The idea of the origin of and the spread of sin in Romans 5 quickly calls to mind the Igbo proverb of that guilty finger whose meddling with the red oil ended up incriminating the other fingers. In the case of sin, it even brought death and not just collective guilt. Terrible! And to think of the fact that we constantly live under the ‘shadow of sin’ could be very disturbing. Yet, we can still think of the power of the soap against the messiness of the red oil.

What Christ brought to us is much more than the power of the soap. Christ claims us in such a way that our value is not vitiated by our messiness. We are worth much more than we can ever imagine. Every single strand of hairs on our head are accounted for by God. This is how much God loves and cares about all that he created – every one of us, no matter what and whether we believe or not. This is so much love, and an overflowing free gift of grace that we cannot sufficiently describe, explain, contemplate or expatiate. It calls us to pause and wonder, now and again. It calls us to respond to this generosity of God with our entire lives, surrendering to grace in exchange with the fetters and chains of sin, so that we can finally live free and freely – for God and for one another.

Silent before the wonder of my being, I adore you Lord!

Happy Sunday friends.