For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ (Rom 5:17 NIV).
God has made both His grace and righteousness available in abundance. There is no shortage of either. The availability of God’s grace and His gift of righteousness is for the empowerment of His people to reign in life. God’s grace and righteousness were not provided as an excuse to live a defeated life. God’s perfect will is for man to reign in life. In fact, it is His eternal purpose that, through man, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:9,10).
The eternal purpose, which the Bible says God accomplished in Christ Jesus (Eph 3:11), was the restoration of man’s dominion over the earth. Remember, God had originally designated man as the ruler of the earth (Gen 1:26). God’s will was to have mankind represent Him on earth. Therefore, He created humanity with the capacity to commune with Him intimately. Have you ever wondered why God’s primary concern about the essence of man’s makeup was that it be in His image and likeness? The reason was because God wanted an offspring in man, who would share similarity in essence with Him. God is Spirit (Jn 4:24) and man is a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body (1Th 5:23). Man has and will always be the masterpiece of God’s creation, made in His image and likeness.
Man must play an integral role in anything God does on earth. God will not override His own appointment of man as the ruler of the earth. That is why the Bible says, “…by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man…” (Rom 5:17). This implies that the earth and all in it were separated from God through man’s separation from God. Death, by its simplest definition is ‘separation’. Hence, when God told man that the consequence of his eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was death, the same sentence was equally applicable to earth and its other occupants, over which he had dominion. That was why satan had the effrontry to announce his rulership of the kingdoms of the earth, on the basis that Adam had given them to him (Lk 4:5,6).
The Bible in Matthew chapter 8:23 (NIV), records the reaction of the disciples of Jesus when He rebuked the wind and the waves and calmed the sea as: “The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”” It is significant that the disciples of Jesus recognised Him as a man. He was born and lived like every other human being—a proof of His kinship with us. However, His kind of man or class of humanity baffled them, because He demonstrated dominion over the devil, sicknesses, death and the earth in general. His disciples wondered how He could exercise such authority.
What the earliest disciples failed to realise then was that the life of Jesus had been set forth as a perfect model for them to emulate. The Bible says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Rom 8:29). God is raising a family with Jesus as the firstborn among many brethren. It is through this spiritual consanguineous relationship with Jesus that Christians serve effectively as ambassadors of God’s kingdom.
Hebrews chapter 1:2 (NIV), in describing Jesus says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Since, Jesus, with whom Christians enjoy a familial relationship, clearly says, “… “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.””(Jn 20:21), it stands to reason that God has sent us to radiate His glory, represent His being and speak with power as a demonstration of our call to reign in life. Shalom.
