Weekly Reflections
Course: 210RS
Erin R. Boland, Sr.
Rev. Paul Hamilton
Saint Leo University
Gen 1, 2 and 3: After reading these verses it occurred to me that on initial creation there was no need for salvation. Adam was already saved and without sin. Because he and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit this created sin which in turn caused the need for salvation. This need was placed upon us because of God's love for man.
In Romans (3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 8:1-10, 9 and 10) it states that all have sinned and fall short of God. I believe that this refers back to the very beginning for Adam was created in God's image and being of that image he did not fall short, at least until he sinned. After that all men who are born from Adam and Eve are no longer created in God's image and we must strive to be once more in that image.
Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Ch...
English: Icon of Jesus Christ
English: Jesus Christ - detail from Deesis mosaic,...Romans again explains God's love for man in that he sent Christ to die for all our sins. To me this shows his love for man and his desire for us to again be of his image, for image is not just "outward" his image is inward as well. It then goes on in Romans 8:38 and 39 to explain again that God's love is so great because it was sent here to earth in his son Jesus Christ and in Romans 9:1 that "I tell the truth in Christ". To me this is a statement that his love and his desire for our salvation was shown to us by Christ. Not just in his death but in the entirety of his life and teachings, for Christ himself was not perfect in his action but was in his faith and actions in God.