Death in Adam, Life in Christ

“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

1 Corinthians 15:21-22

Hello, friend!! With the holiday right around the corner, God put it on my heart to share a poem that I wrote with you!

While it is heavy and sobering, I feel it is important to be reminded of the truth of this season and allow it to pierce our hearts.

Good Friday and Easter are about more than just candy, a bunny, good food, and family. It’s about the death, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus and the love that was shown on that cross all those years ago.

I think that as a society, we’ve become desensitized to the reality of the cross and our role in it. It can be so easy to look at Easter, see the fluff, and not look further. It can be so easy to forget that Easter is personal.

Friend, I’m not saying this to point the finger because I’m guilty of it too.

But the truth is, Jesus bore unimaginable pain on our behalf.

He was rejected.

He was betrayed.

He was despised.

He was mocked.

He was beaten.

He was whipped.

He was tortured.

He was killed.

Isaiah 53, Matthew 27, and Romans 5 & 6 have been weighed so heavily on my heart. The Cross and our role in it is a heavy topic, but one that shouldn’t be disregarded or avoided. It’s important to remember that sin came at a cost, Jesus.

He bore the weight of the punishment for the entirety of sin for the generations that were and the generations to come.

Jesus’ sacrifice isn’t just a story, and it wasn’t just their sin that caused Him to suffer and put Him on that cross. 

It was ours too.

By His blood we are healed.
Through His death, we are absolved of sin.
In Jesus, we are a new creation.

Whole.

Washed clean.

Forgiven.

Resurrected.

𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦.

Even though it would be over a thousand years until we were born, Jesus thought of us on that cross too. 

He loved each of us—every single person of every single nation that would ever walk this earth—enough to bear unimaginable pain and pay a price that was never His to pay, all so that we could one day join Him for all of eternity.

~

Now, I would like to share with you a poem that I wrote about what Jesus did on the cross for us, titled Death in Adam, Life in Christ:

To love and be loved is to be changed
echoed in creation’s mind as eyes took in
gruesome scars marring Holy skin.

A covenant sealed through sacrifice
for our vice.
Fleshly pursuits
for forbidden fruits
wrought with destruction,
always an obstruction.
A gilded cage of our own creation
turning a once lively garden into a cremation.

For it was our inequity that bruised,
that cut,
that pierced
that drew blood,
that scarred,
that crushed,
that killed.

Our sin
that lacerated His skin.
That rejected and despised.
That laughed and jeered as He struggled.
That judged and condemned.
That looked on as He suffered.

All that was ours
became His;
from flesh to Flesh
the burden passed.
Every thorny secret,
every piercing agony
every mortal misery,
He knew it all with familiarity;
an earthly crown of death
upon the Heavenly.

Each pained cry
drawn from our own hand;
our sin became a brand
willingly bore
upon the spotless Lamb.
The mark for slaughter shifted,
and the punishment lifted
from earthly shoulders.
The burden of our iniquity
laid on the Heavenly.

His last breath became our first,
as Holy blood spilled upon the earth
seeping into the land
our toil
had soiled;
a garden made barren by our own hand.
Each precious, blameless drop
reversing the curse
of the first.
The life once in Heavenly lungs stilled
as He paid the price for the earthly that killed.
Pouring out His life unto death
the wage of sin;
a holy offering
for all who had gone astray
lost in choosing their own way.

The earth shook
and the skies erupted
as the veil tore.
All that was good entered the grave;
damnation for three days.
With selfless actions born through sacrificial love,
The venom of the wicked
faded away
and the barren garden revived.
From dust to dust,
dry bones resurrect
and new life is born,
beauty sprung from ashes.
In the increase of sin
Grace abounded all the more;
for where Love triumphed,
the tomb lays empty.

To love and be loved is to be changed
While our love killed,
His saved.

~

This year, I encourage you to truly reflect on the meaning and importance of the cross and to spend time in His presence.

Jesus didn’t just love us, He lived it.

He is more than worthy.

Thanks for reading!

Joyfully His,
Areonah