every parent knows the answer to this question. Soon after the veneer of helpless babyness cracks, the undesirable character traits of our great, great, great, etc. grandfather become apparent, just as they did in us, and just as they will in generations to come: selfishness, coveteousness, stubborn pride, greed, jealousy… sadly, the list goes on.

So here we are, some of us displaying our sinful nature in bizarre easy-to-see ways, and others seeming outwardly normal, but nonetheless carrying and ultimately displaying the characteristic traits of Adam’s Family. Is there any escape from this hopeless generational nightmare? Paul addresses this in Romans 7:24-25, when he asks and answers this question in the same breath: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Yes, there is rescue from Adam’s Family! It is through a new Adam, so to speak – Jesus Christ, who through the Holy Spirit is establishing a family line of people who are being made free from their inheritance of sin and death in Adam by receiving salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth to do the Father’s will, which included being crucified for our sins, dying and rising again, and forced open the door to the Adam’s family mansion, allowing all who desire to escape to be rescued and renewed through faith in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul puts it like this in Romans 5:18-19:

“Consequently, just as the result of one trespass [Adam’s sin] was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness [Jesus’ death and resurrection] was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus Christ] the many will be made righteous.”

Do you suppose that there is no “ookiness” in you, that you don’t really belong to Adam’s family? Allow God to search your heart, pointing out your sin, and it will become as clear to you as it probably is to others. Or perhaps you know all too well that you are from Adam’s family line, and you can’t see any escape. If this is the case, I encourage you to fix your eyes on Jesus Christ, who has already broken down the door to Adam’s house and is willing to give you a place in God’s house, as part of His family. I encourage you to reach out in faith to Him, and truly receive a new inheritance that begins in this life with moral transformation and continues throughout eternity in fellowship with God as His dearly loved adopted sons and daughters.

Sweet.

May the Lord bless you,

Robert Baron