Romans Chapter 5:

Romans Chapter 5:

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

This world has existed in a consecutive series of moments for almost six thousand years, and every single moment of the history of this world are gone, never to return. Solomon proclaimed throughout the book of Ecclesiastes that "all is vanity," which is to say that everything about this world is temporary, and does not last. But there are two moments in history that are NOT temporary, and will NEVER pass away. Those two moments are the only reason that this world was alowed to continue after sin entered into the world. One of those moments is the death of God's only begotten Son, and the other is his resurrection from the dead. Those two moments in history are perpetual moments that are forever suspended in time, and cannot possibly be altered, nor can they vanish away. Those two events are the only moments in the history of this world that connect us to the world to come, and therefore they are forever moments that will be our license and permission to dwell in eternity with God, with his Son who died for us, and with all of the heavenly host. When Jesus came from heaven to be born as a human being, he didn't just become a man; he became mankind. The apostle Paul explained: "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" (I Cor. 15:45.).

There have been two men in history who literally represented mankind. One was Adam from whom we all came, and the other one is Christ, whom we all need to be a partaker of. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Cor. 15:22). We all became sinners because we were literally in Adam's body when he sinned, and we can only become righteous by being in Christ's body. When Jesus died at Calvary he died AS mankind, thereby absolving all men of the debt of their sins for all time. At the same time he also abolished death for all men, because "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Jesus reconciled us to God at the cross, because he represented both God and mankind, being both. "And that he might reconcile both [Jew and Gentile] unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby" (Eph. 2:16). So Adam brought us all under bondage to sin and death, but Jesus set us free from both, by literally taking our place and suffering 'the wages of sin' for us all.' When we believe on what Jesus did for us, and fully entrust ourselves to him, he baptizes us into his own body by his Spirit. Paul explains what the Spirit baptism does for us: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:3,4).

Paul added a bit of detail in another place: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (I Cor. 12:13). The baptism of the holy Ghost, which first came from heaven at Pentecost, literally puts us into the body of Jesus Christ. Jesus still has the same body that died at Calvary, which means we are part of his death. That earthly body was glorified with immortality when he went back to heaven, so being in his body makes us part of his resurrection as well. The Spirit of Christ is part of his person, even as our spirit is part of our person; so when we receive his Spirit we become part of his person, including his body. As long as we abide in him we are absolved of the debt of sin, and we are guaranteed to live forever, because he lives forever. If we abide in him free from sin, then we are righteous because he is righteous. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (II Cor. 5:21). So being literally in the body of Jesus Christ serves as our bridge from this world to the glory world, because he is the propitiation for our sins, and he is our resurrection from the dead unto immortality. At the coming of the Lord, the faithful who are dead and living will be immediately drawn up to meet him in their bodies which will be instantly glorified because they are already part of his body.

The beloved apostle spoke of the resurrection of the dead at the Lord's coming in the following terms: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (I Jn. 3:2). Jesus is quite simply everything. The failure to believe on him, and to be baptized by his Spirit into his body is to choose to remain identified only with Adam, and with the sin and death that Adam brought upon us. But for those who receive what Jesus has brought upon us, the death and resurrection of Christ will be perpetual, eternal moments that never pass away; because his body that experienced both will never pass away. That is why the nail scars will remain in the hands of our Redeemer, even as his body will remain forever glorified, showing the power of his resurrection forever. Speaking of the coming of Christ back to this world, and his millennial reign, the scripture tells us this: "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends" (Zech. 13:6). Yes my friend, those two monumental moments in the history of mankind will be moments that never pass away, and will serve as the greatest moments in the history of all existence, much to the benefit of all who cherish and love the God-Man who provides us with them both.