Why is there suffering in the world? Why is their lack and defeat in the world? In our last podcast we saw clearly in Romans chapter five that because of one man sin, Adam's sin, the entire world was affected and now the whole world is in chaos. Through Adam's disobedience sin and death entered into the whole human race, the whole world. So that's why there's so much chaos in the world. God did not create suffering. He did not create lack. He did not create any of those things. As sin, sickness, suffering, all of that is a part of the fall of man. But you know, the good news is that even though we're born sinners – we are born into the line of Adam and we suffer because of it – if we're born again into Jesus's family, into, into the bloodline of Christ, then we become new creations. The old has gone and all things are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17) and now because we're in Christ, we're made righteous. That means right with God. And we made righteous by birth, by new birth, not by our actions. So, you became a sinner by birth, but you become righteous by the new birth.

Romans 5:17 says, for if by one man's offense, death reigned by one, so that's talking about Adam and how because of Adam’s sin, sin reigns in the entire world, then it says much more they, which received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.

So this is saying that even though we have so much suffering in the world because of Adam and what he did wrong, we can experience much more in Christ and we can reign in life because of Christ. Just by being born into the human race you're destined and doomed for defeat – sorry for the bad news, but the good news is that when you're born again into Christ, now you have much more to look forward to, and that is that you can now reign in life. You cannot reign in life without Jesus Christ and that scripture clearly says it. We reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

So it doesn't matter how bad your life has been up to now, even if you've been a Christian your whole life, it doesn't matter. Knowing the truth sets you free. And as you come to know this truth, it's going to enable you to live in victory over sin, victory over the devil, victory over a sickness and all sorts of things. Whatever can come comes against you because of Adam, in Christ you can rise up above it and live victorious because you're a new creation. That's good news! Jesus came to reverse what Adam did and he came to give us a new life. Now because we are in Christ, because we're Christians, we're destined to live in victory. Yeah. Jesus reversed the curse and its effects so that we would experience the much more life, the goodness of God through Jesus Christ.

The sad thing is that many Christians are more familiar with the effects of Adam than the effects of Jesus. And a lot of Christians are more in tune with their inheritance in Adam, which is sin, sickness, suffering, lack. And, and yet the inheritance we have in Christ, his righteousness, holiness, provision, health, is so much more! We need to stop identifying with Adam and start identifying more with Jesus. In Christ we are victorious.

Romans 5:17 says that they who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ. So, if we're wanting to reign in life, it starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ. By knowing Jesus and having a personal relationship with Him you can reign in life! Then, scripture says that we reign in life by receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.

So how do we reign in life? Number one, relationship with Jesus. Number two, we need to receive an abundance of grace. And number three, we need to receive the gift of righteousness. This is how you can reign in life over sin, over sickness, over lack and defeat, and how you can be a world overcomer. It starts with relationship with Jesus. And then receiving the abundance of grace –meaning that there's more than enough grace for you; it doesn't matter how much you blow it, there's grace for you; grace is undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour from God who has grace towards you in abundance! It doesn't matter how bad you've messed up. His grace is bigger than your sin – that's awesome! We will definitely be talking about that more in the coming episodes.

You need to receive an abundance of grace to be able to reign in life. A lot of people think that Christianity is about being self-disciplined in obeying the 10 commandments and trying hard to be good. No matter how hard you try, you will not reign in life without receiving an abundance of grace that empowers you to live the victorious life! We also need to receive the gift of righteousness. Yeah. Religious people try to earn righteousness through the effort but God’s righteousness is a gift that we receive. It's something that's given to us the moment we born again. And the more you realize how much grace you've got and how righteous you are, how right you are with God because of your relationship with Jesus, it will cause you to reign in life.