A Spiritual Background Check

 

A

 visit to the doctor starts with the paperwork!  As soon as you walk in, the secretary/receptionist hands you a clipboard and a pen and assures you it will take only a “few minutes” to complete the form so the doctor can see you!  Yeah, right!  A few weeks would be more accurate! 

 

Last October, I was waiting to receive my flu shot and the same old song and dance routine played out in the clinic. When I arrived to receive my injection, the nurse gave me a form and asked me to complete all the information.  I felt as if I were being considered for a position with the FBI or some other government agency.  They wanted to know everything about me.  Not only was I the subject of investigation, but they also wanted to know things about the members of my family as well. 

 

I did understand the necessity of asking these questions.  To have the most up-to-date information and to have a good grasp on my medical condition, the physicians wanted to know all the medical conditions represented not only in me but also in my family.  Certain trends and conditions in that history would make me predisposed for certain ailments or diseases of which the doctors wanted to be aware. 

 

It was interesting to think that something affecting my great grandfather, whom I never met, could have a direct bearing on my life today.  That put me to thinking!  Was there a parallel to be found in my spiritual history as well?  Could something occurring in the past by someone I never met have a direct affect on my spiritual wellbeing?   

 

The answer to that question is found in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-“  Paul clearly indicates that sin entered the world by one man and that man was Adam.  His story is very familiar to all of us.  We know how he and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and consequently were forced to leave the Garden of Eden.  But the ramifications of that act need to be understood by all of us because we still wrestle daily with this condition known as sin. 

 

Lest we become too hasty to point the finger at Adam and blame him for every little fault we have, we must take note of Paul’s last two words in this passage, “all sinned.”  What Adam passed on to us was a faulty nature with the proclivity to sin.  We sin because we choose to do so, not because Adam made our decision for us.  The disease known as sin runs throughout our family history and is one with which we must daily contend. 

 

Fortunately, there is a cure, and that cure is found in Jesus Christ.  A few verses further in this passage Paul writes, “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men” (verse 18).  So, again, we must make a choice and that choice is Jesus Christ. Only in him can we be cured of our sin condition.  Only by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can we be restored and enjoy the relationship with God we were meant to have all along. 

 

How long has it been since you had a spiritual background check?  The sin nature we inherited from Adam can be cured by accepting Jesus Christ!  Would you like to make an appointment with him today?