God's original plan for mankind was to live a stressless life as described in Genesis 1:27-28 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

 

Because of the fall of man through sin, his position of reigning in life and subduing the earth was taken over by the devil who now becomes the God of the earth (2 Corinthians 4:4). But thank God for His love towards us by sacrificing His son Jesus Christ to provide the restoration pathway to reigning in life again. Romance 5:17 says if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

 

We will want to ask ourselves: Have we fully embraced the two (2) offerings of Jesus Christ, which are the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness? If the answer is not affirmative, we cannot reign over life. I want to shed more light on the abundance of grace Jesus has offered us and hope this highlights the reasons we struggle with life rather than reign in life.

 

Recall the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:24-25. The talents the servants received can be likened to the grace we receive from Christ. The servants did not have to work for the talents they got from their master but were meant to multiply the talents. So is the grace of God over our lives, which is freely received but to be multiplied. 

 

If our understanding of the workings of God's grace over our lives is skewed, life reigns over us rather than we reign over life. We should acknowledge that God has supplied everyone with His grace (Titus 2:11) and God muiltiplies this grace for us through our precise knowledge of Him.

 

II Peter 1:2-3 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 

 

While two of the servants understood the workings of grace, the servant with one (1) talent did not embrace the grace offered to him by his master, hence his inability to reign over life and be fruitful with his one (1) talent. This servant had a skewed understanding of the workings of grace. See what he says in Matthew 25:24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.

 

Every now and then, we receive God's word to enlighten us about the workings of His grace, to bring us to the level of understanding and application of His grace which will enable us to fully reign over life. We should understand that Jesus Christ is not coming back for a weak church subdued by life but for that which is glorious.

 

Ephesians 5:25-27

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

 

I Corinthians 15:24-25

Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 

 

Apostle Paul in the Bible gives us a good example of how to reign over life in the midst of adversity. He was in a dire situation which he asked God severally to remove but let us explore 2 Corithians 12: 7-10 to see how Paul reign over his situation.

 

II Corinthians 12:7-10

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.