House of Hope Online

June 28, 2026

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Today I want to talk with you about life and death from a Biblical perspective.  In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul wrote about the Spirit of life in Jesus and the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:

 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (NASB)

The Old Testament law made it clear that all sin is disobedience, and it causes death.

Old Testament Law

Genesis 2:

 16 ¶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;

 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”

God had a simple law for Adam: do not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because in the day that you do, you shall surely die.  So, God established the law of sin and death early, and that is the law Paul referred to in Romans 8.

Genesis 2:17 is fascinating to me because if the tree was just a tree of knowledge of good, then I think God would not have forbidden it.  But, because of man’s nature, knowledge can be used for both good and evil, so God prevented Adam from eating of that tree.  Adam would have to rely on God instead of his own knowledge.  That is why we need to rely on God for knowledge, instead of worldly knowledge which can deceive.

This simple law became the foundation of Old Testament law.  Lack of obedience is sin, and God said sin leads to death.  Thus, we have the law of sin and death.

The Lord said it simply through the Prophet Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 18:

 20 “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

 21 ¶ “But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

 22 “All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live.

 23 “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

 24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.

Again, the law of sin and death is simple.  He who sins, dies.  Everyone is responsible for obeying the law.  Your parents’ righteousness does not bail you out, and your parents’ sin does condemn you.  He who turns away from his sins and toward righteousness will live, and his sins will not be remembered.  He who turns away from his righteousness, and sins: his righteousness will not be remembered.

We Need a Mediator

It did not take long for God to see that His creation would need a Mediator.

Genesis 3:

 6 ¶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Job, as he was grappling with why tragedy visited him, also realized the need for mediation between himself and a Holy God.

Job 9:

 32 “For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together.

 33 Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both. (NKJV)

Esther’s Prophetic Symbolism

In the Book of Esther, we see a prophetic symbolism of the type of mediator Job was talking about – someone who could go between us and God and plead our case and ask for mercy.

The story of Esther is a life and death matter for the Jewish people.  To give you some context, several decades after the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish tribes of Benjamin and Judah, the Medo-Persian Empire overwhelmed Babylon and inherited the Jewish captives.  While the Persian king allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem, many stayed in Persia, including a man named Mordecai, who took a low-level job in the king’s court.  When the reigning Queen Vashti was dethroned for disrespecting the king’s order, Mordecai’s cousin Esther gained the favor of the King and was selected as Queen.  On the advice of Mordecai, Queen Esther had not yet revealed to the king that she was Jewish.

One of the high-ranking officers of the King’s court, Haman, hated the Jewish people, especially Mordecai, who refused to bow down to him.  Haman deceived the king into writing a decree to have the Jewish people in the empire destroyed.

Esther 3:

 13 And letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.

 14 A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day.

 15 The couriers went out impelled by the king’s command while the decree was issued in Susa the capital; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion. (NASB)

So, we again have a law leading to death, although it was not the law of God, it was the law of Satan, the master of deception.

When Mordecai heard of the decree, he sent word to Queen Esther and asked her to intercede on behalf of the Jewish people.  This was no small request because if she tried to enter the king’s chambers and was not welcomed in by the king, she would be killed.  So, she called a fast for herself and all the Jewish people to observe, and when she approached the king, he extended his golden scepter toward her and allowed her to approach and make her request.

Esther 8:

 3 ¶ Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and implored him to avert the evil [scheme] of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews.

 4 And the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So, Esther arose and stood before the king.

 5 Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter [seems] proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.

 6 “For how can I endure to see the calamity which shall befall my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”

Life Comes Due to Grace

As the events unfold, we see that life came to the Jewish people because of Esther’s grace and favor with the King.

Esther 8:

 7 So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he had stretched out his hands against the Jews.

 8 “Now you write to the Jews as you see fit, in the king’s name, and seal [it] with the king’s signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring may not be revoked.”

 9 So the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces which [extended] from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language, as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language.

 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horses, riding on steeds sired by the royal stud.

 11 In them the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city [the right] to assemble and to defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate the entire army of any people or province which might attack them, including children and women, and to plunder their spoil,

 12 on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar).

The result of Esther’s intercession on behalf of her people produced gladness and joy in their lives and led to many becoming believers.

Esther 8:

 16 For the Jews there was light and gladness and joy and honor.

 17 And in each and every province, and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.

The Jews were headed to death, by the law, which was the decree of the King, until Queen Esther interceded on their behalf.  We likewise were headed for death, according to the law of sin and death, until Jesus intervened on our behalf, took on our sin, and interceded for us before the Father.

New Testament Principles

Queen Esther’s mediation amounts to prophetic symbolism of Jesus’ intercession for us, and the grace extended to us by His sacrifice.

1^st John 2:

 1 ¶ My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for [those of] the whole world.

Romans 8:

 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;

 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Spirit of Life vs. Sin and Death

Jesus is aware of our weakness and our vulnerability to the law of sin and death.  He prayed for Peter because he knew he would deny Him.

Luke 22:

 31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded [permission] to sift you like wheat;

 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

 33 And he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”

 34 And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

Jesus also prayed for us, and continues to pray for us, that the devil would not be able to snatch us out of His hand.

John 10:

 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.

 29 “My Father, who has given [them] to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father’s hand.

 30 “I and the Father are one.”

Although there exists a law of sin and death, Jesus is the Spirit of life, and He sets us free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:

 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God [did:] sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and [as an offering] for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

 4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Romans 5:

 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

 20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

 21 that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:

 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.

 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Accept Jesus in your heart today and tell everyone you know to do the same.  It is a matter of life and death!

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for the grace of Jesus extended to us.  Thank You that the Spirit of life in Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death.  Thank You that we have been freed from sin and enslaved to You, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome of eternal life.  We praise You for the mercy that produces joy and gladness in our lives forevermore.  We praise and worship You, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

If anyone has not yet received the Lord Jesus Christ in their heart, and desires to do so, please repeat this prayer after me:

Father God, I repent of my sin and ask for forgiveness today.  I confess and declare with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I believe with all my heart that You raised Him from the dead for the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus, please come into my heart and change me.  Send the Holy Spirit to guide and direct me in wisdom and to enable me to overcome temptation from this day forth.  Thank You for my salvation.  I look forward to the day of the Rapture when I can be with You forever.  Amen.