It was not the first of its kind... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned...
Romans 5:12

It was not the first of its kind, but nevertheless it was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic constitution in Germany. With the Weimar Constitution of August 14, 1919, the war-torn country embarked on a completely new course. But the young German republic was on shaky ground from the outset, because the peace treaty of Versailles imposed almost unbearable conditions on it.

Then, in the firm grip of the National Socialists, Germany got involved in another war in September 1939. And this war plunged the country into disaster. Its end was misery and destruction. So it all began with the First World War – which is why some historians call it the “primordial catastrophe” of the 20th century.

This is reminiscent of a much worse “primordial catastrophe”: an event at the very beginning of our time, when man deliberately turned away from God. This decision to want to be independent of the Creator destroyed man’s relationship with Him. This is the origin of all human catastrophes in general.

Since the Fall, all human beings have been firmly in the grip of a power that doesn’t want to let us go. But there is one who can save us from “the power of darkness”: it is the merciful God who has compassion for us in our misery. The grace “of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many”, so that all who have accepted this grace are freed from the slavery of sin and can expect eternal life at “the end” (Romans 5:15; 6:22).

Today’s reading: Jonah 3:1-10 · Proverbs 27:1-9