For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17
The word “reign” used in Romans 5:17 is the Greek word basileuo where you get the English word “basilica.” In ancient Rome, basilicas were used as law courts. So it refers to a kingly, judicial rule. In other words, to reign here is to reign in life as a king, to have kingly rule and to possess kingly dominion.
Everyone seems to know the first part of Romans 5:17 – death reign because Adam’s sin but not all confess the second part which I believed the most important part of reigning in life. That through Jesus’ gift of righteousness and the abundance of His grace we will reign in life. We are just talking about on an equal ground here, we are not yet talking about the “much more”, Jesus did it perfectly and much more than what Adam did.
When Adam sinned, death and curse came to earth. Why is it that most of the Christians today only believe that Christ rescued us from the death but not from the curse? If that is the case then whatever Adam did is more powerful that what Jesus have done on the cross. I believed in my heart that Christ freed us from the death and the curse otherwise His sacrifice is useless.
The secret of reigning in life lies therefore with receiving everything that Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross.
Receiving versus Achieving
The Bible states very clearly that we are to reign in life through Jesus Christ just by receiving two things from Him: The abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. Grace describes as unearned, undeserved, and unmerited favor from God. Think of it this way if we can earn our blessing by our own effort that means those people who don’t have the capacity to do it will be left out and I don’t think that is how God wants to bless His people. It is solely based on what Jesus has accomplished on the cross.
Long time ago, I always think that if I pray hard that God will hear me and answer all my prayers. In the same token if I fast, read the bible and attend the entire seminar in the church, I will be more closer to God and the blessing will overflow in my life.
Don’t get me wrong, all of these are good but this shouldn’t be the basis for us to be receive our blessing because if that is the case then it means that we can manipulate God and it will all depend on how we achieve these things.
My friend, this is not God’s way. God is Just and He doesn’t want His people that can not do those things not to receive from Him. Instead, He made the perfect plan by sending His son Jesus and through Him we can reign in life. We can not earn God’s Blessings by our own performance. God’s blessings are based entirely on His grace.
For example, if our blessing is based on our self effort and not from God’s Grace. Imagine what would happen if you missed reading your bible or pray when you get up in the morning. You will then miss the blessing for that day. On the other hand, the person that wanted to get more blessing, all he/she needs to do is take a day off from work and pray for the entire day then he will be a millionaire. That is just unfair and does not fit the characteristic of God.
When Jesus hung on the cross some 2,000 years ago, He cried out with a loud voice “It is finished!” Everything that you and I require to reign in life was accomplished at Calvary in our behalf. Stop doing what’s already Done! And start receiving what Jesus has DONE!
The Work Is Finished; Sit Down
But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God… For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:12,14
I love do-it-yourself projects… the best part of it is looking at your finished work, admiring what you have accomplished. I normally sit back, relax, and stare at the project that I’ve just finished, what a wonderful feeling knowing that you’ve done a good job.
I’m sure most artists like DaVinci, Monet, Michelangelo and others love to sit down when their work or project is finished. Probably they spent countless hours admiring their perfect works and once they declare it perfect, I don’t think anyone can tell them otherwise.
The reason why there are people who don’t stop trying to qualify themselves is because they don’t understand what Jesus had accomplished on the cross. They still try to work on their salvation, depending on their self-effort to receive blessings, relying on what they can do to reign in life. How can we be sure that the work of Jesus is enough? How can I be fully assured that all my sins have already been forgiven?
Notice that after Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice and payment for all our sins, He “sat down”!
Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father. Do you know that under the old covenant, every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices? They have to do it daily because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. In the holy place of tabernacle of Moses, there is not a single piece of furniture prepared for the priest to sit on. This is because the work of the priest was never finished.
Jesus sat down to demonstrate to us that the work is indeed finished. I can imagine how our Father God is sitting with Jesus and admiring the finished work of His son. He probably tells Jesus, Son what you did is perfect; no one can add or subtract from your finished work.
Aside from Jesus finish and perfect work on the cross, He also assured us that when we accept Him we too can sit in heavenly places. My friend, this is the assurance that we need to meditate day and night for us to reign in life.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ… and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-6
When you reign in life, you reign over sin, you reign over the powers of darkness, and you reign over depression, over poverty, over every curse, and over sickness and disease. You REIGN over the devil and all his devices!
For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:14
This is what we need… because we are now under Grace and not the under law.
