Two Kingdoms

Sometimes it is good to look at Biblical passages backwards.  Romans 5 ends with a very interesting sentence in verse 21, “…so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal live through Jesus Christ our Lord” (NASB).  Paul calls out two very distinct kingdoms or realms.  One is a realm of death, reigned over by sin.  The other is a realm of life (eternal life through Christ) reigned over by grace through righteousness.  These two kingdoms are naturally at odds with one another.  We know that in Genesis, God created the world and breathed life into man and there was no death.  But as Romans 5:14 points out, death entered the picture though sin in the offense of Adam.  And being like Adam, in our own sin, we are subjects to the rule of sin in the realm of death.  We are subject to the kingdom that is at odds with the kingdom of eternal life and therefore enemies of God (Rom 5:10). 

This is a troubling predicament.  A life in the kingdom of death ruled by sin sounds horrific, and it is.  But it is also quite easily related to.  Anyone who has struggled with sin knows the lash under which it drives you (Romans 6 will remind us that those obedient to sinful lusts are indeed slaves to it).  Addiction, Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Greed all drive us to do things we do not want to do.  They indeed ‘reign’ over us like rulers in the realm of death and after engaging in them, we can sense the presence of death drawing near. 

And yet in the midst of all this sin, death, chaos, horror, and the impending wrath of God from which we have no power to escape on our own, God makes overtures of peace, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” (V.6).  Through this unwarranted and free gift given to His enemy (me and you) who was actively working and fighting against His kingdom, doing damage to Life – both our own and that of those near us, Peace has been made between God and me (and you).  We have been justified (made right before God) in spite of the record of wrongs (V.1).  We are rescued from the rule of sin, released from the realm of death.  Free to serve a better ruler.

What Good News this is.  What now shall we do?  Monday’s reading of chapter 6 will begin to answer that question.