Very rarely does someone make a negative comment at the sight of me. I’ve gotten a few eye rolls, but even those I can count on one hand. Once, a man shook his finger at me as he passed and then yelled angrily over his shoulder, “Adam got it wrong! God got it wrong!” He hurried on his way and I decided not to yell after him. I felt part taken aback, part trepidatious, and part wishing I’d engaged him in conversation. He’s right, at least to some extent. Adam got it wrong, which is why Jesus went to the cross. “Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.” (Romans 5:18).
The more interesting question is whether God got it wrong. It can certainly feel that way when we consider the unspeakable evil in our world. It can feel that way in the face of unanswered prayers. It feels that way when God doesn't save us from catastrophe, injustice or extraordinary pain. At the same time, God never promised to save us from anything but our own sin.
I honestly don’t know if God ever gets it wrong. But I do know that God in Christ got it right, descending to the depths of human suffering, walking with us through the valley of the shadow of death, so we may all ascend to the mountaintop.
