The gift from God is eternal life 20 January 2021
Key Verse: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23.
A gift is the opposite of a wage. We earn death because of our sinful nature and it is a recompense or payment that we fully deserve. However in contrast, a gift is given as a result of the generosity of the giver. In this verse, we see that the gift of life is the result of the undeserved grace of God. Although we still have to die physically because of the “wages of sin”, those who receive Christ will never experience a second, spiritual death Revelation 2:11. Paul demonstrates this grace and generosity of God in Colossians 2:12-15, because Jesus gave His life for us on the cross, God remains just, while gifting eternal life to those who receive Jesus.
This is not the only gift from God, but it is the most important and, in a way, the gift that all other gifts come from. The gift of eternal life is so important to understand, especially against what happened in the garden of Eden that resulted in death for all of mankind. Paul explains this connection in Romans 5, for example verses 18-21. This gift of eternal life is the remedy to the pollution of sin that we are born with. It is the cure-all prescribed for us by the Great Physician who donated it himself through the shedding of His blood on the cross. Peter quoting Isaiah 53:5 puts it this way “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24. Physical death does not have the “sting” of finality for believers that it does for unbelievers. Paul also quoting from Isaiah 25:8 says “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55, because of Jesus’ resurrection, we will also be resurrected to live forever in heaven. So, no matter what happens in this life, we can praise God for his faithfulness instead of worrying about our frailty, knowing that when God does allow us to die, we will be raised into the next life where there is no more death 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
This gift is not temporary or partial as an earthly gift would be, it is eternal and everlasting. It cannot be removed from us and will never expire because “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39. If this gift of eternal life that God gives us could ever be taken away or lost, then it would contradict God’s faithfulness because “if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13. Praise Him for we have a forever God. Think of it this way, there is no fine print built into God’s contract that would allow Him to take back his gift “that not one thing has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you; all have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed.” Joshua 23:14. Jesus Christ is the means through which God imparts salvation and the bridge that God uses to connect us. This means that when we believe and trust in Jesus, we receive this gift.
Paul explains in our text that our belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in our lives is actually what frees us from our bondage to sin and penalty of death. This truth is described beautifully in verses 3 & 4 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” In other words, because Jesus died, we do not have to die, and because Jesus lived again, we can live again. This is the great hope that as Christians we have in Christ. John prophecies in the Revelation that “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power” Revelation 20:6.
We need to understand that while there are two options presented for everyone in the key verse, death or life, God desires that we choose life. A Naval Minister once said as part of his sermon “that God is not against us because of our sin, he is with us against our sin.” That is explained clearly in verses like, 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”, 1 Timothy 2:3-4 “This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Even more than that, God demonstrated that he wants us to receive life over death by sending his Son as a substitution for us and taking the punishment of our death on himself. Paul said “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5 and “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8.