Angelic Conflict part 276: Defeater of death – Rom 5:12-21; 6:23; 14:17; Heb 2:14-15; Col 1:27.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 276: Defeater of death - ROM 5:12-21; 6:23; 14:17; HEB 2:14-15; COL 1:27.  

 

ROM 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned — 

 

ROM 5:13 for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed [charged to their account] when there is no law.

 

ROM 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

 

ROM 5:15 But the free gift is not like [has no comparison to] the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many [all humanity] died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

 

ROM 5:16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

 

ROM 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned [as king] through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign [as kings] in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

 

ROM 5:17

For if one man's offence meant that men should be slaves to death all their lives, it is a far greater thing that through another man, Jesus Christ, men by their acceptance of his more than sufficient grace and righteousness, should live all their lives like kings!

PHILLIPS

 

God is a great transformer of lives. He turns slaves into kings. He deposes the dynasty of sin, chains it in the dungeon, and en-thrones the dynasty of righteousness.

 

The lordship of righteousness and life is much more than the lordship of sin and death. One is tyranny and the other is love.

 

ROM 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Two men each performed a certain deed. Adam's was an act of disobedience and sin; Christ's was an act of obedience and righteousness. From both deeds issued lordship: the lordship of sin and the lordship of grace. Let us consider several comparisons between the two sovereignties in order to bring out why the lord-ship of Christ was so much greater than the lordship of Adam.

 

Comparison of lordship of Adam vs. Christ.

 

The lordship of death was a despotic tyranny, while Christ reigns by means of the cords of love.

 

Despotic tyranny is the absolute rule of a single entity, whether it be one person or a group of people. It doesn't always indicate a negative rulership, but it has come to mean that as most autocratic rulers of the last two centuries have set out to remove the free will of their people and plunder them. Certainly Christ reigns sovereign, but we would not describe Him as a despot or tyrant.

 

By means of the gift of righteousness, our Lord's righteousness, we will reign as kings in life. We are not working towards righteousness, but are righteous as a free gift of God's grace.

 

Therefore, we are not looking to ourselves or others or the world for anything regarding righteousness and so we are free from these things and do not fear their loss or gain, and so we are sovereign over the world, over death, and so, over life.

 

There is a sovereignty in that which is completely dependent upon our Lord and, of course, not in violation of our "constitution and declaration" which is the word of God.

 

We have been set free from the first ruler, the tyranny of sin and death and made sovereigns in life. Our sovereignty or freedom to live the life beyond dreams is completely and utterly dependent on Christ. He is in us as our hope of glory. Without Him we cannot reign. So we would say that we reign in life through Him as His wisdom and power flows through us. We are no longer under the domain of sin, death, sickness, poverty, hunger, thirst, or any other created thing.

 

ROM 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

 

Ever since Adam, the race has been subject to dissolution and decay.

 

Death and sin rule as despots. They do not ask their subjects to accept their rule. They are dictators of the most tyrannical stamp.

 

Every member of the human race is born a slave to sin and death, even though each believes himself free. An individual lives in the delusion that he is in control and can choose to live in sin at one moment and to live in goodness at another. But when we study the matter, we see that by committing sin a man proves that sin is his master, and he is sin's slave. It is the same, of course, with death. The world has the proverb, "Physician, heal thyself," an admission that even the doctor dies. And thus it has been with all the race since Adam; the entire history of mankind is the history of the slaves of sin and death.

 

HEB 2:14-15

Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

 

Bishop Anders Nygren of Sweden wrote: "Sin is the tool and weapon by which death has brought humanity into its power. Through sin death got the human race into its grip, and is now its real master. Death has ascended the throne of this world: and now, with sovereign authority, it uses its power with terrifying effects. In this chapter Paul repeats again and again, with increasing pointedness, that death has attained to royal control in our world. Death is not only an event which comes upon us and puts an end to life. Death is a power, a ruler. About the same is true as to the other powers of destruction referred to more or less extensively in this chapter — Wrath, the Law, and Sin. Wrath is not only a feeling or an expression of displeasure on the part of God; it is a destructive power."

 

Thus tyrant Death, dictator Death, despot Death, rules in our world.

 

The lordship of death was a despotic tyranny, while Christ reigns by means of the cords of love.

 

On the other hand, the Lord Jesus Christ exercises a benevolent rule. He takes no heart by force.

 

Once seen, the grace of God is irresistible, but it is never forced upon someone. Their freedom to choose is always respected.

 

2CO 5:14

For the love of Christ controls us [sunecho = hold together or confine], having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;

 

Paul is explaining his own restraint in dealing with the wayward Corinthians. This does not mean that our love of Christ removes our choices, but that our love for Christ resists certain choices that those who do not love Him make.

 

Death rapes every soul, but the life of God enters the heart by joyful consent of those who love Him because He first loved them. 

 

Sadly, not every believer allows Christ to rule their lives, but that never nullifies the availability of the triumphant sovereignty of the risen Lord to ever member of the body of Christ. Few take advantage of their position as sovereign over life through Him, yet God never tires of offering just that to every believer, generation after generation.

 

The availability of the power of Christ is so pre-eminently the theme of Romans that it forbids a light view of the Christian life, or what I call "Christianity light." It is possible for a Christian to experience the triumphant reign of Christ in his life and in every circumstance. We cannot settle for anything short of what the Word of God declares is possible.

 

One of the greatest benefits to reigning in life through a willing following of Christ is the restoration of the personality.

 

A great example of this is again found in the US. Under freedom, without over regulation and the tyranny of over burdening people with rules, the US, quicker than anyone in history, became a nation of entrepreneurs and inventors. In freedom and personal sovereignty, which can be described by the word liberty, human personality thrives. Under the reign of death and sin the human soul languishes in slavery and struggles to find expression in uniqueness and invention and creativity, but rather runs with the herd in approbation lust, power lust, monetary lust, and the long list of other lusts. Christ not only restored who we were made to be, but made us brand new creatures in Him and He asked us to grow and thrive and rule in this life, and to do so with His incredible love, joy, and peace.

 

This fact opens up some critical thinking about the reality of free will. Is mankind truly free? According to the founders, all men were born with certain inalienable rights that were bestowed by God. However they didn't agree on life, liberty, and happiness; but life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Not everyone has the right to be made happy, but they have every right to pursue it.

 

ROM 3:11

There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;