Eastern Orthodox theology, looking to Irenaeus, speaks of Christ “recapitulating” humanity. This is the direction of Paul’s thought in our text for this week, Romans 5:12-21. Jesus is the New Adam, a restart of the human race in faithful obedience to God through the Cross and Resurrection.
Paul revels in contrasting the blessing of the new Adam in bringing us grace and life with the curse of the old Adam, who brought sin and death to humanity.
As I continue with the year-long study of Romans, this text falls on Pentecost and the connection is tenuous. However, there is a theme in the text here of dueling kingdoms. Death reigns (vv. 14, 17, 21) through Adam’s sin, but in Christ we are brought over to a kingdom of life and grace (vv. 17, 21). Thus there is in Christ a restoration of the original human sovereignty over life and creation. Those who receive grace and righteousness in Christ “exercise dominion in life” (v. 17).
One place where we’ve lost dominion or control of human life is in our failure to communicate well with one another. Our diversity of language is a biblical image of the breakdown of human community (Genesis 11). The Pentecost story of everyone hearing and understanding the preaching of the Gospel, regardless of native language, is the promise of the restoration of community and communication across human barriers of race and nationality. It is a vision of dominion over speech being returned to the human race.
I’m sure other connections between the Old Adam/New Adam contrast and the Pentecost story could be made. Anyone out there have thoughts about it?