Imagine a physicist who spent his entire life studying complex formulas and equations, then suddenly discovered one universal formula that explains all the others. He doesn't reject physics—he shows how everything in it finds unified meaning!
This is exactly what happened to the Apostle Paul. This outstanding Jewish rabbi, upon encountering the risen Jesus, suddenly saw how all the ancient Scriptures come together in one magnificent "Image" with Christ at the center. And he laid out his greatest discovery in the Epistle to the Romans—a document that Martin Luther called "the purest part of the Gospel," and John Calvin "the door to all the treasures of Scripture."
As Jesus said to the unbelieving Pharisees: "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me" (John 5:39 (NIV)). This is exactly what Paul does in Romans.
Paul was not a Greek philosopher or a modern psychologist, but a Jewish rabbi to the core. After his encounter with the risen Jesus, he understood: all the aspirations of the Jewish Scriptures find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Amazing fact: In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul uses the Old Testament 54 times—more than in any other epistle! For Paul, "Scripture" meant exactly what we today call the Old Testament.
What Old Testament themes does Paul present? It's an entire mosaic of biblical revelation: the creation of all humanity, the fall as humanity's failure in purpose, Abraham as the father of believers and promises, the law and its role in salvation history, David as king and type of the Messiah.
But one theme stands out in a special way—Jesus as the Second Adam.
In Romans, Paul repeatedly returns to this central theme: "Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people" (Romans 5:18 (NIV)).
And also: "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters" (Romans 8:29 (NIV)).
What is Paul talking about here? He takes us back to the very beginning. God created the world as His temple—a place of His presence and glory. At the center of this temple He placed humanity as His image and likeness. Humanity was created to be king and priest of creation—to rule the world on God's behalf and represent the world before God.
Humanity, in the persons of man and woman, was created as one unified image of God. This meant the calling to be king—to rule creation according to God's will, and priest—to represent creation before God. This was humanity's vocation—to function as God's image in the world.
But the fall occurred, which brought confusion in two key areas. First, humanity stopped functioning properly as God's image. Instead of following God's will, they decided to determine for themselves what was good and evil. Second, the violation of vocation led to moral degradation.
It's important to understand: the commandments "you shall not murder," "you shall not steal," "you shall not commit adultery" come after the commandment "You shall not make for yourself an image—any likeness." God had already created His image—humanity—and wanted that image to function properly. Moral problems are the consequences of an incorrectly understood and non-functioning vocation.
As Paul writes: "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another" (Romans 1:22-24 (NIV)).
But where the first Adam failed, Jesus triumphed. In the Garden of Gethsemane He said: "Yet not as I will, but as you will"—allowing God to decide what is good and evil. Jesus fulfilled humanity's failed vocation: He became the perfect image of God, functioned properly as King and Priest, and restored the connection between God and creation.
But Jesus is not just a repair of the old, but the beginning of new humanity. Through the Holy Spirit, God today transfers people from old humanity to new. This is what we call baptism with the Holy Spirit: "For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13 (NIV)).
Before us are two realities with two destinies. Old humanity is doomed to destruction and will remain outside the history of God's redemption. New humanity will continue to live with God in the new creation. This humanity, having passed through the sufferings that sin brings but having found God in the midst of it, has risen to a new level of existence.
This new humanity is the Church.
What does this mean for us today? First, understanding our identity—we are called to be God's image, kings and priests in the world. Second, understanding our calling—through Christ we are restored to our original vocation. Third, understanding our future—we are part of the new humanity that will live with God in the new creation.
"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" (Romans 11:33 (NIV)).
The Epistle to the Romans is not an isolated theological treatise, but a description of the climax of biblical salvation history through Jesus Christ. Paul shows us a magnificent picture: from the creation of the first Adam to the resurrection of the Second Adam, from the old creation to the new.
The story that began in the Garden of Eden with humanity's calling to be God's image finds its glorious culmination in the new creation, where redeemed humanity finally fulfills its vocation in Christ.
At the center of this greatest story of all time stands Jesus Christ—the Second Adam, the Perfect Image of God, King of kings and High Priest, the "Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Revelation 22:13 (NIV)), through whom all God's promises receive their "yes" and "amen."
We live in a transitional time—between already accomplished redemption and the not-yet-arrived full restoration. But we know: new humanity in Christ is not just a dream, but a reality into which we are called to enter today.