Dad: DO you Want DOMINION over every challenge you’re facing?
St. Paul hides one of the most provocative statements written in human history in the middle of his letter to the Roman church.
“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness REIGN IN LIFE through the one man Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17)
This is a life-altering statement that every person must consider! This promise applies to ANY marriage challenge you’re facing, ANY parenting challenge… as well as every health challenge, financial challenge, addiction challenge, legal challenge, work challenge…
What in the world makes this obscure gift called RIGHTEOUSNESS mean so much? And why was Paul so certain of this promised power?
He saw “the glory of Christ who is the image of God” as though reflected in a mirror. He humbly believed God’s unstoppable power and unquestionably good image lived inside him… because it is God’s PLEASURE to live inside humans through the Spirit of Christ.
Paul saw the full LIFE DOMINATING power of God’s gift of righteousness operate many times in his highly challenged life. Here are examples:
he shook off a viper (the 3rd most deadly snake) that latched onto his hand with no physical harm
5 different times he was scourged with 39 lashes (something brutal enough to cause death in many cases in the first century penal system)
multiple incarcerations in primitive disease-ridden dungeons
multiple beatings with rods; once pummeled to (near) death by stones
3 times shipwrecked, once for a full night and day in open sea
threatened by bandits and hostile religious zealots who often put people to death
subjected to hard labor, often without sleep or food and water, in cold and exposure, crossing dangerous rivers and many harrowing journeys through wilderness terrain, “afflicted in every way”
Yet in the midst of all this suffering, he had the audacity to call these things “momentary light afflictions”!
What produced this unbeatable mindset?
Paul kept his eyes of faith fixed on “the eternal weight of glory beyond all measure” that he knew was soon to be revealed.
Jesus is returning in His glory to give His glory to everyone who repents, believes and endures these current trials without giving up!
You can know with the same certainty Paul had… that you are loved, forgiven, favored, cared for and judged as holy and blameless in the eyes of God… because you were created to house the indestructible pure image of God.
This is the fruit of knowing you have the gift of God’s righteousness.