Romans 5:12-21

Two Men

&= nbsp; In the whole universe there are only two men--Adam and Christ. We are all incl= uded in either the first man or the second. If you are in Adam, you are a part of Adam. If you are in Christ, you are a part of Christ.

&= nbsp; Adam was the first man created by God, and had nothing of the divine nature and = life of God. Christ is the second man and the last Adam. This means that Christ = is the last man. After Him, there is no third man. He is a man mingled with Go= d.

Two Acts

&= nbsp; Adam's transgression refers to his eating the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden. After God created Adam, He placed him in front of the tree of l= ife, indicating that Adam should partake of this tree. This would have enabled h= im to receive God's life and= to live with God. But Adam forsook the tree of life that denoted God as life and tu= rned to the tree of knowledge that signified Satan as the source of death. Adam = gave up life and chose death.

&= nbsp; The second act was Christ's obedience on the cross. This act of obedience, a righteous act performed by Christ, terminated the man of knowledge (6:6) and brought man back to life. Christ's death restored man to life. <= /span>

Two Results

&= nbsp; Sin entered through Adam's transgression. Sin is personified like a person who = can reign over you and must be the evil nature of Satan, the evil one, dwelling, acting, and working in fallen mankind. As a result we were constituted sinn= ers. An element not created by God was injected into our being and constituted us sinners. We are not sinners by accident; we are sinners by constitution. Because of this we have been condemned to death. So death reigns over all men and t= he result of Adam's transgression is that in Adam all die. <= /p>

&= nbsp; Grace came through the obedience of Christ and so the grace of God has abounded to us. Through the obedience of Christ grace came first and life followed. Dea= th is versus life, and grace is versus sin. Sin came from Adam's transgression, but grace came through Christ's obedience. Sin is Satan personified, come to poison us, damage us, and bring death into us. Grace is God personified, justifying us unto life, giving us life and shall constitute us righteous. Justification is for life. Justification changes our outward position, and = life changes our inward disposition. = Grace reigns as we have another king because now we are in another kingdom. The result of Christ's obedience is life unto all.

Four Reigning Things

&= nbsp; SIN reigns in death. Sin, like every other king, needs an authority in order to reign. The authority of sin is death. Sin has authority to reign as a king = in death. This sin is not an act of wrongdoing; it is the personification of t= he evil one. After the fall another element was injected into man's body. That element was sin, the very nature of the evil one. This sin reigns in us. Its power is the law and it reigns in death.&n= bsp; Through the disobedience of Adam, the evil one, as sin, entered into= the world and sin made its dwelling place in the fallen body of man. Although G= od created our body, He did not create the flesh. The flesh is a mixture of Go= d's creation with sin, the evil one. Thus, the body has become the flesh, and s= in dwells in this flesh. Sin has the law as its power. We are absolutely unabl= e to keep the law, and it is foolish for us even to try. If we attempt to keep t= he law, sin will use the law to kill us.

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&nb= sp; DEATH came through sin, for sin opened t= he way for death to enter mankind. The sting of death is sin. Once sin poisons= us, we experience death. Through Adam's offense death reigns over all men. Sin ushers in death, and death reigns with power in the hands of Satan. Thus, S= atan is related to death, death is related to sin, and the power of sin is the l= aw.

&nb= sp; GRACE reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. We have seen that through the redemption of Christ we have the righteousness of God and that this righteousness gives us the ground to cla= im Christ as our grace. This grace is constantly abounding and multiplying. The abounding of grace results in reigning unto life eternal. The more grace we experience, the more life we have. This life is a sanctifying life, a transforming life, a conforming life and a glorifying life. This life comes from grace. This grace is the living Person of Christ. When Christ comes to us as God embodied for our en= joyment that is grace.

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&nb= sp; THOSE who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in = life through the One, Jesus Christ. We reign by receiving the abundance of grace. When you receive this grace, the issue will be life. You will be rich in li= fe. The more you endure hardships by grace, the more you will be filled with li= fe. Thus, grace not only "abounded to the many," but also that "grace might reign through righteousness unto life eternal." Life continually issues out of the multiplication of grace. Grace must abound. "Where sin abounded grace has super-abounded." Grace always excee= ds sin. Although sin is powerful, grace is more powerful. Grace is stronger th= an sin. We need to open ourselves to grace and enlarge our capacity to receive grace upon grace. Christ is the source of grace and Christ is grace itself.= If we open ourselves to Christ and receive "the abundance of grace,"= we shall be filled with life.