From His Fullness

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a wonder! It seems like there are infinite layers to be peeled off and I have yet to finish unraveling the top layer. It is simple enough for a child to understand, yet deep enough for the most brilliant mind to study for a lifetime. Some nights ago, I spent quite some time pondering this verse in scripture:

“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men” (Romans 5:18).

One Act of Righteousness Justifies All?

Why or how is it that the righteousness of Jesus can cover so many people? Think about the billions of believers pre and post Jesus’ birth that his one life of righteousness justifies. I understand how Adam’s sin “led to the condemnation of all men” (Romans 5:12). Not only did mankind inherit Adam’s sinful nature, but we are all also guilty of personal sin. Therefore, we are all rightly under condemnation; but how is the opposite possible? How is it that all Christians throughout human history can be justified by the life of one righteous man when none of us are righteous in and of ourselves? (Romans 3:9; Isaiah 64:6).

According to Paul, while the condemnation of sinners is deserved, the justification of believers is undeserved. It is a gift, obtained by grace and this grace grows exponentially as sin increases. There is a lot of grace available to cover the multitude of sins committed (and to be committed) by those who Jesus justified.

“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 …Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:17; 20-21).

A natural question arises from this passage, which Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, foresaw: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”(Romans 6:1). Paul’s answer in Romans 6 is a resounding no. The grace of God is not a license to sin. If we have truly been born of God, we are dead to sin and alive to God. We are not free to sin but free from sin, free for righteousness. 

There is a lot more to be said on Romans 6 but I still had more questions about Romans 5:20-21: how is so much grace ‘generated’? Why does grace abound all the more as sin increases?

From His Fullness

The book of John talks about the abundant grace that is in Jesus:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth … For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:14;16).

John 1:1-16 gloriously presents Jesus as the Eternal God, the very Word of God. Those who receive him receive eternal life because He is the source of eternal life. From his fullness, we have “received, grace upon grace”. His fullness is infinity and eternity.

There is an infinite amount of righteousness and grace available since The Person from whom they originate is infinite. It is because Jesus is infinite and eternal that his righteousness and grace can cover the multitudes of Christians throughout human history, and carry their redemption into eternity.

No One Else

This is one more reason why no one else but Jesus Christ can redeem humanity from eternal separation from God. The book of Hebrews explains in-depth the redemptive work of Jesus like no other. The following passage relates to my earlier point. Read with me:

"But when Christ appeared as a high priest … he entered once for all into the holy places … thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews  9:11-14).

Only an eternal High Priest could secure an eternal redemption. Only a blameless lamb of eternal worth could be a sufficient sacrifice to redeem people to the Eternal God. Jesus is both: the Eternal High Priest and the eternally blameless Lamb. No one else but Jesus Christ, The God-Man, can claim this crown.

Amen.