“We Reign In Life By
Jesus Christ”
Romans 5:12-17
12) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13) (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when
there is no law.
14) Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had
not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of
him that was to come.
15) But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the
offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace,
which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16) And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment
was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto
justification.
17) For if by one man's offence death reigned by
one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Preface
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his
is the season in which one will hear much about Jesus’ birth. Though we know
that He was born, not many know why He came. Though there is much celebration,
it is not necessarily of Him.
No
matter what one believes, it does not change the fact,
that He came or that He came to rid Man of sin.
Main
Thought
The
coming of Jesus into the World was for the purpose of that Man coming to know
that he was a sinner. This was and remains an unpleasant revelation.
Even
after the Law was given to and broken
That
which they were required to do made an indelible mark on spiritual history. It
was however, unfortunate that the Nation of Israel did not understand the
significance of their sacrificing and that it was a precursor to the sacrifice
of the Lamb of God.
It
is impossible to be delivered from bondage to sin outside of being delivered
from bondage to flesh. Of al of the possibilities for deliverance, God chose to
send Jesus through a virgin to deliver us. You see, He had to be born of flesh
in order to set us free from flesh. By conducting Himself as He did, He took
away Man’s excuses for all time. By Jesus living a life to be controlled by the
Spirit, He proved that when flesh is not in control of one’s life, it is
possible to live free from sin.
Tragically,
the message being delivered to the church, today, is not one of freedom from
bondage to sin, but rather, one of how to be a better human being.
Yes,
this is a time to celebrate Jesus and His birth, but the birth is to be
celebrated because it is a means to our “New Birth.” For us, that birth means
deliverance from all that plagues us.
It
is a fact that all men born after Adam are born in sin. Therefore, He was given
to us as a “2 Adam,” born free from the stain of sin. While through the first
Adam and his one offense we were all made sinners, through the Second Adam and
his obedience, we were made righteous.
From
the beginning, Man would not obey the Lord. Though he had the Law, he was
unable to keep none because of his determination to please his flesh.
To
get help, all we have to do is accept it. “Help” comes through accepting that
Jesus died for us. Once we have done this, we must accept that through this,
we, too (our flesh) are dead. This frees us from the actions, impulses and
inclinations of that in which we are “housed.”
Even
after salvation, too many feel as if they must live as if “walking on eggshells.”
A preoccupation with simple “living” actually makes one more prone to “mess up”
because of a disproportionate emphasis on flesh. You see, once one understands
salvation he will be “free” to walk in the “freedom” of being free from sin.
If
we would survive this life, we will have to have control over our flesh. When
one is without control, Jesus can neither rule nor reign in our lives.
One
will know that he has had a “change of mind” when he is no longer concerned
with the things of the flesh.
Jesus’
birth is of such importance because of its uniqueness. Jesus’ blood was passed
through His mother, only, so that we would have a “route for redemption.” If
there had been no way for Him to have been born sinless, we would have had no
hope of eternity.
As
“messed up” as we are as human beings, we have no option but to change. Nothing
is changed outside of death so we, too, must be “put to death, so we, too, must
be “put to death” in order to be “made new.”
We
have said many times before that the route to “being somebody” is through
Jesus. If we yearn for “control” (to be “on top”) we will realize it only
through submitting ourselves to the Lord. As long as we are willing to “do our
job,” He will do His.