Romans 5 verse 17 (NIV) 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.
This weekend the world has been celebrating with Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her 70 years on the throne. By virtue of her birth, the Queen Elizabeth was destined to reign. Queen Elizabeth has been a faithful Queen who has reigned with courage over her equally loyal subjects of the Commonwealth. Indeed, there has been no expense spared at the Platinum celebrations. When the Apostle Paul writes ‘how much more’, it is clear that there is more for us all to receive. In this verse from Roman’s, the Apostle Paul uses the royal language of reigning, in terms of our lives.
We serve an abundant God
The Apostle Paul is encouraging us to get excited about reigning in our life through Jesus Christ and I don’t believe he was only referring to our spiritual lives. As born-again believers, we have some understanding of what reigning means. The word ‘reign’ features several times in the book of Roman’s and means to possess or exercise sovereign power. As we desire to reign more and more in life, we can receive the fresh grace and righteousness of which he writes. They are available for us in abundant supply.
Before we reign, we must receive.
A key word of this verse, is the word ‘receive’. For some, receiving a gift for example, comes easy but not so for all. Many like to give but strongly resist receiving. There will of course be many reasons why we do or do not receive. To receive takes humility. Watching the Queen receive her crown at her Coronation and Jesus His crown of thorns demonstrated deep humility. For the Queen and for Jesus, reigning was their destiny. And it is also ours.
If we want to reign in life, if we want God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness, then we need to be people who know how to receive.
God is an abundant God as revealed in this verse. How sad it would be if we did not continually receive fresh supplies of God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness. These are what we need to ‘reign’ in life, through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Death reigned in Adam then Jesus conquered and reigned over death. We now have the amazing privilege of reigning in life through Jesus Christ. I want the much more. At the end of the day, what else is there in life but to reign? Not with pride but in humility knowing that our King Jesus and even Queen Elizabeth have done before us.
Have you received a fresh supply of grace and righteousness today?
