Three photos exist capturing five generations of my family. The first was taken when I was an infant and includes my mother, her mother, grandmother and great grandmother. The second was taken only two years ago when my grandmother met my first grandson, and the third last year when she met my first granddaughter. My grandmother will complete her ninety-second year in October, and Lord-willing, she will meet another great, great grandchild by spring. She’s got stubbornness on her side, plus she told her family doctor who was concerned for her after the death of my grandfather that she planned to live to one hundred twenty!
For several years, I accompanied my grandparents to their doctors visits to fill out the stacks of paper forms required before each appointment. My family medical history is fairly simple to recall as there have been relatively few major health crises. There were heart issues on my side and cancer on my husband’s but I’ve been blessed with good health most of my life. Being diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer at age fifty was a bit of a shock. I had no family history, no symptoms, and no warning.
Cancer is no respecter of persons and as further testing confirmed, mine was a non-genetically linked form that randomly shows up as mine did, without warning. Had I known I was at risk, I would have educated myself a little more on signs and symptoms signaling a need for early screening. I’ve made it my mission to remind my family and friends, and anyone I meet in my age range, not to delay having the dreaded colonoscopy at the new recommended age of forty-five. Colon and rectal cancers are operable and survival rates are very high with early detection.
I have another family history that gives more cause for concern than my medical history. Every person who has ever lived or will ever live inherits the same sickness at birth. For thousands of years, there was no cure and people died without knowing that help was on the way. Ever since the beginning, a curse was pronounced along with a promise.
“Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.””
Genesis 3:14-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/gen.3.14-15.NLT
Enter Sin.
“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”
Isaiah 53:6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.53.6.NLT
And lest we think this all-inclusive statement misses the mark, Isaiah has more to say.
“We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
We are constant sinners.
How can people like us be saved?”
Isaiah 64:6, 5b NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.64.6.NLT
But God.
“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world.
Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Yes, people sinned even before the law was given.
But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.
Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did.
Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.
But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift.
For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many.
But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.
For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many.
But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners.
But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”
Romans 5:6, 8, 10, 12-15, 17, 19 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.5.12.NLT
While humanity was still under God’s wrath, judged guilty by an inherited self-will, when we were utterly helpless, God inserted Himself into human history and became the perfect sacrifice for sin, once for all time. He took upon Himself the penalty for our transgressions. When accepted by faith, His righteousness becomes mine and I may approach the Father. In nearness to Him, empowered by His indwelling Holy Spirit and enlightened by His Word, the Bible, I am changed, from glory to glory until I meet Him face to face.
A Fitting Reply 