Adam’s child
“As Adam refused to preserve the order of Paradise, i.e., the limits of his creatureliness, man as Adam’s child refuses to fit into the order of restoration. He will not understand and admit that he is flesh, stands under judgment, and can only live by grace. He will not admit that God is right in His verdict upon him, and then cling entirely to this God’s mercy. At the very least he insists upon still standing and walking on his own feet. He wants, at least in co-operation with what God does, to ‘save his life’ (. . . Mk. 8:35). By that very process he loses his life. On that very rock he suffers shipwreck. For by that very process sin in the flesh is not judged, but rather is committed afresh. By that very process man does afresh what Adam did.” (Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, p. 2.157)
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