THE REIGN OF ETERNAL LIFE ROMANS 5:17: For if, through the transgression of the one individual, Death made use of the one individual to seize the sovereignty, all the more shall those who receive Gods overflowing grace and gift of righteousness reign as kings in the realm of life through the one individual, Jesus Christ. Here is the story of Satans seizure of mans dominion in the Garden when he changed mans spirit nature, made his body mortal, and made that body the master of his spirit. Man became the servant of the senses ; his spirit no longer ruled him. Mans spirit became subject to Satans nature, Spiritual Death. In this we witness the tragedy of Love. Gods love creation became the. slave of hate. Gen. 1 :26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Study this with Psalms 8:3-6: When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers: the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him but little lower than God, and crownest him with glory and honor. Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things under his feet. This is a picture of Gods man in the Garden before sin came. And Hebrews 2:5-8: For not unto angels did he subject the world that was to be created, whereof we speak. But one hath some-where testified saying, what is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than God ; thou crownest him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. This vast authority, this great honor God had conferred upon man, was turned over into the hands of the adversary. Man became the subject of Satan. He had been Gods under-ruler. What a wonderful being he must have been with a mind so capable that he named the entire animal and vegetable creation, with a dominion so vast that the very Heavens were subject to him! Then he fell under the dominion of Satan. We can now understand the scripture which we first quoted. Satan seized the sovereignty. He became the lord and head of man. He became the god of this world. He became the spiritual father of the human race. Politically he became the prince of this world. Down through the ages we have seen the reign of Spiritual Death. Satans nature is death, just as Gods Nature is Life. The first manifestation of the Satanic nature is hatred. Hatred, selfishness, bitterness, and murder are the dominant features of Satans dominion. The reign of Spiritual Death is the reign of Satan. It is sin that rules in the realm of Spiritual Death. Sin is organized evil. Man has become the servile subject of the devil. He has no Revelation Knowledge, so he is utterly dependent upon the knowledge he derives through his senses. His body has become his master. Into this maelstrom of hatred and sorrow, tears and anguish the Son of God was born. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Love was manifested in the flesh. It was Loves intrusion. It was God breaking into Satans dominion. Then they crucified Love. They nailed it to the cross. But Love arose from the dead. Did you ever notice this scripture 1 Tim. 3:16: He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit. God is describing His Son as a Substitute after He had left His body and gone to the place of suffering. God had laid upon Him our sins and diseases. God had made Him to be sin that we might be His Righteousness in Christ. He stayed there until He had satisfied every claim of Justice. Then He was justified in spirit. 1 Peter 3:18: Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God ; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. This is not referring to the Holy Spirit, but to His spirit. He had died spiritually. He had become a Partaker of the Satanic nature on the Cross. When God laid our sin upon Him, He became sin. He had never known sin. He became Identified with Satan. His body became mortal so that He could die. He could not have died physically unless He had died spiritually. John 10:18: No one taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. He could not have died until His body had become mortal. This could not have been until He was made sin. Then He was justified-declared righteous-and given Eternal Life. Col. 1 :18: And he is the head of the body, the church : who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. Jesus was the first person ever Born Again. Out of that New Birth the Church has been born. Eph. 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Acts 13:33: Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. This has reference to His resurrection. Then Jesus stripped Satan of his authority, conquered him, and arose from the dead; and the reign of the new life began. It is important that we understand the teaching of identification. (Read my book, Identification.) Paul teaches us in this great revelation that we were crucified with Christ, that we died with Christ, that we were buried with Christ, that we suffered with Christ, that we were made alive together with Christ, that we were justified with Christ, that we were raised together with Christ, and then were seated together with Him at the right hand of God. This is the mystery of substitution. Two Kinds of Life
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 13:00:01 +0000