Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that it was Adam’s disobedience that caused sin and death to come into the world (Romans 5:12). Paul indicated that Adam “was a type of the one who was to come” (Romans 5:14). What Paul meant by a type of the one who was to come was that Adam showed us by example how substitution works in God’s plan of salvation. Paul  stated, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19). Jesus’ obedience was in a sense undoing the result of Adam’s disobedience. Obedience requires compliance or submission to the authority of another person (G5218). Jesus told his followers that he came down from heaven not to do his own will, but the will of his Father and then, said the will of his Father was “that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life” (John 6:38-40).

Jesus’ submission to God involved him humbling himself to the point that he was willing to do something that no one else could, die for the sins of the world. Paul talked about Jesus’ example of humility in his letter to the Philippians. Paul said that believers should:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:3-11)

Jesus was looking to the interests of others when he became obedient to the point of death. Jesus explained his motive for doing this when he told his disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Jesus never waivered in his commitment to submit himself to his Father’s will, but on the night before his death, Jesus asked God to spare him from the suffering that was ahead. Matthew tells us, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’ And he came to his disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, ‘So could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ And again he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again” (Matthew 26:39-44). Even though Jesus was human, he was not subject to the same human nature that caused his disciples to fall asleep instead of praying for him (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus exists as “one person with two distinct natures, fully divine, and fully human without any mixture of the two” (The Doctrine of Jesus Christ, The Standards of Doctrine of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors). Hebrews 4:15 states, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus’ perfect submission to God resulted in his Father putting everything in subjection to him. Hebrews 2:7-8 states, “You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.” The fact that at a predetermined point in the future nothing will be outside of Jesus’ control is why “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus partook of the same things that all humans do so “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Submission to God as opposed to lifelong slavery to the devil due to fear of death is a choice that each individual must make. Paul encouraged people to accept God’s free gift of salvation because it releases them from the law of sin and death (Romans 7:1-6). Paul stated, “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:15-17).