Reigning In Life
by Jill Southern
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we confidently look forward to the day when Jesus will come again in glory. On this day we will receive our resurrection bodies and will be raised up to reign with Him, forever. Although the full realisation of this promise awaits us in glory, we are able to reign in life now because of the finished work that Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross. As Romans 5:19 explains, through one man (Adam) sin entered many.
Every single one of us was born into the world in the spiritual position of Adam, ensnared by sin and separated from God. Whilst in the spiritual position of Adam, sin reigned in us and therefore death. However, we also have the promise and hope that through one man (Jesus Christ) many are made righteous. That is, through the cross Jesus has made a new spiritual position available to us and that is the spiritual position of being righteous.
For those of us in the spiritual position of Jesus Christ, righteousness reigns and therefore life abounds. When we believe in Jesus Christ, in His death and resurrection, we enter into a divine exchange. Jesus completely takes our sin and all its consequences upon Himself and in return He gives us the fullness of His righteousness, His eternal life and His inheritance as a son of God. We know that this exchange which takes place is complete and absolute, because we know that His death and resurrection is a finished and complete work.
For as Jesus surrendered His life on the cross, He uttered three last words – “It is finished”. Our reconciliation with God is whole and complete; we have been completely transferred out of the Kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of light. We are no longer in Adam – we are now in Christ. The righteousness that we receive in Christ is a free gift from God and is not something that we can earn or add to through good works.
Our only responsibility is to surrender ourselves in order to fully enter into this divine exchange. For when we fully surrender and make Jesus Lord of every area of our life, our hands are emptied and we are opened up to receive the gift of abundant life that He so freely gives to us. The Apostle Paul encourages us to surrender ourselves to God as living sacrifices, in response to the mercy that God has shown to us (Romans 12:1).
By definition, any exchange that takes place must be a two way process - we surrender ourselves and our lives to God and in exchange Jesus gives us His life and all that is in Him. As surrendered disciples, we have been delivered from sins power we have been born of God. Jesus has declared us righteous and we can now say with confidence “I reign in life through freedom from the law and the gift of righteousness”.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your finished work on the cross for me. Today I freshly surrender all that I am and all that I have to you. Help me to fully appropriate the divine exchange in my life and to reign in life, today, in your mighty name, Amen.
Jill Southern is the founder of Ellel Ministries Pierrepont and directed the work for 21 years. She has recently stood down from that role but still teaches on the NETS programme and has the passion to train and equip God`s people to fully walk in their destiny and calling. She is the Regional Director for Ellel Ministries International in South East Asia and China and is also on the Executive Leadership of the ministry.
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