Lesson 68
Grace Reigns in Life Over Sin's Reign of Death
Romans Chapter 5:12-21
Review:
- the contrast is between the
reign of sin and death and the reign of grace through righteousness leading to
life.
- This aspect of sin reigning is an important one which
Paul will take up in the next chapter; its a very
important issue in the Christian life!
Just what does death refer to here?
Now Paul
says there is to be a new ruler a new king in your life; that new ruler is to
be grace when your in Christ!
- What is the means of grace ruling??
When God
looks at the believer He sees the righteousness of Christ and He knows that all
the demands of His holiness have been met!
- And this reign of grace thru the means of righteousness
results in eternal life
grave is not the end of all things; true for those who remain in
Adam also!
- Paul is dealing here with the ultimate issues of life
and death!
- it all comes about through [dia] Jesus Christ our Lord.
Origin of Life
The making of Adam:
Creation
"Then the LORD
God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7)
Scripture refers to this shell several ways:
1. "tent" (2 Cor. 5:1,
4) emphasis on temporary dwelling place;
emphasis of a lack of security
2. "at home" (2 Cor.
5:6) refers to being in one’s physical
body
3. "vessel" (Rom.
These words are often used to support the argument that
life begins with birth, or the first breath.
There are two reasons why these words do not support that
position. In fact it is a hermeneutical fallacy to do so.
#1 Genesis 2:7 is
about creation, not pro-creation. There
is a difference!
#2 The words used in
Genesis 2:7 do not refer to life that is uniquely human life, that is made in the image of God.
Gen 1:20,
21, 24
The creation of Adam is unique and
does not explain the inception of life in those who follow him.
Does God
have a role in the creation of life in pro-creation? Or is His role relegated to the design and
implementation of the process only?
My
conclusion from Scripture is this “That God creates a new life with each
baby?” He has an active role!
Some General statements of Scripture:
“The
Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4).
“Then
the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God
who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7). Who gave it??
“God who
created the heavens and... who gives breath to the people on [earth], and spirit to those who walk in it”
(Isa. 42:5).
“The
Lord who stretches out the heavens...and forms the spirit of man within him” (Zech. 12:1).
Adam is
unique, not a precedent. Why? First, because he was the only one to come from the ground, not
through natural generation.
Second, all his posterity come through
procreation, from a woman, which is different from Adam's creation.
Third, Adam began his life as an adult
and not as an infant.
To sum
up: Life for Adam began when God breathed into him after the formation of his body. Life for Adam's
posterity begins in the womb,
before physical development and birth.
When all
newborns since Adam take their first breath, it is the overt manifestation of
the reality that life was present from within the womb.
Let’s
briefly examine some of those passages that demonstrate for us how the Word
views the child while in the womb and out of the womb. This will show us just
how God views the child.
1. The
Child Conceived is the Same as the Child Born. Genesis 4:1
The
point made here by its presence is this: It was Cain who was conceived and it
was Cain who was born.
The text
does not say she conceived a fetus and delivered a Cain. The child delivered is treated as identical to the child conceived.
Second Case is Job. Job 3:3,11,16
First,
in vs:3 we have the unborn child described as a boy.
The verse does not say a boy was born; it says a boy was conceived.
In Job
3:11, Job mourns the fact that he did not die at birth. The obvious
pre-condition for death is life!
Second,
we have the unborn child described as an infant in
Lamentations
4:4 is another example.
Note
carefully Job 10:8-12. It beautifully makes the point that what is in the womb
is indeed a complete person and recognizes God's role in the process.
In Luke
In Luke
A brephos in the womb, a brephos in the manger; What's the only difference? The location of the baby!