¹¹ … our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. ¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world …

The agent of our reconciliation is our Lord Jesus Christ. The agent or cause of sin entering the world is “one man,” identified in verse 14 as Adam in the Garden of Eden. Whether this “one man” refers to Adam (the first male) in distinction from Eve (the first female), or to Adam as represented in both the man and the woman, is a subject for debate because of the disagreement among evangelicals today about men’s and women’s roles in the church. Egalitarians (who believe male and female have equal access to all roles in the church) and complementarians (who believe male and female are equal but nonetheless have distinct roles in the church) fiercely disagree. It is true that the word for “man” in our passage is “anthropos,” which can be understood to be mankind and is not necessarily limited to just a male. And therefore it is possible that “Adam” in verse 14 could refer to Adam, not as the first male, but as the original creation of humanity before God distinguished male and female: ^“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27). Scholars all recognize that the name “Adam” comes from the word “man.”

But the strength of the egalitarian argument fades in light of the comparison Paul uses of the creation/fall story. Paul makes a distinction about the male/female pattern in the fall of our original parents in numerous places (1 Tim 2:11-15, 1 Cor 11:8-9, etc.). In our passage, the “man/Adam” of Genesis is contrasted with the singular Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul makes the same contrast in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22: “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” The distinction in both places is between a singular man who brought death and a singular Man who brought reconciliation.

This yields significant ramifications. While Eve was the first to sin and brought on judgment for herself, it was Adam’s actions that brought judgment on all succeeding human beings. It was through his sin that sin entered the world. Not through the collective sin of Adam and Eve, but through the sin of Adam. Why is this so? While the full discussion of this goes beyond the scope of this essay, suffice it to say that all through Scripture God makes a distinction between male and female and holds men to a greater responsibility. And in this, Adam had the greater responsibility for the entry of sin into the world.

Lord, I trust You in all things and don’t lean on my own understanding.