Death or life

DEVOTION

ROMANS

DEATH OR LIFE

Rom 1:1-6

1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

NIV

Gospel he promised beforehand. Through his prophets. Regarding his son. Human nature. Descendant of David. Through the Spirit. Declared with power the Son of God. By the resurrection from the dead. Jesus Christ our Lord

Is there any question who Jesus is from this introduction in the Letter to those in Rome? When we hear those words, “fully man” which are not in the scriptures, but rather Jesus refers to himself as “the son of man” we see and understand this person, rather this entity is a human being of the same genetic makeup as his creation, Adam.

He was conceived in the womb of a woman and delivered into the world as an infant in need of being cared for, provided for, loved and nurtured. The difference of course is no human man provided the male genetic material needed for conception, but rather the Spirit of God. Here is him who was declared with the power “the Son of God”. Conception without a human male is certainly a demonstration of power in and of itself, but this is only a part of this declaration. We also see the formal introduction in the Gospels

Matt 3:16-17

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased ."

NIV

This must certainly be what Paul refers to as “declared with power the Son of God”, for God provided the male component needed to create the person of Jesus as a man. Then declared to the world verbally Jesus was his son. This certainly seems to have been with much power, a voice from Heaven surely demonstrates power. His Lordship over mankind was established without question by his conquering death itself. We believe man was created as an eternal being, God did not intend for Adan to die. When God created him, he gave Adam the choice to either eat from the Tree of Life, or from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He did instruct him not to eat from that Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He did instruct that he was free to eat from any other tree, including the Tree of Life. Had he eaten from the Tree of Life he would be alive today and all mankind would still be within a Paradise with God. But we know that is not the truth of it, Adam chose unwisely and in disobedience to his creator, perhaps thinking this would make him more like God himself as the serpent suggested, and because of this action, death of mankind was the result.

Gen 2:15-17

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

NIV

We, through Adam, exchanged life for death, immortality for mortality and incorruptibility for corruptibility, however, through Christ, through his resurrection from the dead, that result was reversed. Through Christ, we exchanged death for life, mortality for immortality, and corruptibility for incorruptibility.

1 Cor 15:50-58

50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."  

55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"   56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

NIV

Through Christ we will indeed live forever….and we will, in fact, eat from the Tree of Life. This should give us both a great deal of encouragement as well as a great deal of exhortation to live a life pleasing to the Lord. 

Rev 2:7

7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

NIV