When Adam sinned, the ruler of sin and death was authorized to bring his evil power into the earth for the first time. Adam’s authority and influence to
dominate and multiply on the earth according to God’s instructions was now subjected to Satan: the one Adam had chosen to obey.
God’s desire to ultimately free mankind from the rule of this rebel spirit required that the Law be given to people. They had to know what it would take
to live in God’s system in order to receive His blessings.
Yet the Law didn’t empower people to live by its requirements. As a result, it only revealed their inability in themselves to obtain God’s acceptance and
approval. The Law of God was true and right, but it was weak in a crucial respect: It did not bring the ultimate answer that would free people from
the sin that bound them.
Then Jesus came to earth and destroyed the works of the devil. Nailed to the Cross, Jesus bore the punishment and paid the price for man’s sin, taking
upon Himself all of its consequences. Sin had separated man from God, but on the Cross, the sinless One took that separation upon Himself so man could
know right-standing with God.
Jesus didn’t deserve the consequences of sin. Yet He took sin upon Himself and was made sin in order that you and I could be made His righteousness. We
don’t deserve His righteousness. Yet, just as Jesus received what He did not deserve, we now receive what we do not deserve. His love has
made it freely available. We are now made His righteousness: blameless and pure by faith in Him.
None of this is the result of our doing what is right. Rather, it’s the result of our receiving God’s free gift of righteousness. Paul tells us what then
follows in Romans 5:17 (CEB):
“Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted
us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.”
We now rule like kings over our own lives based on our believing and receiving.
The way of the world’s system is to be rewarded for what we do. If we act right and do right, we will get ahead. This is the way it is in business, on
the job, and in personal relationships. We will experience the best only if we do it right.
God’s way is to bless first; not because we act right or do right, but because we believe right.
God’s system is not based on works or personal effort, but on faith. This is contrary to our common way of thinking. God is the first to give, first to
bless, first to forgive, and first to love.
The message of the Gospel is that God has blessed those who believe. The Law of the Old Covenant could not bring the blessing of God’s love without
conditions. But the Father desired a way to express without limits His love toward man. Jesus was the revelation of that divine, limitless love. You
are loved without limits!
