Gensis 3:4-5; John 12:23-24; Romans 5:18-19

Genesis 3
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

John 12
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

Romans 5
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Adam was pursuing life in the Garden of Eden when he ate the forbidden fruit, but his pursuit of life resulted in death for all of his descendants. Jesus was pursuing death at Calvary when He allowed Himself to be hung on the cross, but His pursuit of death resulted in life for all of His descendants.

What does this mean to us on a day-to-day basis? To the extent we choose the way of Adam, we also choose death. To the extent we choose the way of Christ, we also choose life. Unfortunately, we naturally prefer the way of Adam. We can't help but live out the Garden of Eden scene constantly, as the world promises life in return for self promotion in various forms, but delivers a degree of death each time.

There are those brilliant moments in our lives however, when the way of Adam is rejected and the way of Christ embraced. Some have enough faith to experience many of these moments, some even actively pursue them. People often wonder what the secret is for someone like this. As followers of Jesus, we already know the secret, may God give us the grace to pursue it each day.