This series covers our study through the book of Romans. These sermons with careful and slow exegetical expository coverage move through each chapter and verse following the theme and thesis of the book that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. These sermons were primarily preached by Pastor Duane Smets from April 2005 to November 2008 at The Resolved Church, San Diego, CA in its first three years of existence. Audio from the first year is unavailable.

   Audio & Manuscripts Below

The Gospel Thesis
 Listen     Read    1:1-7 |  An Introduction To Romans
 Listen     Read    1:2-6 |  The Validity, Content & Effect of The Gospel
 Listen     Read    1:7-15 |  Romans Is For God
 Listen     Read    1:14-15 |  Romans Is For Us
 Listen     Read    1:16-17 |  The Gospel Is The Power Of God Unto Salvation
 Listen     Read    1:16-17 |  Thank God For Jews
 Listen     Read    1:16-17 |  Justification By Faith
 Listen     Read    1:16-17 |  Justification & Habbakuk
 Listen     Read    1:16-17 |  We Are Beggars. This Is True

The Problem Of Sin
 Listen     Read    1:18 |  The Wrath of God
 Listen     Read    1:18-21 |  What Is Plain About God
 Listen     Read    1:18-32 |  The Suppression of Truth and Consequences
 Listen     Read    2:1-11 |  Seek Glory (Part I)
 Listen     Read    2:5-11 |  Seek Glory (Part II)
 Listen     Read    2:11-16 |  The Impartial God
 Listen     Read    2:17-19 |  Circumcision of the Heart
 Listen     Read    3:1-18 |  Moribund No More
 Listen     Read    3:19-20 |  Put Your Hand Over Your Mouth
 Listen     Read    3:21 |  Righteousness From Without
 Listen     Read    3:21-23 |  No Distinction

The Promised Savior
 Listen     Read    3:24-25 |  Propitiation
 Listen     Read    3:25-26 |  Righteousness Demonstrated
 Listen     Read    3:27-30 |  One God & One Salvation
 Listen     Read    3:31 |  The Law Upheld
 Listen     Read    4:1-12 |  The Imputation of Righteouness
 Listen     Read    4:13-17 |  The Promise Secured
 Listen     Read    4:18-22 |  The Heritage of Hope (Part I)
 Listen     Read    4:18-22 |  The Heritage of Hope (Part II)
 Listen     Read    4:22-24 |  The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
 Listen     Read    4:25 |  Who Killed Jesus?
 Listen     Read    5:1 |  Peace With God
 Listen     Read    5:2 |  In The Throne Room
 Listen     Read    5:2 |  Rejoice In The Hope Of The Glory of God
 Listen     Read    5:3-5 |  Rejoicing and Suffering
 Listen     Read    5:6-8 |  Love and Some Verses
 Listen     Read    5:8-10 |  Salvation In Jesus Christ
 Listen     Read    5:11 |  Joy In God
 Listen     Read    5:12-14 |  We Are From Adam
 Listen     Read    5:15-17 |  Jesus Is Better Than Adam
 Listen     Read    5:18-19 |  The Guilt & The Gift
 Listen     Read    5:20-21 |  It’s All About Grace

New Life In Christ
 Listen     Read    6:1-4 |  Baptism: The Life of the Buried Dead
 Listen     Read    6:5-7 |  Sin & Union With Christ (Part I)
 Listen     Read    6:8-11 |  Sin & Union With Christ (Part II)
 Listen     Read    6:12-14 |  God Reigning In You
 Listen     Read    6:15-18 |  Master Jesus (Part I)
 Listen     Read    6:19-23 |  Master Jesus (Part II)

Bearing Fruit For God
 Listen     Read    7:4-6   |   Part I
 Listen     Read    7:4-6   |   Part II
 Listen     Read    7:4-6   |   Part III

Law & Gospel
 Listen     Read    7:7-12  |  Part 1
 Listen     Read    7:7-12  |  Part 2
 Listen     Read    7:7-12  |  Part 3
 Listen     Read    7:7-12  |  Part 4

Inner Confliction & The Gospel
 Listen     Read    7:13-25  |  Part 1
 Listen     Read    7:13-25  |  Part 2
 Listen     Read    7:13-25  |  Part 3

No Condemnation In Christ
  Listen    Read    8:1-4  |  Part 1
  Listen    Read    8:1-4  |  Part 2
  Listen    Read    8:1-4  |  Part 3
  Listen    Read    8:1-4  |  Part 4
  Listen    Read    8:1-4  |  Part 5

Walking According To The Spirit
  Listen    Read    8:5-9  |  Part 1
  Listen    Read    8:5-9  |  Part 2
  Listen    Read    8:5-9  |  Part 3
  Listen    Read    8:9-13  |  Part 4
  Listen    Read    8:9-13  |  Part 5

The Jesus Family
  Listen    Read    8:12-13  |  Jesus Family Does Not Lose the Battles Which Count
  Listen    Read    8:14-15  |  Jesus Family Welcomes Members and Leads Them
  Listen    Read    8:14  |  The Family of Old
  Listen    Read    8:15-16  |  Adopted Forever
  Listen    Read    8:15  |  The Great Father We Call Abba
  Listen    Read    8:17  |  The Future of the Family

Suffering And The Glory Of God
 Listen     Read    8:18-25  |  Natural Evil & Moral Evil
 Listen     Read    8:18-25  |  The Groaning of God’s Spirit
 Listen     Read    8:26-27  |  Prayer & Suffering
 Listen     Read    8:28  |  How God Works it For Good
 Listen     Read    8:29  |  The Image of Christ
 Listen     Read    8:28-30  |  Predestination
 Listen     Read    8:31-39  |  Evil & The Existence of God
 Listen     Read    8:31-39  |  Barriers for the Believer

The God(ness) of God
  Listen    Read    9:1-29  |  The God of Glory (Part I)
  Listen    Read    9:1-29  |  The God of Glory (Part II)
  Listen    Read    9:1-29  |  The God of Glory (Part III)
  Listen    Read    9:1-29  |  The God of Glory (Part IV)
  Listen    Read    9:30-10:21  |  The God of Gospel (Part I)
  Listen    Read    9:30-10:21  |  The God of Gospel (Part II)
  Listen    Read    9:30-10:21  |  The God of Gospel (Part III)
  Listen    Read    9:30-10:21  |  The God of Gospel (Part IV)
  Listen    Read    9:30-10:21  |  The God of Gospel (Part V)
  Listen    Read    11:1-36  |  The God of Future (Part I)
  Listen    Read    11:1-36  |  The God of Future (Part II)
  Listen    Read    11:1-36  |  The God of Future (Part III)
  Listen    Read    11:1-36  |  The God of Future (Part IV)

Viva La Vida Christus: Living The Life Of Christ
  Listen    Read    12:1-2  |  All of Life is Worship
  Listen    Read    12:3-8  |  Humility, our Gifts, and Real Life
  Listen    Read    12:9-21  |  The Life of Genuine Love
  Listen    Read    13:1-7  |  Life Under Temporal Law
  Listen    Read    13:8-10  |  Life Under Eternal Law
  Listen    Read    13:11-14  |  Living in Light of the Day
  Listen    Read    14:1-2  |  The Principle of Preference (Part I)
  Listen    Read    14:13-15:3  |  The Principle of Preference (Part II)
  Listen    Read    15:4-13  |  The Principle of Preference (Part III)
  Listen    Read    15:14-33  |  Fulfilling the Mission
  Listen    Read    16:1-27  |  Entrusted to God

Listen to this sermon…       

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March 9th, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets

Suffering and the Glory of God – Part VIII
Romans 8:31-39

Introduction

Last week we mainly worked with verses 31-34 which mainly deal with the question of why suffering seems to say that God is against us. One of the biggest barriers to faith or detractors from it is the question of how there can truly be a good, all-powerful God when there is such immense and real suffering and pain and evil in the world?

The answer was two-fold. First, that our sense that suffering is wrong and that God should do something about it, is a moral sense, it is a sense of justice, that there is objective absolute truth that says certain things are wrong and ought not happen. That sense reflects innate knowledge that God is, a person or a being, that exists creating and upholding this personal moral law of goodness that is in all of us. There must be justice, there must be a just or right or good God! That was our first answer, that the very presence of evil and suffering in this world turns out in a “great irony” as C.S. Lewis says, to be one of the strongest arguments for the existence of God.

The second part of our answer was that God sent his one, only, unique son, the God-man, Jesus Christ…he sent them in the world to die for the sin and evil that is in the world, that people might have forgiveness and that the whole course of things might be changed. In that great plan, God shows himself to be not a God who is far off, not concerned, not caring about the pain we feel and experience, but a God who enters right into the middle of it through Jesus. Then, in the great exchange of the cross, God shows himself to still be just…wrongdoing and evil must be punished. But then God offers forgiveness and grace and mercy to wrongdoers through Jesus perfect life and resurrection. And so he shows himself to be a God who is both just and all-powerful and also justifier, a good and compassionate God…a God who justifies. He makes things right through Jesus.

We ended talking about the resurrection of Jesus. Verse 34 ends by saying that Jesus rose and is now “at the right hand of God” and is “interceding for us.” To intercede is to go before a king on the behalf of another person. It would be like if I had a friend who worked in the oval office and I had him go and put in my personal request and concern to the President. Jesus knows what it is like to suffer immensely, he has felt the whole gamut of human emotions, because of that Hebrews 4:15 says he is not “unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.” And then the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that his eye runs “to and fro throughout the whole earth” to strengthen our hearts. So what happens is Jesus sees us when we suffer, goes to God the Father and intercedes for us. And what is the result…the love of Christ!

The rest of the words in Romans 8 that we will look at today are all about the love of God in Christ that bonds us to him and enables us to make it through anything. Verse 35 begins with a question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” And verse 39 concludes with nothing being able to “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In between verses 35 and 39 is a arsenal of words, Saint Paul brings up any and everything he can think of that might be a potential problem, something that could possibly lead us astray and ruin us, and asks well what about this, what about this, what if this happens, or that happens, what then?

So let’s look at them and keep these questions in mind, I’ll come back to them after we go through each of the things Paul brings up, but be thinking about these questions: What is this love of Christ? Is it mainly a feeling you have that helps you when you are suffering? Or is it mainly a conviction in your mind meant to give you assurance beforehand, so that when you suffer you make it through? Think about those questions as we move through Paul’s arsenal of sufferings.

Tribulation, Distress, Persecution, Famine, Nakedness, Danger, or Sword

Let’s look at his first slew of words, “Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” Tribulation is general word for any kind of trouble or being under some kind of pressure. Distress is an inward feeling of anxiety, the feeling of being trapped or hemmed in from every side. Persecution is tyrannical violence from some outside person pursuing you as his enemy to do malice unto you. Famine is to lack an essential necessity of life, food. Nakedness is being stripped of all your clothes and left to the cold. Danger is peril, where you are put at some sort of risk. And the sword is death, the instrument of execution, usually by beheading as a capital punishment.

Every one of these things has to do with some sort of physical discomfort you may encounter while being a Christian. Note, the love of Christ does not guarantee that you will not experience these things as a Christian. These things will not separate you from the love of Christ if you face them, but we are not promised protection from hardship as Christians. In fact, 2 Timothy 3:12 says “…all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” in some way or another. And 1 Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though some strange thing were happening to you.”

Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword are very likely…we are not to be surprised. But so many are. There are whole websites out there like exchristian.org devoted to telling stories of deconversion. People who claimed to be a Christian at one time and no longer are. There is story after story of tragedies like car accidents, handicapped children, loss of a loved one…all kinds of stories that when those things happened people quit being Christians because from their perspective, they thought they were protected from those things.

Much of the tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword may come from natural disasters and calamities…but then there is also the kind that comes particularly from being a Christian, from being on mission. That is why Paul clarifies the word “sword” here in Romans with a quote from Psalm 44, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

The Mission of the Sword

Like lovers who love to tell of how in love they are, like sports fanatics love to tell how great their team is, like music or movie junkies who love to tell you about their favorite band or the latest movie…those who have truly become Christians will be impelled tell people about their savior, Jesus Christ. And that will inevitably bring about some difficulties and challenges at times. On the extreme level, like Rome in the first century when this book was written, or like in several countries right now…persecution is alive and well. Here’s a few stories from just last month.

On February 27th, in Nigeria, a pastor of a local church narrowly escaped a government-backed mob armed with machetes who looted and set fire to the church building. The stolen choir gowns were handed to street merchants who then wore them in mockery, claiming to be pastors.

On February 24th, in India, a band of 125 Hindu extremists attacked a members of the Mandir church right before services were about to begin. Reports say they came on Jeeps, beating drums and shouting slogans in Hindi, ‘He who talks in favor of only Hindus will rule the nation’ and, ‘Stop conversions.’ And they dragged people out of the meeting and beat them with bamboo poles, rods and belts.

On February 12th, in Shangqiu City, China, a group of 20 policemen stormed a Bible training meeting arresting over 70 believers including men, women, and children and put them in jail for ” using a cult to violate law enforcement.”

That is the extreme level. Not just experiencing some people thinking you are a weirdo or that you are different somehow, but them beating you and potentially even putting the sword to your neck. I wonder if God might put it in one of your hearts to intentionally go and live in a country like one of these solely so that some might come to know Jesus through the spilling of your blood? Historically, Christianity always thrives and grows and spreads when the blood of believers runs. In Revelation 6:9-11 the apostle John has a vision and he says this,
“I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”
Notice that phrase, “Who were to be killed.” It is as Jesus said in Luke 21:16-17 “Some of you will be put to death. You will be hated…for my name’s sake.”

Just so you know me and what I am about and what one of our goals are in this church…it is our goal to raise up a strong and healthy group of people here, but then not only that but to then send out some people out of this place who will go and die. I’m telling you I believe in the gospel and the hope of the gospel that much. Could it be that one of you would so catch a vision for the gospel that you would go and give your life for it?

May God grant it to be so. That’s intense and kind of scary. But for those who can take it, take it. But now let’s talk about the softer level, just for a moment. The level for those of us here whom God has called to live in San Diego…because we are missionaries too. We are missionaries in this city. We are on a mission to impart the gospel to the people who live in this place. On the most basic level that means making friends and talking to them about the real issues of their life and helping them see how Jesus is the answer.

Here’s the deal, here’s what I see in some of you, and what I find in myself too frequently. We either A, don’t have any friends who are not Christians. We just hang out with Christians and that’s it. Non-Christians are bad and you don’t want to get dirty by being with them. That’s a problem. That’s not okay.

This is the model of mission that’s big here in San Diego among a number of churches. Christians are to go out and talk to people about Jesus, with the hopes that it will somehow elicit a quick decision for Christ, without having had to take the time to develop a relationship. Not to mention the fact that Jesus said to go make disciples and not to just do drivebys, it turns Christianity into merely a social club or interest group where we all just pat each other on the back and just make ourselves feel better about being a bunch of wierdos. That’s not what it’s about.

So option A mission is not having any non-Christian friend and thinking that is somehow good. Second option, B, you have friends that are not Christians and are good at making friend and hanging out with them but you never talk to them about Jesus at all. Why? Well, Paul Tripp says, “Perhaps we love our relationship with this person so much that we don’t want to risk losing it.” Or maybe “we want to avoid the personal sacrifice and complications” involved. The problem is that neither of those things are true love, their just replacing love with being nice and seeking to avoid uncomfortable moments.

Often the truth is that we fail to bring up Jesus not because we really love other people and care about them so much and really want to help them but because we love ourselves too much. We are afraid our friends might misunderstand us, be angry with us, think we are different then them…and we don’t want that. We want them to love us more than anything. A sword, are you kidding me? Yeah right, I’m not down to even take somebody maybe not thinking a nice thought about me because I’m so insecure.

You see this passage in Romans about the love of Christ, implies that it will compel us all to become missionaries and that the likely result of that is that there is going to be some challenges, some discomfort, and difficulties…potentially rejection and suffering and death.

Now the great encouragement of this passage is the love of Christ. Jesus lived, he died, and he rose from the dead for me and my sin and that has changed my life. It has hit so deep in all the levels of my being, that suffering can’t even touch it. The sword can’t kill me because my God is not dead, Jesus rose from the dead and promised that to his followers and that’s me.

So in the extreme form I can be put to death and spill my blood and that is not the end for me. There is resurrection! Or in the softer form, I can make friends with people who are not Christians in this city and talk to them about Jesus and even if the result of that is I am rejected in some way…I have a real Jesus who rose and lives and sits on a throne interceding for me and his approval and his love means so much more than anyone else’s.

Death, Life, Angels, Rulers, Present, Future, Powers, Height, Depth, All Creation

Let’s move on to the next slew of words in Romans. After talking about tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword, verse 37 continues, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure 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.”

We’ll talk about this being more than a conqueror and this phrase “I am sure” in a minute. But first let’s look at this next list, death, life, angels, rulers, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth, and all creation. It’s an extensive list. The last slew of words dealt the experience of physical sufferings you may experience while being a Christian. Now Paul moves to the spiritual, spatial, and supernatural things.

In the first set, “death nor life” we are reminded that being human is not just a physical thing but a spiritual thing. The love of Christ is something that breaks in and is real in this life and continues beyond death, death does not and cannot change it. I was up in Orange County on Friday to see a friend who had a family member die this week. Sometimes the death of a someone close is paralyzing, seeming to force love into another world. Or for others, life seems sapped of all joy and devoid of any love at all. In death and in life…the love of Christ is real and relevant.

In the second set, angels and rulers, we are reminded that this is a spiritual world where there are spiritual forces at work. Some have been and are tormented by bad angels, demons, experiencing oppressingly evil thoughts and anguish. Some have been mistreated and misjudged by human governments and judges. Whether angels or rulers, the love of Christ is stronger. Jesus is stronger than any angel, demon, judge, president, king or emperor. He is supreme.

In the third set, things present or things to come, we are reminded that we live in a world where we experience time. Sometimes the present, what is going on right now can seem so intense. Our existential side kicks into high gear and we put so much weight on what is happening right now. Amy says I get this furrow between my eyebrows and I start to scowl and my emotions and my mind is just running wild. The present, in the moment, can just seem to press in. But the love of Christ can come in and calm and assure us that he is at work.

Or how about the fear of the future, the things to come? How many of you worry about the next day or the next week or the next year? You worry whether you will find a mate, whether you will have enough money to make it, whether you will be in the same place you are now, whether you will move or have kids or if things will get any better with your job, your family, or your marriage? I know you guys got to worry about the future. I sure do. This text says the love of Christ can put our worries to rest and that we can rest in him because he loves us and will take care of us.

Next there is this little word, “powers” stuck in the middle of all these pairs. We can’t be sure exactly what Paul is getting at here but it seems he just means the sort of sense that there is some vague force at work in the world. I hear it all the time, “that’s just karma”, either getting you back or returning a favor. Or I have a friend who gets his horoscope reading texted to him every morning. Astrology is something that has been around for a long time, even when this was written. Many scholars think that is what Paul is referring to here, a sense that there is some magical force at work in the stars that determine the course of our lives. No, neither karma, nor astrology, nor any other power is greater than the power of the love of Christ, it conquers all.

The last set is height or depth. They are spatial things. The sense is wherever you go, it does not matter. There is no place on earth, in the heavens or under the earth where the love of Christ will not go with you. Christ’s love is not limited by geographical boundaries. No matter where you are, if you are in church or if you are at home or in your car or lying in your bed…the love of Christ abides.

Finally, just to make sure he didn’t miss anything, Paul adds, nor anything else in all creation! The point is that no one, nothing, not a single person, place or thing can stand in the way of the love of Christ in you. Every single voice or possibility is hushed. The case is closed and no one can reopen it, it cannot be appealed, no contrary verdict can be found…nothing in all creation can stand in the way of the love of Christ in his saints. The phrase emphasizes the totality of the victory which God has brought about in Jesus Christ. It is massive. God loves you and has given you Jesus and no matter what suffering you encounter, he loves you and that will not end or change.

More than Conquerors

Now I’ve said the phrase, “the love of Christ” like a hundred times today and at the beginning of my sermon I asked “what is this love of Christ? Is it mainly a feeling you have that helps you when you are suffering? Or is it mainly a conviction in your mind meant to give you assurance beforehand, so that when you suffer you make it through?”

My answer is that it is both. I’ll start with the second. What is the love of Christ? Well how has Paul defined it already? That was last week. It was that God is not against us. He should be, because we are all jacked up, full of ourselves, don’t give a rip about God, have done and continually do all kinds of things wrong and then make light of them telling ourselves that we’re still good people…God should be against us. But instead he sent his son into the world and put what should be against us against his own unique son, Jesus. And Jesus did it willingly. He wanted to do it. He died for us, so that we might know God and be forgiven and cleansed and receive all of his goodness.

That is the love of Christ. It is the fixed ground displayed and demonstrated in human history on a cross. He died for us for our sin, and he rose again to give us new life. That is the ground that enables us to face suffering and be strong. So I say, yes, the love of Christ is mainly a conviction in your mind meant to give you assurance beforehand so that when you suffer you will make it through it. I think that is part of the design of this passage, to prepare you for suffering before it happens.

You see, these things don’t go down very well when you are in the middle of it. When you are sick or when some tragedy has happened, the last thing you want to hear from someone is “oh, don’t worry…it will all work out somehow.” That is not comforting. That is not how you minister to someone when they are hurting. You want to know what you do, you cry with them. That is what Romans teaches a couple chapters down the road, you weep with those who weep (Rom. 14:15). When someone is broken and hurting by the suffering they are going through, that is not the time for you to give them a theological lesson on suffering. That is the time you cry and you hug and you tell them you love them and that God loves them.

The time we learn these things is now, when we are just studying through the Bible and things come up and as they do our roots go down deeper and deeper, so that we become a strong and healthy tree and then when the hurricane winds of suffering come, we may bend but we do not break because we know what is happening. So I teach you these things now, so that you will know how to suffer and how to help those who suffer.

But what about when you feel as though you’ve been conquered? You feel like you have no strength left? You’ve faced some of these things, like Paul had. I think that’s part of why he knew what to write. God was surely directing him, but he had learned these truths through being naked, famished, in danger, persecution, and distress…he knew. Surely he felt at times like he had been conquered…which is why he was able to say, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us!”

You see I think Paul points out all these things because he knows that we may experience them. We may at times feel like the trail we are going through has completely separated us from the love of Christ. We may feel so overcome in spiritual battle and warfare that we are about to throw in the towel. We may very well find those moments, but there is an activeness to the love of Christ here. It is not just a factual event of history in the past, Jesus rose and lives today and is interceding for us.

So this is the way I think it works. When suffering strikes, Jesus intercedes for us, and when that happens, our minds will be drawn toward considering who Jesus is and what he has done. And as that happens slowly it will seep to our affections and we will then be moved and our confidence and strength will begin to rise and enable us to see through whatever the huge obstacle is that is in our way…and the love of Christ rises and rises and rises in us until we shout in joy, “nothing can separate me from the love of Christ!” Come hell, demons, all the host of heaven…come sword, come danger, come trials…what can you do to me?! Nothing. Because my God loves me and he gave his life for me and I will live, I will live, I will live.

I think it works like that. I think that is why Paul could make such a bold claim at the beginning verse 38, when he says “I am sure!” Another translation says, “I am convinced.” How arrogant? How could he be so confident? It’s this bold, audacious, triumphant statement…”I am sure.” Friends, when God works in your life, there’s nothing else you can say. I can give you all the rational arguments and reasons…I know them well, but in the end, I know my Jesus and there is nothing anybody could ever say to make me think different. He’s changed my life. I’m sure of it. Nothing can touch that, nothing in all creation.

Conclusion

Let’s conclude. It’s been a wonderful series studying suffering and the glory of God and today is the perfect capstone…nothing in all creation can separate us. I hope you’ve learned some things and more than that I hope your confidence in our great God and savior has been strengthened so that it can handle suffering.

I want to conclude with an appeal, because all the wonderful truths and assurances we’ve looked at today and over the past weeks are not yours if you don’t love Jesus. This love of Christ that defies and conquers all suffering is only your if you belong to Jesus.

Now for some that may seem messed up. In any relationship there is supposed to be give and take, where each person adjusts and changes for the other person. If not the relationship turns out all wrong and one person controls everything and ends up oppressing the other person. Perhaps the idea of being a Christian just seems so backward, there’s one way and I must accept it…let me just put it to you this way, in Jesus God has adjusted to us.

In Jesus God became a man, a limited human being, he submitted himself to immense suffering and death. On that cross, he took on our position as sinners and died in our place in order to forgive us. In Jesus God has adjusted and come to us. That is why we are Christians. This love of Christ throughout this passage is not our love for Christ, it’s his love for us. We love him because he first loved us.

And when you fall in love with a person, you want to please them so much. I fall in love with Amy over and over again…and when you fall in love you just constantly try to find out what they like, what they want, and you just want to do whatever makes them happy no matter how much it cost or how inconvenient it is. With Jesus, it’s the same…once we realize how much Jesus changed for us and gave himself for us, there is nothing we won’t give up for him, to have him and be with him…even death itself. So give up yourself for Jesus, he’s worth it.

The love of Christ is so different than anything else. Most people fade in and out of love. It’s why there is so much divorce today…because people don’t feel love anymore and thinks that’s the end of the marriage. There is no divorce with Christ, he doesn’t end it with us when our love falters or fades. His love is permanent and real and will take you through anything.

Let me end this sermon with some words from Pastor and Scholar John Stott,
“God’s pledge is not that suffering will never afflict us, but that it will never separate us from his love. This is the love of God which was supremely displayed in the cross…and was poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit…Our confidence is not in our love for him, which is frail, fickle and faltering, but in his love for us, which is steadfast, faithful and persevering. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints needs to be re-named. It is the doctrine of the perseverance of God [in] the saints. Let me nor more comfort draw, from my frail hold of thee; In this alone rejoice with awe, thy mighty grasp of me.”

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March 2nd, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets

Suffering and the Glory of God – Part VI
Romans 8:31-39

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;_we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 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.

Introduction

Good morning everyone. Today we start to look at the last 8 verses of Romans 8, we’ll take two weeks on them and then that will conclude our “Suffering and the Glory of God” series dealing with this latter half of Romans 8.

We started this current series “Suffering and the Glory of God” back in mid-January. As we study through the book of Romans it helps to break things up by following the themes that present themselves and the theme of the second half of Romans 8 is all about suffering. Suffering is a huge issue for everyone in the whole world no matter what your religion or race…what do you do with the presence of evil and suffering in the world? People everywhere experience massive pain and tragedy and hardships…things like floods, fires, earthquakes and hurricanes and things like cancer, aids, and the flu.

One of our community groups is going through a video series based on a book called “Jesus Among Other Gods” by Ravi Zacharias. In a few weeks they’ll come to the chapter on suffering. The beginning of that chapter starts with a letter from a man who sought counsel from Ravi, here’s a part of that letter, “On August 4, 1997 at 3:15pm, my son, Adam Mark Triplett, died in an airplane accident. It happened in the town of New Richmond, Wisconsin. Adam was a flight instructor for a local flight school in St. Paul, Minnesota. Adam was a respected student, fine musician, professional pilot, devoted friend, and dedicated Christian man. He was also a delightful brother, husband, and son. My only son. Adam died at the age of 23, after only three months of marriage. I can’t imagine life without him…” The letter goes on to explain this father, agony and turmoil and questions that arose dealing with guilt and why God would do such a thing if there is a God.

For so many, this an extremely difficult question. If there is a God then how can he really be both all-powerful and all-good at the same time. If he was really all-good then why wouldn’t he use his power to stop it? Evil and pain and suffering and tragedy is an issue for everyone. What do you do about it and the answer to that question so often ends up determining the course of someone’s life. For some it is simply too painful, so they turn to the answer of eastern religion, that evil is ultimately not really real, and the way to deal with it is to become one with the universe…so you separate yourself from it and just accept it.

For others that answer will not suffice, they are simply too angry and hurt. Right now, the number 9 on the New York Times best seller list is a book called, “God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer” written by a man named Bart D. Ehrman. Here is an excerpt from the very first paragraph of the book,
“If there is an all-powerful and loving God in this world, why is there so much excruciating pain and unspeakable suffering? The problem of suffering has haunted me for a very long time. It was what made me begin to think about religion when I was young, and it was what led me to question my faith when I was older. Ultimately it was the reason why I lost my faith.”
The rest of the book goes on to describe how he thinks the Bible contradicts itself and does not provide an adequate answer. I’ll leave you the judge of that today after we look into this text because I think it speaks directly to that question.

I’ve given you this extended introduction today, just to try and paint a picture for you of how big this issue is, why we’ll have spent about two months talking about it on Sunday mornings and then hopefully sort of set up the verses that we’ll look at today, so that they will just shine like a massive beacon of light into your soul and you will see and hear about how good God is shown to be by giving us His Son to conquer suffering. So let’s read the text and pray.

God these words are beautiful and massive and I pray that you would somehow enable me in these moments to work with them in a way that points to the beautiful massiveness of who you are and what you have done in Jesus Christ to provide an answer and not just answer but an eternal solution to the great difficulty of suffering. I pray that for some today, the light of the gospel would come on for them of what happened on that cross Jesus died upon and three days later came back to life. I pray that for some today, you would put a rock under their feet so that when the suffering storms come, they can know they are on a sure foundation and be convinced that you are not against them. I pray that for some today who are hurting or sick or have ones they love who are suffering, that you would console and comfort their hearts with the loving and sure arms of Jesus Christ our Lord. In his name, Amen.

What Shall We Say to These Things

This passage of Scripture is built and designed to give you a massive assurance in the face of suffering! It’s mood is like the drum beat of an army sergeant marshaling forward, “If God is for us who is against us! Will he not give us all things! Who will bring a charge! Who will condemn! Who will separate us from Christ!” No one. That is the resounding answer to the rhetorical exclamations. The overall tenor begins militant and ends in a kiss. This passage combines the elements of beautiful sweet sweet song with a brilliant line of reasoning, and then concocts them together in a poetic connection of words.

Saint Paul begins with a series of questions, “what then shall we say to these things?” These things, is an encompassing statement. Surely it refers things he just said and then so much more because of the scope of things he mentions. What shall we say about God’s plan, what shall we say about suffering, what shall we say about who Jesus is and what he has done for us, what shall we say about these things?

Paul has used that phrase, “what shall we say” a few times before. He used it in Romans 7 when he talked about the law and it’s role in our lives (7:7) and he used it in Romans 6 when he talked about us abusing God’s grace (6:1), and now he uses it to talk about suffering.

God is Not Against Us

Here is the big question. When we suffer, it seems like God is against us in some way. It’s what we read a moment ago from the letter to Ravi. What is Paul’s answer? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” He answers the question with a question. But you say, isn’t that the issue. If God is God and is all-powerful, then the fact there’s suffering means he must not be good and he must be against us. So how do you know, Mr. Paul that God is for us?

Look at how he first responds in verse 32. “He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” This is a monumental verse. There is some big things at work here. Let me unpack them for us.

First, who is the Son? Notice the word “own” do you see it there? In Romans, Paul says Jesus is the Son of God, here he is God’s own son. Here he is differentiating Jesus to all the other sons and daughters of God of humanity. There is something different and unique and special to Jesus, namely that he is God. He is fully God and fully man at the same time, how presses us beyond the ability of our human understanding but the Bible is clear on this and we learn why it is a joy to us in a moment. For right now, just recognize this word “own,” Jesus is God’s own unique son.

In the gospel of John, one of the four books of the Bible that tell the events of Jesus life and ministry, in John 3:16, the apostle John says something similar, he says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” Those two words, only son is one word in Greek, monogenes. Mono is one, genes is where we get the English word “gene.” Monogenes, one gene, one kind, one unique Son of God. There is only one like Jesus.

Then look what Romans says about God’s only unique son, back to vs.32, God “did not spare him,” but “gave him up for us all.” What does he mean “not spare” and “gave him up” or “Delivered him up” (which is probably how I would translate this here)? Let try to illuminate the meaning here by re-reading a verse I read two weeks ago for us all from the first sermon ever preached in Jesus’ church. Acts 2:32 “…this Jesus, (was) delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, (whom) you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

What Paul is pointing to and what Peter says is the shocking truth that it was not mainly Judas who gave Jesus up for money, it was not mainly Pilate who gave Jesus up out of fear, it was not mainly the Jewish leaders who gave Jesus up out of envy, and it was not mainly the soldiers who nailed him up because of their orders…but it was God. God deliberately plan and orchestrated every single event that took place surround the birth and life and death of Jesus, his Son. As Isaiah 53:10 says, “it was the will of the LORD to crush him.” God killed Jesus.

It is shocking. This is horrible. Why or how could God do such a thing? Is this some demented form of cosmic child abuse or something? I means, seriously. I think of my little three month old daughter, there is no situation where I would ever think it right or okay, to plan to have her killed. Can this really be so and why would God do it, why?

The answer is in the second part of verse 32, God did this, delivered up his own unique Son, so that we would know that “he will graciously give us all things.” Do you see those words? God did it for us, so that we would know that we have a God who is not far off somewhere who has no clue about what we are going through and does not care about our suffering. We have a God who entered right into the middle of it! God knows what it feels like to us. Jesus experienced the whole gamut of human emotions. He knows what it feels like to be poor, to be homeless, to be hungry, to be alone, to feel abandoned, to be betrayed, to have his bodily organs break down and suffer immensely. God knows our suffering.

And if God did that, if he gave his only son and subjected him to the dishonor of being treated like a poor homeless bum while he walked the earth, though he was the king of the universe. If God endured people breathing out lies and hatred because Jesus did miracles and healed people and loved them, making them so angry to the point that he is arrested and whipped and beaten and nailed to a bloody cross…if God did all that for you what won’t he do! He didn’t spare his own son, the most valuable and high and precious possession in existence, but he gave him up. If God is that committed to saving his children, you can know God is not against you. He loves you more than you could ever dream.

The Accuser, The Elect and The Justifier

This brings us to verse 33, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” I haven’t said anything about it yet but some of you might have picked up on it and noticed that we went into a courtroom today. Suffering is on the stand and Paul is marshalling question after question. He is in peak form showing what a masterful lawyer he was. It becomes crystal clear in this verse, “What charge are you going to bring now!” Defendant, he’s your witness. And the defendant’s lawyer is silenced and has nothing to say.

There are three people brought up in these verses, the accuser, the elect and the justifier. First the accuser, the one who would bring charge. Many do. There’s the charge of Mr. Bart Ehrman, that suffering is “God’s Problem” and that the “Bible Fails to Answer our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer.” There’s that charge.

But I think there is even a deeper charge, one that comes up speaks doubts and lies into our head. The Bible has many names for Satan, the evil one who attempts to do everything he can to draw us away from loving and trust God. One of his names comes both from the book of Zechariah and the book of Revelation and the name is “the accuser of the brothers (Zech 3:1 and Rev. 12:10).

What does he accuse of? I think it goes like this, at least it goes like this for me. It that voice which brings up past faults and failures and sins and says that I blew it. I had my chance, but I screwed up, bad, and God does not want me and is not going to bless me. There’s just not any hope for me. Sometimes it comes out like that for me. That’s an accusation. I know you experience it too.

One of you whom I love dearly asked me a couple months back, “Duane, why don’t give up on me? Don’t you think your just wasting your time, I’m a mess bro.” That’s an accusation of the devil from the pit of hell because we have a God who gave up his only son for us and will stop at nothing to see us come to know his love for us in Jesus. God is continually taking the bad things of our life and turning them and working them for good and forming us more and more into the image of his son Jesus.

That’s one accusation, that we are a lost cause. Here’s another one. Sometimes it comes out like this for me, nothing is free Duane, you will only experience blessing in your life if you work really hard and do things right. And so I start to try and try and try and I can never seem to do it right, God’s standard of perfection is just too high, and so I start to feel there is no hope for me. The accusation says Duane you have to earn your salvation but your never going to make it so why don’t you just give up.

I know you guys know this one too. I had a conversation with one of you not too long ago and we were talking about the challenges of life and living for God and you asked me if I remember the words correctly, “Well of course we have to earn our salvation don’t we, isn’t that is what it is about, improving ourselves spiritually?” That’s the trap and the lie of the accuser that tries to tell me that I have to do something on top of what Jesus has already done. It’s one that says I have to earn my salvation by working real hard on my spiritual life and do things just right. It’s an accusation that says Jesus was not enough when he is. Jesus lived the life I couldn’t and can’t, his life is sufficient for me, the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, not trusting in my own works and ability. You have to hit a point when you surrender and just give up and turn your life over and quit trying and embrace Jesus as your all.

There are many accusations, whether they are intellectual doubts that are thrown in from the outside or whether they are internal turmoil from the lies of the enemy who wants to try and tell us that God does not love us and there is no hope for us.

Have you noticed how much I have used the word “us” today? That’s been intentional because that’s what this passage of Scripture we’re working with does. “God is for us.” So no one can be “against us.” God gave up his son “for us all.” And God will “graciously give us all things.” Us. He says it four times and then he changes the word us in verse 33 and does use “us” but says we are “God’s elect.” What’s that about?

We’ll talk extensively about this word “elect” in our next sermon series when we get into Romans 9. So for now I’ll just say this, it has to do with God’s plan. God planned to send his son into the world to die and God also planned to save people, that as we learned a couple week ago in verse 29, people that he foreknew or foreloved. Jesus took names to the cross with him. The cross wasn’t just some chance half court hail Mary shot to see if something might work. No God planned to save his children and gather together his family by delivering Jesus up for them. So how do you know if you’re one of the “us” or one of the “elect”? It’s simple, Jesus and his death and resurrection is everything to you.

Let me tell you about my personal faith my friends. I’m a smart dude. I used to say that or rather think that with a lot of pride and gusto, thinking that I was great and better than so many people because I’ve been through a lot of school and have three degrees and I know what words like theanthropos and supralapsarianism mean and I like reading stuff that is really hard to read and uses 9 plus letter words. My faith was very much wrapped up in my head knowledge and thinking that I was right and I had it figured out. You know what my faith looks like a lot these days? A whimper. A pathetic cry for help. So many of my prayers these days are the most simple, childlike pleas…”Jesus help me,” “Jesus save me,” “Jesus change my heart,” “Jesus I need you.”

So I say this to you. I’ve been a real Christian now for almost 12 years and you know what brings me to my knees and causes me to fall apart and love God more than anything else in the whole world? I said it to my wife over dinner two nights ago, “That Jesus died for me.” That’s how you know.

Well, we’ve talked about the accuser and we’ve talked about the elect, now there’s this one last person, the “God who justifies.” Paul here names justification as the very character of God. It’s not the first time, back in Romans 3:26 he said that God did what he did in Jesus so that “he might be both just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” What’s that about? Just and justifier, what’s that mean?

It has to do with justice. For those of you who know who C.S. Lewis is, he was not always a Christian. He was a man who had rejected the idea of God because of the suffering and cruelty of life, much like Mr. Ehrman who we’ve talked about today. But C.S. Lewis became a Christian and God being both just and justifier was where the light went on for him. In his book “Mere Christianity” he writes, “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of ‘just’ and ‘unjust’?”

He then goes one to describe how he realized that rejecting the existence of God because of suffering was based on a sense of fair play and justice, that suffering “ought” not to be. So in a great irony, the very sense of not liking suffering and having a sense that it is somehow wrong and evil turns out to be a great evidence for the existence of God, that there is a moral ground and source and that everything is not just meaningless, there must be a good God behind it all upholding this sense of moral law and justice.

But if that is true, then we are in deep trouble, because everyone of us has done things we know we ought not to do. That’s how the book of James in the Bible describes sin, when one “knows the good they ought to do and don’t do it.” And if morality is not just some vague principle but has it’s ground and it’s source in God, then when we sin, we don’t just violate a code we violate a person, God himself. And that puts us in a huge predicament, because if God is going to uphold morality he must punish sin or he’s not just, he’s not good, he would be an immoral judge if he let sin go unpunished and just sweep it under the rug like it never happened.

A man was caught and arrested three days ago up in Encinitas for raping several women. If a judge just let the man go, and said don’t worry about it, it’s no big deal, the public would cry out…that judge is not a good judge.

So what does God do? He sends his own divine son Jesus into the world. Jesus never sins, always does the good he ought to do, so he deserves no punishment and therefore can be a substitute for sinners who deserve punishment. So he goes to the cross in our place and receives the punishment we deserve and satisfies the debt sinners owe to God. Because Jesus is God, his life is has an eternal or infinite value, so that death on the cross was not just an event of human suffering. You have eternity on the cross! And because of that, all who embrace Jesus person and work as their own, receive it’s benefits and escape eternal punishment for violating God’s just moral law.

This is the great exchange. This is an amazing plan of God that through becoming a man in Jesus and living the life we couldn’t and then dying the eternal death we deserve in our place, he is able to still uphold his justice and yet provide mercy so that we might not suffer forever. That is amazing plan and provision of God! God is a God who justifies.

Jesus on the Throne

Well let’s conclude this morning’s message with verse 34. “Who is it to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Here we move from the courtroom to the throneroom.

Jesus’ resurrection is the stamp of God’s approval that what Jesus did worked. The transaction, the great exchange worked. God is both just and justifier. It brings reality to everything that I’ve said this morning. If Jesus had just died and was still dead, it would just be another sad tragedy in the course of sad tragedies in the human history of suffering. But when Jesus rose, he was vindicated! He was shown to be who he was all along, the king of glory! The Lord of the universe! In Romans 1:4, one of the first verses of this book we are studying, Paul says Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead!

Now Jesus lives! He hung out with several hundred people for a period of 40 days before ascended up into the air to go sit on his throne in heaven! The evidence for Jesus’ resurrection was and is undeniable. It’s why when Peter preached the first sermon of the church 3,000 people became Christians. Because many saw Jesus crucified and then saw him after he came back to life. The immediate implication is, Jesus really is who he said he was and can really save our souls and solves the eternal problem of human pain and suffering! There’s resurrection! It’s good news.

Now for some of you maybe that just seems like fantasy. Like some crazy religious fanatics story. Like something you would only see in the movies. Maybe you are like Bart Ehrman. He says, if God really enters into our world and our suffering in Jesus, then where is he now, why doesn’t he enter into world today, so that I can know and be convinced and have hope as well?

My answer is this, if God repeated those sacred events in every generation it would demean the significance of the grand scope of what Jesus did that makes salvation possible for people across all different places and time periods. Jesus did not leave himself without witness. There is overwhelming external witness. So much so that Paul said if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead then our preaching is useless and our faith is in vain, Christianity is done with.

But God has also left witness in our hearts. We could talk all day long about reasons to believe that God exists that that the Bible is true and that Jesus really lived and died and rose. But when it comes down to it…in our heart we all know God really exists. We know there is one true God and we know that Jesus lives and is the hero and the savior. That’s why every movie has a Christ figure, someone who saves the day or is delivered out of some dilemma. We know we need a Jesus. And we know he lives today. I can tell you from the depths of my soul, “I’ve never seen him with my eyes, but I know my redeemer lives.”

Conclusion

So here’s my conclusion today as we go to the table and eat the bread and the wine, receiving and remembering the life and the death of Jesus for us… Meditate on these things: You have a God who loves you immensely. He is not against you, he gave his son for you and no matter what anyone says, no matter what thoughts might enter your head when you face suffering, you can know that God loves you because he came into the world and died for you. He knows your suffering, your heartache, your pain, and he walks with you through the valley of the shadow of death.

If you are hurting today, allow pastor Jesus to minister to you, to wrap his loving arms around you. If you have been afflicted with accusing thoughts, allow pastor Jesus to tell you that he is enough and he all you need. If you have harbored resentment and hatred and anger toward God because you haven’t known or understood your suffering, lay it down at the table today. If you have been trying to make your life work and trying so hard to get it right, give up today, and let Jesus be your justifier. Above, know today that Jesus is real and he present here in this room and he is so worthy of all our love and praise and adoration and worship. Let’s pray and thank him for being such a great God and savior.

Listen to this sermon…       

The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com
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All Rights Reserved © The Resolved Church

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February 17th, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets

Suffering and the Glory of God – Part VI
Romans 8:28-30

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Introduction

Good morning. Let’s read our text for today and pray.

Lord my God, today we deal with words from your book that an enormous ability to either humble your people and anchor their faith in a truth far greater than themselves or these words can so easily seem to harden others and provoke defiance and rebellion. Oh may that not be so today I pray. May we recognize today that you are God and we are not and have only the strength to bow our knees in submission toward your great name. I wrestle today as your preacher. Not knowing quite sure how to feed these truths to your flock. This teaching today is solid food, it is not milk. So for those who as Hebrews 5:12 says need milk and not food yet, would you grant a grace today for my words, may they not embitter and may they not lead to lawlessness. In some way take the hard things and make them soft. For others today God, who are like 1 Corinthians 3:2 says, have only had milk so far and are now ready for some solid food, may they eat richly at your table and come to see a scope of their salvation that they never dreamed was so. I pray for marveling today. May we marvel at your abundant grace and provision and plan of salvation. All for the glory of your Son Jesus, Amen.

Today, I preach on a subject I have never preached on in our nearly 3 years of existence as a church. The main reason being that our author in the book of Romans has not brought this subject up until now. The other reason is the main subject of today’s teaching is mainly for Christians, it is one of our sacred and hidden jewels that members of our family discover when they mature and the time is right.

So if you’re not a Christian today, that’s okay, just let it have this effect on you…let it make you want to be in the family, don’t hear that you can’t be and that we Christians think we are any better than you. We are sinners saved by Jesus and even we don’t quite understand why he saves us, but this text helps us a little bit with that.

Even for many Christians this is not an easy subject, it is not one that can easily be taken in and swallowed and it goes down smooth. It is one that you are going to have to chew on a little bit. So on one hand I want to say, prepare your minds for action. But just that alone won’t do it for us. This subject is one that will not become loved or accepted or comprehended by you unless your whole heart is ready and soft and willing to learn and be taught.

So my plea is two-fold. First, please let these words speak for themselves. Don’t try to force them into some sort of understanding that sits better with you because your afraid of the alternative. Let the Bible dictate to you what you will think and believe and do not try to make the Bible fit into what is already in your head. That’s my first plea.

My second plea is this, please in your heart, position yourself to be soft. Where there are things you may hear today that make you a little uncomfortable and your not quite sure what to think about them, just allow yourself to consider it. Say to yourself, maybe so, and God I just want to believe whatever is really true about your gospel. Let that be your attitude this morning.

The Context of Suffering

The first things we need to do is get a little context of what is going on in this latter half of Romans 8 and this “Suffering and the Glory of God” sermon series. So let me kind of just quickly summarize the last couple weeks for you.

We began looking at these verses, 28-30 two weeks ago. The first week, we dealt with the phrase, “…for those who love God all things work together for good.” We learned that when suffering happens it appears to be bad, but that God has a way of taken what appears to be bad at the time and turning it or working it for good in the future. Then we noted that God only does that for those who love him and not everyone loves him. So I made an appeal for us to love God but not to love him so that things will work our way because then that is not truly loving him, that is using him…but instead to love him for him.

Last week, we picked up the word “purpose” from verse 28 and dealt with the second half of verse 29 about being “conformed to the image of (God’s) Son.” I made the point that the good purpose that God is working all things together for is Jesus. So every suffering that you experience happens or has God’s intended design in it to make you more like Jesus. And we ended saying that it is the most right thing for every one of our lives to be about Jesus because if Jesus really is that great then God’s self-centeredness toward him is the best thing in the world.

Today, we pick up the words that we have left off from verses 28 and 29, and we take them and deal with verse 30. So the main subjects for today are this word, “called” in verse 28, this phrase “those whom he foreknew he also predestined,” and the sentence in verse 30, that “…those whom he predestined he also called and those whom he called he also justified and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

Effectual Calling

Okay so let’s deal with “called.” It first appears in verse 28, “…for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.” Let’s get the thought flow in mind. Not all love God, but for those that do, God takes the bad things and works them together for good…okay then, well who is it that love God? Answer, the ones who are called according to God’s purpose of conforming them into the image of Jesus.

So then what is this calling? Does it mean everybody who hears somebody talk about loving God and his son Jesus? Is that what it means? If I call out right now and I say, “Love God, embrace Jesus Christ.” Does some how my call secure this promise for all of you? Just in your hearing my voice and what I said does God sort of take that and then start working everything for good for all of you here in this room just because you heard that call? No.

That is not what called means here. What we discover in the Bible is that there are two types of calls. Jesus said in Matthew 22:14 “Many are called but few are chosen.” Many hear the call to put faith in Jesus but not all do, right? Why?

The answer is that there is a second type of call. The first type is this general call, the audible call of preachers, the call of Christians to their friends, the call that go out and says “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” That is the gospel offer and call, externally from us humans. But there is second type of call, the call of God and it is effectual. When I call out to you there is no guarantee that you will respond, I can’t, as much as I sometimes might like to, I can’t make you love God and his son, I can’t make you respond. But when God calls, it is effectual, it works.

Let me explain that. A couple verses. There are a ton of verses and there is a ton written on this subject. So I am treading carefully today. If you get our email or sign up for it today at the back, this week I’ll provide a lot of additional resources for you in my journal entry. The effectual calling of God.

1 Peter 2:9-10 “…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him (God) who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

This calling is by God, to a people in darkness, and the call is mercy…that is it is unmerited or unearned and in fact the opposite is deserved, that’s what makes mercy mercy. It is not out of a response by God toward anything we are or do.

John 5:25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”

This calling is the voice of God toward the dead in faith, when they hear it they live and believe! We receive this call when we are as Ephesians says, “dead in our trespasses and transgressions (Eph 2:5).” Like a dead body, we have nothing, there is no love for God there. You drop a one ton weight on it and…nothing. God’s call brings us to life. One more verse.

John 6:44 ” No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” And lest you think God draws all, Jesus makes it clear after he says this he says, “But some of you do not believe…this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”

So this calling is a drawing of God that works and it is exhibited by faith or belief (same thing). Let me work it out for you. The general external gospel call goes out, like it is right now from me, but then what has to happen for faith to arise out of your hearts is a second call must take place, the effectual, internal call of God. This call is supernatural and it works in your soul and changes your will and when that happens you are drawn to Christ, you sense hope and life, and out of the darkness you see the light of the glory of God! I pray that happens today.

To Be Foreknown is to be Foreloved

Now the questions start to come for some of you. Who does God call then? Paul, our human author of Romans anticipates that question. So in verse 29, he answers “who are called according to his purpose” with “those whom he (God) foreknew.”

So what is foreknowledge? Right away our puny little finite human minds try to start figuring it out. At least mine did ten years ago when I first started studying this. So does that mean God is looking into the future to see who is going to love him and then calling those people? Or if you want the philosophical version, is God considering all the counterfactuals and then opting for the best possible world? No. That is hermeneutical gymnastics going way beyond what the apostle could have ever conceived or intended and on top of it, it doesn’t get you what you want.

Here’s what I mean. What we are seeking when we consider this idea, is to still maintain some level of human freedom or choice that is greater than God’s. We’ll let God be God but there is one area where we say he can’t be God and we draw a circumference around our choice and say, there he must allow me to be totally free.

But think about this idea. God looking into the future and then deciding to effectually call all those who he sees will love him still makes the actual playing out of it right now, in real time, completely determined. So this idea doesn’t get you what you are wanting, self-determinism, but if it makes you feel better, then that’s fine…I won’t fight over it with you, on one condition, that you don’t claim merit before God. You don’t say, God chose to give me the effectual calling so that I love him because he looked into the future and saw that I was one of the good ones who would actually love him.

You see that is the other key thing you can’t escape. If God is looking into the future into supposed possibilities, then what does he see? Does he see goodness in us then? No, whether he looks at us now or what we would be in the future without him, it is the same, deadness and darkness…sinners.

So what does foreknowledge mean then Duane? I’m glad you asked! J This word, to foreknow in the Bible, is applied to people and when it is applied to people it is God’s love and plan for his people. Let me give you a couple examples, listen for the word “know” and how it is used:

To Abraham in Genesis 18:19 “I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord.”

To Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

To God’s people in Amos 3:2 “You only have I known among all the families of earth.”

You see of course God knows everything in the vastness of his mind, it is one of the things that makes him God, that he knows all things. But there is a different kind of knowledge in God, the knowledge of affection, of relationship. Like the relationship between Adam and Eve…when the Bible says Adam knew his wife Eve and she became pregnant (Gen 4:1). God knows those who are his intimately, even before they are born. God knew Abraham, God knew Jeremiah, God knows all his people with an intimate love, even before they are born.

This is what foreknowledge means here, “foreacquaintanceship” or “foreloved” would almost be more accurate. The point here in Romans is that when God sent his Son Jesus into the world he did not send him to live and to die on the cross for the mere chance that some people might, hopefully, possibly, maybe, believe in Him and then be conformed to his glorious image. God’s not that dumb and loves his son and his people to much. The point is that when Jesus went to the cross he took names with him! What names? The names of those whom he foreloved or foreknew.

As Jesus says in John 10, ” I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice (Jn 10:14-16).” Jesus foreloved his sheep when he went to the cross for them.

This is the view of the Bible. In the very first gathering of Jesus’ church in the very first sermon that was ever preached in it, Peter says this…”Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst…this Jesus, (was) delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:22-23).”

And in verse 29 of our passage in Romans, Paul adds, just to make sure that we get it and don’t run off askew…that this foreknowledge or foreloving, was predestined by God.

Predestination

So at last “predestination.” We come to this huge word in the great and unbreakable golden chain of verse 30. We’ve already said much in talking about foreknowledge, but I’ve reserved a few things here. But before I say them, let me just point out what seem to me to be some innate acknowledgement of this doctrine in us and in our culture.

I was at a tattoo shop the other day talking with a friend and he asked me if I had ever been to a “soul masseuse.” Has anyone ever been to a “soul masseuse?” Apparently you go and the person massages your feet and hands and arms and head and while they are massage you they interpret energy or reactions from your body and they begin to tell you about your life and your destiny. My friend went and was trying to tell me to go not only because it was realizing but he said it “helped him figure out what he was supposed to do with his life.” And based on that he made a decision to move across the country.

You see it is this innate idea within all of us that there is a “supposed to.” What is that? I’ll give you another example. Several years ago John Cusak did a movie called “Serendipity” In the movie his name is “Jonathan” and at the end of the movie his best friend writes an obituary for him. Here’s a portion of it:
“Jonathan Trager, prominent television producer for ESPN, died last night from complications of losing his soul mate and his fiancée. He was 35 years old. Soft-spoken and obsessive, Trager never looked the part of a hopeless romantic. But, in the final days of his life, he revealed an unknown side of his psyche. This hidden quasi-Jungian persona surfaced during the Agatha Christie-like pursuit of his long reputed soul mate, a woman whom he only spent a few precious hours with. Sadly, the protracted search ended late Saturday night in complete and utter failure. Yet even in certain defeat, the courageous Trager secretly clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences. Uh-uh. But rather, its a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan. Asked about the loss of his dear friend, Dean Kansky, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and executive editor of the New York Times, described Jonathan as a changed man in the last days of his life. “Things were clearer for him,” Kansky noted. Ultimately Jonathan concluded that if we are to live life in harmony with the universe, we must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call “fatum”, what we currently refer to as destiny.”

Very interesting. I bring up these two examples for you because I think they show that most people are okay with and even admit a certain predestination, under one condition, it doesn’t have anything to do with God. It’s okay if it is just a blind nebulous force that is just out there, “harmony with the universe,” a vague “supposed to,” but if you say it comes from God then we get real uncomfortable. And then all these objections start flying about free will and if means we are robots then?

If that is you and that’s what you’re thinking right now, don’t worry. You’re not a weirdo. Almost everyone I know goes through something similar when they first encounter these words in the Bible. When I first did 10 years ago I went home and looked up every verse in the Bible that said anything about a choice or decision because it just seemed so outlandish to me.

So here is what I will say about it. Yes, this word is here in the Bible, you can’t cut it out and if you did it would not make you feel better, I’ll explain part in a minute. But yes, it means the word “predestination” is here and yes it means that God ordains or causes or plans what happens to happen and here it is in specific reference to those that God has foreloved.

Ephesians 1:4-5 is a great parallel verse to stand beside this one: “He (God) chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” This passage doesn’t deal with why God predestines some for his love and not others and thus effectually calls some and not others. If you want the answer to that question you are just going to have to hang around for a few months until we get into chapter 9 of Romans.

So you have to deal with this. You can’t cut just cut it out because you don’t like it. So let me help you with that. There are sort of two main knee-jerk reactions to this I think. I mentioned them a second ago, well does that just make us robots and then what about free will?

First, this robots thing. Robots were not even around, so that really isn’t even in Paul’s mind but the objection itself sort of speaks to our modern technology driven sense that we can do or accomplish anything. Here is what I say to that notion. Robots are inanimate objects. They are machines. They are not alive. There is more beauty and glory in a flower than a robot. A flower does what God made it to, it displays his glory in it’s beauty and photosynthesis functions, it is a living organism.

So to compare human beings, the peak of God’s creation, those made in his image, with a moral and rational capacity that no other created thing has…is absurd. We are infinitely more complex than a robot. That we do what he makes us to do, bring him glory, has nothing to do with robotics…the objection itself testifies to our own sinfulness in our desire to be God and not have any demands on us. We don’t want anyone to tell us, “I made you for this purpose.” We want to control our own destiny. So you see, it is not an issue of whether we are robots but an issue of who is God and if everything is about his glory or not.

Second, this free will thing. What can I say without getting bogged down here? First the whole terminology is bad. The question of the will is a question of desire which is a moral thing. So to have free desire is to be fully satisfied and happy…it is to be free to be happy, which the Bible universally says comes from by glorifying God. We don’t have freedom because of sin. So we can’t do what we are made to do and want to do, enjoy God and be happy, we are like prisoners chained to the wall longing to have our wills freed.

Second, this is not an issue of choice. The Bible is clear that we make real and meaningful decisions and choices. You must choose who you will serve as Joshua 21:15 says. The issue is not choice. There are choices but that doesn’t mean they are not determined. Every single choice or decision you make has a host of things behind it, circumstances and feelings, that determine what choice you will make. No one makes a “free choice” that has no causes or influences behind it. You are all here today because you have either been here before, wanted to be here, someone invited you…there are a ton of things that determined your choice today. What you are even wearing right now was determined by what clothes you had in your closet and what of those close you felt like wearing depending on if they were clean or if you wore them recently or whatever. Choice is not the issue. You part of what makes a choice is that it is evaluative, you weigh some reasons together that ultimately determine your choice. Choice is not the issue.

Okay then Pastor Duane. If robots are not the issue, and choice is not the issue, and if God really does predestine those whom he foreloves then why does he do it that way?

The Golden Chain

The answer is the golden chain of verse 30. “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified and those whom he justified he also glorified.” So let’s fill it out and put it all together. Those whom he foreloves, he predestines a plan to save them, in that plan there is a point in a given individual’s life where they hear the general gospel call and through all kinds of circumstances and other things, God effectually calls, he turns the heart and the will and the desire of that individual to see the glory of Christ. When that happens he gives them the justifying work of Jesus on the cross, his salvation, and from that point on he begins glorifying them…that is conforming them into the image of Jesus. It is as Jonathan Edwards said, an “unbreakable chain” and it is a big sweeping picture.

Why does God do it this way? Let me answer this… Three weeks ago when we first started studying this passage and dealt with that phrase “God works all things together for good for those who love him,” I made this concluding remark…I said, “If you are like me and you find your love for God wavering at times…know this, your love for God is not dependent upon something that you do, feel, or think. It goes much deeper then that.”

I had three different people come up to me afterward and say that was their favorite part of the whole sermon. Now, here is the thing. If you don’t have predestination, then your love for God is completely dependent upon you. So God makes it known that he predestines in order to encourage us, to give us a sure and solid and secure foundation for our faith. As Martin Luther said, “Predestination is a wonderfully sweet thing for those who have the Spirit.”

You see this passage of Scripture is meant to encourage you in the face of suffering. With predestination you can face suffering like no other because then you got a rock under your feet! You’ve got a promise that goes deep and is sure and secure so you can look at the hardest thing you have ever encountered and say “I will get through this because God has guaranteed it, he has called me, he has justified me by pouring out his wrath on Christ, thus I know he will work this for my good and form and conform me into the image of Jesus through it! Hallelujah!”

You don’t get that without predestination, all you get then is fear and insecurity and constant wishy-washyness. And God loves his children way to much to let them sit in fear and to let them be overcome by the sin and hardships of this life.

Conclusion

Let’s conclude. I want to conclude with some warnings. You are not supposed to bring up new material in your conclusion but I’m going to today because I think leaving you with some warnings will be good ways of helping you apply this to your life. This has probably been the most difficult sermon I have ever delivered in terms of how hard it is for us, as sinful human beings, to accept. It would have been so much easier to sort of side-step it, gloss over it, and explain it away…and so many pastors and preachers do. But that wouldn’t have been honest and so we took it head on. So even if you don’t agree with what I have said today, maybe you can at least respect that.

My first warning is a repeat of what I said earlier…If you’re not a Christian today, that’s okay, just let it have this effect on you…let it make you want to be in the family, don’t hear that you can’t be and that we Christians think we are any better than you. We are sinners saved by Jesus and even we don’t quite understand why he saves us, but this text helps us a little bit with that. Join us and become part of the family of the children of God.

Assuming I’ve convinced you today, here are the rest of my warnings:

One, don’t allow God’s revelation of this teaching to you to foster arrogance. If you take this and make it your axe to grind and to go and try argue and convince everyone about it, you will be missing the point of this text. It is meant to humble you, that God’s salvation for you, sinner, it goes way deep and at much planned cost of in the crucifixion of God’s son. You had nothing to do with it, so don’t get proud thinking, “Yes! I’m predestined.”

Two, don’t allow God’s revelation of this teaching to you to foster uncertainty. If you take this and make it a thing to start wondering whether you are predestined or not, you’ve missed the point of this text. It is meant for the opposite, it is meant to calm any anxiety by letting you know that if you truly put your faith in Jesus shed blood on the cross, that is the most sure thing in the world because it goes back to before the world was even made!

Three, don’t allow God’s revelation of this teaching to you foster apathy. If you take this and make into something where you tell yourself, “Well I guess God is going to save whoever he is going to, so suppose it doesn’t matter if I do anything at all…” If you do that you will have turned this text on it’s head and make it into something it does not say or mean at all. There is always a choice and choices are very very meaningful and important and what you do with your life and how you live matters a lot to God. God does not effectually call anyone who has not first heard the general gospel call…so you still need to tell people about Jesus. And God’s purpose for you is to conform you into the image of Jesus, so if you go off use this as a license to go do whatever the hell you feel like thinking it doesn’t matter, you’ve thought wrong. Don’t do that. Instead, let it spark much gratitude and joy and wonder at God’s gift of Christ to you and make it your dedication to become like him and to spread of his gospel among the people of this city, so that they may too find a secure foundation in Jesus.

That’s it, I’m done. I’m going to conclude with one last quote from William Barclay on this passage. His exegesis of it sucks but his application is right on. Listen to this and let it seep into your soul and shine much light onto the glory of Jesus.
“The more a Christian thinks of his experience the more he becomes convinced that he had nothing to do with it and all is of God. Jesus Christ came into this world; He lived; He went to the cross; He rose again; We did nothing to bring that about; that is God’s work. We heard the story of this wondrous love. We did not make the story, we only received the story.”

Let’s receive it today as we pray and go to the table.

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February 10th, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets

Suffering and the Glory of God – Part V
Romans 8:28-30

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Introduction

Good morning. Today we continue our Suffering and the Glory of God series and come to our second sermon from verses 28-30 of Romans chapter 8. Let’s read them and pray.

Oh Lord my God, you are the great potter, a masterful sculptor…would you make us like soft clay today. Use these moments and these words to take each of us and mold us and shape us into the image of your Son, Jesus Christ. Conform today. Take our torn and tattered and misshapen and marred images and administer the gospel to our souls that we would be made new. Behold, you make all things new and beautiful through the salvation of Jesus. May Jesus shine brightly today. May the sense of thanks and adoration and commitment to him abound in us. Amen

Today we are going to pick up that word “purpose” from verse 28 along with the second half of verse 29. We’re leaving “called” and the first half of verse 29 until next week. So all you who anxious for me to talk about predestination, don’t worry we’ll get into it thick next week. So we’ll deal with purpose today, what it is to be conformed to the image of Jesus, and how everything is about him. I have three main questions today. Why would anyone want to be like Jesus, what of him and his image are Christians being conformed to and what is the connection between that and suffering?

Purpose

Last week we dealt mainly with the phrase “for those who love God all thinks work together all things for good.” I left off the word purpose because verse 29 defines what that purpose is, it defines what the “good” is, that God is taking the seemingly bad things, the suffering things, and working them together for. But before we talk about that what is purpose?

Ayn Rand says it is one of the three ruling values of human life. Richard Dawkins, the famous Atheist says it is purely genetics. And the Dali Llama along with Abraham Maslow conclude that purpose is purely relationship with other human beings. Purpose is big business today. Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life” was on the New York Times best seller list for 4 years and sold over 25 million copies. Last year’s big business strategy was a book and documentary called “The Secret” where purpose is found in something called “the laws of attraction” where a pursuit of your desires actualizes them.

Purpose sounds like a common thing. Like the purpose of scissors is to cut something, usually paper. But if you take it a step back, like this text of the Bible does, and like the cultural explorations of supposed expert, purpose becomes much bigger thing then just a functional thing. It becomes a question about the meaning of life and apparently quite a lot of people are searching for this. One of the biggest things people ask and wonder is, “What am I supposed to do with my life?” Suffering can seemingly cloud the answer to that question even more. The feeling when suffering strikes and you ask, “What am I supposed to do now, how do I even go on?”

There are answers to those questions, the questions of purpose. What is purpose? Purpose here is intended design. It is like taking the events of our lives and saying there is an architecture to them. There is a specific framework that connects them together and the result is purpose. Architectural plans are drawn up for the building of buildings and here in Romans there is an architectural purpose for our lives. Conformity to the image of Christ.

Conformed to the Image of His Son

So the great and sweeping statement here is that every single experience of suffering, every trial and challenging thing that you go through in your life has one great architectural purpose if you are a Christian, and that is to make you like Jesus.

To be “conformed” you could also translate it “fashioned” into the images of God’s Son. It’s a unique word. In the next chapter Paul will use a pottery analogy. Any of you ever take pottery when you were in high school? It was that really easy guaranteed “A” class. J In Jeremiah 18, the Bible says this,
“1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “…can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.”

I think that is a good biblical picture of being conformed or fashioned into the image of Christ. God is like a master sculptor and is able to take the hurts and the pains and the mistakes and the sins and the scars and he is able to do something beautiful and magnificent with it. He can make take all the bad stuff and reform and rework it, smoothing out the bumps and the rough edges. Where pieces have broken off pieces and we have become hard and brittle he can soften us and change us. God’s goal, his purpose in your life in everything is to make you like Jesus.

So often the question comes when suffering happens, “Why?” “Why is this happening?” This is the answer, to help make us like Jesus. And the path of Jesus was not one without its suffering. Jesus wore a crown and we must wear one too. Jesus gained stripes upon his back and so must we. Christians, my friends, do not venture to steal the goodness and grace of Christ and shun light and momentary afflictions that come along the way.

You will not grow and mature as a Christian if you don’t learn from the hard things of life. If you hold them at bay and only consider yourself a victim, you will only become bitter and angry. Welcome them for in them we come to know the sweetness of Jesus even more, his image is formed in us and there is great love to be had in having that image impressed upon us. God loves us and will do whatever it takes for us to come to truly know that.

God’s purpose for you life, in everything is to make you like Jesus. How do you discover God’s will for you life? By following Jesus closely and until you do you will stumble in darkness. God’s goal is to make you like Jesus through you clinging closely to him.

Some of you are in your sort of college years or shortly after college years and these are important forming years. Who you become in this time in your life is most likely who you will be for the rest of your life, so what things become important to you right now really matter a whole lot, how will you be formed or conformed? Will you be conformed to the image of Christ or the image of someone else? God’s intent is to use any and everything to make you like Jesus.

It’s not to make us gods. Don’t misread that. Yes, Jesus is God’s Son. He is God of Gods. God himself. But that is not what the image is here that God is conforming you into. Christianity is not like Mormonism where we can all become our own little gods and get our own planet someday to rule over. Our God is God over all and is not sitting off somewhere on the planet Kolob. You will not become a King of Kings and Lord of Lords like Jesus is but you will be conformed into his image and in that take on his character.

That is God’s one purpose he has in mind, to shape us into having the love, holiness, grace, and humility of Jesus. That is what the image of Jesus is. It’s not talking about giving us eternally divine attributes, those are God’s alone but rather the image is the moral nature of Christ, free from sin, solely dedicated to the worship and love of God.

Sanctification

Let me stop here for a second. When Jonathan Edwards preached he would work with the text first and then he would move to systematic theology or the doctrine of the text. I want to do that here. This is the doctrine of sanctification. That is a big word, sanctification. It means to sanctify or to set you apart namely from sin.

The root of sin in us go deep. From birth we begin our idolatrous downfall and begin worshipping ourselves and so many other things. My daughter is three months old and she thinks the whole world revolves around her. In many ways it seems like that, but she is wrong. Our life, our family’s life revolves around Jesus. You become a Christian at the point in which you recognize that and embrace the mercy of Christ. You recognize that you as a human being are a worshipper. As C.S. Lewis said, “the world rings with praise.” Lovers praising their love. Gamers praising their game. Artists praising their art. We praise, we worship, and all of us have be lead astray into worshipping the things in themselves rather the source and sustainer of them all, God himself. Everything in this life reflects God and ought to cause our hearts to leap with adoration and thanks and love toward him and they do not and we are vile and treasonous for it. And the beautiful image we are, in being made by God, becomes ugly and marred.

You become a Christian when you recognize you have not worshipped God as you ought and then you hear and see or taste the goodness of Jesus. God’s son, coming into the world and worshipping God, wholly, perfectly and then dying on a cross for idolaters. You hear that and something happens, you plead in your heart for him. It is a cry. You cry out to Jesus and say save me! Perfect worshipper, Jesus, save me, cover my sin and make me like you! And Christ does, he responds with overwhelming mercy towards us. That is the moment in which you become a Christian, it is the moment of justification. You get right with God for the first time, you worship. God becomes your God.

But you’ve been an idolater for a long time and it is going to take a long time to weed all those idolatrous tendencies out. So a process begins. The process of sanctification. Sanctification is glory begun in us, the process of God conforming us into the glorious image of Christ.

Now I say all that to say this, sanctification and suffering go hand in hand. Suffering and the glory of God is an extremely practical thing. When things don’t go the way you want them to or expect that they will, whether it is a really big serious thing or a small annoyance and inconvenience, here is what you ask yourself: What is God trying to teach me through this, what of the glorious image of Jesus person can I become more like through this?

So some examples. Say I am mistreated. Maybe you get slighted at your job, something is just not going well at your job, I don’t think I’ve ever worked at a single place where there is not a lot of “talk” that goes on about the boss or the way the place is run. What is it that makes us so discontent or angry, we’ll it’s usually pride isn’t it? I’m told that my generation changes jobs more frequently than any other ever has. Why? Because we think we are better and deserve to be treated better and have better answers and ideas.

Think of in these situations of how much the humility of Jesus. The image of Christ, who did not consider equality with a God a thing to be grasped but took the form of a servant. He wore a cheap robe, was poor, though he was the king of the universe and then he was crucified. He was wiser and stronger then everyone he encountered and he humbly held it in so long and did not swerve on his journey to the cross. So few people are truly humble these days. How we need to be conformed into the humility of Christ. We are all so proud and need the humility of Christ.

How about another example. You are a parent and you are trying to teach your children that they need to do their homework and they don’t want to. They don’t want to sit down at the table and work on it, they would rather do a hundred other things and get cranky and whine about it. What do you need in that moment? Patience and it does not come easy. This happens in all kinds of relationships all the time, between husband and wives, between family members, between friends. People you love, who love you try your patience.

What comes easy is frustration, giving up, maybe even anger. But think of the patience of Christ, his image, how longsuffering and patient he is with us, how we continually make mistakes and he does not give up on us, think of how patient he was with Peter, who denied him three times and after Jesus rose he lovingly drew him in and told him to go be a pastor his church. We are all so impatient, we want we want and we want it now…we need the patience of Christ so much.

Maybe one more example. How about self-control? It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit. In this world there are many lures. Lures to take us away from keeping God first. There are sexual lures, whether it is the internet or someone who is not your spouse. There are substance lures to abuse drugs or alcohol. There are laziness lures to not work or be responsible to take care of the things you need to take care of. There are lures against being disciplined and keeping our word.

There are all kinds of lures and one of our biggest needs is self-control. Think of the image of Christ in this. Think of his self-control. In his temptation sequence in the desert he exercised self-control to not abuse his power and to stay dedicated to his mission, he didn’t give in to the lures of food, death, or false praise. We all give in and lack self control, we need so badly to have ourselves controlled by the Spirit of Christ.

This is the sum of it. Every suffering thing is an opportunity for you to learn something and to draw closer to Jesus and become more like him. He is the image of the invisible God, perfectly holy, is the person we all long to be and fail at being. In and through faith in Jesus the bad things, the hard things of life are turned for good and his image is formed in us. Your biggest need and my biggest need is to become like Jesus. Everything in life is about him.

The Preeminence of Jesus

And this is my last point for this morning, the preeminence of Jesus. We’ve answered the question of what Jesus and his image God is conforming us to and how it relates to suffering, but my last question is this, why Jesus? Why would anyone want to become like Jesus? Why Jesus?

The second half of verse 29 gives us the answer, “in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” The answer is that he might be first, that everything would be about him. “Firstborn” brings back the idea of first fruits we talked about a few weeks ago, “brothers” brings back the whole Jesus Family series we did a few months ago. So I’m not going to really go after those things but instead go after the theological point that is made here.

The theological point is that the whole reason why God ever saves anyone at all is this, to make Jesus look really good! It is for the sake of the honor and glory of Jesus. Your salvation as a Christian, your life really is not about you. It’s not. It’s about Jesus!

Maybe there some of you and right now you are like what? What the heck are you talking about that is nonsense. Of course it is, it’s my life. No it’s not. And here is the reason why, here is what makes the gospel so different and so unique. I hope you get this, because you could take this teaching today, everything I’ve said so far and miss the entire thing unless you get what I’m about to say. You could take all of this and just use it, the example of Jesus life and trying to be like him, you could take it and use it as a sort of self-help life improvement program and you would take the gospel and turn into a purely moralistic thing. And that is not what it is.

You see if everything is not about our God, Jesus, then it really is about you. You can end up with a really man-centered view of sanctification. And that is not the gospel. The gospel is not religion. As Tim Keller says, religion says, “I obey, therefore I’m accepted.” That’s religion, you are not earning the image of Christ by following the rules. The gospel is not moralism. It’s not just about making you better and you cleaning up your act. That happens along the way but that is not the ultimate and final goal and purpose. The gospel is Jesus plain and simple. It is him, he is great, he is good, he is strong, he is wise, he is loving, everything is about Jesus.

And if you buck at that because you think that is so selfish for God to make everything about him and his son. Let me teach you why that is a good thing. If I was to tell everyone to worship me and become like me you would rightly say that is wrong, because we all know I’m not that good. But if you are that good, if Jesus Christ really is that good and beautiful and lovely then it is the most right thing in the universe for God to command all to worship him and become like him…it would be wrong of him if he didn’t! Jesus is supreme in every regard! Everything is about him.

Until your heart is turned so that the goal of your life is to make Jesus look really good then you will still be caught in a trap of trying to gain approval or acceptance and you will run the up and down the cycle of failure and frustration. The whole point is that we are not great, but Jesus is. He is the firstborn and oh the privilege of calling him our brother! Jesus is great and I get to be in the family because he died for me. That is the gospel.

All suffering is about Jesus and is intended to point us toward him and his cross. Jesus is the gospel. All of history, all of life, all of the Bible is about him!

Conclusion

So let’s conclude. I said that this verse, verse 29 was the good purpose that was stated in verse 28, “God works together all things for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” And I have argued today that Jesus, is the purpose, he is the good, that God is conforming his people into. So let me just take Jesus and import him back into verse 28 and 29 re-read them and see how it strikes you.

Verse 28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for Jesus for those who called to Jesus. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus, in order that Jesus might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

Do you get it? The application today is simple. Put your life and your trust and your faith and your hope and your everything in Jesus. When you come to the table, lay everything down, surrender and quit making your life about you. If there are areas you know you have taken things off the table and made them about you, give them back. Say, “I’m sorry Lord, they were yours all along. Everything is about you and I don’t want it to be about me anymore. My life is a broken mess when I make it about me. Jesus you are Lord.”

Allow your heart to be conformed today. In these holy moments, when we approach the table and partake of the bread and wine, Jesus life and death taken at the cross for us, allow your heart to be like clay in God’s hands. Let him mold you and shape us as we repent and worship. Let the image of Christ be branded into your soul. If you are not a Christian and you want to become one today, the table is open to you…welcome to the family, along with all of us who continually lay down our lives at the foot of the cross we welcome you to lay your life down as well.

Let’s pray.

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February 3rd, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets

Suffering and the Glory of God – Part III
Romans 8:28-30

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Introduction

This morning we continue our “Suffering and the Glory” series and move on to one of the most loved verses in the Bible throughout the centuries, Romans 8:28. For the next few weeks we’ll be dealing with Romans 8:28-30, so let’s read it and then pray over it.

Lord our God, how we need your help today. How we need to know in our soul that you are not against those who love you but are for them, working for their good. Somehow, through these words and through this sermon today would give us love for you. For those who have never loved you, would you spark that affection. For those who love you but their love is cold, would you re-ignite it. For those who may be looking at their suffering and wondering where you are, would you deepen their love and encourage their hearts with these words. Jesus Christ, son of God, may you and your gospel look really good to us today.

Here is the plan for today and for the next few Sundays. The context of this passage is still suffering. Back in Romans 8:18, Paul put forth his wager, that “the suffering of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory to be revealed.” And since then he has pointed to creation’s longing to not break down anymore, to our longing for new bodies, and then last week to our Spirit inspired prayers. We ended last week by talking about how God’s Spirit knows the future and because he does knows how to help us in prayer. Prayer is good and helps us a lot when we suffer.

Now, in these next few verses, our human author Paul, along with the theme of assurance in Romans 8, seeks to further plant our feet in the gospel. He realizes that he just made a pretty huge claim in verse 27, that the the Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. Now he’ll explain that will of God in depth.

These verses are huge. Some passages, like last week’s, are difficult passages, they take a lot of work to wrap your head around. Other passages, are deep passages, and they take down deep into the roots of God’s grace. That’s this one. I feel pretty small and unworthy today standing next to such great words. It’s quite overwhelming. These words go so deep.

There is an old anonymously written poem I used to have taped in the front of my old Bible. This passage made me think of it several times this week. It goes like this:
My pail I’m often dropping
Deep down into this well
It never touched the bottom
How ever deep it fell
And though I keep on dipping
By study faith and prayer
I have no power to measure
The living water there

That is so like this verse today. It is this deep well of living water that could never be fully quenched. But I’m going to do my best for us. Verse 28 sort of functions like a thesis of sorts for verse 29 and 30. So what we’re going to do is take three weeks on it. Today we’ll just deal with God’s working things for good for those who love him. Then next week we’ll deal with verse 29 and God’s purpose in doing that. Then two weeks from now, well deal with verse 30 and this word “called.” After that we’ll take a break, and have a week of extended worship in music combined with some stories from you guys about the gospel’s work in your heart. Then, we’ll come back to Romans 8 and finish it out in another few weeks, so our “Suffering and the Glory of God” series will have lasted for just about 2 months in total.

We Know

So for today. Have you ever had one of those moments in your life, where something happens or has been happening and you stop and you think to yourself, or maybe it’s one of those silent prayer to God in your head…and you ask or wonder, “Why is this happening to me? What is going on? Does God even care about me? And if he does, why did this thing happen?” Ever thought any of those things? I have. I do. About once a week. J I think Paul did and that’s one reason why he wrote this. Because he learned something. He learned that no matter what God works things for good for those who love him. He had been shipwrecked, beaten, robbed, anxiety attacks, without sleep, without food and learned that God worked it for his good.

He starts off with “we know.” My reaction is like, “no we don’t.” He said “we know” back in verse 22, when he said we know that there is something wrong with the creation the way it is right now. But, yeah, I can agree with that because I see it and experience it. But this, this suffering, isn’t that the question, of whether or not we know if God is really in it or not?

I think Paul is pressing in here, he is sort of digging deep down and saying, “you might be thinking some things in your head right now, and I understand that, but you know this, you know.” In the previous passage, he said there were things “we don’t know.” We don’t’ know how to pray, but the Spirit helps us because the Spirit knows. Now here, he says true saints, true believers in Jesus, know this, that for those who love God, he works all things together for their good.

For Those Who Love God All Things Work Together for Good

Let’s talk about that phrase for awhile. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” You might have a different translation that might say it a little differently, we use the ESV here at The Resolved Church and if your interested in why there are different translations you can read my latest blog online.

In this verse, though some Bible have the wording a little different, it doesn’t really change the meaning at all, the meaning is clear, God works, all things, together for good, for those who love him. Let’s go backward today with this phrase. So we’ll start at “good” and work backward toward loving God.

For Good

The assumption here, is that there is something “bad” in front of you and you are wondering why. This includes all sufferings. It could be from some natural diaster or catastrophe, like fires or earthquakes or floods or tornados. It could be from your body breaking down, you get sick with the flu or with you break a bone or you get some terminal disease. It could be from getting fired from a job, it could be having your car stolen, it could be from some stupid thing you did or said or that someone else said or did to you. It could be the emotional trauma of losing someone close to you or having someone close to you seemingly not care about you. It could be any of these things. Anything. All things. All things that look bad, if you are a Christian, they will not turn out to be bad for you, God will work them for your good.

What this text says is that there may be things that by every conceivable reason, things look bad, very bad, like there is no way any good can come from it. I talked to a guy this week who told me, with tears running down his face, “no good can come from this, I just want to die and for it to be all over.” This text says, that no matter how bad it gets, if you love God, there is hope and reason to believe that it will not stay bad forever, that you will see that somehow God will work it for your good. At the time you may not be able to see how, but you can be sure God will because he has promised it to you.

That is why and how this verse has become so precious to so many Christians throughout the years. I hope it becomes precious to you. This is a verse you should all memorize. So that when things get tough you can call it to mind and recite it and remind yourself of God’s promise to you. This will work together for good.

Work Together

Look at those words “work together.” Maybe you’re sitting there and you are like how can God work something so bad and so evil together for good? I mean seriously Duane, how can God work things like death and disease and disaster together for good? Don’t you think you the Bible here is just a little overly optimistic?

Let me first give you the Bible’s answer and then I’ll give you some practical answers. First the Bible’s answer is that what may seem to not be able to have anything good come out it, God can make it for good. It is one of the things that makes God God. That he stands over and above all the lives and circumstances of everyone on the planet, he looks down at google earth and sees not just the buildings and the streets but he sees into the homes, he sees into hearts (like we learned last week) and then he can see all the relationships of people to each other and to all other circumstances, like the weather and the traffic lights. And he knows how to work them together. God has a unique ability to work circumstances together.

The Bible’s Answer of “Work Together”

I’ll give you an example. The first book of the Bible, Genesis, from about chapter 37 all the way to the end of the book, for 13 chapters, is the story of Joseph. Here’s the story. Joseph is 17, the youngest of 10 of his brothers, he had one other brother, Benjamin, who was probably still just a little kid. Joseph, was from a different mom than his other ten brothers and more than that it was the mom that his dad, Jacob, really loved, he worked for her for 14 years! So Joseph’s brothers didn’t like him because their dad loved him more.

So what do they do, they go and capture him and throw him in a pit, this is like an old school bad guys movie, where they kidnap a dude, put a bag on his head, tie him to a chair and lock him a room. Then they sell him as a slave to these dudes passing through town. These guys carry him off to Egypt. Some time goes by and his master ends up having him clean the king’s house. While he’s there, the King’s wife, hits on him and want him to sleep with her. Joseph, freaks out (that’s a good reaction for you guys dealing with girls who are not your wife wanting to have sex with you), he freaks out and leaves. So she tells the king, that Joseph tried to seduce her and Joseph gets thrown in jail for a few years.

While he is in jail Joseph discovers he has this gift of interpreting dreams and uses this gift to help a few of his prisonmates get out of jail and exchange they are supposed to help him once they get out. But once they get out they forget about him. Finally, the king, the Pharaoh of Egypt has a troubling dream and hears that Joseph can interpret dreams and so he sends for him and Joseph gets out of jail. For the next number of years Joseph grows increasingly in favor with the Pharaoh, who ends up making Joseph his right hand man and amazingly, Joseph is now ruling over probably the most powerful nation in the world at that time.

Meanwhile famine strikes ancient Mesopotamia and no one has any food anywhere. But because Joseph was was wise and had a ton of food stored up ahead of time, everyone across the land starts coming to him for food, and guess who shows up? His brothers. Joseph gives them a hard time at first and actually sends them away and tells them not to come back until they bring his dad with them. They come back and when Joseph see his family he breaks down and cries and out of his love and forgiveness has them come live in Egypt.

After Joseph’s dad dies, his brothers come to him afraid for their lives and the Bible says this, you can read with me if you like, this is Genesis 50:17-21.
“17 Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Now, I told that whole story mainly for the purpose of you hearing a single phrase in that passage. The first part of verse 20, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Did you catch that? “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

That is what Romans 8:28 is saying, when it says God works all things together for good for those who love God. There is evil for sure. But God stands over evil. He is not the direct actor of evil. He is wholly good and pure and righteous. It is blaspheme to call God evil, he is holy. And in his holiness he separates himself from evil and yet can control and restrain it and work it for good!

God stood over and above all the circumstances of Joseph’s life, his getting kidnapped and sold as a slave, his what kind of job he worked as a slave, what happened with the famine in the land, giving Joseph the ability to interpret dreams…all those things, God worked together for good. He arranged and designated and set it all up. And just as God stood over all the circumstances of Joseph’s life, he stand over your life and mine and is working all things for our good. I promise you that. If you love God, he is not against, though it may seem so. It may seem bad. Don’t be discouraged. God is for you, he will work this for good.

Practical Answers of “Work Together”

That is the Bible’s answer, of how God works all things together for good. Now let me draw out a few practical answers for you that may help Romans 8:28 to be even more of a comfort for you.

We don’t know what is ahead, what will happen in the future. God does and I’m sure he could tell us if he wanted. But he doesn’t and he doesn’t because it would not turn out for good for us if he did. It is the same reason why God orchestrates and allows evil and seemingly bad things to happen to us, because God knows that is the best way to teach us what we need to learn so that we will know the full extent of his goodness. For you smart kids, that’s theodicy, I’m doing it in a sort of backhand way today. What I’m saying is this, when bad things happen, suffering…all we want is for it to stop, immediately. And what we don’t see, is that our very suffering is God’s gift to us to mold us and shape us so that we might truly come to know goodness.

Think about it with me. Have you ever met one of those people who everything just seems to go well for them. They’re born into a rich family, everything always comes easy for them, they’re seemingly so smart and talented and nothing bad ever seems to happen to them. Do you know those people? And you’re like, what’s up with that! They don’t know how hard my life is. They don’t know how good they have it. That’s it. That’s what I’m talking about. We don’t know how good something is unless you have experienced some hardship. Nobody ever says, “Man, when everything was going so great I learned and grew so much.” It doesn’t happen that way. The way you grow and learn is through the hard things.

And Romans 8:28 comes alongside us when thing get hard to encourage us and say, I know it’s hard right now, but there is good ahead just hold on to God and don’t abandon your love for him. He has your good in mind, even in this. Just keep loving God. Love him and trust him.

Love God

That’s the last thing I want to talk about today. Loving God. Notice the promise of Romans 8:28 is not for everyone. “For those who love God, all things work together for good.” Everything will not turn out good for everyone. Do you see that? All thing work together for good only for those who love God. Bob Marley is wrong. Everything little thing is not going to be alright!

There is a condition. You got to love God. And so many don’t. And on top of that there are so many who think they do but they really don’t, God is just sort of the dog you feed every once in a while when he barks. That’s not love. What is it to love God?

This is the thing I thought about all this week more than any other part of the passage, loving God. I thought about it a lot because who doesn’t want this verse to be true for them, for things to work for their good. So my natural response is, okay then God, what do I gotta do to love you.

And as I’ve thought about it this week and looked at my life, there are so many things that you could look in on from the outside and say, oh that guy, he loves God. He read his Bible every morning this week, he ministered to and encouraged several people this week, he was a good husband to his wife this week and he was a good father to his daughter, he prayed a lot, worried about the people he pastors a lot, that guy loves God.

Here’s my confession, I haven’t wanted to do hardly any of those things this week. I’ve actually been quite apathetic. I’ve done them, but affection or desire has been pretty small. I’m not impressed with myself that much. In fact I feel pretty guilty about it. So the question I’ve asked over and over again this week is what is it to love God?

This text just assumes that you do love God. Our response that wants to take it as a something that we can earn or merit or return in order to get all things working for our good, isn’t what this text is saying or trying to teach us. In two weeks, we’ll look at some wider reasons about where the love for God comes from. But for this week let me just reach a little bit more on loving God.

For so many love is such a fleeting thing. What is the number one reason people say they get divorced? “I don’t love you anymore.” For them, love is seen as this thing which can change, it is a resident feeling or emotion that can pass.

For others love is purely a deeds thing. Like the dad who is never around but thinks that his kid will somehow know that he loves him just because he buys him an expensive gift on his birthday or Christmas.

For some love is purely a mind thing. You might be this person, where you think of love and you start thinking of psychology and physiology and the way the brain works. And you start tearing everything apart in your mind and you’ve got a reason for everything. And so love seems very simple to you.

What I want to say today is that it is none of those things, all those things are just different markers that flow out of love. We could go down the Greek road and talk about its different words for love. But I don’t want to do that today and I’m not even sure it would help.

So I’ll leave you with some somewhat intentionally groping words on loving God. I think it is devotion, to be devoted and committed to God. I think it is God-centeredness, where you care about God in everything that is a part of your life. I think it is treasure, where God is your most valuable possession. I think it is adoration, where you God is the most amazing being to you. I think it is identity, where you don’t attempt to build your identity on anything outside of him. I think it is stability, where God is the rock that you bank on and build your life on. Those are reaching descriptions, but hopefully they point to the real thing. Love for God cannot be tamed, it does not fit within nice neat corners but takes over everything. Action, feeling, and thought will result but none of them are love in themselves.

Conclusion

Here’s how I want to conclude. Let take today’s text, love for God and him working all things together for good for those that love him, let me take that and put it in a bigger story.

Not all people love God. For them it will not turn out good, it will turn out bad, really, really bad, hell bad, forever bad. In fact, all of us have not loved God. Everyone in human history has not loved God as they ought. Which is why God gave us Jesus. He sent Jesus into the world to die on the cross for all his children throughout history who have not loved him as they ought. And in the horrendus evil of the innocent son of God crucified on a cross…God turns all the bad of his children’s lives for good. How? Jesus died for sin in the place of all who don’t love God and satisfied the debt of forever bad that God’s children owe to God.

That means two things. Once, it means if you don’t know this, this “we know” stuff we’ve been talking about today, you can. Embrace Jesus and God’s provision for your lack of love for him. Don’t risk all things working against you because you refuse to love God’s Jesus. When you face suffering there is no hope for you that any good can come from it if you don’t love Jesus. Become God’s child, come into the family, feel the warmth and the love he provides, and know that everything in your life, all the junk, God will work for your good because you will have God himself as the center of your life.

The second thing it means is this, if you know this, but like me you find your love for God wavering at times…know this, your love for God is not dependent upon something that you do, feel, or think. It goes much deeper then that and you will only know your love for God in so far as you embrace all of who Jesus is and what he has done for you. We fail at our love for God again and again, but there is one who did not, who loved God with perfect devotion, God-centeredness, treasureness, adoration, identity and stability…his name is Jesus. So embrace Jesus today as your anchor in the midst of suffering and for in and through him all things will work together for your good.

Let’s pray.

To listen to this sermon CLICK HERE

The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990 | contact@theresolved.com
All Rights Reserved © The Resolved Church

Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material provided you not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.

January 27th, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets

Suffering and the Glory of God – Part III
Romans 8:26-27

Introduction

Good morning. Today is the third sermon of our current series here at The Resolved Church, “Suffering and the Glory of God” and today we are dealing with veres 26-27 of Romans 8. Let’s read them and pray.

God, you are God, suffering is real, what you have promised and what you have done in your people through your Son Jesus is real and glorious. As we study these words today in your book, I ask that you would teach us about prayer by your Spirit, which is an enormous aid and assurance in the face of suffering as we anxiously the full display of your glory. Come Lord Jesus, Amen.

Today, we are moving on to the next verses in Romans chapter 8. The theme of suffering and assurance in the glory of God continues through to the end of the chapter as Paul, our author, unpacks reason after reason of why and how we know the glory to be revealed is for sure and it is worth it! It is my goal ever time I have the honor of standing before you to try and help you see that Jesus is worth it! Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still, his kingdom is forever! It’s all worth it, the only life worth living is the one with it’s sights set on the glory of God.

First let me show you how these verses fit in the chapter. The theme of Romans chapter 8 is, “You are this!” You are a Christian, if you embrace the provision of God’s Son, Jesus, then condemnation and guilt, a rebellious mind, being a spiritual orphan detached from God and his blessing and life and love…it all goes away! The one who comes to steal, kill and destroy will try and tell you that it’s not so, but Romans 8 stands in his way and says, “No, Christian, this is who you are…and suffering, suffering can’t even touch that.”

In the last two weeks we’ve looked at two evidences in which Paul says shows that the sufferings of this present age, this present era or stage in human history, is not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed. First, we looked at creation, how the creation itself, the trees and the mountains and the animals and the ocean, stands on it’s tippy toes with it’s neck stretched forward groaning for the day of God’s glory when all will be changed and futility and death and pain and suffering will be no more. Last week we looked at we ourselves, us Christians, eagerly long and wait and in sure secure hope, groan for our glory promised new bodies like Jesus’s, who rose from the dead, a body that doesn’t get sick, and hurt, and die.

This week our passage begins with the word “likewise.” Like creation, and like we ourselves, God’s Spirit too groans, he groans in us, anxiously and assuredly carrying us to the day of the full revealing of the glory of God. In the meantime there is weakness. And so God’s Spirit gives us assurance by helping us through prayer. In talking to some of you the about this series so far, one of the comments I heard was that you haven’t suffered much so far and it makes you scared. Verse 26-27 was written for you…because it tells us that we are not alone in our suffering, there is no reason for God’s children to fear because his Spirit is with us and comes to our rescue.

So we’re going to talk about prayer and the Holy Spirit today. If you are a Christian and you are going to make it through suffering you are going to have to learn something about prayer. Prayer is such a common thing but it is my goal to teach something from the Bible today so that it is not seen so common to you.

Prayer is so common in the spirituality loving culture of San Diego…and so few have never even truly prayed or even know what it means but just pray that bad things won’t happen to them or that God, if there is a God will help them get stuff they want. God starts to look a lot like a Coca-cola machine that spits out whatever you want when you put your dollar in. That’s not the right, idea of prayer in the Bible.

I grew up in one of those super strict Christian homes were we not allowed to listen to “non-Christian” music. And I hated that and I was always trying to get my parents to let me listen to the radio and not have to listen to the wanna-be Chrsitian music that was just copying everything else, so everytime a song came out with the word prayer in it I jumped on it. My parents let me buy two tapes growing up, M.C. Hammer’s “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em” because it had a song on it that said, “You got to pray just to make it today, that’s why we pray, pray.” The other one was Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” album for it’s song “Livin’ on a Prayer.” J

So here’s what we’re going to do. First we’re going to hit up weakness and then we’ll hit up how the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

Weakness

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.” It is interesting that Paul did not use the word “sufferings” here. Why did he switch words? Weakness and suffering are very similar. Weakness can be the natural frailties that just come with being human (Rom 6:18), it can also be sickness, tiredness, foregetfulness, frustrations, futiliies, decay…and all of it is related to suffering in one way or another.

But I think Paul switched words to emphasize the time tension that Christians experience between living now, where we are at the same time on this side of knowing Jesus and being adopted into the family, but still have yet receive the full redemption of our bodies and our deliverance from this age of suffering. Suffering still effects Christians, but not like it used to…now it may effect us, it may make us weak, but like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 there is a way through God’s grace that even when we are weak, we can be strong! And here we learn that comes through God’s Spirit who works in us.

We Don’t Know What to Pray for

Our weaknesses has this effect, verse 26, “we don’t know what to pray for as we ought.” Weakness effects our prayers. How?

Well first off, there is a ton of stuff we know we ought to pray for. Jesus tells us that we should daily pray for God’s kingdom to come, we should pray for people to believe in him and become part of his church, we should pray for ourselves and our church family for spritual strength against temptation and forgiveness for when we or those we love give in, and we should pray for closeness with God and conformity to his will, what he has told us in his book, the Bible. Everything in the Bible we should pray about.

The Bible is a big book, that’s a lot to pray about. But we know we ought to pray about those things. We often don’t pray about them, because we are weak, so the Holy Spirit convicts us and prompts us to pray about them, over and over again until we start to mature and develop discipline. But what is it that we don’t know to pray for as we ought?

We’ll talk about how the Spirit helps us in a second, but first look at the second half of verse 27, in verse 26 we don’t know what to pray for, but the Spirit does, “…because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God’s will.” According to God’s will. So what the Spirit knows, is what the will of God is.

Now, I need you to think with me for a second. We know what God’s will is for us. He gave us 66 different books composed by 40 different authors over a period of 1500 years in order to tell us what it is. So God has clearly revealed his will for our lives in Scripture. What the Spirit knows, is what we don’t, the future, and how that revealed will, will work itself out in our individual lives.

That is why Christians throughout the centuries have long recognized that there are two wills of God. There is his revealed will, the Bible, and there is his sovereign will of how he has planned all of it to work out in the future. A revealed will and a sovereign will. The Bible does not have a God who does not know the future, history is not spinning out of control, God knows exactly what he is doing with it. God has a purpose and a plan for everything, nothing catches him by surprise, he is at work through his sovereign will to bring about his revealed will in your life and mine.

Now that is a big theological point and I hope you get it. If not, please come talk to me afterward. But the point is we are weak, we have a weakness. When, what is the context? This present age of suffering. So how does my weakness effect my prayers in this age of suffering so I don’t know what to pray for.

Here’s one example. Suffering strikes. Say I am diagnosed with cancer, what do I pray? Do I pray for healing or do I pray for the strength to endure?

Here’s another example. Suffering strikes. This last December, some of the members of our fellow Acts 29 churches in India went Christmas carolling, and 15 people were severely beaten. The next Sunday, the church met under police guard and protection because of threats. Do you not go to church in order to protect your family or do you take them and potentially lose them or risk them getting beaten?

A third example. You hate your job, you suffer at it 40 hours a week, your boss is a jerk, your fellow employees drive me crazy, and you don’t make nearly enough money. Do you pray for a new job or do I pray for things at work to change?

So often we think we know what we need but we are not very good judges of that. So often we pray selfishly or ignorantly asking God for things that we are not able to see will not be good for us. We so often don’t know what to pray. Or we go to pray and we fall apart.

Have you ever experienced this… You want to pray. You set aside time to pray and you go to pray and you can’t come up with a single word? Charles Spurgeon says that sometimes we “may be brought to a place where we don’t know how or what to desire” and experience a “heaviness of Spirit” or an “entanglement of thought” a “beclouding of the soul” where we “see the disease but the medicine is not known” and our hearts become “chilled and our hands numb.” Have you ever experienced your mind wandering in prayer and you start to think, “Why am I even doing this? Is this even real?”

The Help of the Holy Spirit

So we have this weakness, we don’t know what to pray, what we way we really need to pray for because of what is ahead, and we don’t always know exactly what things in Scripture to pray about for ourselves. But God does not leave us to our weakness to rot in it, he has given us his Spirit. The Bible tells us here that the Holy Spirit prays for us, “the Spirit himself intercedes.” That is prayer. To intercede is to go and talk to somone on behalf of another person. The Holy Spirit talks to God the Father for us.

Here is the picture, the Holy Spirit of God is the one who draws us to God, is the one who causes us to repent, is the one who gives us a new heart, gives us faith in Jesus and adopts us into the family, gives us the courage to call God the father our Abba Daddy, and now the Holy Spirit makes sure that our Abba Daddy hears and answers our deepest needs. In many ways Romans 8 is the Holy Spirit’s chapter.

It is from passages like this that we get the doctrine of the Trinity, that in the one God, there are three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They all work together and are all the one and same God, but each has different roles. Our brains can only understand that so much, but we’re not God and we don’t get the right to tell him he can’t be a Trinity and besides it is beautiful that within the Godhead himself there is a person, the Holy Spirit who is designated to make sure that the things that need to get prayed for get prayed for.

You’ll remember from times I’ve taught you before that prayer is the way that God works. It is the means that God uses for accomplishing his purposes and will. Nothing ever happens without God’s people praying. He didn’t need to do that, he certainly didn’t do that when he created everything, but now he has committed himself to working through prayer, so he has a way of making sure the things we really need get prayed for and that is through his Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is for us. He comes to our rescue. This word “help” is so pathetic because it is only four letters and the word behind it means so much more. It is literally to run to the aid of. It as if one person was trying to pick up a fridge or a piano themselves and another person ran to help and pick up the other end. Or to use a court analogy, say a person was too poor and could not afford a lawyer and so they began to try and make their case but they didn’t even know the rules of the courtroom. Then all of the sudden the best lawyer in town runs in and comes alongside the poor man and makes his case for him. That is the picture with this word “helps.” The Holy Spirit is our mighty help in prayer.

How the Holy Spirit Prays

Now if you are me, your mind immediately rushes to the how question or the experience question, what kind of prayer is he talking about here. So let me just try and deal with that quickly, almost to sort of just get it out of the way so we can really learn about how God works in us and for us.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time on but it’s important. Some would say, this part of verse 26, has nothing to do with us. These are not words, and the Spirit is just off somewhere by himself praying these things. Others go the opposite way and say this is just describing human experience in sort of spiritual terms, and if you are super Pentecostal you’ll probably say it’s talking about tongues here. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry about it right now.

I don’t think it is either of those things. First, it doesn’t make sense for this just to be the Spirit off doing this with no relation to us. One, because that just doesn’t make sense. Later in Romans 8 we learn that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father praying for us, but that makes sense because Jesus lived and died and rose and then after 40 days ascended up into the clouds to go be with the Father. So that’s the Son’s role, not the Spirit. The Spirit’s role is in the heart of believers. Two, this passage clearly says that the Spirit is helping us with prayer that we do.

So that’s the first thing. Second, I don’t think this is just describing human prayer and trying to tell us all to go start making groaning noises or speaking in tongues or whatever. The point is we don’t know what to pray, and often how, and we need help and the Spirit helps us.

So here is what I think, I think it is both. The Spirit groans, but his groan is one that effects us in what and how we pray. The groan is with us or in us. It begins with God’s Spirit and is carried through by God’s Spirit and comes out in our prayer. Whether that is audible or inaudible non-words, in something like tongues or a literal groan or just an aching feeling when your heart arises to God and there are no words to be put to it…I think it covers all those things. But whatever it is, that’s not the main point, whatever it is, is just the effect of God’s Spirit working for us, which is the main thing and that is the thing which excites and inspires our hearts. So let’s move on and deal with that.

God Searches our Hearts

How does God know what you need in order to help us? We have such a great tendency to think that God is so distant, so far off, that he has no clue about what is going on in our lives and that he does not even care. But verse 27 says this, “he who searches hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 says the same thing, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” God is always actively paying attention to his creatures. He’s not glued to a TV watching LOST on DVD all day.

And this is the amazing thing, when God looks into the hearts of believers he sees and hears his Spirit there at work. Read it again, “he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

So this is how it works… God’s Holy Spirit, inside each of us who believe in Jesus, in the Bible all believers are saints, not just the ones the Catholic church has decided to call saints. So in every believer, every saint, the Holy Spirit is Sovereignly working to bring our lives and our person into conformity with God’s revealed will, the Bible. And all the timing and future plans and purposes and specific circumstances and events of our lives, including suffering, are known by God in his secret Sovereign will and every step of the way his Spirit runs in to help in prayer. That’s what we learned earlier.

The way he helps is by producing groanings in us or with us and when that happens prayer is born in our heart. Then, when God scans his eye out across the earth and into this room and peers into our hearts, he sees and hears the Holy Spirit’s groans in us and he answers the prayer. He sees how his Spirit has been working in us and where we are going and what the Spirit is doing in us. He sees the things we need to learn, he sees where we are failing, he sees the things that are good that he is accomplishing in us. And God the Father answers accordingly.

God works in us and we get the benefit, not only in the assurance that the way God has set it up is good and will take care of us, but we get the added benefit of the experience attached to his workings. We get the joy of not being left to misery and frustration and toil and pain and lostness, we get connected experientially to our heavenly Father through his real Spirit at work in us.

Conclusion

A big part of the intent of this passage is to explain to us how God works in us. Then the result of knwoing how God works and why he works that way, is that we get confidence. I’ll conclude with a list of confidences we this teaching of Scripture provides for us.

1. You can have confidence when you feel weak because you know that God is working for you, he is committed to working in you, though you may have no strength left. God has not left you to your weakness but has sent help.

2. You can have confidence if you forget to pray for things I know I should, the Holy Spirit will ensure that my heart will be affected with the things it needs to. Not to say you shouldn’t work on developing discipline and learn the Bible and how to pray the Bible, but the Holy Spirit will often bring things to your mind to pray about. Sometimes he will even intentionally forbid us to pray about certain things.

3. You can have confidence about your future because God’s Spirit knows the future will of God and is ensuring that your character will be formed through his prayer so that whatever comes you will make it through. If and when suffering strikes you don’t have to be afraid of falling apart, God will be with you.

4. You can have confidence that you can’t make a mistake with your life when you toil in prayer over some big decision. The Holy Spirit knows the will of God and he is inciting me to pray and decisions in accordance with it while he conforms my heart to God’s word. Oh how many hours of sleep are lost by fretting over decisions and the fear of the future. If you are God’s child you cannot make a mistake, he ensures by his Spirit his work in you.

5. You can have confidence because when you don’t have the words to pray, you can groan, God’s Holy Spirit is groaning in you and it is okay for you to let out a groan yourself. It may come out in many forms, whether it be tears, or silence, or a stammering tongue, or the trembling of your lips, or even a physical groan. That is okay and is often a sweet and calming salve to the soul.

6. You can have confidence because God is an amazing God in that he is able to look out from heaven and scan the hearts and lives of billions of people and see and know what is going on. God knows what you are going through and does not afflict and allow sufferings and weakness so that we may feel grief, but so that we may feel the joy of having our burden set free in the exercising of our faith.

7. You can have confidence because God is a wise God. The Trinity is a wonderful and beautiful thing. Jesus dies for my sin in my place securing the my place in the glory of God. Because of that his Spirit come to work in me now assuring me that I will get there and helping me in my weakness on the way. And the Father sees and hears me because of his Spirit working in me. The interaction and working together of the Godhead is beautiful and efficient.

8. You can be confident because God is real and powerful and is bigger than all our problems and weaknesses and sufferings. What better person to interecede for us on our behalf than God himself, His Spirit.

Let’s go to prayer. If faith in Jesus has never been yours receive it today and have your burden lifted. For believers, as we approach the table to receive Jesus body and blood in the bread and wine, know his goodness and cast all your cares upon him. He died to make all things new and gives you his Spirit so that your heart might be poured out before him. Let us worship our great God and Savior, let’s pray.

To listen to this sermon CLICK HERE

The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990 | contact@theresolved.com
All Rights Reserved © The Resolved Church

Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material provided you not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.

January 20th, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets

Suffering and the Glory of God – Part I
Romans 8:18-25

I. The place of suffering in the book of Romans
II. The glory of God makes it all worth it (v.18)
III. All of God’s creation cries out (v.19-22)
A. Subjection (v.20)
B. Bondage (v.21)
C. Birth-pangs (v.22)
IV. All of God’s children cry out (v.23-25)
A. The Spirit (v.23b)
B. New Bodies (v.23c)
C. In Hope (v.24-25)

Introduction

Good morning church family. Today we continue in our new series “Suffering and the Glory of God.” This is the second sermon from Romans 8:18-25. Let’s read it and pray.

Last week I mainly dealt with verses 18-22 and how the creation cries out, it groan and eagerly waits for the glory of God to be revealed in God’s children. This week we’ll deal mainly with verses 23-25 and how God’s children cry out and groan and eagerly await for the glory of God to be revealed in them.

Before we get into it, let me just set up this passage. Verse 18 is Paul’s thesis, “The sufferings of the present time is not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The question on the table is whether what God has planned ahead in the revealing of his glory outweighs the suffering we experience now and thus makes it all worth it? I said last week that the design of these words in the book of Romans is to let Christians know what kind of faith they have, it is one that is greater than suffering.

This text is designed to help you hold on to Christ when suffering happens. By suffering, the Bible here has all and any kind of pain that you experience, physical, emotional, psychological, moral, from all kinds of causes…it is all suffering. From the slightest thing to the serious thing…from general exhaustion and crushed expectation to life threatening illness, it’s all suffering. And this portion of the Bible exists to help you if you are a Christian so that if you or someone you love ends up having their house burned to the ground or you end up on a hospital bed, you willl have some capacity for it and not resort to despair and say, “Why me!!! Doesn’t God love me? I guess none of it is true after all. And then abandon Christ.”

It is my goal today to make you long-term Christians that when suffering strikes, beacause it will, your reaction will be to fall on knees instead of run. So many run. I want to make you like Job, when sufffering struck him, he prayed a prayer and said of God, “Though he slay me, I will yet trust in him (Job 13:15).”

IV. All of God’s children cry out (v.23-25)

Okay, let’s go to work. The Bible has good stuff here. Verse 23, “Not only the creation…” That was last week, we looked at the creation, how creation is subjected to futility, how creation is not how it is supposed to be, there is something wrong with it is broken, flowers are not intended to turn brown and die, the violence and fear and death of animals is not supposed to be…and it is all that way only for (verse 18) this present time, a temporary age, era, or stage of history and that one day it will end. It is part of a judicial sentence handed down from God because of the sin of humans.

The message is that sin is bad. All natural evil is an enormous ever present sermon to us that moral evil, yours and my sin is a big deal. And the creation, eagerly longs…that is anxiously awaits or stands on it’s tippy toes with it’s neck stretched forward and looks for the day when it will end! That was last week. This week we look as ourselves, we Christians, we groan and anxiously await, eagerly long, standing on our tippy toes and stretching our necks forward looking for our full adoption and redeemed bodies in hope. So last week creation cries out, this week God’s children cry out.

A. The Spirit (v.23b)

Let’s look at verse 23 again, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons…” Now there is an incredible reversal and picture here I want to show you. In order to see it you got to understand what firstfruits are.

In the time when this was written, one of the most common jobs was being a farmer, kind of like how working with computers is one of the most common jobs in San Diego, we’re a tech city. And something everyone would have understood, especially Jews because their Bible talks about it, is firstfruits.

Firstfruits in the Bible are what God’s people give to him out of worship. So for example, I have an orange tree in my backyard, I just noticed the other day that about three of the oranges are just about ripe. Now if San Diego operated primarily with the trading of goods rather than money, then I would cut my three oranges off my tree and go and give them to God by coming to church and putting them in that little offering box over there.

This is the idea of firstfruits, that the first of everything we make belongs to God because it all comes from him and those who love God and are committed to him and his mission, support it by giving out of their hard earned labor both as sign of their commitment and also as a pledge to worship him in the way that they spend the rest of their money.

This is often not how Christians give. So let me teach you. It is a firstfruits, not a last fruits. Many people, who are part of a church give based on two things. One, if they are giving to a specific thing where they know exactly how their money will be used before they give it. Or two, if after they’ve already spent their money on everything they want and/or need to spend it on, if after that there is anything left, then they give. That’s not the Biblical idea, it’s a firstfruits right off the top that you entrust to God, through the leaders he’s put before you, your fruit. It is not a conditional last-fruits.

Now, we at The Resolved Church are not all about making money, so don’t get the wrong idea. I only address this because it is in our text. And if you are a guest or considering about making this your church, then this doesn’t apply to you until you make that decision. If this is your church and especially if you are an official member, this is how and why we give. Now some of you I know give cash, which is why you should use one of these envelopes. But most of the money that comes in for our church is in checks and Gary Warkentin, our financial administator tells me that the financial budget of this church, which is about $2400 dollars a month, averaging about $600 dollars a week, is carried by six people and we don’t make it. Last month we were -$1000 short and that has been the trend, over the last year we were -10,000 short. I just tell you that so you know where we are at and what are needs are.

Now, let’s bring back the analogy and I’ll show you the reversal. So in the Bible, firstfruits is something we give to God, but here what is the firstfruit? It is something God gives to us…the firstfruit of the Spirit. Firstfruits is reveresed! God gives to us His Spirit. This is the adoption that is initiated, where we come into the family…God gives us a firstfruit his very Spirit. This is what Jesus promised for those who believe in him.

Before Jesus died and rose again and went to be with the Father, Jesus said he would return but in the time between, this present time or era, when there is suffering, that’s the time we’re still in now, this is what he said for those who believed in him and followed him, John 14:16-18;25-27 “(the Father) will give you another helper, to be with you forever…the Spirit of truth…will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you…Because I live you will also live…These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your rememberance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you…Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

What great words from Jesus about this firstfruit of the Spirit! How much we need to hear that in our time of suffering, that we are not alone, there is not reason to be troubled or afraid, if you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit of God. In Ephesians 1:13-14 Paul, the author of Romans, said it another way, In (Jesus), when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, (you) were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we aquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

What does that mean? It means a ton of stuff about how God’s spirit empowers us and purifies us and manifests his presence to us and illuminate God’s word to us and unifies us…but we’ll just stick with these verses in Romans for today and deal with more next week. What is one evidence from this verse in Romans that God’s Spirit is inside you, which Jesus says is a great help? It’s in the second half of verse 23 we “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons.” We groan! We wait eagerly! And that is a gift!

Godly, Spirit groaning is a gift! Everyone groans but there is a Godly Spirit groaning for Christians…it is the difference between groaning in death and groaning in birth. That is the illustration we looked at last week. The groaning or pain in childbearing, which all the mom’s say, “Yes, that’s painful!” But it is pain in eager expectation for that moment when the baby finally comes out, takes his/her first breath and cries and then the mom pulls her close and joy fills her eyes with tears.

Our adoption is like the little photograph paper from the ultrasound. We are in God’s family, he is our father, Jesus is our brother, the adoption is for sure. But right now we are in pregnancy stage, when we await our full adoption, when the life that has been started in the womb of this world is waiting to come out into the glorious new creation that God has prepared in the world to come.

Groaning in death is the opposite. It is when you have no assurance of your salvation. When you know you have not lived your life for God, you know you don’t love him, you have not embraced the provision of his son Jesus and when you die, and you have no assurance of what will happen! Your groaning is a groaning of death and despair. And the neverending death of hell is around the corner.

It makes a difference how you groan, whether for birth or for death. The point is this. If you are a Christian, you have God’s Spirit, which enables you to face suffering in a whole different way. You groan for sure, but you groan in eager waiting, because you know that your suffering will end, you know what is ahead…the glory of God revealed in us!

B. New Bodies (v.23c)

But what is this glory of God to be revealed in us that this passage of the Bible talks about? Again there is much we could say, but we’ll just stick with Romans for today. It’s in the last part of verse 23, “the rededemtion of our bodies.” When we suffer, we groan, and we groan in eager waiting for new, redeemed, bodies.

The assumption here, what is implicitly acknowledged is that there is something wrong with our bodies, with the human body. Perhaps you’re not a Christian yet, and you are looking in at Christians from the outside and thinking to yourself: “Christians don’t look so hot! These sons and daughters of God…they don’t look much better than everybody else. They still get sore throats and colds. Their bones still break and if they get cut they bleed. They still get diseases like cancer and they die. They still sin and are not loving and forgiving and they often hurt each other and people around them. Yes, maybe Jesus was good and maybe Jesus rose from the dead but Christians are just the same as everyone else.”

Yes, those things are true…the difference is in who Christians trust for their salvation and what that person does for us. Redemption is a buying back, the getting back of an item or the going back to time when things were similar to the way they were before. Last week we looked at the reason for why creation is subjected to futility and we looked at Genesis 3:16-19 where God hands down the curse on creation in response to the sin of the first humans, Adam and Eve. This week we go to the same place to look for the answer of what we are getting back in the future glory to be revealed, what is the redemption of our bodies?

Genesis 3:17-19,22-24 “17 To Adam (God) said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return…22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

The answer to the question of why our bodies break down and suffer is because of sin, from not loving and trusting God and instead disobeying him. We have such a tendency to want to dimish the seriousness of our sin. But we need not look any further than death to see how serious it is before a perfectly holy and loving God. The human body is not intended to return to dust. Mankind is intedend to reach out his hand and eat of the tree of life forever. The redemption of our bodies. Our bodies will go back to the way they were originally made and will become the way God intends them to be for eternity.

We will be ourselves and have the same names and the same racial identities, we will still eat and drink and have bodies that can smell and hear and touch…but we will be free, no longer having our wills bound by sin, a free will finally granted unto so that we might be who long to be but just can’t seem to be. Finally a free will to do that which it was made by God to do, to love and glorify and worship God and to live life in light of him, no longer a bound will held back by sin, corruption, pain and suffering.

Sometimes heaven is falsely considered as just this unending time of singing songs. It’s not that at all, it is life the way it should be, life like this only better, without the bad…Sure, there will be time of singing, but there will also be feasts and banquets, play and travel, talks with Jesus and our friends and our family and our spouses.

C. In Hope (v.24-25)

How can this be? Isn’t that just a little too fantastic? Perhaps that seems too fairtale-ish to you. Perhaps you say, “How could you really know any of that is true Duane? My suffering is real, I know that! How can glory to be revealed outweigh that?!” The last point of our sermon found in verse 24-25. “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

“In this hope we were saved.” This is what we hope for. In the Bible, 1 Peter 3:15 asks the question of what the “reason (is) for the hope that is in you.” The answer is that Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior, rose from the dead. This is heart of Christianity upon which all Jesus disciples gave their lives. They saw the risen Jesus and ate with him and talked with and saw him appear to more than 500 people at one time. Jesus rose from the dead and that changes everything. Christianity is worldview changing.

How can we know that we will receive the redemption of our bodies, because Jesus did. Jesus died and rose and received a body just like that and promised it to all who put their faith, their trust, in him that his death covers their sin and satisfies the debt of wrath in death that we owe to God. This is justification, getting just or right before God.

In the courtroom of heaven, you stand before God the judge, you plead guilty, guilty of sin and deserving of death and hell, but you plead Jesus, Jesus life and death in your place. And God accepts Jesus’ as sufficient for you. And then God promises a resurrected body like Jesus’s for when you life ends on this earth or unti Jesus returns to earth.

Jesus Christ is the answer to all suffering. In the garden of Eden mankind fell and was thrown out away, cursed to death and suffering, separated from the tree of life but God sent his son Jesus into the world to die upon a tree in order that all suffering might not just continue on and on forever, but that there might be an end. An end to it in each of our individual lives and an end to the age, this present evil age of suffering.

In this hope we were saved. It is interesting that he uses past tense here because most of the time, Paul refers to salvation the future, it is to be saved from the wrath to come in response to sin. But here he uses it past tense to point to the security of hope, because hope in the Bible is not just wishful thinking, like I hope I win the lottery. It is secure, grounded thinking, like if you were somehow able to time travel and read the newspaper for tomorrow and know what numbers were going to win. That’s bibilical hope, it is the assurance of faith.

It is like John Calvin says, “Hope is nothing else than perseverance in faith. For when we have once believed the word of God, it remains that we persevere until the accomplishment of these things. Hence, as faith is the mother of hope, so it is kept up by it, so as not to give way.”

Here is how hope works in face of suffering. Yesterday, about 20 blocks from my house, a 58 year old woman parked her car on a hill in El Cajon Blvd. She turned off the ignitiion but forgot to left the car in neutral and didn’t pull the e-brake. As she got out of the car it started to roll backward and her own door knocked her down on the ground and then her car rolled over her. Now she is in the hospital with serious injuries. What does the Bible say about that? How does hope work in a situation like that? How would you respond if it happened to you?

If I could go see that woman in the hospital today, and if it turned out she wasn’t a Chrisitan here is what I would say. “Ma’m I’m so sorry this happened to you. I long for the day when our minds will not be so effected that we forget things. If in that moment she grabbed my hand, and with tear fear filled despair looked at me and said “I don’t think I’m going to make it.” I would tell her this, In Romans 8 the Bible says we have a hope that goes beyond what we see and I know right now what you see looks pretty discouraging. Jesus died on the cross so that the suffering we experience now, in this life, will one day end, and that if we die before that day, those who put their faith in him, will not suffer any longer but enter a new world filled with joy, free of pain and suffering. Jesus rose from the dead and if you embrace Jesus and confess that you haven’t loved God like you ought, then he will forgive you and give you his Spirit. Jesus’ Spirit will be a comfort and a help to you in this hour, and you will need not fear death and discouragment because if you don’t make it through this, Jesus will raise you up and give you a new body like his. Jesus knows what it is like to suffer and he suffered for you so that you don’t have to forever. You can have that hope.”

That’s what I would say. Faith in Jesus turns into hope for the future and we eagerly wait that glory with patience.

Conclusion

Let’s conclude. I want to try and bring it all one step further for us. Is it worth it? Suffering is real, whether it is in your mind, or in your body. Is it worth it? It is almost easier to think of someone else from the outside looking in, like that woman in a hospital. But what about when it happens to you. What will be your response?

In that moment, if your back is broken and every joint in your body hurts, your mind feels like a mess, food does not sound good, and nothing seems to be going right. What is your response? Do you bail on your faith or do cry out in hope along with all of creation and say, “Come Lord Jesus Come! Take my ransomed soul away! Let the glory of the children of God be made known! Do you fall down on your knees and worship or do you run? Do you groan with eager waiting and expectation or do you groan with death spasms and denial? Do you say I trust you my God or do you say, forget it!”

We cannot afford to not have our sight set on eternity. So many think that it is so far off and so irrelevant to this life, when the key to this life is to have your sight set on eternity…that is what really changes things now.

My prayer for you and for me is that when suffering strikes, the Holy Spirit, who is in all of those who put faith in Jesus, that the Holy Spirit would enable me to groan a groan in pain that looks forward to birth, to the revealing of the sons of God. I pray in that moment that I will be able to look to the security of the cross in that Jesus died for me in my place and rose again and because I am his and he is mine, I shall one day be like him and receive a redeemed body like his. Suffering will have it’s day for all those who cling to Jesus Christ.

Let me close with the some of the words of a great old hymn we sing sometimes here:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand

When darkness veils his lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand

To listen to this sermon CLICK HERE

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January 13th, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets

Suffering and the Glory of God – Part I
Romans 8:18-25

I. The place of suffering in the book of Romans
II. The glory of God makes it all worth it (v.18)
III. All of God’s creation cries out (v.19-22)
A. Subjection (v.20)
B. Bondage (v.21)
C. Birth-pangs (v.22)
IV. All of God’s children cry out (v.23-25)
A. The Spirit (v.23b)
B. New Bodies (v.23c)
C. In Hope (v.24-25)

Introduction – Read text and pray.

I. The place of suffering in the book of Romans

Today we are beginning of a new series called “Suffering and the Glory of God.” We are studying through book of Romans, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, word by word…and because of that it takes time, so we’ve set aside a couple years to do this. We’re hoping and expecting that you’ll stick around! J The reason we do it that way is because of the time distance, culture distance, language distance, spiritual distance…the only other option would be to just fly by stuff, not really dig in, not really understand and I just can’t do that.

But here is the problem, if we just trudged through Romans week after week for five years, that would get old, really old. The rest of the Bible would get ignored, we wouldn’t get a full view of God or what it means to be a Christian. So what we do is we break up our studies of Romans into series. In between sermons, I preach from other places in the Bibles and during certain seasons, like Christmas-advent, we take several weeks away from Romans and study other things.

So, it’s been awhile for us since we’ve been in Romans…my daughter was born and I took a few weeks off after that…then it was Christmas and the New Year…it’s been nearly 3 months for us, so it’s good to be back! And we are coming back to Romans and diving right in and it’s thick…we’re diving right into a passage that’s all about suffering, a huge and hard topic.

So the first thing I want to do, because some of you are just joining us, and because it’s been a while for most of us, I want to quickly review Romans to see how suffering fits in. Romans is a book about God…he is the hero of the story. The story is of a courtroom. In this courtroom God is good, all humans are not, we are guilty of loving God, the creator of the universe who gives us life and breath, we have done evil and wrong and deserve penalty. So God sends Jesus, his son. Jesus lives the life we know should but can’t, dies death we deserve in our place, and then gives us faith in his person and work and we get justified, right before God, and all the goodness of Jesus gets put to our account in the courtroom of heaven before God.

After that there is some stuff to deal with in the book of Romans, like what about sin after becoming a Christian, after receiving this courtroom gift, what are we to do, how do we follow Jesus as a master, how do we deal with the internal conflict and struggle we feel at times as Christians, what is our new life with Jesus’ Spirit supposed to look like? The most recent thing, our last series was “The Jesus family Series”, where we learn that we get adopted and become part of a spiritual family…where God becomes our daddy, Jesus our brother, and we will inherit the whole world along with him. The last phrase we dealt with in Romans ended by saying that we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

So suffering comes in the context of book of Romans, saying “alright you’ve already become a Christian…now I need to tell you something, it does not mean everything is going to be sunny days with no problems, there is suffering and it’s real and if you haven’t experienced it yet you will, so let me tell you why so that when it happens you will not be uprooted…you will not give up and say forget it, if this is what I get for following Jesus then screw it!” God inspired this portion of Scripture so that our faith might go deep and be able to handle anything that comes our way and so that when full glory comes we will have a capacity for understanding it’s greatness and beauty, and not just think “Oh, cool and go back to playing Halo 3. ”

So suffering, suffering… Let me bring some reality to the table. For some, you are happy right now. Life is going well for you. You are excited about the new year. Some of you are getting married, some thinking about getting married. Some have new jobs, new classes, new babies (that’s me!) and the last thing you want to do today is talk about suffering. Don’t worry, my goal isn’t to try and make us all emo sad by the end of this sermon. But first we need to bring some reality to the table. All it takes is the click of the ipod and a sad sad song, filled with suffering and pain is immediate…Bright Eyes, Ryan Adams, Damien Rice all quickly come to my mind. For some Christmas and New Years may have been a very dark part of the year for you and you are just glad it is over.

Here is some reality. In the past two weeks I had a conversation with a very good friend who is afraid his wife may have cancer. At my job, two of my co-workers have recently discovered they have cancer. And my Aunt too, just found out she has cancer. What does the Bible have to say about cancer? What about friendships you have with people who’s brother or sister committed suicide? What about a Tiger that escapes out of the San Fransisco Zoo attacking a vistor and killing him? What about fires that ravaged 368,000 acres, killed 10 people and destroyed 1750 homes? Does the Bible have to say anything about that? What about the tears of a Grandma, who has lost her husband and two of her own children? What does the Bible say?

What does the Bible say about suffering? Here’s Paul, the author of Romans, his thesis: Verse 18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us.” Wow…really? Really Paul, you really think that? “Yes. Let me tell you why.”

First notice something he does, in that statement…he makes an assertion about history and time. He says, “the sufferings of this present time.” Neither Paul, nor the the rest of the Bible, views history as something that had no beginning and has no end and is just spinning out of control…no, it’s going somewhere. Suffering belongs to this time, this age, this stage in the course of history and there is a state coming, when for the saints of God, those who put their faith in Jesus…suffering will be no more because glory will be revealed in them and things will change.

Glory will be revealed. It is interesting that the word “glory” itself in Hebrew, in the Old Testament means “weight” and Paul makes this statement saying the glory will outweight the suffering. And Paul wasn’t someone who didn’t know anything about suffering. In 2 Corinthians, another letter he wrote, he talks about how he’s been beaten, and shipwrecked by storms, and at times driven to despair and then he makes this statement, “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor 4:17).” I think he is saying the same thing there as he is here in Romans.

C.S. Lewis picked up on it and wrote a little book called, “The Weight of Glory.” In his poetic way he writes of bitter pain, saying that in it we can be left feeling “utterly and absolutely outside, repelled, exiled, estranged, finally and unspeakably ignored…but to be called in, welcomed, received, acknowledged…to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside…and to be summoned (in) would be glory and honor beyond all our merits and also the healing of that old ache.”

III. All of God’s creation cries out (v.19-22)

The ache, the groan, the cry. Creation feels it and experiences it and so does God’s children. This week, let’s talk about all of creation and then next week we’ll talk about God’s children. So look in verse 19, “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” Sons means children of God, so you girls don’t think you’re getting excluded…but creation, creation waits, with eager longing for God’s glory.

There’s one Greek word behind the two words that get translated “eager longing” and the Greek word is much more picturesque. It means standing on your tippy toes and stretching out your head, looking out across the horizon. Surfers in San Diego know this one, where you stand on the edge of the cliff, like Sunset Cliffs or in Del Mar or Encinitas, or when you look out across the beach and you try to see what the surf looks like coming in before you go out. Or perhaps you have waited in the San Diego airport for a loved one and you are constantly looking for them to walk down that hall and come down the escalator. This is eager longing. Creation here this passage is personified, pictured with human feelings and characterstics. And creation longs and awaits for the children of God to be revealed.

What is up with that? Why does creation, the plants and the animals, why does creation care about what is up with Christians? Three things: subjection, bondage, and birth-pangs.

A. Subjection (v.20)

Verse 20, “For the creation was subjected to futulity, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope…” This verse is huge and I want you to get it. There is a futility to creation. There is something wrong with it. Our environmentalists friends, know this well. Global warming is kind of a hot button. Also, the sun is a star and its getting bigger and it will eventually melt our planet and we will all die. There are endangered species and there are animals that at one time existed and now do not. There is something violent and bloody and seemingly wrong about the way animals act. Our plants are broken. The colors of flowers should not fade and shrivel and turn brown and die. Earthquakes and floods and fires and tornadoes…Creation should not be breaking down. The second law of thermodynamics, entropy, order to chaos…shows a broken system.

And here is the massive truth in this verse: creation is that way for a reason, it was subjected to it…Paul carries the personification, creation didn’t will to be that way, something happened and things changed and it was subjected to this futility. What is going on here?

Two things. One, who subjected it and two why did he subject it. First, it is God who subjected it. How do we know this? Because, only God would or could do such a thing “in hope!” Satan does not do things in hope. If we turn to the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, Adam did not subject the world to dissarray in hope! I am utterly perplexed by the answers of so many supposedly Christian leaders and teachers and preachers today who feel that they somehow must get God off the hook for there being suffering and evil in the world. We don’t need to do that! He is just fine and can take care of himself.

So many today, would rather say that there is no reason, it’s just meaningless. The famous athiest Friedrich Nietzsche just says to embrace and accept suffering because it is just part of the cycle of the universe. Eastern philosophies call suffering dukkha which we must liberate ourselves from through meditation. Some want a God but just one that wound up the universe like music box and is just letting it run and he has nothing to do with it (diests). Or there is the open theists want to say that God was just not smart enough to see the future and know what was going to happen once he created and now there are all these problems he can’t fix and is try to learn from us how to fix them. God, doesn’t need us to get him off the hook. The Bible answers just fine.

Here is the story, when God subjected creation to futility, it’s in Genesis 3, God created the universe and the earth and everything in it and he said it was good. He made man and put him on the earth and gave him a wife and things were good. Then the man and the woman sinned by not listening to and thus not loving or worshipping the God who made them and everything they enjoyed. So God shows up, he is good, a good and upright judge and he judges them and hands down a sentence. Here it is,

Genesis 3:16-19 “To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. 17 And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.””

So since way back, thousands of years, whenever this happened, since then, creation has been under a curse, sentence handed down by God because of human sin. Here’s the answer to the why question, why did he subject it. To show and teach us the seriousness of sin. To demonstrate that disobeying and not loving God who has loved and given us so much is a heinous, horrific thing. Thus, all natural evil in the world is a statement about the complete awfulness of human sin. The meaning of every plant that grows thistles and dies, the meaning of every back that gets sore from swinging a hammer or sitting at a desk, the meaning of every tear that is shed over the death of a loved one…is that sin is serious and that God is holy and right and good.

B. Bondage (v.21)

But there is an end to it for God’s children. Creation stands on its tippy toes looking out across the horizon for the day when verse 21, it “will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” When Jesus returns and his brothers and sisters receive their inheritance, creation itself will be changed, it will be freed. Right now it is in bondage, it is not functiong in the way that God designed it to and it is not functioning in the way that it will for the majority of it’s life and existence in eternity. It will be unbound from it’s broken futility.

Here is some pictures from the Bible of the creation unbound. Revelation 21:4 & 22:1 “(Jesus) will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be any mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away…the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, (will flow) from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruits.” Then Isaiah 11:6-9 “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze (notice not each each other anymore, the vegans are happy!); their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hold of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the snake’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

This is a breathtaking vision. And let me just pause for a second, before you dismiss this as just complete fantasy. Isn’t this the way we wish it was? The way we know it should be? Isn’t the reason why such a thing is appealing to us is because it is what we long for?

C. Birth-pangs (v.22)

Last point for today, the childbirth pains. This brings the two sentiments of creation, the subjection and the future freedom together. Paul makes an analogy of childbirth. He says that like the labor that a mother goes through when she gives birth, it is painful, it is suffering, but the result is worth it.

My daughter is 9 weeks old now and my wife assures me that giving birth is far more painful than anything I have felt. Apparently it is worse than getting tattooed or breaking bones or getting stiches. J And I believe it, it looked pretty gnarly! But now, holding little Adina…she is so worth it! If you ask my wife she would go through it all over again for sure, just to have her. Maybe not right away but she’d go through it! J

Paul says, creation and the suffering it experiences and causes is the like the pains of childbirth. It will not last forever. It has an appointed end. Jesus himself said, “In this world you will have trouble but take heart because I have overcome the world (Jn 16:33).” Jesus overcame the world when he died for sin on the cross so that there would be an end to suffering and death, that it wouldn’t just continue on eternally. He made a way for there to be eternal life instead of eternal, unended death. And when Jesus returns to sit on that throne with water coming out of it in the middle of the city…things will be different and all those who held on to him, didn’t abandon their confession and allegience when it got tough, their identity as his brothers and sisters, his familiy, will be made known to everyone.

Conclusion

We’ll talk more about what is ahead for us individually next week and how we can know that. But let me end today with a few thing for you to think about and ways you can apply this passage to your lives.

1. Don’t single yourself out. When you suffer, don’t think poor me, how unfair. All of creation groans and is in pain and havoc. Don’t overpersonalize things so much when you think that you individually are somehow being slighted. Don’t think that it’s just karma. When bad stuff happens to you it isn’t like God is sitting up in the sky with some sort of stick and he pokes you every time you do something bad.

2. Realize the seriousness of your sin. Recognize that not listening and trusting and following and loving God is a serious serious thing. So serious that God would subject all of creation to such suffering because of it. Don’t take your sin lightly, but be quick to repent and ask for grace and forgiveness. Put your faith in Jesus and his perfect life and death for you.

3. Don’t live your life solely for the now. Think long-term, think about eternity and what is ahead. Set your sights further. Realize that God is a big big God and history is going somewhere and there is a wonderful weight of glory ahead for those who are his. So cherish God as your God through belief in Jesus, don’t put eternity at risk because you want what you want and you want it now.

4. Lastly, be amazed at Jesus, who he is and what he has done for us on the cross. If what Adam did so long ago had such far reaching effects…think of how much more what Jesus did will have an effect on this universe. And if he is your Lord and Master and Savior you will experience that and not be on the hell side of things. Jesus’ cross is cosmos changing! That is huge. The cross of Christ is a big deal! Resolve to continually take in all you can of Christ and him crucified.

Now’s the time when all Christians are welcome to receive communion and all members of The Resolve Church partner in the gospel in our worship of giving.

If you are Christian or becoming one today, worship Jesus when you come to this table. If you need to repent of some things, do that. If you need to give thanks, do that. Receive the gift of Christ, his perfect live and perfect death for you.

  Listen         Read        Jesus Family Does Not Lose the Battles Which Count  |  Rom 8:12-13
  Listen         Read        Jesus Family Welcomes Members and Leads Them  |  Rom 8:14-15
  Listen         Read        The Family of Old  |  Rom 8:14
  Listen         Read        Adopted Forever  |  Rom 8:15-16
  Listen         Read        The Great Father We Call Abba  |  Rom 8:15
  Listen         Read        The Future of the Family  |  Rom 8:17

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © THE RESOLVED CHURCH
Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and
distribute this material provided you NOT alter the wording in any way and you
do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.
:: The Resolved Church ::
www.theresolved.com
contact@theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990

:: The Resolved Church :: October 14th, 2007 :: Pastor Duane M. Smets

The Jesus Family Series
Part VI – “The Future of the Family”

Romans 8:12-17
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Introduction
I. The Inheritance
II. Suffering & Glory
Conclusion

Introduction

Read text and pray. I like reading the whole passage. Today is our last day of the “Jesus Family Series” looking at these five verses, after five weeks of working through this passage doesn’t it seem so much more full to you? I look at these words now, and I am just amazed. Today we focus on verse 17, so let’s pray over it. Father God we have been learning that you are Father, and we, as believers in your Son are your children. You love us, lead us, and continually bless us. You are a good good father. May we learn today, be moved with feelings of thanks and adoration to you, may we be convinced to further turn away from other things we find ourselves continually worshipping instead of you, and may be inspired with a hope for what you have prepared for your children through Jesus. Illuminate your Word by your Spirit as we put our minds and hearts to work. Amen.

I. The Inheritance

Last we focused on who God is as our Father, the week before that was who we are as children, today we focus on our future in the family…what our Father has ahead for us. The first thing we want to look at today is our inheritance as children. In verse seventeen, we read this word, “heir” three times: “heirs, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ.”

    heirs

So first, what’s an heir? What does that mean? An heir is the recipient of the goods and property of one’s father when they are dead and gone. One is an heir while they father is still alive but they do not receive the goods until their dad is dead. The term really becomes announced when you talk about a king and a kingdom. Because then an heir inherits a lot of stuff and also a seat of power, a position within the kingdom.

It doesn’t work like that here where we live. The president is only the president for four years and he can get re-elected for four more but after that he is done. He doesn’t get to stay president until he dies and his son or daughter does not inherit the white house and become the next president. But that is how government was when this was written. That’s why when invading nations came if they conquered they would kill everyone in the family, so there were no heirs.

What is unique here is that the heir is not just one person. Notice it’s plural. It’s not singular, heir, it’s heirs. That is because of what Paul already said about adoption. When we talked about adoption we said that all children are not by nature children of God but children of wrath, children of the devil, because every single person has run away from the God of all glory as our father and have sought a home and family in other things and people that are not God and do not come close to providing what he does for his family. That’s our story, all our stories. But the story of the gospel, says that God sent his only unique son, Jesus into the world, to die for our rebellion against God, for leaving the family and committing treason against the family Jesus died. And Jesus rose again and because of that, through believing in the person and work of Jesus, we can be adopted into the family and really become one of his God’s own children.

So on the basis of Jesus, many, many people become heirs. But heirs of what? For the ancient Jewish readers, it was always land. Land was and Israel today is still the most valuable possession. The ancient promise of God to his people was of land. God shows up to Abraham in Genesis 12, tells him to follow him and God says “to your offspring I will give this land (Gen 12:7).” Indeed this is much of the story of the book of Genesis. God creates everything and he creates mankind, but man rebels and turns away from him and from that point on the story is the story of God redeeming his people and taking them to a land where his people will be his people once again, where they will love and adore and worship him. Genesis begins in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve get themselves kicked out, and then God creates and gathers a people which is where the Torah ends in Deuteronomy, with the people ending up in the promised land, where they will worship God.

But as we continue to read through the Bible we discover that God’s vision and his promise to Abraham was much bigger than just a little slice of land in the Middle East. Psalm 24:1 David acknowledges that “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness there of, the world and all those who dwell in it.” And then he says “I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession (Ps 2:8).” And in case you thought I’m just importing things into our text in Romans that Paul might not necessarily have meant, listen to one final verse from Romans 4:13 “The promise to Abraham and his offspring (is) that he would be the heir of the world…through the righteousness that is by faith.”

So the first thing I think our passage of Romans is intending when it says we become heirs, is the promise that we will inherit the earth. This world and all that is in it will become ours. Now I realize that might seem weird to you. So just so we don’t misunderstand let me clarify. I don’t think Paul here is appealing to our sinful desires for money and riches and power and things. Some of us think that if we just had the right job, or made just enough money…then we would be happy.

But I don’t think Paul is very American. He knows better than that. I don’t think he is saying, “oh, you want to have a lot of stuff and the freedom to do whatever you want and not work and buy whatever you want and go wherever you…Than just believe in God and you can manipulate your way into getting to that place by appeasing him.” I don’t think that is what he getting at and I’m afraid sometimes that sort of Christianity is the one we slip into living…that we just do our God thing, then everything will go well for us, we’ll get what we want, and what we want isn’t God himself, it’s something he made…whether it is the love of a relationship or something physical like a house. It comes from him.

You see it is something deeper. The world is intended to cause us to have wonder and praise toward our God who made it. But we don’t do that do we? Instead, we get caught up on the things themselves or our own notion of having power over them or the ability to use them for our own means. And that is idolatry. We are all idolaters. We worship other gods. We worship what we love. And you can tell what what we love by what we give our time, talent and treasure to. What we give our time thinking about and pursuing and doing. What we use our natural abilities and talents for. And where what we spend our money on. You look at those three things in your life and you can easily see who your God is.

So when God promises us the riches of the world and says it will all be ours I think it is a promise to each of us individually that we will all together, without division and strife, without class and disproportion, will equally live in the land and own it and use it for it’s intended purpose, to propel us into worship of our God. And when that happens we will be satisfied as we long to be. It will be a return to the garden of Eden where the provision of the earth is plenty, life is full, and we walk with God in the mid-day talking with him and being delighted by his company and sharing of himself with us.

    heirs of God

I think this is the reason why Paul immediately qualifies himself in Romans 8:17. Notice he says, “heirs” but he doesn’t stop there, he realizes he better tell us what he means so we don’t get the wrong impression…so he says first, “heirs of God.” I do take this as a subjective genitive, if that means anything to you, basically, I think it is clear here that God is identified as that it is God himself, his very being, which is identified as what we get, not just the gifts of God. We do not receive just the gifts of God, all the things of his earth, but we receive God himself, his very being, the all-satisfying, infinite God becomes our own unending pleasure and delight.

I couldn’t help but quote Jonathan Edwards here. He wrote a book titled, “The End for Which God Created the World” where Jonathan Edwards takes up this very subject, how God and our enjoyment of him is the appointed end of all things. Jonathan Edwards writes, “There is an infinite fullness of all possible good in God – a fullness of every perfection, of all excellency and beauty and of infinite happiness…God’s last end in creating the world, is the creature’s knowledge of HIM…God’s glory is the object of this knowledge…whereby his excellency is seen…(thus) the happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, joy or the exulting of the heart in God’s glory…(which is) where the very honor, exaltation and praise of God consists.”

God is a creative God and he is an infinite God as well which what leads me to believe that heaven is an ever unfolding of God showing us new dimensions of himself and life with him as our God, where we will be continually dazzeled and overjoyed at what he allows us to take part in out of his very self. My conception of heaven is not one of some state where we are just fixed forever singing or something like that…but it is life, heirs of a certain type of life, a life where we live and breath and eat and work and play and God is ever our joy and worship.

This is the glorification our verse speaks of, to have redeemed bodies and hearts that can fully glorify God, without the corruption of sin. Heaven is to be like this life only free from sin, with God as our God. So the basic features of life, eating, drinking, working, playing, will all be present but be present perfectly as worship.

    fellow heirs with Christ

We get a clearer picture of what that is like when we begin to consider Christ, our savior. Paul says in our verse that as heirs of God we become fellow heirs, or joint-heirs, or co-heirs with Christ. We started out talking about the picture of an heir being predominantly clear when we consider a prince, who is heir to the throne, taking over as king in his father’s place. This is what we have in Jesus. Jesus is God’s unique son.

The well known verse John 3:16 is translated well as “For God so loved the world that he gave his only unique son.” Colossions 1:15-16 speak even clearer about what kind of son of God Jesus is, listen ” He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Jesus, is a unique son, he is the son of the King of the Universe.

You see Jesus is a king. And not just a king that rules for a brief period of time in history. He is the king over all of history. In his last coming, he showed he was worthy as the king of all of history, he was humble and restrained his divine power all the way to the end, even acknowledging to Pilate that he was a king. When Jesus comes again, as he promised he would, he said that next time he will come in the full array of his divine power, with lighting and thunder and angels blowing trumpets, and his name will be declared “king of kings and lord of lords (1 Tim 6:15).” Jesus is King and we inherit all that his and that he has earned, simply through belonging with him through faith.

So what happens between now and the time when we fully receive our inheritance? To answer that question, let’s look to our next last major thing mentioned in our verse, suffering “(WE are) fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

II. Suffering & Glory

Now, a couple of things before we talk about suffering. One is, we are going to talk a lot about suffering when we move on to our next series and start dealing with the second half of Romans chapter 8. Christian suffering is a big topic and one that we as a community here at The Resolved Church and the Christian community has a lot to learn about. So what I say today is going to be brief. Verse 17, is really a transitional verse, most all English translations break the paragraph after verse 17, which makes sense…but it could almost be includeded with the next paragraph as an introduction because suffering and glorification are the main subjects of the next 22 verses. So just know, what I am saying is brief. We’ll deal a lot more with it later, so stick around.

What I’m going to do is just assume suffering and tell you why and how that works with the gospel. So, without showing you yet, I’ll just tell you that I believe suffering includes all persecution, calamity, disease, death, and hardship that you face while being a Christian…anything that on the road to heaven might destroy your faith and lead you away from God. And I want to mainly just want to mention two things about suffering today, I want to deal with that word “provided,” “(the inheritance) is provided we suffer” and I want to talk about the suffering of Jesus, since we are fellow heirs with him.

    provided we suffer

So, provided…I’m always trying to teach us to read the Bible in context, that means read the things that come before a verse and the things that come after it. That is one of the reasons why we do things in series and deal with paragraphs at a time and why when we come to a new series I always review where we are in the whole of story in the book of Romans. That is because context is important. And with this phrase here and this word “provided” context is important. Because, you are reading correct if when you read this sentence it sounds like a condition…that if you want the inheritance and you want God himself and hiership with Jesus and to be glorified then you must suffer. That is correct, suffering here is a condition. There is no easy road into the kingdom of God. Jesus himself said, wide is the road that leads to destuction and narrow is the way that leads to life and few find it (Mt 7:13).

What I want to clarify for you is the misimpression you could easily get by isolating this verse and not considering the rest of Romans. Because if you isolate it by itself then to me, it sounds like Paul might be saying you have to earn Jesus. You have to do some hard things for God and then he will reward you with salvation. Do you guys see that?

But that is a misread. It does not say that. It is not saying that suffering earns, merits, or counts as a work for anything. That would nullify everything Paul has said so far in the book and even in this direct passage. He says here in this paragraph, that it is the Spirit who bears witness in us, after giving himself to us and leading us and enabling us to fight sin. It is all his gift that we receive and we do not earn that gift. The burden of Paul’s heart throughout Romans so far is to put the gospel on display as something different than any religion of the world because you don’t earn Jesus. He says just two chapters ago, “The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).”

So the first thing I wanted to say about suffering is that it is not a work that earns you God. Rather, it is an evidence of a work already done in you (repeat). Did you get that? The theology here is that those who love, truly love God, are truly adopted into the family, those whose spirit’s truly do bear witness and call out “Abba Father”…those people will suffer and do more than suffer but die out of the joy of having God as father and Jesus as brother. Suffering is evidence of being in the family. You know you are in the family when you will die for them.

This is the theology of the entire Bible when it comes to who is truly a Christian and who isn’t. Those who leave, those who give up, those who run at the slightest hardship or give in to temptation with hardly a fight…those did not have a real faith…a faith that reached their soul. It was just a flimsly faith with no substance. I’ll give you a verse that hopefully helps. The apostle John, it sounds like almost with tears because of the love he had for some who left, he says this in his first letter, ” They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19).” So remember that, think of your heard and dig deep and plead with God for a faith that is real that can withstand the test of suffering.

    we suffer with him

The second thing about suffering and the final thing I want to address today is the last few words of our verse, ” we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” These are weighty words…when we commit to follow Jesus we are signing up for suffering. Perhaps when we deal with this in depth and not just as one point in a sermon, I’ll title it “Is is worth it?”

During the summer, exactly three months ago in the middle of July, I preached a sermon titled, “The Resolved Church must Die” and we studied Jesus’ words in Mark 8 where he said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Those are strong words.

And yet this is what we are called to, suffering…persecutions, calamities, disease, death, hardships, and anything else that will attempt to destroy our faith and lead us away from God on the road to our inheritance. Why? Why must we suffer? Didn’t Jesus suffer for us? Isn’t it odd to say that we inherit suffering from Jesus?

To these questions I can only answer yes. Jesus suffered far more than we can ever dream, not just physically but spritually in coming into this world and holding back his divine power to destroy all evil instantaneously, most of all taking on the wrath of God for the sin of the world on the cross and suffering an eternal punishment there. Jesus’ suffering is incomparible. Yes. Jesus suffered for us and our place in heaven is secure because of him and God’s love is eternally our and we are in the family. But yes, we must suffer for in suffering is the pathway to glory. Glory is always by the way of suffering. 1 Peter 4:13 says, ” Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

That may not make much sense to you. It may sound ludicrous. The old, dead preacher (I like old dead preachers), Charles Spurgeon addressed this so well, so I’m just going to let him answer this for us and then I’ll conclude today’s message. This is Charles Spurgeon:

“If there were no affliction, difficulties and troubles and pain, our fallen hearts would fall more deeply in love with the comforts and securities and pleasures of this world instead of falling more deeply in love with our inheritance beyond this world…(thus) suffering is God’s appointed mercy to keep us from not loving him.” Spurgeon explains that it is as when two people marry and all their possessions are put together. Jesus married the church, he calls it his bride. In that marriage we receive all his kingly goodness and riches and with it the joys of his suffering which make his goods so rich. Spurgeon continues:

“Do not forget Christ had a cross and you must wear a thorny crown too. If you do not gladly bear one your heart is not right. If you would have the glory you must have the shame…When it goes well fo the ungodly…do not murmer, it is the joy to carry the crown. If you do not have a cross I pray you get one and suffer.” He tells the story of a carriage on its way to New York. We don’t drive carriages today but cars. He says suppose a man is on a trip, we’ll say in his Escalade, and he is on a trip to New York to take possession of a large estate he has inherited. But suppose his Escalade breaks down a mile before he gets to the city and forces him to walk the rest of the way. We would think him a fool if we saw him ringing his hands and screaming and crying and kicking his SUV and walking away cussing up a storm and saying “My Escalade, is broken! Stupid truck! I hate Cadillac’s! They always break! My Escalade is broken!” We would think him a fool would we not?

Conclusion

Let me conclude today’s message. It is almost like there are two halves to this sermon, a dark half and white half. Suffering is real. It is dark. From the slightest annoyance to life threatening abandon. Suffering is real and it is inescapable. You cannot escape it. But there is a difference to how you suffer. Jesus is king and he suffered immensly both physically and spiritually so that your suffering might not be a suffering with no hope or peace. When you suffer with Jesus you have a savior who knows what it is like and comes alongside and walks you through it. And in Jesus we have a savior who died on a cross so that your suffering might not be unending and ever increasing in hell. Jesus paid a price for suffering and if you put your faith and trust solely in him, Jesus will cover you and take you into glory as an heir with him in the inheritance of the kingdom.

You see there is a story here. The story is that history is not without a beginning and an end, it is not meaningless…it is going somewhere. There is a reality to this life. There is a God, he is real, there is a life of freedom and joy, the world as the way it should be, God is in the process of bringing that about right now. And those who are in his family are the inheriters of the new heavens and new earth he will make, and then all evil, all corruption, strife, disease and death will be undone and we will walk in the garden paradise once again. God will be our God, we will inherit the unceasing enjoyment of him and his glory, Christ will be our king, and we will work and play and enjoy his kingdom to the fullest extent.

So let us follow Jesus with all our might. This heavenly inheritance is far superior to any earthly one because it is one that cannot be lost and it cannot decay. The design of this text we have looked at today is as John Calvin said, “To extol inheritance for the purpose that we would love it and fully despise the allurements of the world and patiently bear whatever trouble may press on us in this life.”

Jesus is the king over all creation. For believers, he is our brother, we are adopted in his family and his God is our God and he has a rich inheritance. On the road to that inheritance we necessarily experience suffering. So let our suffering be an impetus to praise and repentance. That when we suffer we will turn from sin and press on further and harder toward the kingdom of God in Christ. Let’s do that today by going to Jesus’ table and praying.

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Introduction
I. The Magnitude of God the Father
II. The Nearness of God the Abba
Conclusion

If you are just joing us we are studying the book of Romans and are in a part of it where we are are working with a series called “The Jesus Family.” Last week we taked about several things, like fear and adoption, and we concluded with studying verse 15 and the phrase “Abba Father.” Paul the author here says that through giving your life to Jesus, that’s continually trusting in his person and work, the unsettledness of your mind is met, your heart is healed and you begin to live the life you were intended to live. God becomes important and more than just important, he becomes your Father.

In San Diego there are not a lot of fathers around. The San Diego child abuse hotline receives around 75,000 calls a year. And of those kids, about 40% end up homeless, incarcerated or in public assistance by the time they are 18 years old. And much of these abuse and neglect cases come down to fathers. The results of fathers not being there, fathers not providing, fathers not protecting…or they are fathers who may be there but they are drunk, high, angry or combination of all three and end up abusing their kids either physically or sexually. We are on a mission to change that here in San Diego by starting a church full of godly men who will lovingly lead their wives and their families because they are submitted to Christ and the community of His church.

There was a time when the norm of a father was that he was a strong man, who took care of the family, taught them, provided for them and had God as the source center of his home. Today, the norm of a father is that he is the one who is “missing” because he was not faithful to mom. Some of you have experienced fathers who only demonstrated fear and punishment and abuse and detachment. Otheres may have experienced fathers who were weak, let you do whatever you wanted and just appeased you with gifts but he never taught or trained you. And then perhaps a few of your fathers looked to the Bible and built their fatherhood on the fatherhood of God.

That is what we want to do in this church. We want our women and our children to be loved and cared for and it begins with what kind of father you will be. For you single guys it begins with what kind of man you will be as you prepare to become a husband and a father. We want our girls to have good godly dads and husbands. You want that don’t you girls? A good guy who willl love you forever and never mistreat you? A guy you can trust who will take care of you?

In large, the reason why the feminist movement is so strong these days is because dad’s have sucked. And when dad’s don’t do their job, the women have risen up to fill the gap. I don’t believe feminism is all bad, I think it is God, in his providence, rebuking the men and calling the men back to be who he made them to be.

I’m having a daughter in just a few weeks according to her due date, so I’m glad we’ve got this text to deal with to help me figure out how to be a dad because I don’t want to look anywhere else. Everyone has their expert opinion about how to be a good dad. Today, we go straight straight to the source, the father of all, God himself.

The main reason we are doing another week on God as Father is because last week that was really just one point last week and I wanted to give a full sermon on it because it is reallly really important. And most, if not all, of what I thnk makes this text so astounding…what makes “abba Father” so significant is when you have a better picture of how God the Father is mainly seen in Scripture and how not Abba Father that way is, until Jesus. Jesus changes everything.

So this is how this will go. We are going to talk about the magnitude of God in Scripture for awhile, how strong and other and perfect and unlike us and out there God really is. And then we will turn to our text and how different this idea of Abba is and how Jesus is the one who makes that possible.

I. The Magnitude of God

As I was preparing for this sermon, knowing for a few weeks now that I would be preaching on this, I wrestled with where to begin. There are many attributes and characterstics of God and many ways of looking at them and we only have a short time in the period of a single sermon. Talking about the magnititude of God is not an easy task, especially in our day and culture where it seems the idea of God, even within Christian circles, has shrunk down to where our idea of God is very small. He is only as big as our little human minds can conceive and we think that is okay when it is in fact a foolish notion. J.B. Philips wrote a book a few years back titled, “Your God is Too Small.” I think he was right, so the first thing I want to do today is try and enlarge your view of who God is.

It is interesting that Scripture never argues for the existence of God. It just assumes that he is. The Bible begins with this statement, “In the beginning God created…” It just assumes that from the beginning God is. There are no proofs or reasons given for God’s existence. It is just assumed. Psalm 14:1 says “The fool says in his heart there is no God.” The evidence of God is “innate” as the great reformed theologian William G.T. Shedd stated. It is interesting that even atheists have an idea of God they cannot get rid of but only argue (unsuccessfully) that He doesn’t exist. Every culture and people throughout time have been found to have an idea of God. God is. When Moses, in the Bible, first encounters God in a real way and asks God what his name is, God simply says, “I AM.” So who is this “I AM?” What is he like?

    Eternal

Since Scripture begins by simply assuming God is. Let me start there. God is. God is eternal. There was never a time when God was not. All things come from other things and had a time when they began to exist, but not God! He is unique and all things have come from him and his is far greater than anything he has made. He is completely limitless in all regards. We like to talk about free will but God is the only one with a will that is completely free in every regard! As Acts 17:24-26 says, “God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”

God stands outside of space and time, God is the one being never made, the uncaused cause of all things, at once eternal and infinte and acquanted with all that is his instantaneously. As Jonathan Edwards says, “The eternity of God’s existence is nothing else but his immediate, perfect, and invariable possession fo the whole of his unlimited life, together and at once. It is equally imporoper to talk of months and years of divine existence as miles squares of deity.” All things depend on God but He depends on no one. He is not a poor God who needs us, he needs nothing. He is not fortunate to have us but it is we who are fortunate to have him, who as Hebrews 1:3 says “upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

God is an eternal greatness. Have you ever tried to think of how long forever is? When I was little I remember laying on my bed and trying to think of how long forever is. My head would start to hurt and I would get scared because you can’t do it. I felt like my bed was going to swallow me. God is eternal.

    All-knowing and All-powerful

Not only is God eternal and Lord of space and time, but he is all-knowing and all-powerful. In regards to his knowledge it is unending and all knowledge begins and ends with him. He knows vast and complex things like the workings of his world and all the complexities involved in causing a plantet to exist and to spin at a rate of 1,000 mph that rotates around the sun at a speed of 6,000 mph. That is some high tech calculus. Psalm 104:24 says “O LORD how many are your works in wisdom.”

And God knows not just the construction of his world but all the little details in it. Matthew 10:29 says that God knows the number of hairs on each individual’s head. The average person has about 100,000 hairs on their head. There are about 6.5 billion people on the planet. That is a lot of heads of hair God has counted. Unless you are losing your hair then it might be a little less. J

And not just the great things and not just the specific things but God still knows more. He knows the thoughts and the attitudes of our hearts. Hebrews 4:13 says no one is “hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” God knows every single thought you ever think. The times when you feel sad, when you feel angry, when you feel happy…he knows them all. He knows what you are thinking right now. God’s knowledge is great!

He knows everthing that has happened before this day and he knows everything that has yet to happen and he knows it in an instant, perfectly. He does not learn or forget or stumble in his thought but knowledge is who he is. Romans 11:33 says, “Oh the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

And God does not just know all things but is the power over and behind and above all things…he is all-powerful. There is nothing he cannot do and in deed does not. Jeremiah 32:17 says, “Ah Lord God, Thou has made the heavens and the earth and by thy great power and outstretched arm, nothing is too hard for thee.” Have you ever thought much about the power of God?

We use power everyday. You think of the cars we drive and all the engines that power them to run along the roads. You think of the power of a jet airplane. When Michael and I went up to seattle we had to sit in the very back seat right near the engine, and even inside the cab that powerful engine is just loud. You think of the power beind an earthquake or that is set in motion when land moves, like in La Jolla a few days ago when a big chunk of land just collapsed into a huge sink hole. You think of the power of the sun. If you take all that power and combine it together all that power throughout history and it is equlivalent to about 1 second of the power the sun generates. The sun is massively powerful. It is like a million atomic explosions going off every second. And God made the sun.

And the is just one star. There are about 5,000 stars that you can see with the visible eye. So when David wrote in Psalm 19:1 that the “heavens declare the glory of the LORD, the sky above proclaims his handiwork” he could see about 5,000 stars. But with big powerful telescopes, we can see more. There is an observatory out near Alpine in the woods I’ve been to and these telescopes are like a small building…they are circular in shape and you walk into them and walk up a spiral staircase and look into this massive sized telescope and can see way more than 5,000 stars…about 400 billion.

But that is just one galaxy, our galaxy the milky way. Even bigger telescopes can look out and see that there are about 10 billion galaxies. And God made them all. he is that powerful. Isaiah 40:25-27,29 God says, “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing…Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.”

One of God’s name is Scripture is correcly, “The Almighty.” His might is great. He just creates by fiat, ex nihilo…that means out of nothing but his own instantaneous energy. It does not matter whether evolution is true or not. Even if it is, there must be a big, strong powerful cause behind this big bang and there must be someone there upholding the laws of nature to carry it through. I happen to think God didn’t do it that way because I don’t think the Bible teaches that and I don’t think the scientific evidence is strong enough.

But either way, it shows his power. Like two-weeks ago when we read about the story of a time when God lead his people through a desert by causing there to be a moving cynlinder of fire by night and a moving pillar of cloud in the day. You have to be powerful to make such things happen. God is an all powerful God, power to the infinite degree.

    Holiness

There are many attributes of God. There is no way we could talk about all of them today. There is just one more I want to emphasize and then we’ll talk about him as father in Romans 8. I want to talk about God’s holiness. God’s goodness is part of his holiness but that ins’t the main thing I want to point about about his holiness. The aspect of holiness i want us to ponder for just a moment is God’s moral perfection. This is God’s complete purity. We know it best by our imperfection. You hear the phrase all the time, “Nobody’s perfect!” Not so, God is!

Holiness is God’s utter righteousness in all that he is and does. There is not one act or thought or intention of his heart toward inustice or evil, he is wholly good and true. And his perfect morality is not just something he prescribes to or follows that it outside of him like some law…but rather it flows out of him. It is who he is. All morality meets its end in God’s existence as a holy God. It constantly pours out of his being.

Holy means purity or without spot or blemish, perfect in quality and the Bible says in Isaiah 6 that God is seated on a throne and angels fly around the throne and call out before the LORD, holy, holy, holy. This is the theme of much of the Old Testament. In the book Leviticus 11:44 God says, “Be holy for I am holy.” People are not holy, so God sets us this whole sacrificial system to show how holy he is. You ever want to have some fun. Sit down and read through the book of Leviticus. J Our God is hoiy and if there is any hope for us he must have mercy on us for he is a holy God.

Again, there are many attributes of God but I wanted to talk of a few today that woud help you get a sense of the greatness or magnitude of God the Father. He is the King of heaven who has existed for all eternity from whom all things have come from and are all upheld by. He knows all things in a supreme knowledge, has power over all things because he is the power and he is pure in the highest degree. I hope you feel small when you think of that. My goal so far in this sermon has been to make God seem very distant to you by showing you what kind of God our God is as the Father over all.

II. The Nearness of God the Abba

But as I said last week God is not the father of all. He may be the father over all but he is not the father of all, not all children are children of God the father. In fact God is rarely called father in the whole of the Old Testament and the only times he is, it is reference to him being the father of his people, Israel.

God is the father who swooped down like an eagle, as Exodus 19 says, and he carried his people out of Egypt on his wings. He is the model for fathers who were to be the head of their house and feed and protect and educate and priest their family but God is only called father twice in the Old Testament. He is simply too distant, too other, too powerful, too holy to be called father. But all that changes with Jesus.

Jesus comes on the scene and in everyone starts calling God “father” all over the place, somewhere around 140 times in the gospels. He says things like “no one knows the Father except the son (Mt 11:27)” and “fear not little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Lk 12:32)” and “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand (Jn 4:35)” and “Father forgive them for they no not what they do (Lk 23:34).” And he doesn’t just call him father but we hear him call God this word we read in Romans, “Abba.” No one spoke about God the way Jesus did.

Last week when we worked with verse 15 of Romans 8, I told you guys that this word “abba” is not in Greek, the language the New Testament is written in. It is in Aramaic because there is not a word like this in Greek. Abba is an intimate term for a child who is very close with their dad, the word is something like “daddy.”

Jesus, shows up on the scene and starts preaching and teaching for three years. And almost from day one he says he is God and he is sent from the father and he has come to die for the sins of the people and rise again. Jesus does several miracles and healing demonstrating his diety and that he is in fact the savior and can do what he said he came to do. And he steadily drives his ministry toward the cross. People tried to stop him telling Jesus, “dude don’t go to Jerusalem because if you do they’ll kill ya Jesus.” And Luke 9 says Jesus says “The son of Man must suffer…be rejected…be killed…and on the third day be raised…” and if anyone wants to save their life to follow him, and then it says in verse 53, that he “set his face to Jerusalem.”

Jesus gets to Jersusalem and it is the night before he is to go die on the cross and he is in a garden and he is praying to his father and he is considering all he is about to do and he is feeling the weight of truly being fully God and fully human at the same time and to show us he really knows what we feel and go through he prays this, ““Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will (Mk 14:36).” He calls God his “abba”…his daddy.

It is the only time Jesus uses this word and calls God, abba. Paul here in our passage of Romans picks up on it. Paul is reading his Bible and he reads where Mark says Jesus called God “abba” and while Paul is explaining adoption, how because Jesus is God son and he died for us we can be adopted into God’s family because Jesus includes us in himself through our faith and forgives our sins by his cross and we are saved…while he is explaining that, he remembers Jesus and how he called God “abba” and says, it’s like this my friends. God, the great God, the powerful God, the eternal God, the perfectly holy God, he becomes your abba through Jesus.

The intimacy and the love and the mercy and grace from with which Jesus had with Almighty God becomes ours. You can know God intimately, closely. He who has been far can become near and dear to you. In Galatians 4:6 Paul said it another way, he says God sends “the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba Father!”

Becoming a Christian is coming into a family. A family that really loves each other because we have a good father who is the head of our home. He is in control, he is strong, none can defeat him, he is rich and has everything we need, he is at once stern and discplines us and at the same time tender and we can crawl up into his lap and cry upon his chest. When you think of God sitting on a throne, those angels would not dare crawl up into his lap. But God’s children do, because Jesus has given them the grace and confidence to have sin taken care of so that we may draw near.

Maybe you did not come from a loving family and you have no idea what a family who loves each other is like. You don’t know what it is like to have a dad wrap his arms around you and hug you real tight and whisper in your ear, “I love you.” My son, my daughter…I love you. That is what God makes available to us through Jesus. If you did come from a family like that then know this, that is what our God is like. He is just like that.

Conclusion

Let’s conclude and go before the table and take communion and give of our hard earned money. Here is where communion fits into this sermon. Do you know what makes kids afraid of their dads? It is when they do something they know is wrong, something they know will upset their dad and disappoint them. So they hide or don’t want to see him. It is the same thing with us and God. Sin separates us from him. He is holy and we are not and rightly convicted and scared about our sin.

But Jesus is God’s Son, the Son of God, and he died on cross to bear the punishment for us in our place so that we might becomes sons and daughters in his family, so that we too could have the Almighty God of the Universe as our loving and tender daddy.

In John 14:6 Jesus said, “No one comes to the father but by me.” So my plea today is come to Jesus. God loves you and forgives you through him. Come and confess your sin before this table and be forgiven. Come and worship Christ who accomplished so much for us on the cross. Come and bear your soul where heaven and earth meet and the eternal God brings himself near.

Don’t take coming to this table lightly. Sometimes the simply action of walking down the aisle with people in front of you can be so distracting. When you get in front of the table, just stop for a moment before you take a piece of bread and dip it in the wine, and talk to the Father, our daddy and thank him for sending Jesus to die for your sin.

God is a good good God my friends, let us draw near to in the name of Jesus and pray.

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:: The Resolved Church :: September 30th, 2007 :: Pastor Duane M. Smets

The Jesus Family Series
Part IV – “Adopted Forever”

Romans 8:12-17
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Introduction
I. The Old Family of Fear
II. The New Family by Adoption
III. The Father of the Family
Conclusion

Introduction

Good morning The Resolved Church. It is a beautiful day here in San Diego. Of course there is probably only like one Sunday a year when it isn’t beautiful outside. That is why it is so difficult to start a church here. Surfing, the Beach, the Zoo, Sea World, one of 20 outdoor malls…there’s just a lot of stuff to do. But we’ve been starting a church here in San Diego, the 8th largest city in the U.S. So I’m glad you’re here. A recent article from a local magazine said that San Diego, the second largest city in California, is the fifth fastest growing city because “(It is a) cauldron of creativity where the most important ideas and the organizations of tomorrow are centered. (It) attract(s) the best and the brightest. There are great places to work and live.” If paying $500,000 dollars for a 2-bedroom condo, means it’s the best, then he is right!

I love San Diego. I spent summers staying at my grandparents house from when I was a little kid. That’s where I learned to surf. Then I moved down here permanently to go to college and it was in those first couple of years when I really came to believe in the gospel, that I was a sinner and that Jesus died for my sin and became a Chrisitian. The next year I met my beautiful wife and fell madly in love with her. I wanted to marry her only after a year of dating but my friends convinced me that was crazy so I waited another two and half years. That was 1997 when we met and here we are 10 years later having our first baby and starting a church. San Diego is a city that greatly needs the gospel. Only about 6% of the people here claim to be Christians. And it is expected that our city will have another million people move here within the next 20 years. So we have some work to do and we need you.

Since the task is so great we are trying to lay a good foundation here at The Resolved Church by going through the book of Romans, the clearest and most precise presentation of the gospel in the entire Bible. Right now we are in chapter 8 and we are in a series called “The Jesus Family” series where we are studying Romans 8:12-17. This is now the fourth sermon in this text so let me quickly talke you through what we have talked about so far.

The first sermon was about fighting sin, “putting to death” the misdeeds of the body as verse 13 says. So we talked about how being a Christian is not easy and you must consider life on earth war. When you first come to believe Jesus, that is just the beginning, when the gospel first starts working in you and after that it continues. The gospel becomes your life-blood. And being in Jesus’ family becomes a great aid in warring against your sin because there are certain things Jesus’ family values and cares about and you don’t want to disappoint your family.

Then in our second sermon we talked mainly about the first part of verse 14, that the evidence of being in the family is not only that you put up a fight, but that you become teachable and willing to follow God’s leadership in your life. A core trait of our sin is that it is rebellious…we want to do what we want. But when we enter Jesus’ family he shows us we don’t know as much as we think we do and we need his help and guidance and so follow him. And in that sermon I took on this foolish practice that has arisen in some Christian circles that when you need to make a decision about something all you need to do is pray about it and whatever you feel or sense God’s Spirit is telling you is what he want you to do. That is not the main way God wants to direct our lives, instead he has given us a book, the Bible, and by knowing it we can make wise informed decisions. Prayer is to help us be obedient.

That was sermon number two. Then last week we went to the Old Testament to study a story that had become permanently branded in Jewish minds and identity about a time when God led his people with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Paul, our human author of Romans was a stellar Jew and surely would have had that story in mind when he wrote in Romans that as Chrisitans we are to be led by God’s Spirit. We learned from that story that God’s leadership of his family is one where he provides his presence (he doesn’t leave or abandon us), he protects his family, and he purifies them.

So here we are in our fourth sermon and today we are going to get deep into verses 15 & 16. But before we do let’s read the whole passage and then pray over it. Read text and pray.

Father God. You are the God of this book, the God of your Son Jesus, the God of the gospel. Help us as we study these words today. Through them would you draw us close to yourself. May we come to believe in the gospel. Save our souls. Open us the great wonder of who you are and what you have done for us by having Jesus die on the cross so that we could be adopted into your family. May these words become building blocks in our life as we come to know and realize who we are and what kind of family we are in with you. Amen.

I. The Old Family of Fear

I want to pick up the text this morning at the end of verse 14 where we read that those “who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” And the first thing I want to do is dispell a couple wrong impressions you could get from these words. I don’t want you to get tripped up over them and a lot of times we get tripped up over the Bible and almost always the problem isn’t that the Bible is teaching something hard or outlandish, but the problem is us, and our historical and spiritual distance from the text.

Our theme, is that if your heart has been humbled and changed by the gospel and you start to care about sin and are willing to be led instead of being your own leader, that’s a sign you are a son of God. Now it would be easy, especially in our day, when we are hyper sensitive to any distinguishing between gender roles, it would be easy to say…”see look, there goes Paul again, he’s so anti-women in his writings…all he cares about is sons.” What about the daughters?!!!

So let me just dispell that notion real quick. What Paul is saying here actually gives women a higher standing and role in context to Paul’s day and culture. You see, in the first century, when this was written, the adopton of daughters did not have the same legal right as an adoption of sons. Only sons could receive the whole rights and legal privieges of becoming part of a family. Paul is talking about adoption here and is using the cultural analogy. So by saying “all” who are led enter the place of “sons” in adoption, that means women actually move up in their status and value in the divine family, not down. This isn’t a text like the “Gospel of Thomas” that the Da Vinchi Code wants to include in the Bible, a text that says women must become men in order to for God to love them. The Bible doesn’t say that, it says women can receive the blessings that are given to adopted sons.

So don’t stumble over that. We shouldn’t translate it “sons and daughters” because the word daughter isn’t there and if we added it we would lose the cultural value and significance of these words. But daughters know that you here in these words are welcomed and honored and privileged in the divine family.

That’s the first false notion I want to dispell, the second has to do with the whole idea of being children of God, of being sons or daughters of God…and this will lead us into our first main point for today as we look at “The Old Family of Fear.” The second potential stumbling point for us today over these words is to think we are merely talking about a realization that we are all children of God, that God is universally the Father of all mankind because he created everything.

There is a great thrust not only in theological circles today, but also in various cultural ideas, that all we need is “realization.” That our problem is just that we don’t “realize” who we are. I disagree. From pop cultural psychology of self-betterment to the theology known as “The New Perspective” this idea of realization runs rampad. I think the problem is much deeper than just the need to realize some things. I think we have a heart problem and we need to be changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. My problem is not just that I’m dumb and don’t realize things. My problem is my heart, I don’t think and feel and love the way I should.

But let us just entertain this idea of the universal fatherhood of God for a moment. If we are saying these words teach us that we are God’s children and he is our father simply because he created us, then by that line of thinking every living thing is his child from Charles Manson to the birds and the trees and dogs people pretend are kids, and the spiders that will not leave my office…they are sons of God and cry Abba Father and are adpoted into the family. You see, that is not what is here. This passage of Scripture is telling us that there is an intimate relationship with God as Father to be had that comes through putting your faith in the person and work of Jesus and being adopted into the family. And that is whole different thing.

What this tells us is that not all God’s children are God’s children. Yes, God is the creator and we are the creatures. But not all people are God’s children. Some are as Jesus said, children of the devil! I know you’re not supposed to talk about the devil. But I’m not kidding. Jesus said that, he is gnarly. Listen to his words, John 8:42 & 44 “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here…You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.” That’s Jesus saying that, not me. He was pretty hell-fire and brimstone at times. I have no idea what that means, brimstone? I just know you are not supposed to talk about hell in church these days, it’s not kosher. But I’m a rebel.

The teaching of the Bible is that we all, all of us are born into sin. From our youth to our adulthood we are demanding and unsatisfied and worship and seek and serve other gods and our hearts are led astray by the false promises these false gods make. We pay these gods homage and time and energy to follow and try and get what they promise and they never come through. This is what Paul is bringing up here when he says Christians did not “receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.” He is talking about the old master, the old father, the old family, we lived and served in before becoming a Christian…it’s the same family and father and master we are continually tempted to fall back into and sometimes we do.

So let’s talk a little about this spirit of slavery and fear and the old family. First, slavery. Slavery is a loaded word, especially here in America which has such a blotted history of racial discrimination and slavery. Almost immediately the worst connotations can start coming into many people’s minds, and its especially hard to talk about because I am a white guy standing here talking about Jesus and all the imaginary paintings we see of Jesus are of this nice white dude with a beard. That slavery has even happened in history is sometimes a huge barrier for many regarding the Bible and God and Christianity itself.

So some stuff about slavery. Slavery was intense in the first century, especially for the Jew, who had experienced slavery in Egypt…it was imprinted into their racial consciousness much like the black community’s slavery here in America is inseperable to every black person’s idenity today. And so Paul goes after this word “slavery” to say something radical about Jesus and the gospel.

Slaves in the 1st century were big business. It is estimated that 35-40% of all of Rome was slaves. Sometimes being a slave wasn’t so bad. If people had a hard run at things they could sell themselves into slavery to avoid a ruinous debt, they could give up themselves for food and housing. If you did that it was a willing offering or presenting of yourself to a master. You would go to the master of your choosing and present yourself and offer to be their slave. Or sometimes this would happen when a master would free a slave making him a “freedman” who could own land and everything…about 5% of Rome was made up of freedmen. But some freedman would in turn give themselves back to their master because they had grown to love and respect them so much.

So that’s some stuff about slavery but Paul takes the negative side of slavery, the brutal kind, the one of whips and deprivation of meals and an overbearing load and recognizes it as being one that operates out of fear, a spirit of slavery and fear. He says this is what we are and how we live before Jesus. Everyone serves someone or something. You cannot help but worship or serve. You serve what you love and what or who you love becomes your master and you serve it as a slave. And when we do that we serve out of fear. Fear that if we do not appease the demands put before us, things will not go well for us and we will be miserable.

And this can happen for irreligious people and religious people alike when it comes to God. For irreligious people it goes like this. If God is a big bad God who is going to set up rules for what is right and wrong and punish me if I don’t follow them then forget God, I’m going to do what I want. And so you embark on a path of self-discovery and experimentation and trying to create your own religion. That is very popular to do these days. What we don’t realize is that we are still following someone and some teaching. A teaching that says God is wrong and you can decide eternal truths yourself and the person whose teaching you are listening to, though it may come from a friend or a movie or whatever…Jesus says that teaching is ultimately comes from the devil. This is moral independence and you end up becoming your own God because you have been motivated by a fear of unhappiness rather than a fearful love of God.

But it works with religious people too. Religious people, say okay there is a God and I’m going to serve him, so I’m going to do everything just right and God will reward me for it. So you’ve got these kids who have never done anything “bad.” They listen to all the crappy Christian music, go to church 20 times a week, and read the Bible from cover to cover every day. And then you call God to account. You become proud. You get mad easily. You think you deserve something for your efforts. You develop this us versus them mentality. You are a Christian and everyone else isn’t and too bad for them. This is moral conformity and you end up becoming your own God because you have been motivated by fear of punishment rather than a fearful love for God.

Notice that in both cases (moral freedom and moral conformity) I said, “a fearful love of God.” I say that because being afraid of God is not bad. We should be afraid of God, he is a big God, he doesn’t even allow the full array of his glory to shine because we couldn’t take it he is so massive in his greatness. And he is a judge. There is no such thing as right or wrong for anyone if there is not a good source who determines it and upholds it. God is judge and there is punishment…but there is a difference between being motived by a fearful respect and acknowledgement of God versus being motivated by a spirit of fear, which disconnects the heart from who God is and just resorts to action. That is why Paul says in one of his other books that God has not given us a “Spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7).”

This is the difference, this the transfer, where God changes for you from being a judge to being your father. John Calvin said it this way, “fear…will harass and torment souls with miserable disquietness as long as it exercises its dominion. There is no other remedy for quieting them except God forgives us our sin and deals kindly with us as a father with his children.” It is where we change and where our main relationship with God becomes no longer one with enmity and strife, where I have a problem with God, but it changes into one where he becomes our loving Father who we run to and depend on…we are not scared and contentious any longer but we love him.

II. The New Family of Adoption

How does this happen you ask? The answer is through Jesus we get adopted into God’s chosen family. So let’s get into it. I’ve been just holding back and holding back, anxiously awaiting this day and time when we could get into adoption and what it is to be a child of God and calling him Abba Father. These are rich and precious truths.

Verse 15 says we, receive “the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” And verse 16, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Judaism, God’s people as Israel, were sometimes collectively called the “sons of God (Ex. 4:22; Deut. 32:6).” But here, something huge happens…being God’s people (not meaning deity like Jesus), in God’s family, no longer is a right or a privilege you are born into by blood but only through adoption. Paul borrows this thing from Greco-Roman culture and says, “That is the gospel! Adoption! That who Jesus is and what he has done for us.”

So let me tell you about adoption and then we’ll unpack what that is for us in regards to God and how it so vividly describes the gospel. Adoption was a big deal. It was a legal institution where a person could adopt a child into their family and confer on that child all the legal rights and priveleges that would normally belong to child born into the family. This could happen at a young age or older one. Sometime men in their marriages could only seem to make girls and the man would want a son to carry on his name. Like today, there were orphans who had either been abaondoned or their father had been killed in the war, they would often be poor and have a lot of debt. And a family could come to them, in adopting them, pay off their debts and then grant them a full standing so that their full inheritance would be imparted to them. In every way they would become a son.

I was not adopted so I had no idea what that is like so I talked to a friend this week who was adopted when he was very young. He said his dad has been his dad his entire life. From the time he was little, the first time his dad picked him up, he looked at him in the eye and said, “you are my son.” And my friend said that is the clearest piciture of the gospel for him. That this man and woman came to where he was, abandoned by his natural family, there were several other kids, and this man came and picked him up, when he didn’t deserve it, no reason they should pick him and said, “you are my son.” He started choking up just telling me about it.

There was a very famous adoption in the first century. Julius Cesear was Emperor of Rome and he adopted. It was a big deal, he adopted a son named Octavian. And when Julius Cesear died, Octavian became the Emporer who we know as Casear Augustus. Paul saw that and thought of that and said, “That’s the gospel. God adopts us and through Jesus gives us the kingdom!”

Let me break that down for you. Jesus is God’s son. Truly God’s son. He is divine, fully God and fully man at the same time. He comes to earth and goes through everything we go through as human from birth on up, but he’s God. He is humanly adopted himself. His father is not Joseph, Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb. Joseph adopts him. Jesus lives a perfect life never sinning. Never following another father but the one true Father. He is not born a child of the devil and following the devils lies who poses as a father and makes promises he cannot keep. Jesus consistenly throughout his life as you listen to him pray and talk about God…he is always calling God his father.

And then Jesus dies a death he didn’t deserve, because he was innocent…death is for sin and wrongdoing, Jesus did none, but he willing offers himself up in our place. He offers to die the death we deserve for following the false father, the devil, and pays the penalty to God for us. Justice must be served and Jesus bears it in our place.

Then he resurrects, conquers death and comes back to life and then says believe in me. I am the son of God and if you believe in me you will be a son too and God will become your father. He has not been your father but through me you can be adopted into his family. The special intimate relationship I have with God can be yours. This is what the Bible teaches. Galatians 3:26 “in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” Through Jesus God truly becomes our Father.

This adoption for us plays out in two directions. It makes known God’s fatherly love toward us while maintaining his good justice and two, it stirs up childlike affections for God. It let’s us know God is father and it causes us to adore him and willingly follow and love him. The last point for today deals with this phrase, “Abba Father.” But before we go there let me say this final thing about the spirit of adoption versus the spirit of slavery and why God does things this way, by adoption.

You can get a lot of compliance with a gun or with a lot of money. If I put a gun to your head I could make you do a lot of things. Or if I paid you a large sum of money and put the cash in your hand I could get you to do a lot. But let me ask you this question, would it be heartfelt? No. It would merely be external compliance and God is not after external compliance but real, deep, adoring love from our hearts. God could force us to do what is right if he wanted but he does not use force, he uses the irresistable compelling grace that comes to us in knowing that he sent his son to die for us so that we might be adopted into his family. Do you know God like that today? Have you or are you embracing Jesus and living your life for him with God as your Father? If not, who or what are you living for?

III. The Father of the Family

The last point of my sermon today deals with this phrase “Abba Father” and how it’s cry is the witness of the Spirit that you are a child of God. So let’s talk about the Father of the Family. If you are fading on me…stay with me. I got a lot to say today so hold on. We are always wanting to get out. But you need this. We spend so many hours every week listening to other people’s words, whether it is TV, music, movies, friends…all kinds of stuff. Let’s listen and learn from the word of God. It is what feeds our souls. I’m afraid we just get too fat on unspiritual things and there is no room left and that is why we get bored so easily. Either that or I just really suck at preaching.

Let’s re-read the text. “…you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

Let’s begin at witness and work backward. There is a witness here. You would have to have two witnesses to establish something in a court. Witness here is like a signature. An example, each week two people count the money that you give and both people sign a document after they count it. That second signature is a witness. Same thing here. There is our spirit, each individual’s our human spirit and there is God’s Holy Spirit who testifies or witnesses to our Spirit. So in case you thought when I was saying the main way God direct our life is by getting to know the Bible, in case you thought that meant there is no such thing as experiencing God as a Christian, you are wrong. There is experience. And this is where it comes. The witness of the Spirit. There is an experience of knowing you are a child of God that isn’t an external rational consideration but a deeply felt one. The rational is the foundation. What we think, our doctrine, is the root…our experience and joy and love is the fruit.

Have you ever wondered, how do I know I am a Christian? This is the answer…God Spirit experientially makes it known to you. So what is that experience? How can you have assurance you are a Christian?

There are several ways but here in this text there is a specific way and it is wrapped up in these words, “we cry Abba Father.” Next week we will talk about who God is as Father, what his attributes are, the kind of God he is…but here there is a single trait the text is pointing out about God as father. I say single trait because of this word, “Abba.” That word Abba is not Greek. In the original writing we translate into English from it switches right there to Aramaic, “Abba” because they did not have a word like it in Greek. The closest thing we can come to in English is “Daddy.” It is an intimate term, the way a child who was very close with his or her Father would address them, Daddy.

Notice a couple things with me. Notice the word cry. How or when does a child cry? Think about it. A baby cries when they are either, hungry, the pooped their pants or because they want to be held. A child, one who can say “daddy” cries either when they get hurt or when they are overwhelmed with love.

And that is what this text is saying. It is saying that when life is hard and we hurt and we break down and God does not seem a distant and frightful judge to us that we are mad at because we hurt but is rather a Father, who we have been brought near to because of Jesus…then we cry out “Abba! Help!” I’ve had those moments. I was running about a few weeks ago. And feeling the weight of being a pastor, the weight of many of your lives, the weight of becoming a dad, and I broke down, while running, with tears running down my face, literally crying with a combination of emotion…a desire for help…an overwhelming sense of God’s love…a sensation of grace that I don’t deserve this kind of God…a special sense that God is my Father.

That is the witness of the Spirit! That is God letting us know that we are his and he is ours. How do you know you are a Chrisitan? Because Jesus gives you confidence to go to God, before his great and powerful throne and cry out…and on the basis of Jesus he accepts us and loves us and pours out his Spirit into our hearts. Abba Father!

Conclusion

Let’s conclude. There is all kinds of application in this text. This is a rich rich rich passage of Scripture. First, be fearful of God, revere him, his is glorious and ought to be honored but don’t have fear where you perform for him and think you are good enough and deserve and demand blessing! Or, if you are the other type of person, don’t have a fear where you are just afraid of what he will do to you if you don’t obey so you do whatever you want! Know God’s perfect love which drives out all fear and plants inside your heart a deep love, where you come to know him as father and you cry out in adoration and love and need. Know today that almighty God can be your daddy.

If you’ve come from a good home with a good daddy that’s probably because your daddy knew the heavenly daddy, Abba. Or you may have come from a good home, had wealth, a dad that provided but there was no closeness or satisfaction because he wasn’t a man marked by knowing God intimately as Father. If that is you, know today there is a sweet calm, a mystery that can be opened to you, where you gain an affection for God through faith in Jesus. That affection is like the audible voice of God though it makes no sound and it resonates in your soul. The knowledge of God.

Perhaps you came from the worst of homes. Know that adoption is real. That is what your heart longs for. To be loved and to be strengthened by being part of the true family of God. All of us have been lead astray. Jesus says we have been like sheep without a shepherd, wandering away on our own. We have folllowed the voice of a different father. We have been born into a spiritual family of sin and destruction. But Jesus came and he lived and he died and he gave his life so that we might be permanently adopted into his family.

Know Jesus family is for sure. God doesn’t adopt you in and then take you out. Once you are in the family you are in the family forever. Adoption is permanent. God becomes your father, Jesus your brother, and all these people become your extended relatives. And we care for each other.

We are a family church. The family of God. God’s chosen and dearly loved ones whom he cares for with an infinite care. Jesus is our adoption papers. We have no right and no privilege but we have Jesus. He is the gospel. He is our hope. He is our pathway and our life. So put your faith in Jesus church. Embrace him with all that you have. Let the truth, that you were bought with a price, the price of Jesus blood, let that sink into your soul. God paid for your happiness. The adoption papers have been signed. They were signed in blood two-thousand years ago. And the stamp of approval from God says, “not guilty, welcome home.”

Hear me today, you were made for more than the silly pleasures that this world has to offer. They fade, are weak and cannot give you what Christ can provide. Turn to Jesus today. Look to him with the eyes of faith. Take the bread and drink the wine and be fed. Feed on Jesus. We owe him everything and we could never pay him back, so we just feast and dine with him at his table and enjoy his grace.

Part of coming from a messed up famly and being adopted into Jesus’ family is that we have a lot of baggage, left in us that we have learned and carried over. The good thing is Jesus is a forgiving famly. His family is one where repentance happens often and when we repent and say we are sorry we are embraced.

Some of you need to repent of some things today. Know God loves you and gave you Jesus. We come to the table each week to celebrate Jesus and in our celebration we always come to him in need. In need of forgiveness, in need of help, in need of guidance…we come with our needs a thank him, our need to confess sin, our need to lay down our lives.

Let me pray for us.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © THE RESOLVED CHURCH
Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and
distribute this material provided you NOT alter the wording in any way and you
do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.
:: The Resolved Church ::
www.theresolved.com
contact@theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990

:: The Resolved Church :: September 23rd, 2007 :: Pastor Duane M. Smets

The Jesus Family Series
Part III – “The Family of Old”

Romans 8:12-17
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Introduction
I. The Exodus Story
II. The Pillar of Fire and Cloud
III. God’s Spirit Leads His Family
Conclusion

Today we are going into sermon three of our Jesus Family Series. This morning I’m dealing with just a few words, “led by the Spirit of God” in vs.14. Last week we began talking about these words but we didn’t really get into them a whole lot. I brought up the point that all of us want leadership in our life. There are times and decisions which come up in every person’s life, whether you are following Jesus or not, and you just wish someone would tell you what to do. It would be a lot easier that way.

At that point, when you really got to make a decision, a lot of people get super Christian all of a sudden and they are praying and trying to figure out what to do real hard. That’s how half the people who now live in San Diego ended up here! They were praying and praying and the result was that God told them to come here. Don’t get me wrong. But I think our beaches and and our sun the girls that go along with that often have a lot more to do with that than God.

So I made a point that God isn’t stupid and he doesn’t just expect us to make decisions based on some voice we hear in our head which we make up to be him. Instead he gave us a book, the Bible written by men who knew God, the real God, and they wrote down the things he told them to in their own way and style. 2 Timothy 3:16 says the Bible is Spirit-breathed, so the main author of the Bible is God and the main way God expects us to make decisions, to be led by the Spirit is to get to know the Bible so that we can make wise informed decisions. The danger of following voices in our head is that what we like, or experience, or what is comfortable becomes the driving force behind our decisions and we are just putting a God tag on that and he is calling us here and then there and then over here and our God starts to look real schitzophrenic.

That’s the kind of Christianity I grew up with. So when I was in college I went out to pray on these clifffs that overlooked the ocean and I kept waiting for some bush or rock to catch on fire and start speaking to me to tell me what to do with my life. I should have just kept reading my Bible and figuring out my gifts, which is what I ultimately ended up doing anyway.

Today we are going to be looking at a story in the Old Testament. The whole Bible is about Jesus and the Bible is divided two parts, just as history is divided into two parts…the time before Jesus came to earth and died on the cross and the time afterward. Everything is about Jesus, he is the center focal point of history and of the whole Bible.

The Exodus Story

The reason I want to go to the Old Testament today is because we are not into using the Bible to make up our own meaning and interpretation…we want to get in the author’s head and the human author of Romans, Paul, he was a Jew. He was a really really good Jew, sort of like the valedictorian of Judaism…circumcised on the 8th day, of the trible of Benjamin, trained in Jewish law, before coming to believe in Jesus a very prominent and well respected professional Jewish lawyer. He, undoubtedly had the Jewish law, the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, memorized word for word. Even mediocre Jewish boys in his day had the Torah memorized by age 13. So Paul, in this verse of Romans says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Those are his words, and I cannot conceive that there is any way he could have written that without thinking of a certain passage in the Old Testament.

Let me read it for you, this is Exodus 13:17-22. ” 17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” 20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”

Here is what is going on…I’ll set up the story for you. The first five books of the Bible and really the whole Bible itself, follow this theme of God gathering a people for himself…creating a spritual family of worshippers who come to know him and love him and care for each other and the world around them. God is big on having an intimate and special family. He starts out with Adam and Eve, they botch things up pretty good because they lose it and start talking to snakes, one of their sons ends up killing the other one, the family falls apart. Noah comes along and he’s able to do some good stuff for awhile but he ends up drunk and naked in his tent and his sons are trying to get him to have sex with his daughters.

Then God comes to Abraham, who lives in ancient Mesopotamia and tells him that he is going to take him out of his land and create a people from his descendents who will be God’s people, his family. Abraham believes God and his belief is credited to him because as righteousness. And Abraham needed it because he tries to pimp out his wife to the local king in order to try and find favor with him. Abraham’s son, Isaac, like father like son, he ends up doing the same thing and trying to pimp out his wife to a guy named Abimelech. Isaac’s son Jacob ends up this lying swindling theif, who robs his brother and everyone else he knows and is always lying about it. He and O.J. were good friends.

Isaac has several sons and one day they take the youngest son Joseph and beat him up and sell him to these Egyptian guys traveling through. While in Egypt Joseph ends up making friends with the Pharaoh and before you know it he is running the place, literally. So all his family ends up moving out there and they stay there for a few hundred years and their family just grows and grows.

Somewhere along the way things took a turn for the worst and the whole Israelite family, the ones who were supposed to be God’s people, end up at the bottom of society as slaves and are no longer getting invited to the kings mansion in La Jolla for the good meals and instead they are scrubbing toliets in National City and making bricks. It’s no fun. Life sucks. They are all on meds and freaking out. And what do you do when life sucks? Then you start praying and become super Christian right? J

But God is a God of grace and compassion and so he listens to their cries and says okay, I’ll deliver you out of Egypt and when I do I going to show you what kind of God I am. There is this great line in Exodus 9 where God says why he did all this and he says it is so, “My power …(and) my name might be proclaimed in all the earth (Ex. 9:16).” Life is about God and his glory. There is only one true God and only one who is worthy of worship and praise. That is the God we serve.

Egypt was much like San Diego, where you got a lot of different gods, a lot of different religions. And each person was just sort of free to pick which God and religion you like and worship them. That didn’t make the real God to happy, so when he delivers Israel out of Egypt he attacks all their gods. The goddess of the Nile was Hapi, so in the first plague God, Yahweh, the real God, turns her river blood red. In the second plague God, Yahweh, goes after the god of the crops, a statue they worshipped named Heqt who had the head of a frog, so God sends a swarm of frogs into the land to kill all the crops. In the third and fourth plagues Yahweh goes after the god Kheper, a bettle who was supposed to be the insect god of the life and creation, so Yahweh sends gnats and flies all over the land covering it like dust. Apis, was the god of the cattle, so in the fifth plague God kills all the livestock. Imhotep, was the god of medicine, so in the sixth plague, Yahweh sends incurable boils to break out on man and beast. The god, Nut, was to control the weather in order to protect the crops, so God sends this gnarly hail strom to ruin all the fields in the seventh plague. The god, Seth was the god of the harvest, so in the eighth plague Yahweh sends in locusts to eat up any remaining food not yet damaged. In the ninth plague, Yahweh goes after the god of the sun, Ra, and causes an unheard of visible and internal darkness to cover the land. And in the tenth and final plague Yahweh goes after Pharoah himself, who was considered to be the people’s divine ruler, and Yahweh strikes down his family.

The lesson is don’t piss God off. I worry about some of you guys sometimes and the decisions you make, and the other functional saviors other than Jesus you turn to. God is a good God and he cares and he will judge. He is slow to anger, but he does have a limit to how much he will take from us.

The lesson really isn’t don’t piss God off, although that is there. The lesson is God is gathering a people for himself and showing them that he is the true God and he is a God worthy to be worshipped. So finally, after all the plagues, the Pharoah let’s God’s people go and God leads them. Verse 21 & 22 of Exodus 13, “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”

The Pillar of Fire and a Cloud

This story gets ingrained in Jewish history and identity. This pillar of fire and cloud is going before them and it stays with them for years and shows up in several places even after that. We hear about it in Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Nehemiah, in the Psalms, and we see it again in at the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation. A pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. What is that all about?

The Rastafarians and all the potheads love this story. They think the pilar of cloud and fire is Moses and Aarron way up in front of everybody, smoking this giant peace pipe. I love talking to those guys. All you got to do is walk down Newport Ave. in OB and strike up a conversation with one of the many guys smoking a blunt. They love talking about God! They’re always like, “yeah man, I read the Bible, it says God made the herb…”

So if that’s what you were thinking I’m sorry, it doesn’t mean that. In the Bible whenver the presence of God is mentioned, it is often accompanied by one of these two things. Either fire or a cloud or both. It is called a theophany. Where God manifests his presence in a particular way. And these two things symbolize some important things about God. He is a powerful God and he is to be feared. He can smoke you if he wants. There is only one God and I’m not him. I may not agree or understand sometimes but I have a small brain. God is holy and none can defeat him.

The fire of God often represents God’s purity. God is a good God. In the ocean of his existence there is not a single drop of impurity, not a single crack or error. All his ways are perfect and all his judgments are true. When he strikes it is usually long-over due. He sees and understands things in correct proportion and knows the true heart of man. Fire has this purifying power. If you boil something it rids it of germs or pestilences. If you have an open wound on your arm and you burn it with hot metal it will heal. So fire represents not only God’s power but also his purity.

What about the cloud? Clouds or smoke show up several times in the Bible. A cloud fills the temple after it is first build and the priest is exposed to the glory of God inside the temple. After that they started putting a rope around the priests ankle in case when he went in the glory of God overwhelmed and he died, they could pull him and without having to go in. In the New Testament, God speaks to the people when Jesus starts his ministry and says, “This is my son, listen to him.” And then toward the end of his ministry, Jesus goes up on a mountain and the glory of God descends in a cloud and Jesus face turns as bright of the sun and some of the disciples see it. And after Jesus dies on a cross, he returns to heaven, levitating on a cloud.

Clouds, throughout the Bible, often represent God’s presence and with them a sense of mystery and awe. There is a sense of God being overwhelming and transcendedent…that he is greater than this whole world and greater than all that we can conceive. He is the one true and awesome God! And he concsends and makes himself known to us. He is a present God. Who who cares and takes care of his people. He protects and provides for his family.

God’s Spirit Leads His Family

Okay. So what’s the point? How does all this jive together? Romans is saying God leads his by his Spirit and those who leads are the ones in his family. And I’ve been saying that he doesn’t do that mainly by leaving us to the whim of our subjective individual experiences but more through his written Word which is sure and reliable. But in this Exodus story, which says almost the exact same thing, that God leads his people by His Spirit, there it is by some experience where his people see and feel the effects of having a pillar of fire and a cloud in front of them. I’m guessing it was off in the distance, like you couldn’t go touch it and talk to it or anything. But it was visible. So what is going on here? Don’t those seem to be two different things?

I think this is what was up. I believe God was teaching his people to trust his Word. God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…that the Lord would make them into God’s people. And when Israel was back in Egypt and crying out to God for deliverance, God responded and verse 24 of chapter two says it was because God “remembered his covenant.” God remembered his covenant and want to demonstrate to his people that they could trust him. His word is sure and true. Now they didn’t have the written Bible yet, but their story became the written Bible when God asked Moses to record it, and it became the source for rememberence and for trusting God. God wanted to uniquely reveal himself, not as a god who could be pictured in statue form but as a God who acts and makes himself known in written accounts of his actions. And that is exactly what this story became.

When I get up in the morning I read my Bible every day. That is what God’s word says his people are to do. So I do that, whether I feel like it or not. But the other day as I was working on this sermon I just happened to be reading Psalm 78. I’ve been reading through the Psalms for awhile and it was just the next Psalm. And Psalm 78 recounts the whole exodus story and about a quarter of the way into the story mentions how God led his people by a cloud by day and a fiery light at night (Ps. 78:14).” That story had become the Psalmist’s story, even though those events had happened so many years before him. And in the same way, the exodus story becomes our story…the story of our God and what he is like and that he leads and guides us.

Have you ever wondered why sometimes you read the Bible and all these crazy things seem to happen and you are like, “Well, I’ve never seen that.” I think it is because God doesn’t do that stuff very often. It’s not like he needs to do it for each and every generation because he already did it and its recorded. And even if we did experience that, it is no guarantee it would even help us.

Exodus says that God was leading them. He was leading them to the promised land…the place where they would build a city and a house to worship God in. But several of those people did not enter the promised land, in fact hardly any did. It is because seeing something, or having something proven to you, does not make you love God. Love doesn’t work like that. You can put a beautiful woman before me and tell me all about how great her features are, but that doesn’t make me love her. It is something that happens in the heart. I love my wife, and she is very beautiful, but that is not the thing which drives my love for her.

Something has to happen in our hearts because our hearts do not naturally love God. Which is why Jesus came. In exodus they were on a journey to the promised land. And in the journey God showed his people how much they needed him, how they needed a savior. Today, we are all on a journey as well. Our last sermon series was all about that, the walk we walk while on earth and how when Jesus came, he became the promised land. The exodus journey to the promised land was all a set up for the time when Jesus would come, when he becomes the center of worship. In John 4 Jesus said a time was to come and had then come in him, when true worshippers would no longer worship in a distinct geographical location but would worship in Spirit and in truth.

That is Jesus. He comes and lives a perfect life and then dies on a cross for our sin, for our broken, messed up, disbelieving, hard hearts and then he gives us a new heart and starts to redeem and change us. He gives us his Spirit and as we get to know him through God’s word he leads and guides and direcets the course of our lives. He makes us wise and strong. Just as God was teaching his people of old to trust him and his word is is trying to teach us that today. To trust him and to follow him and to believe his word is true and that his son Jesus did actually come and die and rise again so that we can have new life.

Conclusion

This is the great exchange. Humanity is broken and continually broken. The whole Old Testament goes through story after story to show us that. God is to be worshipped and adored and we don’t do that, which deserves death and destruction and judgment. But God is a great and a good God and sends his son to die in our place, to satisfy the wrathful judgment of God. He takes it on himself and in so doing becomes our savior. He stands in front of us and saves us.

Jesus changes our heart and from that point on he continually gives himself to us. We spend a life of seeing how much our hearts have been contaminated…how much and how often we continually turn to other Jesuses, other saviors, and Jesus continually offers himself to us and saves us and spares us.

What Jesuses you ask? You know them better than I do. The things you are most afraid of and where you turn for help. When you are down, how you try and find comfort. It’s how you deal with the things you complain about and make you angry and bother you. Do you turn to some functional messiah like the arms of a boy, or the kiss of a girl? Do you turn to some stimulatant like a pill or ten beers so you don’t feel a thing? Do you turn to work and try and save yourself by building a big bank account? What do you live for? There are a ton of answers and we all turn to other saviors and need Jesus again and again to apply his gospel to our hearts. Take away our sin and pour in himself.

God is all about his family. He has done everything to gather together a people for himself. He created us and He died for us. He has been patient with us as we have all failed him and continually do. Jesus came into this world for us. So don’t turn to any other savior’s but Jesus. Let him, by his Spirit, lead you. Make your life all about Jesus and being part of his family.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © THE RESOLVED CHURCH
Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and
distribute this material provided you NOT alter the wording in any way and you
do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.
:: The Resolved Church ::
www.theresolved.com
contact@theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990

:: The Resolved Church :: September 16th, 2007 :: Pastor Duane M. Smets

The Jesus Family Series
Part II – “Jesus Family Welcomes New Members and Leads Them”

Romans 8:12-17
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Introduction
I. Who are the Members? “as many as”
II. What do the Members Receive? “led by the Spirit”
Conclusion

Introduction

Read Text and pray. Lord God you are our great and heavenly Father. Among your creatures you gather together a special spiritual family where there is love, grace and support. You welcome new members through your Son Jesus, and you lead and provide for your members by your Spirit. Do that for us today. Receive us, give us your son Jesus. May He shine with brilliant brightness into our hearts. Lead us today. Help make your Word clear and may it strengthen and invigorate us as a family of believers today. Amen.

Good morning The Resolved Church. If you are just joining us we started a new series called, “The Jesus Family Series” last week. Nearly ever verse of this passage we are studying makes some reference or connection to God’s family, the one you get into through Jesus. You get adopted in, God becomes your Father, you become a son or a daughter, Jesus becomes your brother, and you receive his Spirit to lead you and help you.

Family is important. Everything is connected to family. Everyone here has a family, whether it has been a good one or a bad one, whether you are close with your family or whether your are distant. Family is not always easy. I’m not too much a statistics guy but last year the U.S. Census Bereau said that 33% of children lived in split homes, where the parents were either divorced, serparated, or just never got together. That means every 1 in 3 children to day come from divided families. And that is not to mention all the families who are together, but the mom or dad is a drug, alcohol, or porn additct, or beats their kids or cheats on their spouse or is just a workaholic who neglects their kids and pays a nanny to raise them.

And I’m not a big psychology dude either, no offense to you psych majors…but I do think it is true that it is probably impossible not think of who God is as Father, or what it means to be in Jesus family, without thinking about your own family and what kind of family you grew up in. Life is about family. You can’t not have a family. Family is important. And the Bible agrees. The Bible’s perspective is that every family is intended to reflect the spiritual reality that God is the ultimate Father that all earthly fathers are to emulate. And Jesus is the ultimate child whose example all of us as children are to follow. Having and being in God’s family meets the longing of our hearts and mends any family wounds from our earthly families.

In our passage last week we dealt mainly with verses 12-13 whose words tell us that one way you know you are in the family is by loving and cherishing the things Jesus’ family does and hating the things Jesus’ family hates. And in order to do that you must consider life on eath war. Because sin is a reality and death will surely succomb those who do not fight. This week I want to mainly deal with part of verse 14 and part of verse 15. I want to try and answer the question of who is in the family? Or how you get in? Verse 14, says all, who are led. So who are the “all”? I want to try and answer the question of what is that members receive? Verse 15 says, there is a receiving of a Spirit? What is that? How does that happen and what is the result?

I. Who are the Members? “as many as”

It may seem like a given that if there is a God and he actually created humans then we are all his children or at least all people who say they believe in Jesus, surely they are members of God’s family. That may seem obvious. But one of the ways you handle the Bible right, so you don’t just take something it says and then go running away with it and make it say whatever you want it to say, is to ask questions. Especially because sometimes it seems very clear that the authors are trying to answer some specific question that could potentially be in his reader’s heads. I think that is something like what we have here. Who are the members of Jesus’ family?

Verse 14 says, “all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” And verse 15 says, “you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption.” So there is this receiving of God’s Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. And who does the receiving? “All” or more literally from the Greek text behind the English translation, “as many as” are led. And how do you know you are led? That was last week’s sermon…you know you are led because there is a fight in you, you actually care about sin and right and wrong and you feel bad when you hurt people and mess up and you know you are a sinner and need a savior…and you make it your life resolve to fight sin by embracing Jesus.

Last week we focused on our need, every Christian’s need to fight. You may be a passivist politically but you cannot be a passivist spiritually. If you don’t fight you lose because whether you like or not there is a war for your soul. But this week, I want us to notice first of all that fighting is not what get’s you into the family. Just struggling and trying to be a better person does not save you or end up actually making you better. So what does? Verse 15 answers by saying that it has something to do with this receiving of the Spirit. That is the beginning. You receive the Spirit and then you are led and because you are led you fight. But receiving is the beginning. So who receives and how do they do that?

To answer the question of who receives the Spirit I want to go to book called “The Gospel According to John” and then hopefully that will help us answer the question of how. John was one Jesus closest followers from the beginning and after Jesus died and rose and comssioned his followers to start His church, one of the ways John helped to do that was by writing a book about what he had seen and heard from Jesus. In the very first chapter, speaking about Jesus, he writes this, “(He was) the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (Jn 1:9-12).”

So John says, all, or as many as, did receive Jesus become children of God. And Romans 8 agrees that becoming a child of God belongs to all, or as many as, receive Jesus’ Spirit. So I think what we have here is two different passages of Scripture that clearly say the same thing.

Now at this point, we haven’t really got much new information to our question of who receives and how. We’ve got a little more to the story in how it happens. A person comes in contact with a Jesus, or a teaching about him, and based on that they either believe he is who he claimed to be the son of God and the one who can save our souls or he is liar or some quasi off-base spritual lunatic. But those who do believe, they become children of God. [As a side-note, I don't think the word "right" in the verse means it is something God owes us, like it is our right! No, I think it means privilege (but we don't have time for that right now…fill out a doubt card and put it in the doubt box if you want to know more about it).]

So John says that someone encounters Jesus and his teaching and based on that at some point believes and in that believing there is a receiving. How does that happen? The receiving? There are some weird ideas out there and then there are a lot of faint attempts to grasp at what it is.

Probably one of the wierdest I have ever seen was when I was a youth pastor, almost 10 years ago now, I took my youth group kids up to a summer camp. There was a preacher there and he was talking about Jesus and encourage kids to receive Jesus and his spirit. And then he invited all kids who wanted to receive Jesus to stand up and walk forward to the front and so there were a bunch of kids sort of gathered around the stage, kind of like at a concert. I was sitting in my seat and wondering what was going to happen next, to be honest a little wierded out…but I started to really freak out when I saw these people wheeling these carts toward the front and on these carts were these pitchers full of water. I sort of just put my head down in my lap and started praying, “oh no God!” The preacher then took these pitchers of water and started throwing the water on the kids and telling them that once the water hit them they would receive Jesus. So I thought I would try that today, anybody want to get doused? J That was weird and I don’t think that is what the either the text in Romans or the one in John means.

I think what it means is something deep in the heart which happens when one realizes their deep spiritual need and come to believe that Jesus can actually meet that need. And one of the reasons I wanted to go to the book of “The Gospel of John” is because there are a couple passages in it which I think further describe how this receiving happens. The first verse, is John 6:35-44, “35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

Now there is a lot there I know, but we essentially have the same story. There is Jesus, he is saying that he is more than just a man, and that people need to believe in him. In verse 40 Jesus says those who get God as their father “looks on the Son and believes in him.” How do you look on the Son? I think that is the question the dudes who don’t get it are asking. We know this Jesus guy, I’m looking at him right now. What do you mean look? How do you look? How do you receive? I think look and receive here are the same thing. Jesus answer to how that happens comes in verse 44, the Father draws you. Hmmm…the Father draws. How Jesus?

Four chapters later in John’s gospel Jesus tells us. John 10:8,12, “when (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…(and) he will guide you into all the truth.”

Jesus answer is that the way we receive is by being drawn by God, who draws by convicting us of sin and then guiding us to truth (repeat). Conviction has to deal with conscience. When you feel and know that things are not right, that you are not right and that you cannot make yourself right. And that is a humbling experience. To be broken down, shown that you don’t have it all together, and then to be built back up by God’s truth. Our souls must be taught that everything is about God. Everything begins with God’s initiative. He sends his son Jesus into the world. He draws us unto himself. He convicts us by his Spirit. And his Spirit guides us to truth. Everything from the beginning and all the way through is because of God’s doing.

In the coming weeks we will talk about the security of our spiritual family, that we become permanent sons and daughter apopted forever into his family and we experience the reality of that. But even here we notice that the receiving is something that God ensures. He ensures the offer of his Son and he ensures the follow through by his Spirit. So if you have ever wondered about whether someone who is a Christian can become not a Christian later…without even talking about a host of other Scriptures, we can say assuredly from these texts, that once you are in Jesus’ family, you are in. Once you receive God’s Spirit it is for good. You cannot be ousted from God’s family. He doesn’t change his mind and do all that work just to abandon us. Jesus family is stable and secure and you can count on it. Your real family may fail you at times but Jesus family comes with a God who says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

So I think the answer to the question to how you receive God’s Spirit is you recognize that you don’t have what it takes and that you on your own, by yourself are a failure, and you respond to God’s drawing. This is the life of the believer. This is how you fight. By becoming more and more dependent upon God and the help of his Spirit. And the more that happens the more you know you are His and He is yours. Which brings us the question of what we receive when we receive Jesus’ Spirit?

II. What do the Members Receive? “led by the Spirit”

So we get into God’s family by humbling ourselves and embracing Jesus. What is the benefit? Why would anyone want that? What is it that members receive? Let’s go back to Romans. Romans 8:14 says, “all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” and verse 15 says that the sons received Jesus’ Spirit. So if we follow that backwards (we’ll look forwards next week and talk about fear), receiving Jesus’ Spirit results in being led, the answer is leadership.

In life we are repeatedly faced with big decisions. Where should I live? Where should I go to school? Who should I marry? What church should I be a part of? What job should I work at? What should my major be? Should we have kids? How many? How long am I going to work? What do I do when I’ve been working my whole life and don’t want to work? At every stage of life there are different questions and decsions that naturally arise. Not to mention the decisions that take you by surprise and you have to act fast. And it is interesting to me that it is often when we faced with those kinds of things or decisions that then we turn to God. Then he matters and is a big deal. I call it being a crisis Christian. That when crisis hits then you are all about praying and trying to figure out what God wants. But there is an inherent question in there of how you figure stuff out. If you do turn to God how does he lead you?

I think we all have a natural desire to be lead. If you haven’t figured it out yet, if you are going to actually live and walk and try and do something with your life you are going to have to do it alone. Or else you will be a follower your entire life and never do anything or become anything meaningful. When it comes down to it in life, you are always alone. Whether you are married or not, have a close family or not, when it comes down to it you are alone. And in that aloneness when you realize that it comes down to you, you will find yourself groping and longing for leadership…groping and longing for answers…groping and longing for God.

And it is funny to me how that works itself out sometimes. One time I was in Ogden, Utah speaking at a camp. And Amy and I were staying at the Pastor’s house. And we got up for breakfast one of the mornings and found out that her husband had just been in a car accident late the night before and was in the hospital that morning. She had been there most of the night to see him but had come back and made breakfast for us. There was bacon and eggs and fruit and all kinds of stuff. And before we ate she prayed for the meal and after she was done we started eating. I was taking a bite of fruit, I think it was a piece of pineapple, and just as I was biting it off my fork, this woman screamed out, “he didn’t see him!” I almost fell off my chair and was said, “What? What do you mean? What are you talking about?” She said, “He didn’t see him! God just told me, the guy who hit my husband didn’t see him!” It was the craziest thing. Does this woman think she has God’s cell phone number or she hearing voices in her head or what? We have a name for that, its called schizophrenia. J

I bring that story up because I think that is what we are sometimes longing for when we pray and ask God for leadership. We are wanting to hear voices or something and what we actually end up with often is us taking what we want to do and sort of sanctifying it because we prayed about it and think that God is in it and that is what he wants. It’s like you know what you want to do…but you know you shouldn’t really do it…so you pray about it and like a letter you put your prayer stamp on it and then think it is okay. But you really know it isn’t.

I don’t think that is how God’s Spirit leads. Next week we will talk more about how God’s Spirit leads and how it is not out of fear but out of love in being part of a close knit family. And we’ll look at the Old Testament story of how God’s Spirit led back then and still does now. But how I want to conclude the general question today is about how God’s Spirit leads us is by looking at the tangible provision God’s Spirit has given us.

If you look back at Romans 8 in our passage and continue working backwards…verse 15 says we receive Jesus’ Spirit, verse 14 says those who receive are led, and versees 12-13 says those who are led fight. So then, my last question for today is does the Bible have anything to say about how the Spirit helps us fight? If we are not supposed to listen for voices in our head then how does God’s lead his family members by his Spirit? Does the Bible have anything to say about that?

Yes. In Ephesians chapter 6, the Bible uses this analogy of life on earth being a war and considers the Christian in terms of armor of solider. There is belt arounds ones waist, which is God’s truth, there is a breastplate, which is God’s righteousness, there are steel toed shoes, which are God’s peace, there is a shield, which is faith, there is a helmet, which is salvation, and lastly, there is a sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, the Bible. In is interesting that every single piece of armor which is mentioned is defensive, except one, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

So I think the answer to the question of how God leads us, is by the Bible getting a hold of us. God leads in much more practical ways then voices in our head. He leads through imparted wisdom. Written instruction that will enable us to make smart decisions, that will enable us to fight well, that will enable us to be strong and know the love with surpasses all love, wisdom that will enable us to build good families. There is an old saying, which says, “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.”

The Bible is God’s gift to us. That is the means God uses to tell us about his family. That is how we first hear about Jesus and come into the family. That is how His Spirit guides us into truth and tells us how to live. That is how he leads us and teaches us so that we make wise decisions and have solid lives and families. By giving us a book to lead us and instruct us.

Conclusion

Okay, let’s conclude this sermon. As I was studying and working on today’s message and I came to this point I could not help but feel like a good majority of everything I have said so far is just sort of out there. The main two questions I have tried to deal with is who is in God’s family and what good is it, why do you even want to be in it?

I believe the desire to be in Jesus’ family is not just a desire for those who, in your life, family has been hard. I don’t think Paul here is teaching us that the gospel of Jesus’ family is that if your family sucks then you can have Jesus’ family, though that is true and it is true that no family is perfect but is made beautiful and close and loving by having Christ be the center of it. But I believe the desire to be in Jesus’ family goes much deeper. Family is blood. You can’t change it. It is who you are. It is woven within the fabric of our beings and our place in this world and I believe God designed it that way so that we would know and long for him.

The theology here, if you will, is that life is about family…family is so important and all families are inseperably connected to God. God is the fabric of family. Families are intended to be centers of love and care and protection and support. And that is who God is…God is the great Father who provides and protects and pours out grace and love toward us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Everything is connected to family. So my plea today…if you are disconnected, if you are separated from the life of God and his loving and tender care, my plea is behold God’s Son, Jesus. Look on him. Receive him. Turn to him in faith and trust and be welcomed into his family. He came into this world to seek and to save those who are lost. He seeks you out today and bids you to come. Whatever things may have happened, whether they happened to you or whether they are things you have done…there is nothing that would keep Jesus from wanting you. There is no blot too dark, no stain too red, no blemish too ugly. Jesus welcomes all. As many as will receive him, he grants the blessing of becoming beloved children of God. Don’t walk in this world, don’t go through this life alone, walk with Jesus. There is a unlimited supply of love and grace and forgiveness to be had from Jesus.

My plea for those who do belong to Jesus’ family is to cherish it. Don’t neglect your family. Don’t miss the dinners. Come and eat and be filled. Come and dine and let us share life together. Let us each week come and be satisfied at his table. Let us learn and grow and be led. Let us not be too proud and too rebellious where we have to do it all on our own. Instead of being independent let us become dependent upon God and the bountiful blessings he provides for his own. May we be lead and taught by his Spirit who so wisely instructs and equips us with His written Word. Let us learn and know and live by this book.

For parents, teach your children the Bible. Teach them to love. Teach them the stories in it. Tell them about Jesus and how God loves them and that is why you love them. Dad’s learn how to be a good dad from how God leads and instructs you. Mom’s learn how to be a good mom from how God nurtures and cares for you. Kid’s love wisdom. In order to become who God made you to be, it takes learning and being taught a lot of things, so be patient and let your parents lead you so that you can know how to make good decisions on your own and not just do whatever you feel like.

As a church, let us be a family that welcomes new people into our community. If you are new here today, we are glad you are here and hope we might be a church you can call home.

Let’s pray. God bless our time of communion with you now as we come to your table to pray and give thanks and to focus on Jesus and his great provision for us on the cross, so that we might truly become your children. Bless the offering of our hearts in this act. Bless the money we give as a token of our worship. Bless your people. Amen.

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:: The Resolved Church :: September 9th, 2007 :: Pastor Duane M. Smets

The Jesus Family Series
Part I – “Jesus Family Does Not Lose the Battles Which Count”

Romans 8:12-17
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Introduction
I. Thanatao: Life on Earth is War
A. The Deeds of the Body
B. Who We are Killing
II. Jesus’ Spirit Fights for Us
A. Why We Do Not Wield The Spirit
B. The Strength of a Good Family
Conclusion

Introduction

Good Morning The Resolved Church. Let’s read the text and pray. Precious, tender and loving Father of the Universe. Father of Jesus Christ. Open our eyes in the coming weeks to see and to know the greatness of being in Jesus’ family in all the priviledges and provisions you provide for your children. Today, teach us and help us to know the power and reality of sin and how being part of your family gives us a decisive hand in slaying all that stands against us. Stir up vigor today and direct that vigor into a God-exalting, Christ-loving, gospel wielding passion I pray. Amen.

Today we enter into a study of some of the most precious and amazing verses in the whole Bible. Verses which open up the truth and the rality for Christians that we are part of Jesus’ family. And being part of Jesus family is an awesome awesome thing in which there are all kinds of great privileges and spiritual blessings. These verses have a soft and tender voice to them and they also have an air of excitement and wonder about them…that God allows and makes a way for us to become part of his intimate family through Jesus. We are going to spend several weeks on these verses and we will try to answer several questions. Questions like what it is to put something to death? Are we to be killers? How does being in Jesus family relate to that? If doing something like that is necessary for life, then are we earning it? What is the role of work in the Christian life? How do you know you are a Christian or how do you truly become a Christian? How are Christians led by God’s Spirit? How are we to relate to God as Father?

Today we begin with the first great theological truth that these verses open up to us, that “Jesus Family Does Not Lose the Battles Which Count.” You will notice I have included verses 12-13 in our series even though we already kind of talked about them in the last series. There is a reason for that. In verses 14-17 each verse designates God’s people as either God’s children, or as God’s sons (which also includes daughters). Look at them. Verse 14, those led by God’s Spirit are “sons of God.” Verse 15, believers in Jesus receive a “Spirit of adoption as sons” and are enabled to cry out to God as “Abba Father.” Verse 16, the Spirit gives believers a testimony that they are “children of God.” And verse 17, the children of God are fellow heirs with their brother, Jesus Christ. These verses are clearly about God’s family and not just generally, like all human beings are God’s children, but specifically the unique family of those who belong to Jesus.

Okay, so what about verse 12 and 13? Here is the deal with them, they don’t really fit by themselves, but the don’t really totally belong to either theme. We are beginning a new theme, Jesus family. The last theme was Jesus’ resurrection. And verses 12-13 are sandwiched in-between those two themes and have something to say about each of them. Verse 11 ended talking about the future resurrection guaranteed to believers because Jesus really rose and verse 12 begins, “so then…” and starts talking about battling with sin in the Christian life. And then verse 14 concludes and connects those thoughts to this new family theme because it starts out, “For all who are led…” by God’s Spirit are his children.

Now when I preached on the resurrection this is all I said about verses 12-13. I said, “The theology of this verse, getting a hold of the resurrection of Jesus, what is in store for you in the future if you are a Christian, becomes an empowerment for your life in the Spirit here and now.” That is a wonderful truth and vision for our lives. What I didn’t say was anything specifically about the words of verse 12-13, so we deal with them today as an introduction to the theme of Jesus family which takes the same concept and says, not only does knowing your future resurrection, guaranteed in Jesus’ resurrection empower your life now, but also knowing that you are part of God’s intimate family empowers you to live in joy and triumph and everlasting life. In the coming weeks we will talk much about what is to be a son or daughter or child of God’s or brother of Chirst but this week I want to deal mainly with verses 12-13 and try to answer the questions of what a misdeed of the body is and how you are supposed to put it death and what it means to do it by the Spirit?

I. Thanatao: Life on Earth is War

I only have two main points today. The first point is, life on earth is war. Let me draw your attention to one particular word. In verse 13 we read “if by the Spirit you are putting to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Now in English it looks like three particular words. But in Greek it is one word, Thanatao. Thanatos means death, but this is the verb form, so it means deathing or killing as an action. Some of you comic book fans might know this because I am told there is a Marvel comic book villan, I think he is a bad guy, named Thanos, the Titan of Death, who goes around killing things and people. So the comic book dudes got it right. Thanos means death. And Thanatao means killing. And that is striking! When I translated this passage at the beginning of the week, I did a double take at this word, does it really say that?! That Christians are to be killers? Ones who put things to death?

It does. Thanatao here is a militant word, calling for action. It calls attention to the spiritual reality of life that we are in a battle against sin. This is the biblical perspective for Chrisitans. As Ephesians 6:10 says, ” We wrestle…against the spiritual forces of evil.” This is the reality. We have an enemy in this life and it is war. You cannot escape it. You don’t have the option of being a passivist. You can’t be someone who says that just isn’t my personality. If you lie down and don’t fight you lose. There is a war with sin. We don’t like to think about it. We don’t like to talk about it. We don’t like church or churches that talk about sin. But it is true. And we are in great danger if we only want to think of church or think of things in terms of what we like or what is easy. As a church plant it doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to talk about sin when you are trying to start a church, that will just drive people away. But here is the thing, if we don’t what are we drawing people to? We cannot afford to think of church like a consumer in terms of what we want, like or think we need. Then we will only be led by the whim of our sinful, selfish enemy to the very things and places which will lead us astray.

Listen, we are a church plant. Some of you are considering whether or not to be a part of this church. We are a church committed to expounding the truth of our human sinfulness and exalting the greatness of the salvation our Lord Jesus Christ provides for us all for the glory of God the Father who rules and reigns over all. Hearing and being taught that is our greatest human need.

     A. The Deeds of the Body

So let’s just get real. We love reality TV. Not really. We like drama. But you know what I mean, being real or authentic is the new virtue. So let’s get real today, get authentic, and talk about sin. What is it and how do we deal with it? What is a deed of the body you give into by living according to the flesh or paying a debt to the flesh?

If you have been here for some of our past sermons in Romans you will remember that flesh isn’t just skin and bones or our animal appetites like food, drink or sex…it is the power or characterstic of life that rebels against God, it is the power or reign of sin. And if you were here two weeks ago, you will remember that we learned the body is important God made and intends you to enjoy him and him through his world by what you do with your body…your body is made to eat and drink to his glory and God will resurrect our bodies to uncontaminatble bodies one day.

In light of that, the overall context surrounding these words, I think a deed of the body is this, a deed work through the body under the influence of the flesh. Once you are a Christian, you become sober. The Wild Turkey wears off, the headache goes away, you can see straight again and the power of sin is broken in your life…but you can still come under the influence of the old way, the old power, the old self and you can act and think and react and make decisions and do things with your body that are not glorifying to God, that are not loving and serving the people around you, that are not cherishing Jesus and his gospel and his church. And you ask why? Why do we still do that?

Verse 12 answers, when we do we are trying to pay a debt. Verse 12 says, we are debtors, for sure. We owe God our very life but we could never pay him back an infinite gift. So what we have is a continual debt of love toward him and toward one another. So yes, we are debtors, but not to the flesh. We are no longer under an obligation as it were to act, to make decisions, to do things for the old master. You see, the point is that you are always serving someone. You are either serving God or you are serving yourself and if you are serving yourself you are trying to make yourself money. The problem is that it does not pay off and only puts you in deeper and ends up in death. So serve God. He is life and liberty and love.

     B. Who We are Killing

How do you do that? You get violent. You become a killer. You thanatao! Jesus understood this. He understood the connection between what you do with your body and how it relates to your heart and your soul. That is why he said, “If you hand causes you to sin cut it off! If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out! For it is better to have no hands and no eyes than to end up in hell! (paraphrase of Mark 9:43-47)” You got to get violent with that old rebellious, insubordinate self-suffient nature in us…we owe it nothing but all out war.

I am serious. There are good reasons not to like war. But we are not talking about killing other people, we are talking about killing ourselves. Our old sinful selves. Think about yourself, your own sins. Not about others or how they may have wronged you. I am talking about going to war with yourself. I have a plaque I made four years ago. It hangs on the wall in the front of my desk. If some of you have been to my house you may have seen it. It has five resolutions I made which I strive to live my life by. I try to read it once each day. My third resolution says this, “I Resolve to Consider Life on Earth War.”

Unless you believe that life is war, unless you believe that your soul is at stake each day, unless you believe God is real and that you are a sinner in need of salvation, you will most likely just mess around and play Christianity and it will be lifeless. There will be no passion, no thirsting for righteousness, no drive for the glory of God…you will simply make and pretend there is peace when there is not and you will fall asleep and your soul will be consumed by the enemy and you will die. You must put sin to death or sin will put you to death. In Matthew 11:12 Jesus said that those who enter the kingdom of heaven, must get violent and take it by force. I think this is what he was talking about…going to war with your sin.

Pastor John Piper from Betheleham church in Minnesota discovered a quote from Ed Welch a professor at Westminter. He said this,

“. there is a mean streak to authentic self-control. . . Self-control is not for the timid. When we want to grow in it, not only do we nurture an exuberance for Jesus Christ, we also demand of ourselves a hatred for sin. . . . The only possible attitude toward out-of-control desire is a declaration of all-out war. . . . There is something about war that sharpens the senses . . . You hear a twig snap or the rustling of leaves and you are in attack mode. Someone coughs and you are ready to pull the trigger. Even after days of little of no sleep, war keeps us vigilant.

There is a mean, violent streak in the true Christian life! But violence against whom, or what? Not other people. It’s a violence against all the impulses in us that would be violent to other people. It’s a violence against all the impulses in our own selves that would make peace with our own sin and settle in with a peacetime mentality. It’s a violence against all lust in ourselves, and enslaving desires for food or caffeine or sugar or chocolate or alcohol or pornography or money or the praise of men and the approval of others or power or fame. It’s violence against the impulses in our own soul toward racism and sluggish indifference to injustice and poverty and abortion.

Christianity is not a settle-in-and-live-at-peace-with-this-world-the-way-it-is kind of religion. If by the Spirit you kill the deeds of your own body, you will live. Christianity is war. On our own sinful impulses.”

Listen my friends, you’ve got to go to war or you will die.

II. Jesus’ Spirit Fights for Us

     A. Why We Do Not Wield The Spirit

My second main point for today is that “Jesus’ Spirit Fights for Us.” I get that because verse 13 says it is “by the Spirit” that we put to death the deeds of the body. So what I want to talk about for a few minutes is that little word, “by.” Because what it means is very important to how we war. If “by” means the way we fight is by taking the Spirit and using him how we want in order to improve ourselves then we have a big problem, because then being a Christian has been reduced to being just a fancy self-help, moral improvement, program.

You see there is a problem with taking the word “by” and thinking it means the Spirit is a tool or weapon because the Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit is God. You do not take God and use him as a weapon to fight. Let me try and make it a little clearer. We are told we must kill, we must put to death the misdeeds of the body. We must do it. It is a volitional action on our part. But we are to do it “by God’s Spirit.” And since God’s Spirit is a person and not a weapon we wield in our hand, what the word “by” is signifying is that the Spirit is the one who is the decisive killer, not us. So what we are saying is that we do it but we do it in such a way that it is the Spirit who does it. That sounds weird, I know. What we are talking about is God getting his glory. If we do it then we get the credit and we improve ourselves and we don’t need Jesus and we deserve to be praised for our accomplishment. If God’s Spirit does it, he gets the glory and the praise, and we get joy and give thanks.

Here is how Paul, the author of Romans said it about himself, in his personal life. He said it in a few different places. Toward the end of Romans, chapter 15, he says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me (Rom 15:18).” In 1 Corinthians he says, “I buffet my body and make it my slave…(and) I labored…yet not I , but the grace of God in me (1 Cor 9:27, 15:10).” One more place, in Philippians he says we “work out (our) salvation…for it is God who works in (us) both to do and to will his good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13).” Do you get it? Be killing sin but in a away where you rely on the strength and power of God’s Holy Spirit so that God gets the glory and so that you actually succeed.

     B. The Strength of a Good Family

We’ll talk more next week about how the Spirit lead, empowers, and assures us. But for this week our final point is, “The Strength of a Good Family.” Verse 14, essentially let’s us know that if we are killing sin by God’s Spirit, if that is happening, then that is a sign that we are in God’s family. So if we take that truth and work it backwards, being in God’s family greatly empowers us, makes us extremely strong, in our ability to do battle.

God’s family has certain tastes, certain traditions, certain values and joys and if you are in God’s family then you cherish those things and begin to pass them on. You begin to reflect your family. This is how close families work. Some of you may not have grown up in good families. On Thursdays and Fridays, many of you know I work at a group home for teenagers. Nearly every single one of these comes from a messed up family. Either the dad was abusive, or the mom was a coke addict, or the mom or dad or boyfriend molested them…you name it. Here in this room, I am sure, we come from all different types of families. Good families and bad families.

Here is how a good family works. Close families, families that really love and care for each other…they stay together, they spend time together, and they express love for each other. When that is happening, it provides a protection. It provides it in this way. When a family member goes out from the family out on their own, there is a natural restraint that arises when a decision is put before the person that could compromise something the people who love you do not approve of. You know that if you make this decision it will hurt and disappoint them. And so you are empowered to resist.

It is the same thing with God’s family. His family is the best. If you came from a bad family, you can be part of his. And if you came from a good family, the reason is probably because your family was built upon Jesus and was a reflection of God’s family. In God’s good family, debt to the flesh, the misdeeds of the body, sin and unrighteousness, rebellion against God, and self-centeredness…they are not things we love and value. And the Bible tells us that we we fall and fail we “greive the Holy Spirit of God (Eph 4:30).” Having those things in place makes us strong.

Conclusion

Let’s conclude. If you don’t know what it is like to be in a loving family, you can. Jesus opens his arms to you and welcomes you into his family. It is a family of peace and joy and love. For parent, being led by God’s Spirit, by cherishing and upholding his family values, will enable you to have a good and strong and healthy family. For us as a church family, we need to be strong together, we need to love each other and help each other fight the sin in our lives. Sometimes that may mean calling a person out, but doing it in love. Sometimes it means we need to hold fast so we can be a good example. Sometimes it means fighting sin by drawing from the reality that we are a family and we don’t want to hurt our family but love and serve them.

Let us be careful in our motivations church. We do not wield God’s Spirit, so let us beware of thining that if we go to church, or if we do good things, and we do it by giving God attention, we will get what we want. That is not what this verse is saying, it is teaching us that sin is a deep spiritual issue inside us and it gets dealt with by our laying down of our rights and privileges and surrending to God’s Spirit.

There are many struggles, many challenges, many diappointments, many failures, many battles….the ones that count are the ones that happen in our head and in our hearts…the spiritual battles. And we do not have the option of not fighting. If we do not fight we will be defeated and we will suffer eternally for it. We must fight. We must consider life on earth war. We must put to death the deeds of the body. The paradox is that we do it with love. We kill by loving God, by loving his Son Jesus Christ, and by loving the people of this world. We kill sin in us by being the most loving people we can by the empowerment of Jesus’ Spirit.

The old King James version of the Bible translated the word, thanatao, as “mortify” and a man named John Owen wrote a book titled, “The Mortification of Sin.” I have recommended it to you before as the best thing I have ever read on battling sin in the Christian life. I want to conclude with some words from John Owen and let him paint a picture for us of what it looks like to war with your soul,

“The Holy Spirit is our only sufficiency for the work of mortification. All ways and means apart from him have no true effect. He only is the great power behind it and He works in us as He pleases. How does the Holy Spirit mortify sin? By the effective destruction of the root and habit of sin, to weaken, destroy, and take it away. He is called a Spirit of judgement and of burning (Is. 4:4). He takes away the stony heart by an almighty work. He is the fire that burns up the very root of lust. He brings the cross of Christ into the heart of a sinner by faith and gives communion with Christ in His death and fellowship in His sufferings…

(So) bring your lust to the gospel. Not for relief, but for further conviction of your guilt. Look on Him whom you have pierced and let it trouble you. Say to your soul, ‘What have I done? What love, what mercy, what blood, what grace have I despised and trampled on! Is this how I pay back the Father for His love? Is this how I thank the Son for His blood? Is this how I respond to the Holy Spirit for His grace? Have I defiled the heart that Christ died to wash, and the Holy Spirit has chosen to dwell in? How can I keep myself out of the dust? What can I say to the dear Lord Jesus? How shall I hold up my head with any boldness before Him? Do I count fellowship with Him of so little value that, for this vile lust’s sake, I have hardly left Him any room in my heart? How shall I escape if I neglect so great a salvation? What shall I say to the Lord? His love, mercy, grace, goodness, peace, joy, consolation – I have despised all of them! I have considered them as nothing, that I might harbour lust in my heart. Have I seen God as my Father, that I might provoke Him to His face? Was my soul washed that there might be room for new defilements? Shall I seek to disappoint the purpose of the death of Christ? Shall I grieve the Holy Spirit, who has sealed me unto the day of redemption?’ Allow your conscience to consider these things every day.”

Let us together turn to the gospel in repentence and in love and adoration of our savior Jesus Christ our Lord. Let’s pray.

  Listen       Read        Part 1  |  Romans 8:5-9
  Listen       Read        Part 2  |  Romans 8:5-9
  Listen       Read        Part 3  |  Romans 8:5-9
  Listen       Read        Part 4  |  Romans 8:9-13
  Listen       Read        Part 5  |  Romans 8:9-13

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © THE RESOLVED CHURCH
Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and
distribute this material provided you NOT alter the wording in any way and you
do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.
:: The Resolved Church ::
www.theresolved.com
contact@theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990

:: The Resolved Church :: August 26th, 2007 :: Pastor Duane M. Smets

Romans 8:9-13
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Series: Walking According to the Spirit
Two If’s and a Walk Stronger than Death – (part II)
Romans 8:9-13

I. If Christ was raised
A. Biblical Evidence
B. Circumstantial Evidence
C. Historical Evidence
II. If Christ is in you
A. Sin is Death
B. The Body is Important
C. Christ is Life

Introduction

Last week we began looking at these four verses in Romans eight and I said that on two of the “if’s” in these verse hang two incredibly important, incredibly life changing, incredibly powerful conclusions. “If Christ is in you” and “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells…” We began we the second if and began trying to answer the question of whether or not Jesus really rose from the dead.

We looked at the Biblical Story and the accounts it presents of Jesus’ prediction of his death and resurrection, we looked at the medical evidence of his death, and the eyewitness accounts of an empty tomb from four different unlikely sources, the unacceptable in court account of women, the account of a skeptic, the account of a person who’s job was to kill Christians and supress the Christian story, and the account of a person who could have avoided having his body dipped in a burning vat of oil and banished to island if he would just admit he was lying.

Today we finish up with this second if, the question of whether or not Jesus really rose from the dead and then we are going to look deeper into the words of Romans 8:-9-13 about what that means for us if he in fact did. Today the main question that is on my mind is what makes Jesus different than other individual’s experiences and stories.

Bertrand Russell, a famous athiest, wrote a book called “Why I am Not a Christian” and in it he states this about the resurrection of Jesus and the possiblity of our resurrection, “I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my own ego will survive.” That is what is on my mind today. Last week, we look at the evidence inside the Bible, but perhaps some of you would say that is circular reasoning, just because the Bible says it doesn’t make it true. Is there anything outside the Bible to support the resurrection.

Circumstantial Evidence

Circucumstiantial evidence is when unrelated facts when considered together can be used to infer a certain conclusion. Our lawyers here today know a lot about circumstantial evidence. So let’s look at the circumstances that surround the Bible’s claim of Jesus rising from the dead. So what the Bible says he did, is there any supporting evidence to conclude such a thing?

1. The Transformation of the Disciples

The disciples were changed from being lowly, timid, self-conscious followers to strong, powerful, compassionate and fearless leaders, giving to the poor, taking care of widows and orphans, who all suffered and died (except John) on the claim of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Their good character and their courage evidences Jesus must have really appeared to them in bodily form.

2. The Day and Object of Jewish Worship Changed

The Sabbath was the sacred to Jews. That is Saturday. But Scripture tells us that the reason why Christians started worshipping on Sunday was because Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday and worship had become all about Jesus, instead of the Torah. Jews would not have done so, they would have been mortified if Jesus did not really do something as great as rising from the dead to change their sacred tradition.

3. The Practices of the Church

Baptism and Communion became fixed elements of Christian worship and they are elements that are meaningless if Jesus did not rise. Baptism is a picture of death to life and was talked about as a symbol of Jesus’ resurrection. Communion is a picture of Jesus death on the cross, which would have had no meaning if Jesus was not God and did not rise from the dead, he would have been just another crucified human and there is no need to attach theological significance to his death.

4. The Preaching of the Church

The preaching of the early church was saturated with talk about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. This would not have been their primary source of material if it had not happened, they were stuck on it.

5. The Tomb was not Enshrined

It was the cultural way to enshrine the tombs of holy men, yet there is no trace of any veneration for a tomb of Jesus. There is no question that a hoy man named Jesus existed in the first century, if so then where is his gravestone inscription, unless he rose from the dead?

6. The Growth of the Church

The church grew at an unheard of exponential rate…essentially a worldwide phenemoenon. Only the widespread knowledge of something like a resurrection of Jesus could have spawned such a movement. Any other explanation for the rapid growth just doesn’t make sense. There were many wise men around…none had results like that.

Historical Evidence

Lastly, we look at the historical evidence. Maybe you have wondered is there any books or writings besides the Bible which mention the resurrection, maybe ones written by people who were not Christians? The answer is yes, there are several.

1. Josephus from “Antiquities” written ~AD 93 (Jewish historian worked for Roman governer)

“About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a wise man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has to this day not disappeared.”

2. Seutonius “Vita Nero” written ~AD 54 (Roman historian under Nero)

“Punishment was inflicted on the Chrstians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition [the resurrection].”

3. Tacitus “Annals” written ~AD 66 (Roman Historian)

“Nero fastened the guilt . . . on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of . . . Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome. . .”

4. Pliny the Younger “Letter to Turkey Emperor Trajan” written ~AD 111 (to explain Christian worship)

“I have never been present at an examination of Christians. Consequently, I do not know the nature of the extent of the punishments usually meted out to them, nor the grounds for starting an investigation and how far it should be pressed…They also declared that the sum total of their guilt or error amounted to no more than this: they met reguarly before dawn on a fixed day [Sunday rememberance of resurrection] to chant verses alternatlely amongst themselves in honor of Christ as if to a god…”

That’s the evidence. Ten confirming circumstances and written accounts outside the Bible, that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead. It will not due to simply dismiss it because we have never seen the resurrected Jesus or because it seems too fantastic. The burden of proof is on those who say it didn’t happen.

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” It seems overwhelmingly so that Jesus did in fact die and rise and if that is true it has massive implications for our life and reality and us and our boides and our future.

II. If Christ is in you

Which brings us to our second if, “If Christ is in you.” Out second if has to do with the implications for the human race if Jesus rose from the dead because the second if says, “since the first if is true then it is possible for that same Jesus to grant the quality of life you long for and the length of life you were made for.

Look at our verse again, there are a couple key assumptions being made here. There is an assumption having to do with what your body is and second what will happen when you die. Do you see that? There is a certain idea of a mortal body and what normally happens at death.

So let me ask you a question, think hard about it. What are you? Are you just skin and bones and a head and heart and lungs and a brain? Is that all there is to being human? Am I just a collection of neurological paths and functions? I don’t think so. I am not just a very sophisticated biological robot. I am a person.

We treat people with a certain respect (most of the time) because we understand that they are people. They have personhood, a personality, a soul. The traditional Christian view of the human person is that we are a united combination of a physical body and a non-physical soul. Yes, you have bones and skin and human physical organs. But you also have a mind, your person, your heart, your soul and that is non-physical. You can’t put a person’s brain under a microscope and see their thoughts. You cannot put a stethoscope to somone’s heart and hear how they feel, because it is non-physical.

So let me ask you another question. What happens to a person when they die? Really, what happens? Do you ever think about it? Most people say something like this, “Well, no one can really know for sure.” You ask them why not and the answer is usually something like this, “Well, no one has died and been able to come back and tell us.” To which I respond, so if someone did come back and the evidence was overwhelming that did in fact die and come back to life, would you believe them?

No one really thinks about that question. Would you? Because in Jesus that is exactly what we are saying Jesus did. Jesus died and Jesus rose and declares to us that he is our hope and our salvation and our eternal life both now and in the life to come! Jesus doesn’t need to keep proving and doing it over and over again for each generation. No, he did it once and for all. He died and he rose and has told us what is to come and what to do to be safe and how to get right with God. By turning to him and putting our faith and our life in his hands.

A. Sin is Death

There are three points this text makes about death, the body and the future. One, sin is death. We don’t like death, that is why we don’t like getting sick and taking medicine. That is why when we hear that just yesterday, three people died when a sport utility vehicle crashed in New York, six people died when a pick up truck swerved off the road and ran into a wedding party reception, floods in Seoul Korea have now rounded out 600 people dead, two people died in a hot air balloon accident, the former prime minister of france died yesterday, bombing in Iraq and Thailand killed again yesterday, and here in San Diego, a woman was stabbed to death last night and a man potentially lays his death bed in a hospital after getting bit by a mosquito with the West Nile virus. Death looms.

You might say, “Hey wait preacher, that is just scare tactics, you should manipulate people and try and scare them into believing in God.” To which I answer. It’s not manipulation if it is true. And I’m not trying to scare you, I’m trying to wake you up. We are not promised tommorrow. And whether it is tomorrow or the next day or the next week or year or decade, you will die! You will die, we all will die and we are afraid and the reason we are afraid is because we know we are guilty. We have guilty consciences that can only be healed and forgiven and be put to peace by Jesus.

Verse 10, says “the body is dead because of sin.” We feel and know we are sinners. That’s why when we get sick or injured, then we pray, that’s when we pray and call out ot God for help…because we don’t like it. Death is an enemy and we don’t like it and anything remotely related reminds us its pain and suffering and consequences and judgment and we know we deserve it because we know are sinners. Sin is death. Death is because of sin. If there was no sin everything would be perfect and there would be no such thing as death. But sin has contaminated everything and everyone. I am a sinner and I deserve death.

B. The Body is Important

The second point this text makes is that the body is important, your body matters. Verse 11 says, that for those who belong to Jesus, God will “give life to your mortal bodies.” The body is important. It was meant for life, the enjoyment of life, not death. It was not meant or designed or intended by God to end with death, it is intended to eat and drink to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says this, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Death is an enemy an intruder, distoriting and damaging our bodies. The body is an extremely enjoyable thing. It is able to eat and drink which is one of the best things in life, to eat and drink with people you love. It is able to have sex, which is an incredible pleasure, to have sex with your husband or your wife. It is able to exercise and to play and to worship God and create. It is able to get warm when you are cold and it is able to cool off when you are hot. The body is not meant for death but for life. Death is the outsider, our adversarial foe.

C. Christ is Life

But Jesus changed all that. Christ is life! Jesus conquered death. Jesus rose from the dead and because he did your life now and your life to come can be secure. The disciples they got a hold of this after Jesus rose from the dead, they were no longer afraid. They changed from being of despair to being fearless to where they started to say things like, “Death cannot kill…go ahead crucify me…to die is gain…Jesus Christ the hope of glory…I know I shall live! You can’t kill me. I am not afraid of death any longer… the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me and he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to my mortal bodies through his Spirit…and I will not die but live!!!”

The Christian life becomes the gospel at work over and over again…death turned to life, death turned to life, death turned to life. Every situation, every failure, Jesus resurrection anew. That is what the gospel says…I believe in Jesus, the one who said, “I am the resurrection and th life and he who believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live (Jn 11:25).”

Some of you are not living the life God intended you to live and you need the resurrection power of Jesus to come and infuse your soul. You need Jesus to come to you and graft you into him so that you belong to Jesus. You need as verse 9 says, the Spirit of God to dwell in you. You need as verse 10 says, to be given life and righteousness in exchange for death and sin.

Conclusion

We are going to conclude these verses today, so look one last time at the last two verses with me, “12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Here is the theology of this verse, getting a hold of the resurrection of Jesus, what is in store for you in the future if you are a Christian, becomes an empowerment for your life in the Spirit here and now. You need Jesus’ Spirit, the Spirit of the resurrection. Life is dead, cold, dark, depressive and destructive without Jesus. Put your faith in Jesus today.

Realize who you are and what you were made for and where you are going and feed on that. Feed on the resurrected Christ and be changed. Be empowered. Be set free. Be transformed with hope and joy. Rise from the dead. Don’t live a miserable life but live a life that counts for eternity. Live a life that is set on Christ and the life to come…a life devoted to the glory of God in everything. Live for Jesus. He is secure. Jesus most certainly rose from the dead and that effects everything. So embrace Jesus and walk with him. He is alive as surely as I stand before you in this moment and he offers himself to you in these elements which remember his death and resurrection.

Let’s pray.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © THE RESOLVED CHURCH
Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and
distribute this material provided you NOT alter the wording in any way and you
do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.
:: The Resolved Church ::
www.theresolved.com
contact@theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990

:: The Resolved Church :: August 19th, 2007 :: Pastor Duane M. Smets

Romans 8:9-13
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Two If’s and a Walk Stronger than Death – (part I)
Romans 8:9-13

I. If Christ was raised
A. Biblical Evidence
B. Circumstantial Evidence
C. Historical Evidence
II. If Christ is in you
A. Sin is Death
B. The Body is Important
C. Christ is Life

Introduction

Good morning. Let’s read the text and pray. Father God, this is a beautiful text, a text full of hope, an honest text, one that challenges the very motions of life and life beyond the grave. In our world today it seems the truth comes to us elusively at times. We hesitate at belief for fear that what we accept as true will later turn out to be false. Secure us today. As we work the muscle of our minds may we as individuals be sharp and be willing to be convinced and to be changed. Show us the glory and wonder of Jesus. May our small perceptions which so easily only see the now and the immediate, may they be enlarged so that we see life here and now in view of eternity. As assuredly as Christ was raised from the dead, raise us up from the dead this morning. Awaken us from slumber, enliven us to hear and see and believe truth, and give us Jesus. May Jesus Christ descend into our hearts today, may we truly believe and walk with him. Jesus Christ is Lord, Amen.

We begin our study this morning by looking into a very small and very significant word, “if.” It occurs several times in this passage and there are two particular times where the way they are used is hugely important. On the word “if” in these two places hang two incredibly important, incredibly life changing, incredibly powerful conclusions. Look at them, “if Christ is in you (you belong to Jesus, walk with him, follow him, are led by his Spirit, if Christ is in you), although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” That is one “if.” It is an experiential if concerning whether or not you are a Christian. That is important.

Then there is the second “if,” “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. This second “if” is an intellectual if, an evidential or historical if, a factual if that hangs on the question of whether or not Jesus Christ really died and really rose.

These two if’s, in one way represent the two different reasons or ways people come to faith in Jesus. And everyone in this room probably leans more to one way than the other. What I mean is, some of you believe because you have experienced something, an emptiness or a guilt, or you have had a need that was met, or someone who loves Jesus has shown love to you, or you went to church and heard a moving sermon. But the reason you believe is because you have had an experience.

Others of you believe what you do because you are smart and have really thought about what is and what can be true and why. You may have studied philosophy, or science, or world religions, or studied Jesus Christ and the Bible and have become convinced. That’s a few of you, probably not many.

I’m going to start today with the second reason or way that a person comes to faith because I think that is where affection or experience truly begins, in the mind in what you think and assume. The other is an experiential if and so it is more of a heart if. This second if is more of a head if and I want to start there and slowly move forward and show how this head if effects the heart if. Because they are connected. There is a connection between the heard and the heart, between physical and spiritual life, between the soul and the body.

I. If Christ was Raised

So let’s begin with our first “if,” “if Christ was raised.” John Dominic Crossan, he is a considered by some to be a scholar, others scholars call him an imposter for his lack of scholarly credibility and method, but you might be familiar with him because the news people and the discovery channel people like to interview him. He is a short little white haired man, who is very nice and he says this about Jesus’ resurrection,
“The resurrection is a fabricated myth used for religious propaganda, only effective with an audience of unsophisticates and children. “…after the crucifixion Jesus’ corpse was probably laid in a shallow grave, barely covered with dirt, and subsequently eaten by wild dogs; the story of Jesus’ entombment and resurrection was the result of ‘wishful thinking.’”

Paul, our human author of Romans, was aware of what was at stake if Jesus did not rise from the dead, and Paul agrees with Mr. Crossan that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, Christians are fools. Here is Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain….(and) we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor 15:14,19).” If Jesus did not rise from the dead Christianity is false, not true, it is a wishful myth and those who believe in it are to be pitied for being such fools. And I don’t want to be a fool.

As much as I love existentialist philosophy and as much as I love Zombie movies…I don’t want to believe something is true just because. I don’t want to be a Zombie Christian who takes some great leap of faith into some experiential abyss of spirituality where I leave behind my brain. I can believe all I want that I am going to inherit a million dollars from Bill Gates some day, but unless I see some evidence to convince me of it, that is a vain hope and useless to try and build my life counting on that money. So we are going to go through some evidence for the resurrection. The question on the table is “if” it actually happened.

We are going to begin with the biblical evidence, then the circumstantial evidence, and then the historical evidence. Today we’re just going to do the biblical evidence and next week we’ll finish up our outline with the circumstantial and historical evidence and look deeper into the words of Romans. If you have some friends who are skeptics and you have been thinking of inviting them to church, next week would be perfect week. I’m inviting a few of my friends and hoping that something from the truth of the word of God will open them up to the gospel.

A. Biblical Evidence

We start with the biblical evidence because the way this discussion about Jesus’ resurrection usually goes when you talk to people about it is that you usually just get an assumption of what the Bible says about it. But very few have actually looked inside to see what the Bible says specifically.

1. Jesus’ Prediction

We’ve got Jesus who’s been around for about thirty years and just laying low, making rocking chairs and tables and houses and knick knacks for old ladies as a carpenter. When he is about thirty years old he starts teaching and preaching and healing people, doing miracles and he does this straight for three years. I’m turning 29 next Sunday, so Jesus would have been just about my same age when he started doing all this stuff. Toward the end of those three years he starts saying on several different occasions that he is going to die and in three days later he will rise from the dead.

Here is one of those occasions. Jesus is in a small village near Caesarea Philippi, which is now the area called Golan Heights on the edge of the border of Israel. He may have been near the Banyas Spring, which is right in that area. He pulls some of his closest followers together and starts asking them some questions about what they think about him. Who people think he is and what he came to do. They start answering and then Jesus says these remarkable words, “(I) must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mark 8:31).”

Astounding words. Prediction that is specific and supernatural and shows Jesus knew who he was and what he planned to do. He wanted to give let his followers know what was going to happen before it did so that they would know he could be trusted, they could trust him. Now, I know you could say, we’ll they wrote this after it all happened so how do you know they didn’t just make it up that Jesus said this. Maybe, perhaps. But listen to the very next words in Mark after this, Mark 8:32 “And he said this plainly.” It is almost as if Mark knew some might think that, so he goes out of his way to emphasis that Jesus really said this.

2. Jesus Died

Next in the story we look at Jesus’ death. This may seem like an obvious point. But many today, especially Muslims, do not believe that Jesus died on the cross. In the Qu’ran in Sura 4:157 it says, ” And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of GOD. In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him – they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him.” And so, the explanation is that Jesus did not die on the cross but merely swooned, he merely passed out for awhile and was resuscitated.

The story of Jesus death…one written by a tax collector, one written by a meal servant/waiter, one written by a primitive medical doctor, and one written by a fisherman. And their story is unanimous. Jesus is taken from a garden where he is seemingly sweating blood, is thrown into a hurried up trial in the night. Is taken out and flogged, which is where a solider takes a whip with pieces of bone tied up in it and hits a persons back until the flesh is all opened up. They put a crown on his made out thorns from a throne and press it onto his head. In the morning they take him up on a hill, lay him down and drive 5-7 inch spikes through is ankles and wrists into a cross made of wood. And then they stand him up so that he hangs from his wrists and if he needs to breath, he has to push up on the spike in his ankles and pull on the spikes in his wrists to get air into his lungs. This can go on for a long time, so sometime the soldiers would break the person’s legs so they couldn’t push up anymore and they wouldn’t have enough strength in their arms and would just suffocate. They don’t end up breaking Jesus legs because it didn’t take long for him to die. He had lost so much blood and strength they could see he was dead and to prove it and make sure a solider takes a spear and jabs it up under his rib cage into his heart. When he does that the gospel writers say they saw blood and water flow out. Jesus was dead.

A modern medical examination looks at these documents written by people who knew nothing about modern medicine and here is what they say. Jesus suffered from hematidrosis, a condition, where under a great deal of stress one sweats blood. Jesus suffered from respiratory acidosis, which is where one suffocates from not getting oxygen into their lungs. Jesus suffered from hypovolemic shock and cardiac arrest, which is where one loses so much blood that their organs shut down, Jesus heart stopped beating. And Jesus experienced pericardial and pleural effusion, pleural is the fluid around the lungs and pericardial is the blood that flows through he hearts, so when the solider stabbed Jesus, it was clear, he was a real human who was dead.

3. The Empty Tomb

Next in the biblical story is the empty tomb. Jesus was buried in a tomb. Not everyone was buried in a tomb. You only got a tomb if you had a lot of money and Jesus didn’t have any. But a rich man, named Joseph of Arimithea, he was probably a prominent member of society had been following Jesus because it says he did so secretly. When Jesus died, he came out from his secrecy and offered his tomb for Jesus to be buried in because it was the tradition for holy men to be buried in a tomb. A tomb was a big hole cut out of rock in the side of a mountain or hill and there would have been a stone that would have taken at least three or four men to move in front of it.

We’ll talk about those who found the tomb empty three days later in a minute. But first note, there is no other historical story found anywhere than that Jesus was buried in a tomb. And if he was buried in tomb then the question is simple. What happened to him? If Jesus did not rise from the dead, where did the body go? When everybody was saying he rose from the dead they could have easily gone to the tomb and proved it and that is probably what the Roman government would have done to squash this new group that was forming, because the Roman government did not like anything that disturbed the peace. The pax Romana, the peace of Rome was their official virtue. But Jesus dead body has never been found.

So many people were becoming Christians when the disciples started preaching about Jesus having risen from the dead, but no one would have believed them if they all knew Jesus’ body was still in the tomb. But it was just the opposite. Everyone was talking about how the tomb was empty. The only explanation anyone every came up with was that the disciples stole the body. Which is funny if they did, because they were scared for their lives.

After Jesus died his followers were afraid. When Jesus first appeared to them as a group the Bible says they were hiding behind locked doors afraid that the Romans were coming to get them and crucify them next for being part of the Jesus rebellion. Tampering with a dead body was punishable by death, these men would not have had the courage and if they did, why would they all end up giving over their lives to death for a lie. All the disciples were killed (except John) for staked their preaching and their death on the claim that Jesus rose from the dead, why would they do so if they all knew that they really stole the body? Everyone knew the soldiers just said that so they wouldn’t get fired or worse. Jesus’ dead body has never been found since his crucifixion, only an alive, living, breathing, talking and walking Jesus, who rose up from death and is alive today.

4. The Eyewitnesses

After the tomb was found empty and Jesus began appearing to people. In the first century, an eyewitness was the strongest evidence a lawyer could bring forth in court. It is still strong today, not as strong as videotape. But they didn’t have video camera back then. There weren’t these guys you could hire to go film your spouse and see if he or she is cheating on you. They didn’t make home videos and happen to catch things on tape to send in for Americas Funniest Videos or wildest car chases. But eyewitnesses were a big deal, the strongest evidence around.

In the Bible there are 15 specific names of people who are recorded as having seeing the risen Jesus, there are 19 independent personal accounts or stories of what happened, and there are several verifications where Jesus appeared to huge crowds of people. One specific time is famous where there were 500 people all in one place who all saw and heard Jesus. Can you imagine 500 witnesses testifying in a court today. And the Bible records these people’s names and was written when they were still alive and openly admits, if you don’t believe us go ask them, they’ll tell you the same thing. This is not conspiracy theory, this is widespread confirmation. This is not one person’s spiritual meanderings, like Siddhartha’s, this is hundreds of people’s authentifications. This is not a few individuals hallucinating because they loved and longed to see their dear friend who had just died, this is tons of people seeing the exact same thing.

a. Women

Listen to a few the personal accounts. The first people all four gospel accounts record having discovered Jesus resurrection are women, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and some others. They go to the tomb to leave some memorials and spices and they discover the tomb empty and an angel appears to them and tells them Jesus has risen.

Okay, so set aside your potential disbelief in angels. But note this, it is an important one, Jesus and the apostles and the writers of Scripture and Christians throughout the century are the ones who have given women a high place of honor. We value and love our women. We may think there are different roles intended for men and women but women are very very important. This was not the case in the first century. Women were looked down upon and were not even allowed to give a testimony in court. Their testimony was considered unreliable. So if all four of the disciples are making up this story about Jesus’ resurrection, then the last thing you do is have women being your first eyewitnesses, it doesn’t even count.

Some of you today might have heard everything I have said so far and you are like, “yeah, so what, that is just what the Bible says and just because the Bible says it happened doesn’t mean it really did, the Bible says a lot of crazy stuff.” Listen, that the Bible records women first discovering the resurrection of Jesus is blaring proof that what the Bible records did in fact actually happen.

b. Thomas

One of my favorite accounts is the one from Thomas the disciple. He wasn’t there the first time when Jesus appeared to a bunch of the disciples and so when they got all excited and went and told Thomas Jesus had risen. He told them they were crazy, to get some sleep, and to stop drinking so much…and they are like no, we weren’t drunk, Jesus really rose. Then Thomas gets super intense and says unless I see his scars from the nails and the spear I won’t believe it. I love Thomas, because he is there for all of us skeptics. So Jesus appears to Thomas and offers his body for inspection. So Thomas checks out his hands and touches Jesus’ side, looks into his face, hears that familiar voice, and Thomas breaks down, tears well up in his eyes and he falls down and starts to worship and says, “My Lord and my God!” I think for Thomas, Jesus had just been a good teacher, an interesting dude, but at that moment his heart changed and he realized Jesus was in fact the messiah. He wasn’t just seeing a ghost. This was real, flesh and bones Jesus. After this they ate a meal together having some fish and talking. Jesus was alive and had rose up from the dead.

c. Paul

The last account I want to share is Paul’s himself, the author of Romans. Before he wrote Romans he had a very high and esteemed job. He was a protector of the purity of the Jewish religion. A new movement spawned rapidly and quickly when Jesus rose from the dead and started showing himself to all these people. So Paul was on the inside track from the Jewish authorities to try and stomp out this new heresy called Christianity. Paul oversaw the first Christian to die for saying Jesus rose from the dead, his name was Stephen. Paul was a high class murderer. He is on a trip to Damascus to go try and have some more Christians stoned to death and while he is traveling there, Jesus shows up in the middle of the road, stops Paul and asks him why he is doing all this. Paul stares at Jesus in disbelief and asks who are you? And Jesus answers, “I am Jesus who you are persecuting.” And Paul becomes a changed man going on to write 1/3rd of the books of the Bible about Jesus.

There are other eyewitness accounts, I’d thought I’d just share a few of the ones with you today that come from unlikely sources. This is the point. This is what we are faced with. Maybe you’re sitting there and you are like fine, this thing happened in history like 2,000 years ago and a bunch of people testified that it actually happened, so what if it did?

5. The Christian Creed

What difference does it make? Here is the difference. Very shortly after Jesus rose from the dead, his followers started grouping together and the gospel began to click. Almost as though a light went on and everything Jesus had been saying and teaching and doing for the past three years made sense. So very shortly, perhaps a few weeks, maybe a few months, they formed a creed. A statement of faith about who they were and what they believed.

Paul shares it with us in 1 Corinthians 15, “(I remind you) of the gospel which you received, in which you stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast…(here is the creed, the gospel that saves) For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” Jesus died, Jesus was buried, and Jesus rose from the dead. That is the gospel. Jesus died, Jesus was buried, and Jesus rose from the dead.

And that changes everything. No longer were any of Jesus words just good things to know, they are the words of life. No longer is God seemingly a distant source, Jesus truly is God himself, here among us. No longer is death the undefeatable foe, but death has been conquered. Life and new life now reigns through Jesus. Now in the midst of darkness and despair stands Jesus, the light of his resurrection pours in and gives hope and brings peace. Jesus the son of God live and stands to save.

Jesus’ resurrection is the source and the symbol. And all creation rings of its praise. Plants and grass that whither and turn brown from being scorched come back to life and turn bright green and champion the resurrection of Christ. The sun itself which sets and darkness covers the earth, rises in the morning and reminds us that everything in creation is about Jesus and his resurrection and the promise of true and eternal life. Life now becomes not about death but about how Jesus heals and saves and brings new life, he changes things. Creation calls out Jesus saves, Jesus saves, Jesus saves.

Listen to our verse from Romans again, ” If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Jesus gives and guarantees new life to those who follow him and are indwelt by his Spirit.

Conclusion

Next week we’ll look at the circumstantial and historical evidence from outside the Bible and we’ll deal with the second “if”…so bring your friends. To conclude today’s sermon I want to share one last resurrection appearance because it gives us a picture of Jesus that really helps us know who it is that we are worshipping. When we gather each Sunday to sing and to study and to take communion, we gather to worship the resurrected Jesus. We love him, adore him, marvel at him, are amazed at him, enjoy him, and devote our lives to him. Here is Jesus when he appears to the apostle John, while on the Island Patmos.

“…I heard a loud voice like a trumpet…then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw…(Jesus) clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace and his voice was like the roar of many waters…(he had a) two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

This is Jesus who we worship and him who we share our worship with the world as the only one true hope. This is the resurrected Christ is strong and able to save. This world is temporary. The last few weeks have been devastating weeks for many. A bridge in Minnesota collapsing and killing 7 people, a earthquake in Peru killing over 500, miners and rescue workers now dead inside a mountain in Utah, and even as we speak hurricane dean now plows through Jamaica. In the middle of such a world Jesus stands to save with a secure salvation that is stronger than death.

So turn to Jesus today. Walk with him. Walk close to Jesus. Receive his Spirit inside you. Trust him and be changed by him. Dying and rising, dying and rising, dying and rising. This is our life. The gospel at work in us through the resurrection of Christ our Lord.

Let’s pray.

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Walking According to the Spirit (part III)
Romans 8:5-9

Introduction
I. Where we are in the book of Romans
II. In this world we walk
III. Beginning with verse 9 and the supernatural
IV. Two different walks compared
without Jesus’ Spirit with Jesus’ Spirit
“according to the flesh” “according to the Spirit”
- inability - ability
- cannot please God - please God
- hostility - peace
- death - life
V. Position, practice and conversion
Conclusion

Introduction

Good morning. Today we are going into our third sermon of our “Walking According to the Spirit” series. Let’s read the text and pray.

God, this is your book, these are the words you have left for us through your servant Paul. Help us as we look into them this morning. It is so easy to just read things and pass through them and miss the great meaning and significance that is there. These words mean something, help us to get that meaning. Help us to get a picture, an idea in our heads of what it means to be a person who walks according the the Spirit in this word. There is much we don’t understand and know about life, life in this world. So we look to Jesus and ask that the way of His Spirit, the way he walked here on earth, the mindset he had, the mindset of life and peace would become our mindset, our way. Jesus Christ is Lord, Amen.

Last week we got about halfway through comparing the two different walks, two different mindsets.

IV. Two different walks compared

The mindset of the flesh, according to the flesh vs. the mindset of the Spirit, according to the Spirit. When we talk about these as walks what we are talking about is an analogy of life as a journey or a walk. Tom Cochrane is famous for his early nineties song with the chorus, “Life is a highway, I want to ride it all not long.” Herman Hesse wrote a great book called ” Siddhartha” which is sort of a presentation of the life of Siddhartha Gautama, who most know better as the “Buddha.” He’s that statue of a fat dude you see at Chinese restaurants and is the one gets most the credit for most of the eastern philiosphy that’s out there. In the book Siddhartha and in Buddhistic philosophy in general the paradigm for life is one as a journey in which you walk.

Paul, here in Romans doesn’t disagree…life is a walk or a journey. Jesus too, was went around walking and called people to walk with him. And that is what this text and this series is about, walking with Jesus and how you do that. Paul here is saying the way you do that is by having the mindset of Jesus, which transforms the way your mind thinks, feels, and reacts toward the people and the things around you.

Last week we looked primarily focused on verse 7-8 and the two words the word, “cannot” and the word “please.” From the word “cannot” we talked about ability and inability and our limitations as humans. Our inability to fix ourselves and why. From the world “please” we talked about appraching life as a pursuit of pleasure and how that fits in or works with a belief in God and an our inability to fix ourselves and make ourselves happy.

Today, we are going to look at these last two comparisons and then talk about how this works for you if you a Christian or not. But before we do I thought I should give an explanation for why I preach sermons the way I do here at The Resolved Church. Because if you think about it, it can seem kind of weird that we would go so slow through a text.

We don’t really read any other book like that. I finished the new Harry Potter book, I know that’s probably bad and Christians are not supposed to read Harry Potter, but I can’t help it, I freaking love those books. J But I don’t sit down and study and dissect phrases and words that J.K. Rowling wrote. So did Paul, the author of Romans really intend for us to look at these words, words like “life” and “peace” and “hostility” and “cannot” and “please” and really make that much of a deal about them?

Two, responses. One reason is because this book was written a long time ago. Nearly 2,000 years. When was the last time you read a two-thousand year old book. Anyone ever read, Homer’s Illiad or the Oddessy? It’s kind of weird. Diffferent, culture, different time period, different way of life and thinking and on top of it all the Bible wasn’t written in English, so we have to deal with a translation.

So that is one reason we have to slow down and spend a little bit more time reading it carefully, because there is so much distance between us and these words. When the first readers, read these things, they’d have the same associations and things in their head that Paul did and be able to pick up on what he was saying right away. So there is a historical distance.

Second, there is a theological distance, and this one is the same for us as it was for the first readers. It goes like this, Paul was convinced, as we are, that if we are to know anything at all then it would have to be because God makes it known. And Paul was convinced, as we are, that God distinctly makes himself known in words of a book he has geniusly compiled from various authors. So here is what would happen. When a church got a book of the Bible they would read it, and read it, and re-read it and study it together. In Acts 2:42, it says that the church, “devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.” In the first Christian Church in Thessolonica, when they first heard about Jesus it says they “searched the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” And in 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul calls his readers to “study [the Scriptures]” and so “rightly handle the word of truth.” When one church would get a book of the Bible, they would then send to another church to have it read and studied (Col 4:16), and so these books would get circulated throught he churches until they eventually just compiled them altogether into one book, the Bible. That’s how we got our Bible.

So we take these words seriously because that is how they were intended to be taken by their authors and if what they are saying is true then we have a natural problem as humans which makes it hard for us to accept a lot of things the Bible says, so we have to think about it and wrestle with it. So going slow helps us with that. We want to be careful we don’t just read our own ideas and thoughts into the Bible and use it like we would use a computer where we load whatever programs and songs and pictures into it that we want. The Bible is more like wikkipedia, it just tells us what is up when it comes to God.

hostility

Okay, enough set-up. Let’s get into it and talk about hostility and peace.

Look at verse 6 & 7, “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” So the corrsponding part to death is life and the corresponding part to peace is hostility.

Hostility and peace. These are war words. The middle east both when this was written and still today is a place that has been ravaged by war. I don’t think any of us can truly comprehend what it would be like to have war on our own soil. I mean think about it, where you live. Picture your house and the street you live on and picture soliders walking in down it, picture tanks rolling through your street. And picture those soliders and those tanks being from a foreign country who wants to take over your governement and change your way of life, where you wouldn’t own your house anymore, would have to pay higher taxes, and you were not allowed to go to certain parts of the city anymore.

Do you think then you might feel some hostility? Some lack of peace? Some enmity toward those soliders and that regeime? Some sense of war. That is the connotations, the pictures these words trigger. Hostility is resentment and desire to attack someone. You ever felt hostility toward a person? Someone who has wronged you? Perhaps someone who has said bad things about you behind your back? Feel some hostility toward them?

We know hostility. It is what daytime talk shows are about. How Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump hate each other. How the view kicked off Rosie O’Donnell. It’s court TV and who wronged who. Jerry Springer has got a whole TV show based on hostility. Gang wars are about hositilty. And the husband or wife who makes that dark decision to leave…it’s about hostility.

Hostility. Now the thing here that verse 7 says there is hostility when your mind is set on the flesh and that hostility is toward God. So how does that work? What does that mean? I think most of us would think it is the other way around. We picture God as this helpless being up in the sky who wants us to love him and we don’t, we think about and love a lot of other things instead…and so we imagine he feels hostility toward us. He doesn’t like us. We have hurt him so he is going to hurt us back. It’s what philosophers call capriciousness.

But notice what we have done when we think like that. We have taken the way we know how humans are, how we are ourselves our and then we have projected that onto God and imagined that he must be that way too. But this text doesn’t say that. It doesn’t say God is hostile toward those who have their mind set on the flesh, it says the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God.

What does that mean? It means we don’t like God. We might like him if he makes us look good or seems to make our life better or give us what we want. But other than that we are not too interested in having our lives revolve around someone other than ourself. He is an intruder, walking down our street, who disprupts our lives by coming in and telling us to worship him.

Look at what the second part of verse 7 says, it defines what hostility toward God is, hostility “does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot.” Here is the heart of hostility, law. Law says God is a holy God and he requires certain things and we don’t like that. Something about someone telling us what to do does not sit well. Our feelings are hostile. Most respond one of two ways…we either respond to the demand, with “no.” I can do whatever I want and it doesn’t really mattter, so we become a law to ourselves. Or we take the demand and say, “you think I can’t do all that, watch me, I can do it.” Just the existence of a law breeds hostility.

Why do you think every single nation on the planet has varying groups of people that support different leaders. Because no one is ever happy, there is always something wrong with some law leader that one group will not like. Hostility is discontent and despise. And that is what comes natural to us. We have been saying the last few weeks that the mindset of the Spirit, the walk of Jesus, does not come natural. We do not naturally love. That is why Jesus summarized all the law as saying it is all about “loving God.” Obedience does not come natural, only the love of Christ can change your heart and make you delight to obey.

You see it is not about doing the law perfect, it is about love. If you ask your friends, do you think you are a good person, most will say, “well, I’m not perfect but I try and I think I’m pretty good.” But being pretty good does not cut it. But that is not love. That’s why Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” How much do you delight to obey? Do you think of yourself as an obedient person? Or do you just do what you want and what you think is right? Who do you obey? Your boss? Your parents? Yourself? Who? Obedience. That is the measure of love, not our good intentions.

I mean, let’s be honest. I’m all about honesty. And being honest really feels good, when you are able to just share all your frustrations and thoughts and feelings about something to someone. That feels good. It feels authentic and it feels real. And that is good. But you know what I don’t like being honest about, is my rebellion. I don’t like to admit that the way I feel sometimes is wrong. You see, we like to be honest and share how we feel because we feel that our honesty about it justifies our feelings and somehow makes them okay. But that isn’t quite full honesty is it? We like honesty, but not honesty with God. To say we are wrong and proud and sick and self-reliant and disobedient…No one likes to say that about themselves unless it is an excuse to keep on being that way.

Real honesty comes with confession and repentance, admission and change. My chief goal is to build a church I enjoy being a part of and my wife and my family enjoys being a part of. But I had to get honest with myself and confess to my wife this week that my passion and focus and intent to grow and build this church and for us to really become a glory driven, gospel-centered, city within the city, has been eclipsing my desire for Sundays to be exciting and happy day. Not a day I look to with so much pressure for everything to go just right. If I put so much pressure on that, she and our kids will grow up hating church and I don’t want that. Hostility is discontent and disobedience toward God as the soul sustaining pleasure of our lives.

peace

Let’s talk about peace for a minute. We have already said a lot about it without saying it because peace is the opposite of hostility. It is the lack of war. The opposite of discontent. It is joyful obedience that comes natural from the heart. Because most us have a lack of really knowing what war is like…I think when we hear the word peace, we most often think, tranquility.

What kind of peace are we talking about here? “…the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Is Paul sort going all out Buddhist here? Atman is Brahaman? The way I need to deal with suffereing and strife is to just realize it doesn’t really exist and I everything and everything is me and to just be one with it all? Is that what he is saying here? Is Paul trying to teach us some mind trick?

I don’t think so. Here is how he defined peace ealier in Romans. Romans 5:1 “Since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowning that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Do you hear the connection? Holy Spirit, given to us. Love for God from our hearts. Peace despite suffering because of faith in Jesus which makes us right, or justified before God. The God problem in us gets dealt with.

Paul was a Jew and for Jews the word peace is and always has been a big deal. Even today most Jews will greet each other by saying “shalom.” That is the Hebrew word for peace. The peace of Israel is the Jewish hope. And the Messiah it was prophesied who was to come was to be a “prince of peace (Is. 9:6).

Peace is the absence of war with God brought by Jesus, the Messiah. The hostility from our end dies. We admit our condition, recognize that God is God alone and we are not. We bend our knees. Lay down our arms. Plead Jesus on the cross on our behalf for our rebellion. And God accepts. And we have a peace. From that there may be feelings of tranquility or happiness that follow, but bibilical peace here runs much deeper. Peace is a state before God. Where in his gracious acceptance of Jesus instead of us, he maintains his goodness and upholds justice, which can’t let wrongdoing and rebellion go unpunished, and then at the same time offer us mercy and the end of war. Jesus gets the punishment, we get the peace. Our offense is taken away. There is no longer fear of wrath for our wrongs.

Obedience then becomes delight. Love and thanks and adoration of God’s kindness toward us becomes the theme of our lives. We humbly then begin to submit ourselves with an attitute that says, we’ll now I know, God is better. A life of peace following him rather than fighting him all the way along is much better.

Here is one way that Jonathan Edwards talks about it as it relates to our affections that flow from surrending our war with God, “All the gracious affection that are a sweet odor to Christ and that fill the souls of a Christian with heavenly sweetness and fragrancy, are brokenhearted affections. A turly Christian love, either to God or to men, is a brokenhearted love. The desire of the saints are earnest, are humble desires: their hope is a humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable and full of glory, is a humble brokenhearted joy, and leaves the Christian more poor in spirit and more like a little child and more disposeed to a universal lowliness of behavior.”

Here is a definition of Christian Peace: The security of soul which comes from letting go of any rights of my own before God and trusting in the punishment of Christ on the cross for the wrongdoing and wrongness inside me. So how it works is like this. The mind set on the Spirit being peace. Okay, when trials and life comes to threaten me and my face, my response is no, God is not my enemy. Something did not go wrong. I am safe and secure in Christ. Peace reigns and is the ground of my belief. God is not at war with me. Christ was punished in my place for me.

death vs. life

Let’s look at the last comparison death vs. life. Today’s sermon is a difficult sermon in many ways because we are dealing with these huge concepts. These words that you can easily commit the error of taking them and springboarding to all this other stuff that might not be intended here in Romans. So I am striving hard to stay within the intended bound of Paul’s thought and discussion here in Romans 8.

Let’s look at verse 6, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” I think Paul has two things in mind when he talks about death here. Quality and quantity.

In chapter 7, the last chapter he addressed the internal moral struggle of the Christian and toward the end in frustration he says, “Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:24-25).” I think there he mainly has in mind a certain quailty of life…where one feels as though they are dying inside and longing to live a life that they just can’t quite seem to achieve. Have you ever felt just dead inside? Have you ever longed for your life just to be good? A quality of death. A quality of life. So that is the first thing.

Here is the second thing, quantity. Going back to chapter 6, Paul ended it by saying, “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:23).” Here there seems to be mainly a duration in mind. What happens after your physical body dies. We will talk more about this next week when we move on to verses 10-11 of Romans 8…but here the promise of the gospel is that believers in Jesus who receive His Spirit will receive a body like Jesus’s after he rose from the dead and will live forever in a kingdom of peace and love and joy, a place where Jesus reigns as king and there is no more sin, nor more sorrow, no more death and no more pain…just free worship, an unending experience of life the way it should be and we long for it to be. Jesus called this heaven.

The same thing is true for the duration of death…it too is an undending experience, an unending experience of death. After you die, being giving a body that cannot be killed but instead be eternally tortured, always subject to sinning and be sinned against, always feeling sorrow and pain and regret. An eternal death. Jesus called this hell.

Notice something with me. Notice the finality and tone of factuality in Paul’s words in verse six, “The mind on the flesh is death…the mind on the Spirit is life.” There is a tone of certainity and fixedness. It comes almost as a warning. If you don’t have the Spirit of Jesus your will mindset with be on death, the things that will kill you. If you do have the Spirit of Jesus your mindset will be on the things of life, the things which will enable you to truly live. It feels like a warning. It feels like, be careful of your outlook on life, how you set your mind.

I haven’t been able to get away from this. Still all this week I have been waking up thinking about this word, phroneo, mindset. I got this from it this week. We’ve talked about it being a worldview and how it effects not only our thoughts and feelings and decisions. But this week as I have been meditating on it. Two additionally things came to me. One, I think it is an attitude, a general demeanor and commitment to a certain type of affection.

And two, I think it is a discipline. I have to fight for a phroneo mindset because the truth is I don’t really think and see things the way Jesus did and does very much of the time. I am much more pessimistic and mean. My tendancy is not to think the best of people or situations. My tendancy is not to think about God and look at the world through the eyes of the gospel. My tendancy is not to always feel grateful and privilege to be here. My tendancies are much darker, much deathlier, too much of the time. I have to fight to see things and see people and see the world with the hope and the power of Jesus’s Spirit.

Let me ask you a question and then we’ll move on to our final point. How is your mindset? How is your walk? How much do you find yourself consumed with frustration and anxiety or anger or desires for things or people or places you know are not good for you? How is your honesty doing? Your openness and communion with God? Is there life? Or is there just hostility and death? Do you know Jesus? Have you ever really been introduced to anything other than just walking the way you have always walked, on your on, with God over here and you over here, and you haven’t even thought where you are walking to and you know now you are walking to death? Embrace Jesus today and walk with him.

V. Position, practice and conversion

Alright. My final point in adressing verses 5-9 of Romans 8, “Position, practice and conversion.” And what I need to address here is the inherent tension I have not said anything about which exists here. You see, there are two ways of thinking about this passage and these comparisons.

One way is to say, oh well I am a Christian so I am walking with Jesus and I have his Spirit, so I am totally on this side over here. I have ability, I can please God, I have peace, and a promise of eternal life…and so I am all good. And man, doesn’t it suck for those people who are on the other side. Who can’t do anything, have no pleasure, no peace and are going to burn in hell. I’m glad I’m not one of them.

But the problem is that every one of us who claim to be a Christian, if we are honest, we sometimes find ourselves over here on the flesh side and sometimes we find ourselves over here on the Spirit side. So what is going on with that? I thought we start with verse 9 and if we have Jesus then we have his Spirit and it guarantees us the life of the Spirit? Right? Then why do I so often find myself on the flesh side?

Here is my answer. There are two main ways you can picture Romans, one is a as a courtroom an done is as a story that goes from creation to consumation. Since we’re talking about walking and the life of Jesus and how he walked and the mindset he walked with that he gives to his followers. Let’s go with story today. We could do courtroom, but I’ve done that one before. And I got to keep it interesting for myself.

Life according to the flesh begins at birth, goes back in human history all the way to Adam, makes us unable, unhappy, hostile to God, and on a track to death. God sends his Son Jesus into human history and a new age begins, the age of Jesus’ Spirit. Jesus lives, walks, dies on a cross, rises again, promises new and eternal life for those who follow him. That’s verse 9. Then walk according to the Spirit is established and give to his followers. They are transferred into the realm or age of the Spirit and begin walking there.

But here is where our tension rises. Why it seems we are still in the flesh so much of the time…the time between the time. The time between when either Jesus returns to end all things and set up his physical kingdom here on earth or the time when we may die before his return and receive the full reception of Jesus Spirit and quality and quantity of our life in the Spirit becomes a permanent fixture for us in heaven.

Now I know that is prettty heady. And I don’t want to spend a ton of time on this. We could easily spend a whole sermon on it. I just wanted to give you a picture in your heads for what we are talking about when we talk about walking according to the Spirit versus walking according to the flesh and why we as Christians still feel like we are not totally on one track or the other.

Here is the appeal, walk up here. Walk in the new life of the Spirit. Don’t walk in the old dead and dying way. Walk with Jesus. If you are wanting to know how to become a Christian, here it is, walk with Jesus, believe in him and follow him and get to know him, what he says and tells you in the Bible. Trust in him and his cross to take care of your sin. And begin to experience the new eternal life of Jesus’ Spirit.

For Christians, I think Paul’s appeal is an encouragment and a rebuke at the same time. I think it is an encouragment in that it says…”I know you feel weighed down, a lack of peace and pleasure, and an inability to do everything right…But don’t be disheartened, you are according to the Spirit and God is fusing new life into your bones. He is changing your mindset from death to life, from hostility to peace, from displeasure to pleasing God, from inability to ability. Jesus Spirit is real and is working in you. So don’t give up. Hold on. Keep fighting and wrestiling the flesh. Realize who you really are, your position which has been granted to you, the destination of heaven accoridng to the Spirit. Jesus walked and fought all the battles for you. So just look to Him and His Spirit. I think that is an encouragment.

Here is where I think it is a rebuke…in how it says, “You are in the Spirit, you are walking with Jesus so what the heck are you doing going back, backward, back to the old way of the flesh…stop doing that…stop the things which kill you internally, the things which you know are not good for you, stop being hostile to God and fighting him and thinking you know everything and that he must fit within your measily demands and ideas, stop looking to be please by having things other than God as your source, don’t turn to some other functional messiah, turn to Jesus only, don’t go back to the old way, it doesn’t work, it is unable…only by following close to Jesus will you be able to live the life you long to live.

Conclusion

Here is my conclusion for this morning. It is a simple one today. Walk with Jesus. Walk with Jesus. Walk with Jesus. If you have never even began to walk with him, become a Christian today and start walking with Jesus. If you are a Christian and you are walking with Jesus, keep walking, be encouraged, you’re going somewhere, keep trusting him and following him. Don’t sway off the path. Keep walking.

Jesus walked like no man ever walked. Jesus, the son of God, showed us the glory of the Father, and then he laid down his life for us. Jesus, the prince of peace, the morning star, the messiah of the world, the resurrected king, Jesus. He walked this earth for us that we might walk with him.

Let’s pray.

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Romans 8:5-9 (ESV)
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Walking According to the Spirit (part II)
Romans 8:5-9

Introduction
I. Where we are in the book of Romans
II. In this world we walk
III. Beginning with verse 9 and the supernatural
IV. Two different walks compared
without Jesus’ Spirit with Jesus’ Spirit
“according to the flesh” “according to the Spirit”
- inability - ability
- cannot please God - please God
- hostility - peace
- death - life
V. Position, practice and conversion
Conclusion

Introduction

Read text and pray. God, the world is big, we are small, and you reign as God, our great heavenly Father, over it all. And you have given us this book as a guide through our time here where we live and walk. You sent your son, Jesus into this world to save us from sin, ourselves, and the corruption we encounter and carry in this life. This text today is a wise text you have given us. One which tells us how those believe in Jesus, get Jesus’ Spirit and become able to experience real pleasure and have peace and life. May it stab us awake from the deadness of life without Jesus, where we become unable to please God, hostile to him and godly things, where we end dying internally and eternally. Save souls today, awaken us where we slumber, mature us where we are weak. Holy Spirit of God come and sharpen our minds and soften our hearts as we study your book. Amen.

Last week we began our first sermon in our “Walking According to the Spirit” series which will last several weeks. And last week’s sermon was primarily a set-up sermon. We had been away from the book of Romans for a month, so we needed to re-orient ourselves. Then we talked about walking. The paradigm for life and for many early Christians was walking. They didn’t drive cars, they walked. Kanye West had it right when he said “Jesus walks.” J Jesus did walk and the picture of a Christian in this passage is one who walks with him. And to the one who walks with Jesus today, since Jesus is seated on his throne in heaven until his time comes to return and consummate all things, to the one who walks with him today his gives his Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians, another book the author of Romans wrote, he said “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” He explained that two chapters ago in Romans 6, when he said that those who follow Jesus unite with him and we are baptized into his death and resurrection. That is the gospel, our sin gets buried into his death and we get new life, for being with Jesus. This new life is a life where we live in the presence and power of Jesus’ Holy Spirit.

My main point last week was that we need Jesus’ Spirit, bad, because what we need is supernatural. As fallen, sinful human beings, who are really good at making messes of our lives, who are in large part numb or dead to the things of God, we need a supernatural work to take place in our hearts. I said that things like true “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control” do not come naturally to us and that what comes natural to us are things like “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, self-spirituality, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy.” For those things to change in us, takes a supernatural work of God’s Spirit in our hearts. The human heart is not physical, it is spiritual, and it needs a Holy Spirit to fix it.

We have a guarantee that it can happen, that we are not just lost or hopeless, because Jesus rose up from the dead and that is a pretty supernatural event. It makes me think that perhaps someone like that can change my heart, something I can’t change myself no matter how hard I try. Then lastly I said that the work of Jesus Spirit in us, walking in Jesus Spirit, is supernatural because it gives us a new mindset.

That is where we left of with this word mind, which is this difficult word to translate, phroneo. So we talked about it for awhile. Mindset is probably a better translation than just mind. But today we will hopefully get a much better idea of what this mindset is by looking at how Paul compares the two mindsets, the mindset of the flesh and the mindset of the Spirit.

There are four ways they are compared here. But before we begin going through them I want to ask you guys a question I asked myself the other day. And it’s this, why does it matter? I mean really, okay fine, “mindset” is it really that big of deal. Why would anyone care much about mindset anyway or want to listen to anything the Bible says about?

For some, like me, my mind is the problem. It is why I can’t sleep at night a lot of times, because there is all this stuff I am thinking about and my mind is going a hundred miles an hour and I can’t go to sleep. Amy finally kicks me out of bed at like 3:00 am and so I…I go pray. J No, actually I get up and watch UFC re-runs. So my problem isn’t my need to think more, my mind is turbo, I need to think less!

Then there are some of you who don’t think about anything. I will never understand you, you’re just weird to me or high in my book. J I don’t know, but sometimes I’d sure like to trade places but I’m not into doing drugs anymore. What I need is something like the opposite of coffee. I love coffee and drink it almost every day. But I need some drink like coffee, that will slow me down. Okay, so I know I am probably the odd ball. I’m guessing most of you are not like me and you just don’t think much about anything. Do you ever even think about what your mindset is?

Everyone has one, even if you don’t think you do, than that itself is a mindset. So what is your mindset? What is your reality? What is your motivation for life? The way you see things and the world around you? What are you striving for and how and why? That is your mindset. John Stott said it is your “interest, affections, and purpose.” What is your mind set on? Nothing? Or something? And if it is something what is that something? What is the thing that drives you?

IV. Two different walks compared

Let’s look at our text and how these two different mindsets or two different walks are compared. Last week I said that the logic of verses 5-9 works best to see it backwards. To start at verse 9 and then work backwards. The reason that is best is because we are cutting into the middle of a book, so we need to follow his reasoning and Paul’s reasoning begins with whether you have the Spirit of Jesus Christ or not. From Jesus’ Spirit flows a certain mindset, the one he had when he walked on this earth. And from not having Jesus flows a certain mindset, the mindset of the flesh.

So here is how the logic flows, look and see if you can see it with me. If you belong to Jesus (verse 9), then you have Jesus’ Spirit, the Spirit of God (verse 9). If you have the Spirit of God then you can please God (verse 8), because with the spirit you can satisfy God’s law, what he requires for pleasure (verse 7), and when that happens you are at peace with God (verse 6), and have life (verse 6). That is the logic that flows from the mindset of the Spirit: belong to Jesus > have Jesus Spirit > able to please God > can satisfy the demands of law > can have peace > and have life.

Now let’s look at the contrary and see how its logic flows. If you do not belong to Jesus (verse 9), you do not have the Spirit and are in the flesh (verse 9). Because of that you cannot please God (verse 8), cannot submit to God’s law (verse 7), have hostility toward God (verse 7), and your life is and ends up as death (verse 6). That is the logic that flows from the mindset of the flesh: no Jesus > no Spirit but flesh > not able to please God > not able to satisfy law > no peace > just death.

That is the logic, things begin with Jesus, then a supernatural work of God can take place in your heart and life, the pleasure in knowing God and joyful obedience follows and you have peace and end up living the life you were intended to live.

inability vs. ability

Last week we dealt with following Jesus and I present to you that the main paradigm for becoming a Christian in the 1st century was walking with Jesus, following him. At a point in that following a deep change takes place in your heart and you really begin to see and understand your great need for Jesus and you give him your life in exchange for his and then you as verse 9 says, “belong to him.” You become part of him. Part of his family, part of the body of believers of whom he is the head.

When Jesus ascended into heaven after he died on a cross and rose again, he said he was not leaving us alone but that he would send his Spirit into us until he returned to consummate all of human history. Now all people who believe in Jesus, who really put their faith in him, they get his Spirit, the most powerful force in the world because the Spirit changes our sinful hearts and minds and that is hard to do. Our hearts and minds are hard, like steel, and it takes a lot to change them, and the Holy Spirit of God can do that and does.

So our comparison of the two different lives, two different walks, two different mindsets begins at the point of ability. Notice something with me that occurs both in verse 7 and in verse 8, the word “cannot.” “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Cannot. What a horrible word. Our human person hates it. Just saying it, something inside me reacts and wants to spit it out and say, “No! Don’t tell me I cannot! You think I can’t, watch me.” Cannot goes against everything we are taught and everything our natural selves feel.

I’m a kid of the eighties. Back when cartoons were good, when riding a bike was better than video games, and when one the best movies of all time was made, “Back to the Future.” In it the wise and esteemed Dr. Emmit Brown taught us so well that, “If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything.” I did a little search and found that phrase occurs several times. And it captures not only the spirit of our age but something even deeper than that, a sense inside us that hates to be told we can’t do something.

In 1989, Norman Vincent Peale wrote a now famous book, which nearly has a whole movement spawned in connection with it, the book titled, “The Power of Positive Thinking.” Its key point is that maintaining positive thinking and a positive attitude will drive you to success and with that you can do anything. There is a whole educational program called, “You Can Do It Education” which claims that with this mindset, “social and emotional well-being” is possible for the “world of tomorrow.” And this program has been incorporated into public school programs since the early 80′s. I suppose this is where Rob Schneider got it from, who appears in almost every one of Adam Sandler’s films, showing up an saying “You can do it!”

My point is that we live in a society which says we can do anything if we want to. There is nothing we cannot do. And not only that but I am saying there is something deeper to it than even just a societal thing. I am saying there is this sense deep down inside each of us which does not like the thought or the idea of someone telling us we can’t do something. It is something almost basic to our humanity. A child hates being told no. The teenager wants complete freedom, to be able to do whatever he or she wants. And the adult can’t stand the struggle which surfaces when they find out they can’t accomplish anything and life is hard. So they either become depressed or addicted to pills, alcohol, or sex to appease their pain or they just work harder and if they get what they want it is never enough and they just end up feeling proud about it and feed that sense by writing their book and telling everyone they can do it to, everyone just needs to do what they did.

When it comes to religion this sense of ability and the power of choice becomes even stronger. You want to make someone made or start a bar fight. Tell someone there is only one true religion and everyone else who does not believe in that religion is wrong and is going to hell. You’ll make a lot of friends that way. J Nobody wants to be told they can and cannot believe certain things. Everyone wants to be free to either be their own god, choose who is god (which is really the same thing), and so create their own religion and not have anyone tell them different.

So fine. Do that. Try. Here is the news. It doesn’t work because you cannot change your heart. You cannot make love and joy and peace flow from inside of your being. You cannot change your natural inclination towards jealousy, envy, competition, impurity, self-adoration. Only the Spirit of God can do that.

And on top of it all, have you really ever thought much about it? Can you really do whatever you want? There is a lot of stuff I cannot do. I cannot fly. I cannot make myself disappear. I cannot see through walls. I cannot get pregnant. J There is a lot of stuff I cannot do.

Martin Luther, the great reformer, was a wise man. He recognized this and he wrote a book about it called “The Bondage of the Will.” In the early part of the book he first points out the self-refuting error of one who says you can do anything and those who tell you that you can’t are wrong. Listen to him, he says “you forbid us to examine, weigh, and know, first, our ability, what we can do, and what we cannot do, as being curious, superfluous, and irreligious…and to make your madness still greater, you persuade us, that this temerity is the most exalted and Christian piety, sobriety, religious gravity, and even salvation.”

Then Martin Luther begins to probe deeper, recognizing that our limitations as humans are not only physical, things like we cannot fly, but they are spiritual and moral. Toward the end of the book he quotes the passage we are studying in Romans and says this, “Now let us see what his opinion is concerning the endeavor and the power of “Free-will” in the carnal, who are in the flesh. “They cannot please God.” Again, “The carnal mind is death.” Again, “The carnal
mind is enmity against God,” And again, “It is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be.” (Rom. viii. 5-8)… there is in the saints, and in the godly, so powerful a warfare between the spirit and the flesh, that they cannot do what they would. From this warfare I argue thus:—If the
nature of man be so evil, even in those who are born again of the Spirit, that it does not only not endeavor after good, but is even averse to, and militates against good, how should it endeavor after good in those who are not born again of the Spirit?”

Ability and inability. There is a ton we could talk about here. I suspect that even in just reading that quote there are a few of you who didn’t like it. And that is okay, it illustrates my point. We talk more about this subject in our membership which will start again in a couple months.

I’ll just say a few things for now. Lest we misunderstand Mr. Luther, let me clarify a couple things. By saying we don’t have what it takes and that our natural inclination are not directed to God and his goodness but to ourselves and the things which are not good and that that is evil…we are not saying that every person is as bad as could possibly be nor that there is not the knowledge of good inside every human. What we are saying is that we are in the grip of sin and are first and foremost bent toward our own good rather than toward others and God and that this is part of our nature as humans.

We’ll end on this note about ability and inability. One, the Bible here clearly says life is spiritual and moral and that there are certain things you can and cannot do. The Greek word behind cannot here is dunamos, is the word power or ability. So what this verse says you, as a human being are not able, you do not have the ability, you do not have the power in yourself, to please God or obey his law. That is first thing I’ll leave you with about ability.

Here is the second thing, if you think you do have the ability, then why Jesus? If you are able in and of yourself, then you don’t need Jesus. Jesus only came for the sick. That is what he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Mk 2:17).” I suspect everyone who is here is here either because you have some sense inside you that you need Jesus or at least that other people need him or you would not have even considered coming to church. Your need begins at your ability. Recognizing that you need the chief physician, the doctor of the soul, Jesus. He who heals and mends and changes and empowers us by his great spirit.

cannot please God vs. please God

Let’s move on this morning and talk about pleasure. Do you see that word “please” in verse 8? “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” So what we have is comparison of pleasure, between being pleased or unpleased. I do not contend with those who say life is about pleasure. I freely admit I am a hedonist. In front of my desk I have a framed piece of paper I made with five resolutions on it that I strive to live my life by and the first one reads, “I resolved to pursue happiness with all my might.”

The pursuit of pleasure is something we know much of. Our culture is in large driven by it today. Whether you are the business man, a gangster, or a hippie…the theme is to do whatever makes you happy. When you are high seemingly everything is funny…so there is that happiness that can be induced by drug stimulant. Anita Baker is famous for her song whose chorus is just that “whatever it takes to make you happy.” Donald Trump has shown us all he is convinced that happiness is his goal and the key for him is financial success. Baby Boy doesn’t disagree, he sings “This is the way I live. Lil’ Boy still pushin’ big wheels I stack my money, lay low, and chill. Don’t need to work hard that’s the way I feel, I feel, I This is the way I live.”

Here is what I can make of it all when I try to listen to people and to the culture and the messages that are being thrown our way. The message seems to be this, do whatever makes you feel good, whatever makes you happy and that the goal in life is to not have to do anything so you can just sit in your happiness. And I am not in disagreement, mainly. Let me explain why.
Look at our text. “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Think about it with me. We are clearly talking about pleasure. The assumption behind this phrase is that we should want to or need to please God. So there are two characters, there is us and there is God. But this text puts the focus of pleasure on God, his pleasure. Him doing whatever makes himself happy and that everything is about him being pleased. Do you see that?

The Westminster Shorter Catechism, a great confession, a great creed of the Christian faith, starts out with the words, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Here is the rub. It seems to me that many, especially Christians, want to say that pleasure is bad. That the problem with humans is they are immoral and are always seeking pleasure, their feelings, and what they should do is just turn themselves off to their feelings and the pursuit of pleasure and just do what is right. That the idea of your own pursuit of pleasure is the thing which corrupts you. Immanuel Kant said that if there is any personal benefit you acquire then your action is contaminated. I submit that this is the ancient Greek philosophy called “stoicism” and it is not Christianity and that God’s pursuit of pleasure and our pursuit of pleasure are not opposed.

Let me quote John Piper here because I don’t think I can say it better than him. “Here is the great discovery that changes everything. God is glorified by our being satisfied in him. The chief end of man is not merely to glorify God and enjoy him forever, but to glorify God by enjoying him forever. The great divide that I thought existed between God’s passion for his glory and my passion for joy turned out to be no divide at all, if my passion for joy is passion for joy in God. God’s passion for the glory of God and my passion for joy in God are one.”

John Piper gets this from Jonathan Edwards, let’s hear him: “God is glorified not only by His glory’s being seen but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart. God made the world that He might communicate, and the creature receive His glory and that it might be received by both the mind and the heart. He that testifies his idea of God glory doesn’t glorify God so much as he that testifies also his approbation and his delight in it.”

Now to be clear, I have taught on this before and some have missed it. They have thought I was saying that since life is about pleasure then they everything is okay so go and do what you want and make yourself happy. That is not what I am saying. What I am saying is that we are human beings who feel and we were made to feel and we were made to feel joy and pleasure and this is the key part, that joy and pleasure spring from a pursuit of God, from seeking to please him.

The rub with culture is not that pursuing pleasure is wrong. The rub is the word “whatever.” A moment ago in my cultural assessment I said the theme of culture was “to do whatever makes you feel good, whatever makes you happy.” What I am saying that there is no whatever, there is just God. Do God, that is what makes you feel good, God is the appointment of our happiness. Having him as the center of our lives with Jesus as king is the way life is intended to be.

There can only be one who is whom it would be right to say all pleasure is connected, God. The only one who is not limited in any regard. Completely free in all his perfections. Completely able, completely powerful, completely compassionate, completely wise, completely holy, completely beautiful. The Lord of the Universe. We were made for him and to please him.

The difference between the mindset of the flesh versus the mindset of the Spirit, the two different walks compared here are a walk that pursues delight first and foremost and out of a relationship with God versus one that pursues delight out of one’s relationship with themselves and whatever you individually think will make you happy. I am saying there is not different things that make different people happy. I am saying God is the happiness for which everyone was made. When you are pleasing to him then you are pleased, then you feel true pleasure. And I am saying that we need a great work of Jesus’ Spirit in our hearts to turn our attention away from ourselves and onto God so that we might truly find the pleasure for which we were made.
Conclusion

So, if you look out our outline of comparison. We are about half-way through the comparison of the life of the flesh and the life of the Spirit. Rather than to just pass over the last few points quickly, I’ve decided just to deal with them next week and we’ll do part three on these verses. The last two comparisons are connected and understand our place as Christians in regards to the realms or positions of the flesh and the Spirit is significant. There is no reward for speed and I think these things are too big and too important to just pass over quickly and I don’t think you guys want to hear me preach for another 45 minutes. So we’ll do with them next week.

In conclusion of today’s sermon what I want to address “religion.” Religion, at least in western America, for many is almost a dirty word, religion is bad, spirituality is good. We began our service watching a video clip about that. And our text for today’s sermon has a lot to say about religion and spirituality.

It may seem that religion is only for those who are into God, those who even care about these things. But it appears to me that everyone has a religion. Being spiritual is very popular these days…it is a la carte religion. Many years ago James Montgomery Boice what he foresaw concerning what was to come, he says this, “people choose will choose the times they like from a potpourri of religions and then combine them to make their own comfortable little religious systems…In our largely irrational age it is a common thing for people to hold many mutually inconsistent ideas, the only force holding them together being their own individual attractions to them. But as I have thought about it, it seems to me that this is what all religions already are in one sense. They are collections of human thoughts held for no other reason than that they are comfortable. The are comfortable because what they actually do is protect…from the only truly valid claims of God.”

In this world we walk. And how we walk matters a lot. We walk with a mindset, either one that purely according to ourselves, our flesh, our own desires and wants or one that is according to the Spirit. Our own mindsets ruin us. We lack the ability to make ourselves happy. We need a massive change to take place in us. We need that change to sink deeper and deeper into our person. We need to be turned from a self-centered perspective to a God entranced perspective. Only Jesus can do that.

Martin Luther said we are beggars. We come to God with money we do not have. We come with nothing to offer and we acknowledge it and beg God to change us. The gospel is that change is possible. The joy is possible. That life and peace is possible. And that it is through Jesus. Jesus is able.

Jesus was not constrained by the insecurities and contaminations of sinful flesh, he was pure. Sent into this world as a God-man and lived a perfect life, the one we should have lived but couldn’t and can’t. Jesus, full of grace and truth, came into this world and walked and taught and shared and gave. A perfect example of love, a perfect example of non self-centered compassion. A perfect example of one’s who goal in life was to please God and sought his pleasure in worshipping the Almighty. Jesus, the God-man, the savior.

Jesus, the one who not only shows us a perfect example but offers his life for us. He dies on a cross, ending his life, dying the death we should have died in order that we might live the life we long to live but can’t. So turn to Jesus today. He is sufficient. Receive him and his Spirit into your hearts. Jesus Spirit is real and by belonging to him, his Spirit truly begins to change us. Where we have been weak and unable Jesus makes us able and empowers us. Where we have been dead and dry he brings life and creativity and vitality. Where their has been failure and frustration, Jesus Spirit brings a heart that loves and desires to please God.

This is our lives my friends. Our life is the gospel. The good news in our souls. Living and dying for Jesus over and over again. We seek not to create our own religion but to be caught up into the religion of Jesus. To take part in the wonder of his life and death and resurrection. With Jesus Spirit we begin to experience the true fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. With Jesus Spirit we begin to be freed from our patterns of self-destruction and self-worship.

My message is simple. It always comes down to Jesus. The gospel is simple. It is our need for a savior. For our kids, big ones and small ones, this is for you. You can’t do anything and be whatever you want to be when you grow up, but you can do and be who God wants you to be and if you are that then you will really be happy in life. So love Jesus, put him first, and his Spirit will help you become who he designed you to be.

Let’s pray.

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Romans 8:5-9 (ESV)
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Walking According to the Spirit (part I)
Romans 8:5-9

Introduction
I. Where we are in the book of Romans
II. In this world we walk
III. Beginning with verse 9 and the supernatural
IV. Two different walks compared
without Jesus’ Spirit with Jesus’ Spirit
“according to the flesh” “according to the Spirit”
- inability - ability
- cannot please God - please God
- hostility - peace
- death - life
V. Position, practice and conversion
Conclusion

Introduction

Good morning my friends and family. We have spent a month away from Romans, the book we are taking a few years to study here at The Resolved. It’s been a good month. We have been talking about how The Resolved Church is a church plant and why and what the vision is for this place and what we want to become and do in this city and what needs to happen for that to take place. Soon we are going to have sermon sets available on the book table, we have the first prototype of the last Romans series, “No Condemnation in Christ” available back there now. We are going to try and start to have more of those series available, like the “Inner Confliction and the Gospel” series” and the “Law and Gospel” series.

Hopefully, next week we’ll be able to have available, “The Resolved is a Church Plant” series with the audio and corresponding notes for the last three sermons. We are a church plant and believe God has some awesome things ahead for us and we need you. We are looking for people to partner with us for a time and commit to this church. If you missed some of those sermons, or you are kind of interested, I encourage you to hit up iTunes, to sign-up for our newsletter, and check it out.

So we are back in Romans today, which feels good. Romans to me is kind of like crawling into my nice warm bed when I am really tired, it can be one of the most comforting and encouraging books of the whole Bible. Other times it is like getting into a car accident because it shakes you and breaks you down and gets deep into the soul, tearing everything apart. Romans is a book that goes deep into the gospel and shows us layer after layer of how great Jesus is and what he has done for us and how that really really does change us. So let’s read today’s text and pray.

Romans 8:5-8 (ESV)
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Holy Father. I call you holy because that is what you are. You are unlike us in every regard. You are greater, wiser, kinder, and more perfect than we could ever dream. You are truly one, truly holy. Though you are greatly unlike us, we are made in your image, after you, in your likeness and because of Jesus, you know and understand us better than we do ourselves. God, we are sojourners here in this world. And you have given us this great and wonderful book as a guide. Help us today to read it and read it with understanding. You sent Jesus into this world for us, you have given us His Spirit, and this book tells that story and becomes the facilitator of life at work in us. Work life in us today. Where there is deadness and brokenness breath life. Save souls and may the powers and principalities of the world of the flesh be defeated in us as we meditate upon the power of the Spirit which is at work in us who follow Jesus. Jesus Christ is Lord, Amen.

I. Where we are in the book of Romans

The plan this morning is for us to sort of re-orient ourselves to Romans, since we’ve been gone from it for a little bit and because some of you may just be joining us. Then we’re going to start working with today’s text, what it says and what it means for us…and today we’ll probably get about half-way through it.

So Romans. It’s called Romans because it was written to one of the first churches in history in the great city of Rome. It was written in a time when it was said that the “world was being turned up-side down” by the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what we are hoping for and into doing, turning the world up-side down, beginning with San Diego. Romans was a big city and cities are key in doing that.

Romans is a book about God and his greatness, how truly glorious and wonderful and beautiful he is and how Jesus shows that supremely. In the beginning the book talks about creation and how all it points to God as the chief designer and how crazy awesome he is, but how humanity is pretty messed up because each of us individually and collectively, together as a race, are more into ourselves than God. That’s a big problem. And the problem goes deep.

So Paul, the human author, I say human because he says that God is the divine author behind his words, spends three chapters tells us how big of a problem that is. Then he spends another three chapters telling how great Jesus is and just exactly what God did in history in sending him and what happened when Jesus died on the cross and rose again and what that means for us. The core of it is that Jesus died on the cross as a representative for each of us individually and for the human race collectively as a sacrifice to God to pay the penalty for our disregard and self-focused adoration. Jesus rose again and in that guarantees and offers new life to us. That new life begins at the point in which we embrace and follow Jesus and it carries through into eternity.

If you want to picture Romans as a story, what happens at the point in the story when a person starts following Jesus is that after not too long, you realize that even though you are now with Jesus you discover you are still pretty messed up inside. It didn’t magically make you perfect. And so in chapter six he began breaking that down and explaining it to us. That took us through chapter seven and now in chapter eight he started talking about the Holy Spirit and how the spirit gives us great encouragement and assurance as believers in Jesus.

II. In this world we walk

Romans 8 is extremely practical. It is about life and how we live as followers of Jesus. Verse 4 of Romans 8 ended by saying that as followers of Jesus, we “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” We walk. In this world we walk. The Bible’s perspective is that this world is not permanent. Life is short. Eternity is long. And how we live effects eternity for us. Our time, however long you live here on this earth, whether it is 30, 40 or a hundred years, is a journey, it is a sojourn, a walk and how we walk will take us to one of two places, heaven or hell.

It is a walk, a journey. A journey of growth, of discovery, filled with seasons of joy, pain, discouragement, enlightenment, and fulfillment. Now you need to think about something. The Bible was written a long time ago. Which doesn’t mean that it is outdated and irrelevant, but it does mean it is easy to miss the practicality of its words.

In the first century, when this was written, people walked. Everywhere. No trains, no buses, no BMW’s or Mercedes and no beat up old cars. I’m pretty sure everyone drove sandals. And they didn’t wear Birkenstock’s with socks like people from the Northwest, or Locals, like people from Hawaii, or Rainbows like people from San Diego. They wore sandals…with a sole of wood fastened with straps of leather. Here is a picture of a 1st century sandal.

Walking was more common to life than anything. And this is what the first followers of Jesus did. Jesus shows up on the scene. Says, I am here, repent, the kingdom of God is at hand, believe in the gospel, and follow me. Some think he’s crazy, some think he is a liar, others figure he must be the Lord, so they quit their jobs and go walking with him.

They traipse all around Israel and the middle east for three years and at the end of those three years, Jesus gathers together his disciples and tells them he is going to die but he’ll rise again and then go to be with his Father in heaven and entrust them to do his work, but he says this important words,
“5…now I am going to him who sent me…7 I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged…13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you (John 16:5,7-11,13-14).”

This is where Romans 8 is. No doubt some of the people in the church of Rome had walked with Jesus and now Jesus was gone. Paul knows this, but he also knew Jesus words, and so here in Romans 8 he says, now we “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

So here is the beginning question for us today, how is your walk? Do you even realize that you are walking? Have you thought about where you are walking to? Or who you are walking with, if anyone? Are you aimlessly walking alone? Or are you walking with the Spirit of Jesus?

This is the picture we should have in our heads of what it means to be a Christian. Christians came about because they were followers of Christ. And today is no different, what makes a person a Christian is whether or not they are a follower of Christ. Whether our lives have become all about him or about something else. Whether we follow and do what he says and love the things he loves or whether we follow someone or something else and do what we want. Walking today with the Spirit of Jesus, that is what it is about.

III. Beginning with verse 9 and the supernatural

Jesus is clear in several places that this is His Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit, God himself, the Spirit who by his power and creativity made everything in this world. We are a church that believes in the Trinity, that the Father is God, Jesus is God, the Spirit is God, and the three are one and yet distinct at the same time.

The point for us today, here in this text is that the work spirit is “supernatural.” Christian living is supernatural. And by supernatural I don’t mean psychics, and telekinesis and palm reading and astral projection or levitating like Mitch from HBO’s new John from Cincinnati. I mean it involves a power that is above nature. Above our nature. Above the way that we are and normally act and react. Things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control do not come naturally to us, the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).

What comes naturally to us are things like sex, with whomever and whenever we like. Self-adoration and worship…the mirror and the opinion of others. Dissatisfaction and a disregard for God…a sense that he is not that important or at least not important enough to give much attention to in our lives. Jealousy and envy…always wanting more or wanting what other people have. Strife and divisions and anger…fighting with our spouses and with our friends and wars with co-workers, other business and wars with nations. These are the things that come naturally to us, the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). And apart from a work of the Spirit of God they will not change. We need Jesus. It begins with Him and his life and death imparted to us by His Spirit.

Look at verse 9, “You however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” That is a sobering phrase that ought to scare us. It means that when we find the lack of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, when we find what comes natural to us at work, it ought to cause us to cry out, Oh Jesus come! Change my heart. Come and dwell in me. This word dwell is the word, house. Come house in me. Make your home in me. Change me.

We begin our study of these verses with verse 9. Let me show you why. In verses 5-8, Paul is making comparisons between what it is to be according to the flesh versus according to the Spirit. He stacks reason upon reason. “For those who live…For the mind that is set on the flesh…For the flesh does not submit to God…” For, For, For…and the ground, the beginning of the “for” is verse 9, whether one has the Spirit of Christ or not.

So we are going to work somewhat backward and start at verse 9 and then look at Paul’s comparisons. So we begin with the question, what is the Spirit of Christ? And I am saying it is something supernatural. It is supernatural in three ways. I already alluded to the first way. That it is above our natures, our human natures. It is a different way. It goes against the flow of humanity and they way we are as people. What our natural inclinations and affections are. It is different. We may think we are loving or happy or kind and gentle people, but if we truly look at ourselves and ask what we mean by that, we find something far different the real things.

Love is not feeling aroused sexually or feeling pity for a poor man. Happiness is not something manufactured by some physical stimulant, like a pill or new TV. Being nice, is not kindness and gentleness but our social inhibitions that flow from pride. True loves cares for an enemy because you know you are the worst enemy of all, true joy springs from a soul that captures a vision of the glory of God and his sovereign care, true kindness and gentleness comes from a hardened heart that has been softened by the tender graces of God. Those things are not natural and they only come by getting close to Jesus. They are supernatural.

Here is the second way, Christian living, brought about by the Spirit of Christ, is supernatural. It is because it is rooted in the historical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a truly supernatural event. When Paul here calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Christ, he is referring to the same spirit as he is two verses later in verse 11, when he says it is “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead.”

Jesus death and resurrection was a supernatural event. People do not come back to life after being buried in a coffin in the earth for three days. It does not happen. You are not beaten to death with whips and crucified on a cross and hung to death and stabbed by a spear and come back to life. You don’t. Only the Holy Spirit can make that happen. The Spirit who made everything, who took dust from the ground and breath life into it and man became a living being. Only that supernatural spirit can do that.

And that is how true Christian living happens. When the Holy Spirit steps into our life and breaths resurrection power into our misdeeds of death and destruction. This is the gospel, death turned to life by Jesus. That will not happen on its own. It is not the human way. You cannot make it happen. It must come from something, someone greater. A Spirit who knows how to raise the dead.

Lastly, the third thing I mean by supernatural is mindset. You find it in nearly ever verse of our passage for today. Verse 5, the ones with “minds on the things of the flesh” and the ones with “minds on the things of the Spirit.” Verse 6, “the mind on the flesh is death” and “the mind on the Spirit is life.” And verse 7, “the mind on the flesh is hostile.” This is where our comparison of two different walks begin.

IV. Two different walks compared

We are not going to get into the comparison this week. That is next week. But I will set it up. What we are going to be looking at is what is entailed in being a person who is “according to the flesh” versus a person who is “according to the Spirit.” And the dividing line is the mindset which results from each state, from those who have the Spirit and from those who don’t.

When I say mindset, the word I am talking about is “mind.” It looks simple as “mind” in our verses, is not simple. It is a very difficult word to translate. And this is not the normal word for “mind.” This word is phroneo. You know a word is difficult to translate, when you look it up and you find a whole slew of possible translations.

Many Greek words are straightforward and simple. Zoe means life. Artos means bread. But not phroneo, which looks simple here and isn’t. Here are some possible translations: to think, to mind, to be of opinion, to take considered thought, to entertain sentiments or inclinations, to be minded, a frame of mind, to heed, to pay attention, to give regard to , to imagine, to concentrate on, to be devoted to, to have the mentality, to have the outlook, or to have the aspiration. This word is not easy.

John Calvin found it difficult to, he concluded it was “all the faculties of the soul – reason, understanding, and affections.” Perhaps the German idea of a weltanschauung, a worldview might do it. A set of beliefs and understandings of reality, a way of viewing the world. But it is more than a worldview. It is a life pursuit and a way thinking that effects your and feelings. All through the week I have been stuck on this word. Every day this I have woke up in the morning and prayed God, help me have the phroneo of the Spirit today and help me understand what that is.

I think it has something to do with the mind. We have an ability, especially those of us whom God’s Spirit is genuinely and truly working in, we have an ability to control our minds. That is why 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to “take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.” You can do that. And some of you guys especially need to learn how to do that, how to take your thoughts captive and not let certain pictures of women you are not married to enter your head. And some of you girls too need to learn how to take your thoughts captive so that you think less of how you look or how other girls look at you. So there is a piece about the mind…what you spend most of your time thinking about.

And some of you guys and girls alike, just are not thinking straight. You don’t think much at all and just live without any regard to where you headed or how you are living. And your whole mindset needs to change to where it is driven and directed by Jesus’ Spirit.

But it is even more than that, than just what you think about. It has to do with the actions or way of life you are devoted to. It’s the certain things you consider to be okay for you and the things you don’t. It is the way you live and the choices you make, there is action involved. And there is most certainly affection mixed up in all that. Jonathan Edwards says it well and captures it in his book, Religious Affections, when he says this about the mindset of the Spirit, it is…
“A holy disposition and spiritual taste, where grace is strong and lively, will enable the soul to determine what actions are right and becoming [of] Christians…He has as it were a spirit within him, that guides him; the habit of his mind is attended with a taste, by which he immediately relishes that air and mien which is benevolent, and disrelishes the contrary, and causes him to distinguish between one and the other in a moment…[It is ] the mind [having] a new taste or relish of beauty and sweetness.”

When I read things like that I shrink and realize I have much to learn. Having the mindset of Christ. To think and to act and to feel the way he does…mindset. Jesus’ mind. Think of Jesus. The God-man, walking around the middle east in sandals in the first century. And we are following him and watching him and listening to him. As he looks out across faces and across the plains of the desert and talks…what is his mindset. How does he see the world? What is it that drives him? What is he thinking and what motivates him to do and say such things? To live the way he does? The mindset of Jesus. That is what he leaves to us to be imparted inside us by His Spirit.

Conclusion

We’ll talk next week more about mindset, and what is to be according to the flesh and to be according to the Spirit and how to put that all together. But here is how I want to conclude today’s message. I want to conclude with a word of encouragement.

Some of you may not think there is anything wrong with you and you are doing fine on your own you really do not have much need for Jesus and his Spirit. When I think about that, it is my instinct to want to prod and to prick in hopes that you will see yourself in a more clear light so that you might see the true light and the glory of Christ Jesus, who knows you are far worse of than you ever dreamed but at the same time has more love and grace and compassion than you ever thought possible. That is my instinct, to try and break you down, so you will see your great need.

And there is certainly that tone with this text. The tone that says don’t be according to the flesh, be according to the Spirit his way is better and to tell you how much your way is not good at all. Don’t get me wrong. That is there, to challenge us and to show us what is good by showing us what is not good so that we will strive after purity, that is there. But I do not believe that is the main purpose of this text.

This text falls in the portion of the book of Romans after Paul has already talked about how the Christian is at times conflicted and has to wrestle and war against sin in his life. Now he is in the chapter of the book which is intended to give us great encouragement and hope and to tell us how wonderful the Spirit of God is that Jesus gives those who are his.

So this is what I think the main tone of the text is. It is to give relief and consolation to the saints. It can be a great obstacle for believers to turn to Jesus and to begin following him and then fail hard, sometimes seemingly way harder than they ever have. It can be crushing. If you find yourself pursuing Christ and you slip up and discover there is still much fleshly mindset and worldliness at work in you, it can be crushing. It can easily lead one to great despair, where you say “forget it” why even try.

I think this text is for you. This passage of Scripture announces with great authority and encouragement. That is not who you are and is not who you are destined to be finally and ultimately because you have been born of the Spirit of God. Jesus has given his spirit to you and it is a spirit of life and peace and pleasure in God. None in this world can yet be found to be wholly free of flesh and our author wants to provide hope to the faithful…to those who will hold on and not give in and give up. “You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.”

So here is some application. For you, the individual. Are you walking with Jesus? Have you begun to follow him? Have you embraced him as the soul saving sufficiency for your life? He died for you so that you might be supernaturally changed deep in your heart? Have you been honest with yourself and who you really are? If so, you know your need, and I am here today to tell you that Christ is sufficient. Embrace Jesus today. If you know that has never been a real reality in your life, turn to him this morning. Take communion with us as a church family. I am available for prayer at that back during communion. Come tell me and let me pray with you.

For individuals who have been following Jesus. We need the supernatural work of Jesus’ Spirit to change us. We need the true fruit of God’s Spirit to flow from our soul. We need deep heart work. We need to be changed and changed and changed by the gospel. There is a lot of heart work involved, there is a lot of mindset that needs to be changed, it takes time and gracious effort. Let us soften ourselves before our Lord today and have his Spirit work in us. May we be challenged and yet encouraged by the rejuvenating measures of his Spirit.

For parents, here is what this means for you. One, you can’t make your kids love God. They need a supernatural work of God’s Spirit. Jesus needs to dwell in your homes so that he can dwell in your children’s hearts. You need to teach them about Jesus. Two, it means you can’t be good parents. You need God’s Spirit to teach you. He needs to supernaturally change your heart so you react to your children right when they mess up, so that you demonstrate a good example of a husband and wife before them, so that you have the patience and understanding they need. Those things don’t come naturally. So dwell with Jesus and walk in his ways for sake of your kids.

Kids, here is what today’s message means for you. Life is like a trip, it is kind of like a very long walk. So you need to know where you are trying to walk to and who you are going to walk with. If you walk with Jesus he will take you to the only place where there is true peace, where you won’t have anything to worry about or be scared of. So walk with Jesus and not on your own, don’t go your own way.

Church family, here is what it means for us as a community. We are on a walk together here in San Diego. We are here for a time and we are here for such a time as this, to plant a glory driven, gospel centered, city within the city. This text tells us we can’t do that. We need a supernatural work of God to take place. Jesus’ Spirit must come and take his rightful place in us as a group. It must be all about him. For his glory, for his gospel, and when that happens we will see this city change. We must let Jesus and his person and his work and his values be the thing that drives us. We need to be committed to his mission. The way we do that is by inviting friends and neighbors into our lives, getting to know and understand them so we can share the gospel with them. We do it by inviting them to worship with us and being committed to worshipping ourselves, every week. We do that by giving our money and giving out of our heart of love and devotion to him instead of whether or not we think it will be spent correctly or whether we will have enough. We need to allow Jesus’ Spirit to permeate our mindset and overtake every area of our lives, thought, and practice. Jesus is everything.

Let’s pray.

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  Listen       Read        Part 1  |  Romans 8:1
  Listen       Read        Part 2  |  Romans 8:1
  Listen       Read        Part 3  |  Romans 8:1-4
  Listen       Read        Part 4  |  Romans 8:1-4
  Listen       Read        Part 5  |  Romans 8:1-4,11

Listen 
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:: The Resolved Church :: June 24th, 2007

Romans 8:1-4, 11 “1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit…11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

“No Condemnation in Christ (part V)”
Romans 8:1-4, 11

I. Jesus is Justification – passive righteousness
II. Jesus is Transformation – active righteousness
III. Jesus is Risen King – fulfilled righteousness

introduction

Good morning. Let’s read our text from the Word of God this morning and pray. God, your Word towers above us. Draw us up from the dust and from the muck and the mire and enable us to be captured by person of Jesus who breathes through these words. Mere reminders, mere speculations, mere facts, mere spirituality is not enough…we need. We are here because we need. We have nothing to offer and so we beg. Give, give to us freely without charge. We come not to ask for a loan or to borrow anything. We come to beg and say give. Give to us for we have nothing to offer. Give us Christ. May we know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering and may we be ignited in a love and a passion and a dedication to his gospel and his glory in this city. Great Father in heaven condescend to us today as we plead with you by wrestling with your words. Holy Spirit of God, this is your book. May you be pleased with how we handle it today. Amen.

This is our fifth and final sermon in the part of our Romans 8 study called the “No Condemnation in Christ” series. Five sermons now, driven by the power and the weight of these amazing words, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Powerful, powerful words. They go deep. Deep into things like guilt, forgiveness, freedom, and faith. Deep into the person and work of Jesus.

In the first three sermons we had been working with all the different issues these words bring up in these first four verses of chapter 8. And then last week, we took a turn and began to just start talking about who Jesus is because it is all dependent upon being “in Christ.” All the benefits of the gospel, freedom from guilt, being able to receive and reciprocate forgiveness, to have assurance and faith and to get through hard times in life and be okay…is all dependant upon being “in Christ.” So who Christ is matter a lot.

But that is not so easy, because who is Christ, who is Jesus really? Sometimes it seems as though everyone has got their own Jesus and he is really just whoever you want him to be. I spend most my time during the week hiding out in a garage full of spiders that I converted into an office and so sometimes I feel kind of like some weirdo that is hiding out in a cave and I feel pretty detached from the world. So one of the things I like to do is look up things that I am preaching on by doing google searches to try and get an idea of what the rest of the world thinks about it. So in this case, Jesus.

Two interesting things this time around. First, when you just type in Jesus on google right now the third site from the top is called “Jesus Dress Up!” And when you go to the site there is a naked Jesus on a cross and then all over the rest of the webpage are all these different clothes and accessories you can drag with your mouse and then drop on top of Jesus. I’m sure it is probably blasphemous or something but I have to admit I couldn’t help but smile as I put headphones and a walkman on Jesus. J Then I began to think about it and what a vivid example it is of what we do with Jesus. We think we can Jesus can just be whoever we want to be and whoever he really is doesn’t matter a whole lot to us.

That was the first interesting thing I found. The other interesting thing was on Google news, where there was a UTUBE clip from an NBC news reporter who said this, “Bloggers are now calling Apple’s new iPhone, the ‘Jesus Phone’ and it may be the most anticipated consumer product in the history of time.” And it’s creator, Steve Jobs, the founder and president of Apple is being called iGod. So my sermon today is about how if you want to be a Christian then you better go buy the iphone because otherwise there is no hope for you. J

My real concern, is a deeply spiritual one, because I think it matter a lot who Jesus is. Who each of us individually believes Jesus really is. If he is the focus and center of our life or not. And if he is, then what that means to us. So last week we looked at three things from our passage of Scripture, one that Jesus was sent by God, two that Jesus is God, and three that Jesus is also at the same time man, and we talked about how each of those things are extremely significant for us. Today we’ll look at how Jesus is our justification, our transformation, and is the risen king.

I. Jesus is Justification – passive righteousness

Let’s begin with the first point, “Jesus is Justification – passive righteousness.” First, let me explain that statement then I’ll show you where I get it from the text. I’d use another word if I could, because I know that for some of you any words that have more than four letters, it just kind of goes right by. We had film & theology night Friday night at our house and watched “Stranger than Fiction” on the big projector screen outside and then had a discussion about it afterwards. Only two girls were there and my wife said that is because girls don’t like things with the word “theology” in it. J So, I’m sorry girls, if there was a better word I’d use it, but there isn’t, so just give me a chance.

Justification. Paul, the human author of Romans, doesn’t use the word here in these verses but he has used it a bunch earlier in the book to explain the core of what the gospel of Jesus Christ is and then he has been referring to it ever since. When we talk about justification we are talking about getting just or right with God. The gospel of Jesus says that all humans are messed up and that the reason we are messed up is because we all have a problem with God and our problem is that we can’t get just or right with him on our own no matter how hard we try.

The Bible’s perspective is that the human person is not just skin and bones and biological functions and neurons and synapses firing and fluids moving around…but that we each have a soul, the seat of who we really are. That there is a part of us who is really a person, that we have a personality, and that our thoughts and emotions and wills are not merely just mechanical motions that respond to their environment. That we are real beings and that we have a soul and that the core part of who we are is who we are in relation to God and that we can’t get away from that even though we try to ignore it and cover it up a lot of the time.

So that’s justification. But there is this other part I put up there, the sub-point, “passive righteousness.” Let me explain that. That’s another technical theological phrase, but I think I can help it make sense to you because not all technical stuff makes things more complicated, some make it easier.

So passive righteousness. This is a reference to Jesus on the cross and it’s connection to our justification, getting right with God. To help it make sense to us, let me back up and just kind of set up the whole deal of Jesus and the cross. The Bible’s view, the Christian gospel worldview, is one that looks across at the whole scope and history of time and says it is all one story, like a movie or a book that has a beginning, middle climax, and end…all of human history, and earth and everything is one big, real, story.

And then it looks at Jesus, at the time when God sent Jesus into the world (that was last week), as the peak or the pinnacle of the story. And then it takes the specific point in Jesus life when he dies on the cross and looks at that and says that moment is the highest climax of the story. It says that Jesus dying on the cross is the most significant thing that has ever happened. Greater and more important than that had ever happened before or will ever happen after it. Greater than creation itself and greater than all the things to come. Meaning, and history, and everything meets its highest mark in Jesus on the cross.

So passive is a reference to Jesus on the cross and the mystery of how when Jesus died on the cross something was happening, there was a transaction occurring between God the Father and God the Son, in order to do something for humans who trust and follow Jesus. Passive is saying, we, each of us individually had nothing to do with that, but there is a way that we can become connected to it.

Passive says that each of us individually have no righteousness of our own. We are messed up. We are not perfect. Our rightness is a big mix of screw-ups and uncertainty. Passive says we do nothing, but Jesus did something for us and our standing or our rightness before God. If you imagine courts in heaven…you know a big, high, dark wood bench sitting on clouds and all of humanity and every human throughout all time is being charged in the court of for their guilt, Jesus approaches the bench and offers his perfection as the only human truly perfect, free of any of his own guilt, and offers his death, worth a value of eternity since he is God, he offers it to the judge and God the Father accepts it. That is passive righteousness, Jesus offering himself and his death on the cross to God as a payment for our sins.

So passive righteousness, says we standing on our own, alone, apart from Jesus, we are guilty, but it we trust and follow Jesus and receive his sacrifice on the cross as our own then our standing, our eternal destiny, the mark that lies upon us in the courtroom of heaven…is not guilty, free, and totally right and just before God. So passive righteousness really deals with the eternal state of who we are and by eternal I don’t just mean future…what happens when we die. That is included but it is more than that…it is the spiritual state or relationship that we have with God based on whether or not we have embrace Christ.

This is who Jesus is. Jesus was sent by God, Jesus was God himself, Jesus was fully man, and the reason he was sent and came as a God-man was to die on a cross so that he could provide righteousness or justification for men and women. So when we talk about who Jesus is. This is it. If it is not that Jesus it is a different Jesus. Jesus is the Jesus of justification.

Let me show you in the text. Look at verse 3, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” Where it says, “what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do” is a reference to the grand story. The law, in the arc of time, in showing the way that God has revealed himself both through a sense of right and wrong and a religious text to explain it…no one could follow it perfect and get themselves right with God.

Then, this key phrase, “and for sin, he (God) condemned sin in the flesh.” Who’s flesh, verse 3 tells us, “(God’s) Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” God’s Son is Jesus. So how did God condemn sin in flesh in Jesus? Listen to Paul in another book he wrote called Ephesians, “For he (Jesus) himself is our peace, who has…broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law…so making peace and might reconcile us…to God…through the cross, thereby killing the hostility (Eph 2:14-16).” So it’s the cross, with Jesus hanging on it and dying and in that making a transaction with God in the courtroom of heaven.

Do you guys see that in there? The hard thing about going through a book and taking the words seriously, is when you focus in on something it is easy to lose the big picture. So I’ve tried to give you the big picture today and then show you how it comes to a point in this text. This is the deal. Jesus identity, who Jesus is, is a sent God-man who died on a cross. And what makes Jesus’ death on the cross significant is saying that when Jesus was dying on the cross he wasn’t just dying on the cross but there was something happening. Passively, he was acquiring righteousness for us!

So, how do you take that in? I think this is how you do it…you begin with yourself. In an honest analysis of yourself you have to come to the conclusion that you are not really that good especially not good enough for God. Then you turn to Jesus, and then you adopt his death on the cross as your identity. Who I am as Duane Smets becomes one who, when it comes to God in heaven, stands in the righteousness of Jesus on the cross alone.

My identity becomes one “in Christ.” So Jesus does not become my 401K, instead he becomes who I am. All my spirituality, all my person, all of who I am as a real human in relation to God becomes Jesus. I am passive, no action or activity on my part, but through Jesus cross, I become a beneficiary. And peace, and rightness with God and all the love and grace and freedom that flow from that become mine.

II. Jesus is Transformation – active righteousness

Let’s talk about how “Jesus is Transformation – active righteousness.” If how Jesus is our justification, our passive righteousness, is unclear to you maybe it may become clearer as we talk about transformation and how he is our active righteousness.

Verse 4 says that there is an effect of Jesus being one’s justification or passive righteousness. It says that for those who truly embrace Christ, those who are truly in Him and claim him as their identity then there is a purpose…listen to verse 4, “(God did this) in order that that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Two things, one is that phrase, “the law might be fulfilled in us” and the other is this word “walk.” The law, is works, Jesus called them fruit, we couldn’t do enough good works and so Jesus does the supreme work for us on the cross and then what happens, then law gets fulfilled…suddenly we become able to do meaningful things in our life. I say that because of the word “walk.” Some translations jump to interpretation and have the word “live” because that is the idea that the word is getting at.

The problem is that then you miss the analogy that life is like a journey you are walking through and how you walk, that is how you live, matters. I believe what verse 4 is getting at is transformed behavior that comes as the result of being connected to Jesus, the result of being in Christ. I say that because the word “walk” has to do with real life and because Romans 8 is going to go on talk for 13 more verses about how we live, now, today, in this life, in light of being connected to Jesus and the way it talks about that is walking according to the Spirit versus according to the flesh.

Okay, so I called my second point “Jesus is transformation: active righteousness.” What the phrase active righteousness is saying is that what happens in that transaction in heaven between God and Jesus and what happens when we as individuals get connected to that…is that it has a deep effect in us in how we live. It says that Jesus righteousness not only provides a basis for God to deal with our guilt passively but also to deal with the guts of our daily life, actively, here and now. Our person begins to change, to transform.

Being connected to Jesus becomes a life source. Jesus explains this divinely enabled transformation as being like a tree branch connected to a vine. Before Jesus died he was hanging out with his followers and he washed their feet and was telling them he was going to go and die but not to be afraid but believe in him because it is the only way and only hope and then he breaks into this story, he says this,
“I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser…Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown in the fire and burned…By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept the Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:1,4-6,8-11).”
Now there is a lot in there…but here is the main theme, abiding in Jesus changes and empowers you. This is the gospel, it is Jesus on the cross and it affecting you now and for eternity.

Jesus is saying that he is practical. Believing in Jesus not just some high and good philosophy, thought it is sound philosophy, believing in Jesus is not just some good moral code, though it is perfect morality. Believing in Jesus is something that is real that really happens in the courtroom of heaven and it really changes you deep in the inside and it begins to show itself in how you live.

This is what it is saying…the gospel changes you, it really changes you. I am telling you, I am a different person since I started believing in Jesus and I’m not talking just talking about how I quit doing drugs and getting drunk and all that stuff, I mean I am a different person deep down in who I am. What I think and feel about things, how I react to things, the things I care about and pursue…I am different. The gospel is changing me.

That is what happens when you are “in Christ” change. If Jesus becomes your identity then in life, he becomes everything. And life has a lot of ups and downs and I think God designs it that ways so that we will grow and become transformed, because that is how Jesus active righteousness gets played out and applied in our lives. I’ll tell you a secret, my week sucked. For three days I was bleeding profusely out of my mouth filling up cups of blood because of dental procedure I had done on Tuesday went wrong and on top of it all, God just seemed really distant and detached all week and my times with God in the morning reading the Bible and praying were just dead and dry.

But let me share with you how the gospel changes me, all I want is Jesus. My reaction to life, is a desire for Jesus. For three days in a row I’ve told Amy in the morning, I just have no passion. But my response no longer is just to chuck and say forget it. I am different. When things go wrong or rather when they don’t go the way I want them to, like when birds are scraping around in the ceiling and chirping when I’m trying to preach…I am learning how to trust Jesus and grow up in Him. When my wife is 5 months pregnant and I don’t know how to be a good husband, I am learning how the gospel shows me how I can’t be a good husband but with Jesus I can be everything my wife needs me to be.

How is the gospel changing you? Seriously, I mean it. Are you changing? Just stop right now in your head and think for a second about who you are becoming as a person. (pause) What are you learning or growing in? How are you finding a greater and deeper connection and dependency on Jesus? If you don’t find anything there, maybe you need to the cross for the first time or go back to the cross and get connected with Jesus, if you’ve been there before. Sometimes we have to do that and do that and do that again and again. In 1 Corinthians 2:2 Paul said, “I resolved to nothing…except Christ and him crucified.”

III. Jesus is Risen King – fulfilled righteousness

Well, we have one more point for this morning, one more thing about Jesus that is essential for us if we are to have a real understanding of who the real Jesus is and that is “Jesus is Risen King – fulfilled righteousness.”

We’ve talked a lot this morning about the cross and how that effects both our standing before God and who we are and are becoming in this life if we are “in Christ.” But if Jesus just died and that is it, end of story, then it is incomplete…we don’t have the full Jesus and the Jesus we would just have a dead Jesus and no guarantee that God accepted Jesus’ payment on the cross and there could then be no real hope for change or new life.

Let’s read verse 11 of Romans 8. Now I know we are skipping six verses, don’t worry, we’ll study them, not this morning…but we need verse 11 to complete our picture of who this Jesus is we’re talking about. Verse 11 says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” This is similar to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 when he said, “If Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your faith is in vain…(for) if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins (1 Cor 15:14,17).”

Here is the logic of it. We began talking about how none of us can get right with God on our own because we are messed up with sin. Sin leads to death and no one wants death whether it is eternal death or even just the experience of spiritual and emotional death in this life that comes from being separated from God.

The logic goes like this, if our problem is we are not good enough but Jesus is good enough and if our problem is death and eternity but Jesus is life and eternal then Jesus is the answer, his payment on the cross should be sufficient for God to pay the penalty we owe in our place. If so then God will grant us life and give us assurance that such an offer is real by granting Jesus new life. If Jesus stays dead, then it is as if something went wrong and it didn’t work. Jesus rising from the dead is the guarantee that it is true and real. That a real transaction in heaven did take place and that there is and can be new life for individual who believe in Jesus. That’s the logic of Jesus resurrection.

Now, I know for our western minds who have never seen or experienced a true miracle this just sounds ludicrous…a person rising from the dead. Now, there is a lot of evidence you can look into about the resurrection of Jesus…but I’ll just put this one thing out there. If there is a God, then wouldn’t it be possible for him to do such a thing? And if Jesus was really God, and if what happened on the cross is really what the Bible says happened, then isn’t Jesus rising from the dead exactly what we would expect such a God to do? And if Jesus really rose from the dead and if Jesus really is the pinnacle of all of history wouldn’t we expect that to be a very special and spectacular event?

I got in a conversation with a new friend this week who isn’t a Christian and the main hang up he had was not so much that there is a God but all the supposed miracles in the Bible. So I chose not to get all into whether everything the Bible said happened or not but just chose to talk about Jesus and his resurrection. And I said this to him, I said, “If Jesus really rose, wouldn’t that have been the most amazing thing to happen in all of history? And if Jesus was really as good as he sounds in the gospels then would that make you want to follow him and give you hope?” My new friend answered, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Here is the practicality of it. If the resurrection makes sense logically, that’s one thing but is there anything practical to it? I think so. And I think it comes to us in two ways. One, making your life all about some dead guy just doesn’t make sense. We were talking about heroes and how we seem to be made as humans to love and adore them. We don’t want a dead hero. We want one who wins and overcomes and is powerful and mighty and strong. We don’t want some weak pathetic beat up panzy. We want a victorious and righteous king. Someone who is worthy of our following.

In the very beginning of Romans Paul starts off talking about Jesus and right away mentions his mighty resurrection, listen, he says Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” A risen Jesus gives us true hope.

That is the second way I think it comes to us…in the way where we think about the future. Since Jesus rose it gives us a real and grounded belief that there can really be hope for us. That new life can be possible in this life and the life to come. That we can rise up out of the darkness and despair that sometimes blankets us. That in the middle of disease and death and pain and hurt and tragedy that there is one who conquered it all, Jesus, our Lord and Savior and he paved the way for us. He has made a way for new life here and now and in the life to come. There becomes hope for today and hope for eternity. Jesus, our risen King!

And this becomes our love and our longing. As we embrace Christ as our righteousness both in heaven above and here in life below and as we find much strength and hope and encouragement in the resurrection of our Lord something happens. We fall deeper and deeper in love with Christ. It truly becomes as Saint Peter says it, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

And then we just long for Jesus more and more and anxiously await the consummation of all things when he will return in all his full array of divine splendor. There is a song written by this worship band that must have been born out of the 90’s buttrock movement…but the words are great and resonate with something deep inside me. The song is called the “Glory of the Lamb.” Listen to some of its words:
“A day is coming, coming soon, when we shall see your face. And how our hearts are yearning for that outpouring of grace. When you take all the galaxies and roll them up like a scroll, when you make heaven and earth anew and eternity unfolds. Then the glory of the Lamb will be all that we have longed to see and we’ll praise your splendor, majesty and might. There will be no darkness, be no night, we won’t need the sun or moon to shine for the glory of Lamb will be our light.”

I long to see Jesus. I’m not just saying it. I really believe this stuff. Maybe you think I’m crazy. Fine. But I’m telling you I’m not. I’m not someone who gets all hyped on religious experience…I’m a philosophy kid. But I not only think the gospel is good philosophy but I believe this stuff with all my heart. I know it is real. I’m telling you I know Jesus. And there is nothing that you or anyone else could say or anything that could happen in my life to convince me otherwise. (pause) Do you believe it?

conclusion

Let’s conclude. There is a simplicity and a complexity to the gospel. The simplicity part is that we all have a deep need and that need is Jesus and he is sufficient to meet our need. The complexity part comes to understanding the layers and layers to the greatness of Christ and all that he has done for us…it is inexhaustible.

In conclusion, let me just probe and challenge us. Do you see yourself, when you think of who you are, do you see yourself and someone “in Christ?” When you think of the cross of Jesus do you think of it personally, him dying for you in your place and offering it to God? Do you think of yourself standing behind him in his blood as your hope for God and heaven?

Do you really believe the gospel? Is it transforming you? How do you find yourself growing and changing? Or do you only think of coming to the gospel as something that occurred in the past? Are you believing and following the gospel? Constant dying and rising, confessing sin and receiving forgiveness and pursuing and striving for Christ with all your might?

Do you know the risen savior? The one who conquered death, hell, and the grave? Do you love and long for and shrink in awe of him? Do you find hope and encouragement in the victorious resurrection of Christ?

My pleading today for you is that you would put your faith in Christ with all that you have. If you have never determined in your heart that he is it and given your strength away to follow him…do it. Resolve in your heart to hear the voice of Christ and cast away all your own strivings as worthless and receive his work on the cross as your all. Make who you are not so much about what makes you different, the interests and talents that God has given you, but make it your goal to demonstrate your identity as one who is “in Christ.”

The second thing I beg of you is not to just sit on that. Not to just assume you are “in Christ” and make no effort to live in a way that reflects him and his righteousness. Make hard decisions against things you know are sin. Cast them away in the cross and allow the gospel to change you and transform you deep within. Don’t let anything hinder Christ from working in you…abide in Jesus and strive to bear fruit. Don’t just pay your spiritual dues. Strive and strive.

Third, know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. There is a love and a tenderness and a hope in the risen Christ that defies the laws of nature and is stronger than any medicine and any spiritual method. Know that Christ is risen and he is victorious and that there is great assurance to be found in him, for he is worthy king.

And lastly, for the kids, big and small alike. Today’s sermon is about how when Jesus died on the cross he made a deal with God for you, so that believe in Jesus God will always look on you with kindness. And not only that, but on the cross Jesus did something so that as you grow up you will become more and more like Jesus. And then on top of it all, Jesus rose from the dead, so that you can be sure that he loves you and is alive and will do all the things for you he promises.

Let’s pray.

Listen 
.

The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990 | contact@theresolved.com
All Rights Reserved © The Resolved Church

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:: The Resolved Church :: June 17th, 2007

Romans 8:1-4 “1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

“No Condemnation in Christ (part IV)”
Romans 8:1-4

I. Jesus is the Sent Messiah
II. Jesus is the Son of God
III. Jesus is the Likeness of Man

introduction

Read text and pray. Holy Father in heaven, today our greatest need is to see Jesus with the eyes of understanding and the heart of adoration. That can only happen if your Holy Spirit comes and opens us up to see that and to be affected by it. There are so many ideas of Jesus running around today but what we need is the Jesus we read of in your book. Impart Jesus Christ to us today my God. May my words as your preacher be gasoline on the wood of your truth, come and light the fire today. Glorify your Son. Show us a glimmer of light out of the infinite array of his wonder. In his majestic name, Amen.

Jesus. Who is Jesus? Currently, some think his bones are in a box along with those of his children made with Mary Magdalene, the whore he had compassion on in the gospels. Some think he was the wise sage, the great pacifist, like Gandhi or a bodhisattva like Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. Others claim him as their cause, leading the charge of war on culture, nations, and all who reject truth. Then there are those who think Jesus is like Bob Marley and likes to get high and it’s spiritual man, so it’s good. For others Jesus is merely a good luck charm and you can buy him at Urban Outfitters and stick him on your dash, say a prayer when you need something, and praise him when you pocket cash. Then for many, Jesus is merely a word to curse when you are mad and things do not go your way. Who is Jesus? Who is the Jesus of the gospel? Who is Jesus really?

No matter how you cut it, every person in this room, in this city, in most all places across the world…everyone believes something about Jesus and what you believe is based upon someone’s words about him. Whether it is conversations, or TV, or books…you listen to or read something about Jesus and then decide to accept a view. What I want to plead with you for today is for you to hear about who Jesus is from what God says about him. If there is a God and that God is knowable in any kind of tangible sense he would have to make the choice to make himself known to us. The Bible claims to be God’s book, written by the breath or the Spirit of God through human authors, where God makes himself known to us and it is the only book that under analysis can stand up to such a claim.

Maybe you are not ready to accept that everything in this book is true. Fine. That’s okay. Weigh it out and study it. But at least hear what the text we have been studying in Romans says about who Jesus is. Hear it out. This is our fourth sermon studying all that is entailed in the claim of 8:1 that there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” And we have talked about a lot of things so far: condemnation, conversion, wrath, discipline, guilt, forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, new life, freedom, faith and every thing we have talked about has been about Jesus.

You might have notice but a few months ago I made a decision to make sure I said the name of Jesus a lot. Because everything is about Jesus. That little phrase on the banner up on the wall, “gospel centered.” That is what that is about, Jesus, His gospel, the good news about Jesus. It is very easy for us to just slip into “spirituality” and talk of vague notions about God. But to talk about Jesus bring the gospel to the forefront. There is very little wiggle room when it comes to Jesus.

Now, Paul in the book of Romans has already said a ton about Jesus. Jesus is not some new subject he is bringing up. But it is remarkable how four key things of who Jesus is show up in the these first four verses of Romans chapter eight. And since the whole thrust of the possibility of there being no condemnation is dependant on being “in Christ” then it matters a lot who this Christ is. So I want to devote a two whole sermons to who Jesus is in Romans 8:1-4, this week seeing that he is the sent messiah, the son of God, the likeness of man.

I. Jesus is the Sent Messiah

We begin with Jesus as the sent messiah. Verse 3 says, God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do, by sending his own son. The law, doing things right, living a perfect life, being a moral person…all these things were insufficient and unable to make a person right with God. The law, because of sin, which occurs in all humans, makes us all weak and unable to get right with God through the law. So God sent his Son.

That Jesus was sent by God is extremely significant to the identity of who Jesus is. One of the most famous passages in the Bible, John 3:16 announces this, “For God so loved the world that he sent or gave his one and only son so that whoever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life.” Or consider, 1 John 4:9 which says, “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only unique Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” The word “sent,” the idea of God sending his Son is a reference to the promise made by God that one day he would send a savior into the world.

After the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi was given there were 400 years when there was there was no prophet until John the Baptist and Jesus showed up on the scene. Sometimes that time frame is called the 400 years of silence. So listen to one of the last verses of the Old Testament before the 400 years of silence that happens until Jesus comes. Malachi 3:1, “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.” So you see identifying Jesus as one who was sent is a huge claim.

Now there is something else. When we refer to Jesus as Jesus Christ, we are referring to him as one who was sent because the word Christ is not a last name, it’s a title. Christ means messiah and a Christ or messiah is an anointed one, a deliverer, or savior. Christ is an acknowledgment that Jesus is the one sent by God to be the savior. Jesus is the anointed savior sent by God. That is what we are saying when we say Jesus Christ.

So let’s talk a little bit about ancient and modern day messiahs. During the first century when this was written you got two main groups of people reading these words, Jews and Greco-Romans. Now for the Jews, they had lived in their land for that 400 years under the rulership of another empire. They had fond memories of being a strong, rich, and powerful nation but it was all taken away in 597 BC the Babylonians came and crushed the last Jewish outpost in Judah. Now 400 years is a long time. How many of you can even think back to how things were 100 years ago. But the Jews had strong, rich, family traditions and told many stories and read their Bibles and they put their hope in the promised messiah to be sent by God.

During those 400 years there were brief periods of independence brought about by hopeful messiahs and proclaimers of salvation for Israel. One revolt, led by a want to be Messiah, Simeon bar Kochba, even lasted long enough for them to make some coins which testify of their intense longing for salvation. They took Roman coins and stamped over the original Roman stampings the phrase “salvation of Zion” and “the first year of the salvation of Israel.” But it did not take Rome long to send more troops and crush the rebellion. So what you have is the Jews longing for a Messiah, a savior, a deliverer who will come and somehow lead some massive revolt against their captors and bring Israel to a place of glory once again.

How about the other group, the Greco-Romans? The ones who ruled over Israel for hundreds of years. It’s interesting. They called their emperor, the Ceaser, sometimes they called him Christ. The Roman emperor was seen as the divine leader, sent by the gods to be the savior of the world through conquering it with his military might. The world was seen as defective and in need of the Roman way of life, which was better and more right in their eyes.

So that some stuff about ancient messiahs. What about modern day ones? What is the perception of messiah in our culture? What is it or who is it that people in our day and time look to for hope, for salvation? Presidents? Thinking that somehow they can bring the needed peace or prosperity that we long for?

How about just in life? It is interesting that a key component of a successful movie or often what makes a movie a movie is to have some sort of hero, some sort of Christ figure in it. Some central character who ends up saving the day or doing something significant in his own life or the lives of those around him. Amy and I just rented and watched the movie “Apocalytpto.” Actually, Amy closed her eyes through most of it. J But the hero of the story is a native who ends up calling himself “Jaguar Paw” who ends up escaping from this tribe of warriors who had taken him captive for the purpose of sacrificing him to the gods. And so he escapes in order to go back to his destroyed village and save his wife and children and take them to a new place to start a new life.

We love heroes don’t we? Whether it’s Johnny Depp as a pirate, Will Farrell as a figure skater, or Tony Soprano the mob boss…we love heroes. We love and long for heroes just as the ancient Jews and Greco-Romans did. I believe that is because we were made to love heroes…made to love one particular hero, Jesus Christ. We are beings made for worship, for the worship of Jesus, the Christ, our savior. And all other stories about heroes and saviors and those who redeem and deliver people…we love all those stories we love because they reflect the great salvation of Jesus Christ who was sent by God.

Jesus was sent by God, but he was sent not to be just a political and military savior. He is that as well and will show himself to be so one day, but Jesus was first sent for something greater, the salvation of our souls. That must come first. It is what the Jews and the Greco-Romans missed in their messianic expectations and hopes. They missed that life isn’t so much first and foremost about food and clothes and one’s physical well being…but it is about our spiritual well-being and whether we are right with God. For one cannot even experience things like peace and prosperity if the soul is at unrest.

Jesus was sent by God to truly save us that our restless heart might find rest in him…sent to deal with our condemnation. That must come first, a coming of Jesus, sent to deal with our sin and provide a way of salvation before that one great day when Jesus will come again. The next time sent by God to unveil all his divine glory and might and judge and to make all the nations nothing and world will have its great end and all will fall before Jesus either in worship or in defeat.

II. Jesus is the Son of God

Let’s move on this morning to our second point, “Jesus is the Son of God.” Verse 3 again, ” God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son…” Law was deficient, it cannot and was not intended to save us…God had to demonstrate that to us so we would know our great need for his son. What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God? What does the Bible mean when it calls Jesus the Son of God?

Does it mean that God is a man like us and that he procreated and gave birth to a son? No. John 4:24 says God is a Spirit. God has no arms or legs or feet or hands or head. Sometimes we might try and use the analogy of our bodies to describe the character of God but God is far greater than any more physical body…no such thing could ever contain him.

Does it mean that Jesus is just a created human being like you and I and that we are all sons of God? No. I quoted John 3:16 earlier that “God gave his one and only son.” The old King James Version says “only begotten.” The Greek word behind that phrase “one and only son” or “only begotten son” is monogenes, it means “only unique.” That means that Jesus was a Son of God in a different way than anyone else is a son of God. Yes, we are all sons of God because ultimately everything traces back to God, but that is not how Jesus is the Son of God.

Does it mean then that Jesus is a little God? That there is a big God and then there is his son, a littler version of God? No. Colossians 2:9 says that in Jesus “all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.” And a few verses before that Colossians says Jesus is “the image of the invisible God…by him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible…all things have been created through him and for him (Colossians 1:15-16).” Hebrews 1 recognizes Jesus as the eternal son of God and says Jesus is “the radiance of (God’s glory) and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power (Heb 1:3).”

These verses teach that Jesus is truly God and was there before the foundation of the world and spoke into existence the starts in the sky and put the moon in place and created all that are eyes have ever seen. That’s Jesus the Son of God. Jesus being called the son of God is marking him as deity. So then this Scripture in Romans, this Jesus, the one sent by God, is telling us that Jesus was God himself, fully God.

And this is what Jesus demonstrated in his life. These kind of attributes. That he was God, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good. Jesus meets a woman at a well for the first time and he is able to tell her all the intimate details of her life…all-knowing. Jesus is asleep on a boat and a storm comes up and Jesus wakes up and puts his face in the wind and speaks and commands the wind and the rain and the waves to stop and they obey…all-powerful. Jesus time and time again extends his hand of compassion to the unloved, lepers, the blind, the deaf and dumb, prostitutes, drunks, thieves…all-good. Jesus as the son of God means this, Jesus is God.

Do you think of Jesus as God? Because I think we have a great tendency to want to pull Jesus down to our level and to only see him merely as human or at best some glorified human, some great human like Gandhi or some humanitarian or one of the great saints…but no, Jesus is God himself.

This is the only kind of Jesus that could make it so there is no condemnation. One whose life is eternal, has an eternal infinite value to it because he is God and thus the worth of his life given on the cross is able to pay the eternal debt of condemnation that is owed to God’s justice for the offense of sin by humans. Do you see why God sent his son? Why it is important that Jesus is fully God? Our condemnation is too great. It is so great that the only option is for us to either pay the condemnation ourselves by suffering eternally or to have the eternal son of God suffer in our place. Do you see your need for God’s son?

III. Jesus is the Likeness of Man

Our last point for this morning, “Jesus is the Likeness of Man.” The last part of verse three, “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” I get the phrase likeness of man because I think when verse three says flesh, it is a reference to the physical bodies of humans and in particular Jesus’ body. I see that phrase “condemned sin in the flesh” as a reference to the cross where Jesus offered up his body and blood. Thus, I see the phrase “likeness of sinful flesh” as a reference to Jesus being fully man, where Jesus took on a post-fall human body that felt hunger and pain because of the corruption of sin.

I think Philippians 2:5-8 will help us here. Philippians 2 is another book that Paul, the author of Romans wrote. In Philippians 2:5-8 he says this, ” Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, 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.” Did you hear that word “likeness” in there? “Being born in the likeness of men.”

It is the same word as in Romans 8. So what does “likeness” mean? The word itself doesn’t really help us much because the Greek word behind “likeness” means just that “likeness.” It is a reference to the similarity between two things, they are alike each other. The Philippians passage is helpful. It says Jesus was in the “form of God” in verse 6. That’s what we already talked about, that Jesus is fully God. Then in verse 8 he clarifies what he means by “likeness” saying Jesus was in the “form of man.” Jesus was fully man.

Jesus had real skin and real bones. After his resurrection he offers his body for inspection to Thomas, one of his disciples, who then feels his hands and touches his side. Many times Jesus and the disciples went fishing and then they would eat food and Jesus would teach. Jesus got tired and fell asleep. Jesus felt sad and cried when his friend Lazarus died. Jesus felt things. He was human.

Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus is not “unable to sympathize with our weakness.” That is amazing. Jesus knows what it is like to be you. He is in your likeness. There is not an emotion or feeling you have had that Jesus doesn’t know and understand. If you feel alone and like no one knows who you are or what you are going through…there is one, Jesus. He knows. He is fully man.

And it is important that God sent Jesus as fully man because if he wasn’t then there is no way we could be in him. Verse 1 of Romans 8, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We can’t be in Jesus if he is not like us. The reason Christ’s condemnation of the cross can deal with and provide something for humans is because Jesus was fully human. It had to be human transaction. For Jesus to take humans place on the cross he must be a human and be one without any sin of his own that he was suffering for. That is important.

If you think about Jesus. He lived 33 years…never sinning once his entire life long. Being fully human and feeling what we feel and not giving in to hatred and resentment and bitterness and corruption and manipulation and scheming and lying and hurting other people. Listen to 1 Peter 2:22-24, “(Jesus) committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

Jesus. Fully man. Like us. And for us. That is who God sent. On our own we suffer condemnation. But with Jesus our savior we escape and receive his condemnation for us in our place. Jesus takes on our sin as if it were his own, pays the penalty, and then offers us the benefit.

Do you think of Jesus as man? Because while sometimes we have a tendency to pull Jesus down to our level and not think of him as God, at the same time I think we have a tendency to forget that Jesus was really human and we fail to think of all that he went through. Next week we’ll talk about the passive and active righteousness of Christ and his resurrection…but for now think of how Jesus, as man, in a sense began to bear our sin not just on the cross but right from the start from when he was born in the womb of human woman.

Jesus’ whole life, sent by God, devoted to us. To be a God-man. How is he fully God and fully man at the same time? How is Jesus the eternal God-man who was there in the beginning and yet he was born in our space and time? I don’t know the answers to those questions. There is mystery in the Christian faith for sure. Mystery is not bad as long as we let mystery be where the Bible places mystery. What’s bad is us calling the things we don’t like or want to accept mystery. But biblical mystery is good. We know that Jesus is God, we know that Jesus is man, we know that both of those truths are necessary for us to escape condemnation. And the things we don’t know ought to cause awe and wonder inside us for the greatness of the God we serve who sent Jesus.

conclusion

Let’s conclude this sermon. What kind of Jesus you believe in matters a lot. Nearly every weird and destructive cult and deviation from the orthodox Christian faith that has stood for 2,000 years has deviated by beginning to have a different view of Jesus. If Jesus is just something to make you feel good, you don’t have the real Jesus. If Jesus is just a good luck charm, you don’t have the real Jesus. If Jesus is your excuse for either political and military might or complete passivism, you don’t have the real Jesus. If Jesus is just another teacher and good guy among many then you don’t have the real Jesus. The real Jesus is the one who was sent by God to deal with our deepest need as humans, our sin and our need for salvation by being a God-man on a cross.

And oh how hard it is for us to own up to that. We don’t like to be told we are wrong. It is so much easier to point away the blame to thing people have done wrong to us. When everything falls apart and goes wrong then sometimes we are willing to listen. But then sometimes it seems those changes made in the heat of emotion just do not last.

Listen this morning, Jesus matters. Everything is about him and he is our only hope. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look upon him. Embrace him as your own. Take him for all he is worth, there is an infinite supply. Look no other place, trust in no other thing, have Jesus as your all. Believe that his blood is enough for you. Believe God cares about you and sent you Jesus knowing full well who you are and what you have done and he loves and accepts you anyway.

Jesus is fully God. As God he is fully able to handle all of our junk. He is strong and mighty and will not be weighed down give into frustration and retaliation. He lovingly and willingly takes our confessed sin and deals with it by punishing it in himself. And then he offers warmth and reception into his kingdom. So confess you sins to him today. Repent of the things you know are wrong in your heart and receive the work of Jesus on the cross.

Jesus is fully man. As man he is fully able to sympathize with us. Jesus knows. He knows how you feel. He weeps with you and cares with an infinite compassion. Jesus knows your thoughts. Jesus knows what you have gone through. Jesus knows. He was a man himself and as God he sees into our thoughts and emotions. Jesus knows what it is like. And he takes our place. He can take it for you. Do you feel burdened today? Be freed and give it to Jesus. Life has a way of bearing down on us. The questions. The hardships. The challenges. Sometimes they can seem too great. But they are never too big for Jesus.

Jesus was sent by God for us. God was not obligated to send Jesus but he sent him. God made us and designed us to be intimately connected to Jesus. Jesus is the savior, the messiah, the Christ. He is the hero. The one and only one worthy of our praise and sufficient to receive it. As a church, let us be clear about the Jesus we serve and share. Jesus is the God-man sent by God into this world for us. And so we follow our Lord and go into the world, on a mission to share the message of who Jesus is and what he has done for humans.

Kids, today’s message has been about how God sent you Jesus and how Jesus is really human, he was a boy just your age at one time. And Jesus wasn’t just a human but was also God, the one who made everything. And because Jesus is both God and human then he can really love you and save you and be what you need him to be. So love Jesus and trust him and follow him with all your heart and mind and strength. Okay?

Let’s pray.

Listen 
.

The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990 | contact@theresolved.com
All Rights Reserved © The Resolved Church

Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material provided you not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.

:: The Resolved Church :: June 10th, 2007

Romans 8:1-4 “1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

“No Condemnation in Christ (part III)”
Romans 8:1-4

I. Wordplay & the Power of The Word
II. The Spirit who Gives Life
III. Freedom found in Jesus

introduction

Read text and pray. I have preached two sermons on verse one so far because there is so much that sits behind these first few words, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” They are words which are latent with power and the more we know and understand them the more they become a driving force and paradigm for life and our attainment of joy in it.

Up to this point we have talked about what the word “condemnation” means, how one goes from being outside to inside Christ (that’s justification), how for the one in Christ hard times are not condemnation but the loving discipline of the Father (that’s sanctification)…we’ve talked about guilt and how it can become a barrier between us and God and about how Jesus is really the only answer since it is pretty much impossible for a person to forgive themselves (If you missed any of those sermons I encourage you to download them off itunes).

Today we add a few more verses for part three of our “No Condemnation in Christ” sermon series because now I think we are ready for the next word at the beginning of verse two, the word “for.” The word “for” here tells is not only is everything we have studied so far in verse one true but there is a reason why those things are true.

I. Wordplay and the Power of the Word

My first point is “Wordplay and the Power of the Word.” I say “wordplay” because of the way the word “law” is being used here. In verse he says “the law of the spirit of life” then “the law of sin an death” then “the law” can’t do something in verse 3 and then there is the “righteous requirement of “the law” in verse 4. Four references to law in four short verses. I call this wordplay because he is using the word “law” in at least two different ways here, Paul is up to something, he’s playing with the word “law” to get a point across. So “law”…let’s just take these phrases one by one.

Verse two, “For the law of the spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Verse two looks back at verse one and says the reason verse one is true is because there is something at work, the spirit. It appears to me that the use of “law” here in verse two is a meaning of principle and not a codebook. If you study to take the bar and become a lawyer you study a codebook of law. If you study to become an engineer you study principles of law in physics. There is a difference. And remember, Paul is writing to a group of people, where a good portion of that group have grown up with and lived with an understand that their race’s codebook, their law, was the key to life.

But if law here in verse two is principle, then what does that mean? The principle of the spirit of life and the principle of the spirit of sin and death. Follow my thinking with me for a minute. If verse two begins to give the reason why verse one can be true then what it is doing is looking backward. What I mean is this: the main thrust of verse one is getting right with God. That is what it is to become one who is in Christ and thus not currently receiving condemnation nor its final and unending fulfillment in hell. So verse one is justification, getting just or right with God by putting faith in Jesus.

Now verse two looks back and says the way that such a thing happened for you was that the Spirit of life set you free and that thing which the Spirit does, where he sets people free and gives them life…that is what the Spirit does, it is the Spirit’s nature, it is the principle of who the Spirit is, it is a law of the Spirit that the Spirit gives life.

And that is what we find all over Scripture. In the very beginning of the Bible, in the second verse it says that there was nothing and the Spirit of God was hovering and then God out of that begins to create. A couple chapters later we read that the Spirit of God breathes life into man and he becomes a living being. All through the Bible we find this theme that the Spirit gives life.

And this is what Jesus taught. In the gospel of John chapter three a man, an expert into in the Jewish codebook, the law, comes to Jesus and asks him what a person must do to gain eternal life and Jesus says he must be born of the Spirit. Jesus says everyone is born of water but in order for eternal freedom and joy and life you must be born of the spirit, you must be born again. Have you been born again by the life-giving power of God’s Spirit? If you haven’t you need that. Put your faith in Jesus today and be set free by his Spirit.

This is a principle, a law as Paul calls it here in Romans eight. He is saying the same thing, that there are two principles, two ways of living in life, one is a life born by the Spirit of God and the other is one of sin and death. What about that second principle, the principle of sin and death?

I think this is the same thing Paul was talking about four verses earlier near the end of chapter seven when he said, “I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” The principle, that thing, that law at work in my members…in my eyes, in my ears, in what i feel…my eyes dragging me away to pay attention to things that only corrupt me and lead me astray…my ears listening to things that are not true that end up deceiving me and leading me astray…my feelings fooling me into thinking that I need something else besides or in addition to Jesus.

Those are the first two instances of “law.” Then we have two more occurrences in verse three and four, the law that is weakened by the flesh and that law that gets fulfilled in Jesus. Here, I think Paul is calling on his Jewish hearers and those who think that they could ever be good people by doing all the right things. The resounding answer is no! You can’t. You can’t get right with God by doing all the right things because there is something called the flesh, which is human corruption and darkness which does not automatically choose God and instead intentionally shuns, ignores, disregards, and warps who he is. Which is why we need Jesus, a perfect human and a perfect God who both fulfills the law perfectly for us on our behalf and pays the penalty for all those who have broken the law and but put their faith in him.

Okay. So everything I have said so far is textual. That is what we are known or want to be known for at The Resolved Church, that we care about what the text of the Bible says and work hard to understand it. But how about some honest human questions.

Yesterday, I got off with a good friend who now lives far away now but though there is a lot of distance God has enabled me the grace to continue pastoring him through things like cell phones and emails. My friend called me yesterday because he said lately, he’s been having some doubts he wanted to ask me about. He said he felt bad about having them and seemed almost afraid to tell me. The funny thing is that when I someone tells me they are having doubts I kind of get all excited, a smile comes on my face and I can’t wait to start talking about it.

The reason I love doubting is because it is honesty and I really believe that the gospel is true and can answer all the doubts and the fears we have as humans. And if you don’t ever ask those questions and ask them in a way where you are really wanting to find out the answer, not just doubting to get rid of God so you can do what you want and feel better about your sin or your suffering, but if you don’t ever wrestle with those a little bit I can’t see how you can come to a real and mature faith.

So let me do some doubting for us this morning. Think about the reasoning here. Romans 8:2 says that the reason we can know it is true that those who put faith in Jesus escape condemnation is because God’s Spirit sets you free. Really? Sure. How do you know that? Doesn’t it sound ridiculous to say the reason you can know is because of God’s Spirit? What does that even mean? What do you guys think?

Is Paul just talking about some sort of spiritual experience, like you can know it is true just because you feel it? If so, that seems faulty. Just because someone feels something or has some spiritual experience doesn’t make it true in reality does it? I mean people have all kinds of whack experiences all the time. I met this dude on the beach one night and he pointed up in the sky and said the certain star he was pointing at was heaven and he knew this because Jesus appeared to him and told him so. What makes what that guy was saying not true?

Okay. This part of my sermon is called, “Wordplay and the Power of the Word.” I titled it that because I don’t think Paul is a dummy. He hasn’t written eight chapters of material and made huge arguments based on specific words just to chalk it all up to some spiritual experience. Paul believes what he is writing is true and that the power of God in the gospel is at work in his words.

A few weeks ago now, we looked at the whole chapter of Romans 8 and I noted for us that all through it there is this theme of assurance. That a major purpose chapter eight is written is to give assurance to believers that the gospel really is true. And I think Paul is going to the heart of it right here at the very beginning (this is epistemology for any of you philosophy kids out there).

So here is my answer, three parts. One, Jesus is real. Verse three, God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. Jesus is a real person who came into this world. Two, Jesus died. The end of verse three, in his Son God condemned sin in the flesh. Jesus wan condemned on a cross and died. Three, Jesus rose. look down to verse 11, “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.” (repeat)

That verse is key. What kind of Spirit that breathes new life into people and frees them to believe in Jesus? The one that rose Jesus from the dead and that is the empirical fact that the truth of Christianity rests on. In 1 Corinthians 15:14 the Bible says that if Jesus did not rise from the dead the preaching and faith of Christianity is in vain, it is false and not true and done and over with.

Do you get that? The ground of the Christian faith is not your spiritual experience. Yes, there are spiritual experiences we have as Christians, things like joy and peace and love…times and places where God meets us and grants certain feelings but that is not the ground of our faith, that is not when it comes down to it why we believe it is true, because we feel those things. That is the reason why Buddhists or relativists or any other religion believes what they do…but not Christianity. We believe that Jesus is real. That Jesus really died and really rose and that those things are true regardless of whether anyone believes them or not. It is not spiritual experience. That there is evidence and arguments which give ground to real faith and not just vague spiritualism.

This is the power of the word of God…that the Bible reveals truth to us and that once we truly come to believe it things change for us. New affections follow. That there is a Spirit of life who sets people free and raised Jesus from the dead and the Spirit of Christ is the most powerful reality in the universe. And friends that is our greatest need. To come to know and believe in Jesus and be led by his Spirit in every detail of our lives.

II. The Spirit who Gives Life

Let’s talk more about “The Spirit who gives Life.” Because if it is the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead then our faith is grounded into something real which gives meaning and life and vitality and reality to our spiritual experiences. If that true then it’s not just wishful, fanciful, and fanatic thinking to believe in and worship and follow Jesus.

Paul’s reasoning is sound. It is rooted in deep, carefully considered, well thought through conviction. To say the reason we can know that we are really in Christ and secure from condemnation, to say the reason we can know that is true is because the Spirit of life sets us free is sound if there really is a Holy Spirit and if what that Holy Spirit does is create life and demonstrates to us every time we look at a tree or a sunset and most of all in the resurrection of Christ. That is sound. That is logic you can rely on.

But it does not just end there. The power of God’s Spirit not only opens the gospel up to us but is continually the life giving Spirit in us throughout our Christian life. Verse four concludes by saying “us, (those who are in Christ Jesus), walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Notice this statement clearly refers to life after first coming to faith. After coming to faith in Jesus then you walk or live differently. Justification precedes sanctification for those out there who know and love the technical terminology. The Spirit regenerates us, imputes Christ righteousness to us, and then sanctifies us.

So what about this sanctification? If Romans eight is primarily about the life of a believer after becoming a Christian then we are talking about sanctification, that process of being set apart or made holy, more and more like Jesus. What is this walking according to the Spirit? We are going to hear a lot about this walking in the flesh versus the Spirit as we continue on in chapter eight of Romans. But I do want to bring up something I think is relevant to us right now here in this sermon because what we have been focusing on is power of the truth in these words for our life and there is an explicit way that the Spirit grants new life and freedom.

So think with me for a few moments about the Spirit of God and the Word of God, the Bible. Earlier I mentioned Genesis and how the Spirit breathed life into man and he became a living being. Here in Romans we have the Spirit who gives us life and frees us and connects us to Jesus. This is how, 2 Timothy 3:16, listen. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching , for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Those four words, “breathed out by God” are actually a translation of one Greek word, theopeneustos, which is very interesting because the first part theo is the word for God and the second part, peneustos, is Spirit or breath or wind, which is why it gets translated breathed out by God, or in some translations “inspired.”

What this verse is saying is that the Bible is the chief means that the Spirit of God is imparted. In verse 1 of Romans 8, we are told that we are pardoned by God by being in Jesus. We don’t receive condemnation for being in him, we are pardoned. In verse 2, we receive power from the Spirit of God. And how do we receive the Spirit of God? Through Bible. Verse 2 is the transition to living the Christian life, walking according to the Spirit versus walking according to the flesh.

So if I need to be set free, I need life, I need Jesus…how do I get that? I feed on the Spirit by receiving the life-giving power that is imparted through the Word of God. What the Bible says is how you know how to walk according to the Spirit because the Bible is the Spirit’s book. I think we can so easily miss that step and just skip right to spiritual experience without realizing that there is a way God intends our spiritual experiences to be formed and interpreted. Through this book.

How does that work? Well, if I am not yet a Christian I consider the claims of the Bible and whether they are really true. And if I am on this side of believing and am pardoned and in constant need of God’s power to fill me and help me to not walk in the way of sin and death then I need the Bible in my life.

Romans 7:6 says we now “serve not under the old written code by in the new life of the Spirit.” This side of being in Christ, trusting in Jesus’ condemnation for our own in our place, we live a new life by his Spirit who lead and guides us by His Spirit who gives us an unshakable source, the power of the Word of God.

Do you need victory over some area of sin in your life? Lust, greed, violence, here is the source. Do you need to consider Jesus and decide whether to become a believer? Read his story in this book. God Spirit delights to strengthen and encourage and correct and empower and grant what we need through our encountering this book.

So what of spiritual experience? Are you saying Duane that it is all bad and that the answer is to just become rigid intellectual who are impervious to feelings? Stoics of some sort? No. No. No. The law of the Spirit of life is real. There is joy to be had. Peace to experience. And those too are great testimonies or evidences of the Spirit of God being at work in your life. What I am saying is that life has many ups and many downs and in those times we have a comforter an advocate who comes alongside and meets us where we are and his chief way of doing that is imparting the words of this book into our souls. I am saying we need to feast upon the Word of God for it is life and bread for our very beings. It might sound trite and cliché and old school but it is simply true. You need to read your Bible every day. It is our food. It is our source. It is the conduit of God’s grace. It is our life.

The Bible tells us there is no condemnation for those in Jesus and the more we know and realize that spiritual reality the more our very person will take shape into the beautiful thing which God has intended for it before the foundation of the world. Affections begin in your mind. So let the truth of God words in. Spend time reading the Bible daily. Spend time thinking about it. Go to it as the source and answer for your every problem. The Bible is the conduit of the Spirit of Christ which we need. That spiritual reality is true and we need to be reminded of the depth and breadth of that time and time again.

III. Freedom found in Jesus

My last point for this morning, “Freedom Found in Jesus.” In the middle of verse two, it says that the Spirit “set you free in Christ Jesus.” What we get here is answer to the specific way that the Spirit works. We already know the Spirit puts us in Christ and saves us from condemnation. We already know that the Spirit imparts God to us in our life of pursuing Christ with the means of the Bible. What is left then is the result, what is left over after those things are have happened and are happening in us…we are set free from the law of sin and death.

Notice something here. The law of sin and death is not the consequence here. It is not condemnation just the operating thing that leads one to condemnation. It is the principle at work in us where we as James said “know the good we ought not to do…which gives birth to sin…and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death.” So we could say that the law of sin and death is power at work in humans that through Spirit’s work that old dominating power is broken. It no longer reigns. It no longer wins every time because there’s a new kid in town, the Spirit of life.

And that is freedom. This verse assumes that before Jesus we were bound and after Jesus when the Spirit of life is at work we experience freedom. What is freedom? It seems everyone everywhere is longing for freedom. Nations want political and military freedom. Individuals want financial freedom, sexual freedom, religious freedom, and on and on. But no one ever seems to ask the question what for? What is the end goal? Why? Can any of those freedoms really make any difference in what our souls really long for?

What about freedom from constantly corrupting our lives and going down paths that always destroy us? I think that is the kind of freedom this verse is talking about and knowing Jesus is the answer to freedom. Next week we’ll conclude this series on “No Condemnation in Christ Jesus” by looking at the person of Jesus because there are four different references in these verses to what kind of Jesus we are talking about.

But I want to end of this note. Perhaps it may sound sort of confusing to you. Some of you are new Christians and some of you are considering becoming Christians and some of you are just Christians who don’t know very much because you have never had good teaching. That’s okay. That’s one of the reasons I’m glad you’re here. But some of this is confusing. There’s a Jesus but there is also a Spirit too. What is the deal with that? And what is the difference between when you truly become a believer and what comes after that? And how does the Bible really work and make a difference? Those questions are not all easy and they are all hugely important.

I realize this sermon is like a big fat steak with potatoes and bread hefeweisen…it is just a lot of carbs. J That is okay. I realize there is no way we can get everything. So here is a simple summary. The main point is that we all need Jesus and we always need Jesus. And we need his Spirit because that is how we get to Jesus and how we get the Spirit is through the Bible. And when those things happen we experience a profound and wonderful freedom. We become who God made us to be and start doing what he made us to do.

conclusion

So here is my conclusion. First, have you been born again? That is where it all starts. John 16:8 says the Spirit first comes and draws us by convicting us of our sin and unrighteousness, showing us our need for Jesus. As we come to know and understand who Jesus is through the Bible we become convinced he is real and is really able to meet our greatest need and we are born again by putting our faith in him and become a follower of Jesus Christ. If that has yet to happen to you. Put your faith in Christ. Allow yourself to be drawn by God’s spirit. Open up your heart and embrace Christ with all that you have. He is able and willing to free you and save you.

Second, for those who claim to be followers of Christ. Know you have a real and solid faith because it is wrought, brought about by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is real and has demonstrated it to be so in powerful ways. So take hold of the life of God in you and pursue Christ with all your might, that is what you are made for.

Third, it will take great determination to follow Christ with all your might. So grab hold of God’s Word and let’s its freeing power do its work in you. Make a resolution to feast upon the gospel in this book daily. We do not know what each day will bring. What will happen in our week. We need this book. We need something inside us so that when crisis hits there is a well of God’s Spirit stored up in us from his word.

Lastly, for the kids. Today’s sermon has been about Jesus. Every sermon is about Jesus because that is what makes it a sermon. Today we learned that Jesus has a Spirit and that his Spirit is the one who made all the animals, all the trees, all the water, the sun, the moon everything and on top of it all it is the Spirit who rose Jesus from the dead. And that same Spirit is the one inside of you who enables you to hear about Jesus and love him and that is awesome. That is how you know you are really a Christian. So read your Bible as much as you can, even if it is just looking at the pictures and thinking about them because when you do that awakens the Spirit inside you and enables you to love Jesus even more.

Let’s pray.

Listen 
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:: The Resolved Church :: June 3rd, 2007

“No Condemnation in Christ (part II)”
Romans 8:1

I. Fighting Guilt
II. False Gospels
III. Forgiveness in Christ

introduction

Let’s read our text for this morning and pray. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Father God, you have instructed us in your Word to devote ourselves to the apostle’s teaching. That is what we endeavor to do here in this portion of our service. God, as we work hard to understand what these words mean would you grant that grace which enables your truth to pierce us in our hearts and are then filled with conviction and passion for Your holy name. May the gospel of Jesus Christ be preached today. Amen.

Three weeks ago we began our journey into Romans 8. The first sermon I preached was an overview of the entire chapter and then in the second sermon we pulled back and began working just on verse 1. In that first sermon on Romans 8:1 we really got into the mechanics of the verse…what the word condemnation means, how one goes from being outside Christ to inside Christ, and what that means theologically for how one experiences condemnation and who that applies to. That was the mechanics of this verse.

What I want to do today is get into implications of this verse for us if we truly take this phrase, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” and make it our own. This is one of those key building blocks in the life of a Christian that become a stamp and a seal of your identity. It is one of those phrases that when you think of yourself and what it means to be a follower of Christ, this is what it means. There is no condemnation in Jesus.

I. Fighting Guilt

Last time when we talked about this word, “condemnation” we looked at the legal aspect of it and how it includes both the sentence and the execution of the sentence from a judge toward a guilty party. We talked about the sentence and the execution but we didn’t talk much about guilt.

What is guilt? The feeling of guilt? Because it is one thing for someone to say you are guilty of doing something wrong, but it is a far different thing to feel guilt and remorse…to know deep inside that you have really hurt someone and done something really wrong. To feel guilt…that is a far different thing.

I don’t think we feel that very often. When was the last time you really felt guilty? I don’t think we feel it that often because we don’t like to feel it and so we fight it. We fight it in several ways. One, when we start to feel that inclination of guilt we begin to reassure ourselves that we really shouldn’t feel that way and we start rehearsing either the bad things that someone did to us or how whatever it is we did isn’t really that bad.

Or another way is to just try and distract ourselves. We don’t like the feeling so we will go do something else to try and ignore whatever situation has arisen resulting in us feeling guilt. We try to alleviate the inner tension with activity in other things so that we won’t have to deal with it.

Here is my question, where does guilt come from? Why do we even feel it? If we are merely the products of biological revolution and survival is the chief virtue, why do we feel guilt? Any opportunity to excel and move ahead ought to bring us delight no matter what the expense, right? But it doesn’t. We feel. I believe that is because, our conscience or whatever this non-physical part of who we are that make us feel, our sense of right and wrong…I believe that comes from God. I believe all guilt is a God issue.

We could talk about husbands and wives hurting each other with their words, friends who turn out not to really be friends, parents who have left deep scars in the lives of their kids…hurt and pain and wronging each other is the experience of our human race. But when it comes down to it, it is really all about God isn’t it? We wouldn’t feel or think those things unless there was some source and sustainer of morality would we? That’s why I think guilt is a God issue.

When we hurt each other we know that we have not only done something wrong but we have violated the God of the universe who designed and made humans and speaks this sense of right and wrong into our souls.

So let’s talk about gospel guilt, how this verse applies and relates. Gospel guilt works like this. In the first sermon I preached on this verse I said that phrase, “in Christ” means if you are in Christ then whatever happened to him happened to you. You are united with Jesus and all his life its actions, including his propitiating death, become yours…because you are in him. To the charge of guilty, condemnation, the sentence and the execution and the despairing feeling that follow if you truly come to know the weight of offense that sin is toward God…it is crushing, to that the answer of the charge is yes, guilty. I am guilty, there is no question about it. That is gospel guilt.

But gospel guilt does something unique and different. Gospel guilt freely admits human depravity and corruption but then it grabs a hold of those two words “in Christ” and it point to Jesus. It says, yes I am guilty, but I plead Christ’s blood. Gospel guilt says, Christ died for me! I am guilty but Christ died for my guilt, he suffered the sentence and the execution for me, in my place. I am guilty as charged but I stand in Christ. He is all my hope, all my righteousness, all I have. Are you in Christ today or does the weight of guilt hang over your head?

I see two ways gospel guilt applies. One, is toward the unbeliever. Sometimes guilt is one of the biggest barriers to faith, one of the biggest obstacles toward coming to believe in and follow Jesus. Perhaps that is you. Perhaps you know you are guilty and feel like what you have done is just too bad. It is a too unforgivable. Guilt weights deep in your soul and eats away at you. Here the gospel today, Christ stands before you and offers his blood, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” In AD 33 Jesus, the only human who never sinned died a death to deal with guilt so that all sinners might find hope and peace and relief by embracing his death as their own. Hear today, Christ’s blood is sufficient and he offers it to you. Embrace him while you can. There is no sin that is too great that his blood cannot cover, be relieved of your guilt.

Paul, the author of Romans, the book we are studying was a murderer. He took part in the stoning to death of a man named Stephen and before he came to embrace Jesus had as the ambition of his life to kill anyone who called themselves a Christian. Jesus condemnation is sufficient for murder.

What about sexual sin? That weights heavy on many, I know. Consider the woman at the well, one the first people Jesus ever shared the gospel with. In her life she had seven different husbands and when Jesus met her, she was sleeping with someone she wasn’t married to, this woman was essentially a whore. And Jesus welcomed her with open arms. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

What about substance abuse? Drugs and drunkenness run ramped in our culture and yet there is no end to their fill. They only create dependencies of a constant need for more. Jesus offers living water and offers us to come to him and thirst no more.

But perhaps you say, how does that work, how can it? How can I be in Christ and because of that have the feelings of guilt taken away? I think it works like this. We know our deeds are evil and that they deserve punishment and a punishment we could never fully pay. So when Christ offers himself to us, and we believe he is able, it is almost as if we take all the memories and all the pain and we cast it onto him, on his body on the cross and we see it punished and then we run to Jesus in thanks and adoration and love. That is how the gospel works in me. That is why I love Jesus. Not because of anything I have done, I’m guilty. But I love Jesus for dying for me.

But what about this side of Jesus. After becoming a Christian and falling into sin. Here is how that usually goes. I’ve seen it so many times I know it well. If you claim to be a follower of Christ but something happens and you know you guilty and have blown it…guilt sets in. And because you feel guilty toward the God who has shown you so much love and compassion you run and hide. You quit reading your Bible, you don’t answer or return the calls of people who care about you, you stop going to church or if you go you cut yourself off emotionally to anything of God and His Spirit and guilt eats and eats away until you can’t take it anymore.

I don’t think that is how guilt is supposed to operate for the believer in Jesus. I think God intends this verse to be for us a powerful weapon in fighting guilt with the gospel. Let me offer an alternative method to for guilt on the believing side of Jesus. This is other way I think gospel guilt applies. John Piper calls it “gutsy guilt.” I like that. He says, gutsy guilt is when “the believer admits that he has done wrong and that God is dealing roughly with him. But even in a condition of darkness and discipline, he will not surrender his hold on the truth that God is on his side.”

It seems to me that guilt and accusing thoughts of guilt are one of Satan’s chief devices in his attempt to steer believers away from God. Charles Spurgeon said it well, “The devil says there is condemnation, he accuses us day and night, but he was a liar from the beginning and is the father of lies.” Have you dedicated your life to Christ? Had high moments of passion for his glory? Dreamed dreams of who you might become and what you might do for the sake of the gospel? …But in the moments when sin has got the upper hand in your life you have felt it is all a loss?

Don’t believe it! You have an advocate in Christ. John Calvin said it this way, “The trembling consciences of the godly have an invincible fortress for they know they abide in Christ and are beyond the danger of condemnation.” Let that truth sink into your soul. Learn how to fight guilt like a justified sinner. Leave behind the devils lies and plead Christ’s blood as your all. Receive the humble offer of the Lord and stand again in his strength and leave behind that which has entangled you.

II. False Gospels

Part of learning the secret of how to fight guilt is knowing the obstacles that can deceive us into thinking there is another way. So beware of the false gospels.

Beware of a lying gospel which either tells you there is no such thing as condemnation or it tells you that being in Christ is a sort of fire insurance policy that you bought to protect you in case it turns out that there is condemnation. Those are two huge errors.

Trying to convince yourself that there is no such thing as condemnation is a bankrupt cause. That you cannot rid yourself of the question is evidence in itself not to mention how we as a people are those who cry out for justice when we are wronged. Hell is real and that is an inescapable truth. It is built into the fabric of who we are as humans…eternity is in our heart and we know there is a danger of a condemnation called hell.

And no matter how much we try and chalk that up to religious manipulation, or social convention, some crazy ploy of fiery preachers…our souls still know it is real. I think that is why some people even get so angry at those who believe in hell. Because they don’t like it and don’t want it. Neither do I. And so I stand in Christ taking his condemnation for my own.

The other side of that coin is thinking that being in Christ is something that is solely based in the past, either because of growing up as a Christian, or because you prayed some prayer, or have gone to church…there is a danger in thinking that those things guarantee you of being in Christ and because of that you can live and do whatever you like. No. That is a false gospel and it is a scary one…because Jesus said in the end, when hell is proved so, many will call upon him, saying “Lord, Lord!!” And Jesus will reply, “depart from me I never knew you.”

There is a danger in how you live. The Bible’s perspective is how you live proves whether your faith is real. In 1 John the apostle says, if you claim to be in the light but live in darkness then you are a liar and the truth isn’t really in you…and then goes on to say that those who appear to have been in the faith but then leave it, that they walk away because deep down they never truly believed or they would have continued.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that there isn’t something permanent to being “in Christ” that is unchangeable and irrevocable. I believe that. But I am pleading with you as a church to, as 2 Peter 1:10 says, to be “diligent to make your calling and election sure” by taking on your identity daily as a person who is “in Christ.” Where you wake up each day with a sense that “I need Jesus today.” We can’t rely on past experiences. They are not enough. Just as we need food and drink every day, we need the salvation of Christ daily. We need the gospel in our lives. We need the name of Jesus in our hearts and on our lips. That is what it means to be “in Christ” where Jesus is our all.

III. Forgiveness in Christ

My last point for this morning is “forgiveness in Christ.” Now, my third point isn’t just because it makes for a nice outline with three “f”s…well maybe, because I’m a nerd and like things that are neat and tidy. I’ve been preaching now for ten years and my preaching has slowly changed. There were a few years when I had to have every sermon alliterated with 3 p’s or 4 s’s or whatever…but I ran into a problem because that takes a lot of time and I would start spending more time on that than I was working with the text. But when it works out it’s nice. J It looks pretty.

But the reason I want to talk about forgiveness in Christ is because I think that there is an intimate connection between the nature of forgiveness and fighting guilt with the condemnation of Christ, there is a connection between condemnation and forgiveness. I think so far we have done a pretty good job in navigating what Scripture is really trying to teach us here and what it is not. What is left is the result of embracing the condemnation of Christ for your guilt and that result is forgiveness.

Forgiveness. It is what the affection of guilt long for but cannot get because it knows it is unjust for its wrongs to go unpunished. Have you ever heard anyone, maybe yourself, use the phrase, “I just can’t forgive myself” or “He or she just can’t forgive themselves for what they have done”? Now, usually the intention of those phrases, the implied answer is that the person should and can really forgive themselves and the way to do that is just to forget what happened, pretend it wasn’t that big of deal and assume everything will just be okay.

The problem is that’s not true! You can’t do that even if you try! The saying that a person “just can’t forgive themselves” is true, they can’t, you can’t, I can’t…no one can. You can’t forgive yourself because what do you have to give in exchange for your guilt? Nothing.

But hear the gospel today, there is forgiveness from Christ. He has something to exchange…His perfection for our imperfection, his salvation for our sin, his righteousness for our wickedness, his death for our life. You see, in Jesus wrongdoing is not just swept under the rug. When I was little my mom used to make me take vitamins and I hated them…the taste still freaks me out. So when she gave them to me I would either try to act like put it in my mouth and but keep the vitamin in my hand or I would put it in my mouth, go in the other room and then spit it out. Then, I would take the vitamins and go in my room and shove them underneath my nightstand. This went on for over a year until one day when my mom was cleaning she moved my nightstand and found this whole pile of pills shoved underneath there. J They never went anywhere. They were all still there. And it is the same with our guilt and our sin…it will not go away until we embrace Christ as our own who takes the pill of eternal punishment in our place and then offers us the hand of forgiveness.

I believe the forgiveness of Christ is the ground for all forgiveness in this life. Whether people know it or not, are a believer or not, I believe the reason why anyone can forgive, why there is such a thing as forgiveness, is because of the love of God in Jesus. All forgiveness flows from the cross of Christ.

Listen to Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you.” All forgiveness flows from the forgiveness of Christ. We need this. The only reason why I can forgive my wife Amy, or actually more often, her forgiving me…is because of Christ. This is huge. Without forgiveness anger and bitterness swell.

I have been learning this the hard way. About a year ago, there was a couple in this church who lived with us and the man had an affair, denied his faith, became very angry and bitter toward Jesus and his church and said that if I didn’t stop preaching the gospel he was going to kill me and kill my wife and so I better watch my back. I wanted to beat his face in right then and there but I knew I would have no right to stand before you today if I did. But what happened is that over time I have become angry and bitter toward this man and have had many evil and murderous thoughts against him. So I went and saw Ted, the professional Christian counselor who preached last week. It’s hard to forgive someone who is not sorry. But this is a gospel issue because hate and anger and bitterness do not make one happy, it only makes you miserable. I am learning the depth of Christ’s love for me in a way I have never known.

Listen, being a church means being a family. If we really are a church then we are a people who really come to know each other, care for one another and share in life together and work in unison for the sake of the gospel. And if that is happening then you know what will happen? We will hurt each other. It’s a fact. There is no perfect church because church is a group of sinner who are being saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And listen, we are not in competition with each other to see who is a better Christian like we are fighting to get to the top of some hill. No we are struggling up together, giving each other a hand, confronting in love when needed and offering grace and compassion all the time. With gutsy guilt we are continually turning to Christ and then to each other and are “kind and tender hearted” and are “forgiving one another just as God in Christ” forgives us. That is what comes from embracing “no condemnation.”

conclusion

Let’s conclude today’s sermon. We’ve covered a lot. First, let us be a people who fight guilt with the cross of Christ. What’s that mean? It means we take our sin seriously, we don’t try and make light of them and just consider them an accident. No, we shudder at them as a contradiction of who we are in Christ and then we turn to Jesus in repentance. 1 John 1:9 says that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” Do you have some sins to confess today? Do that and embrace the condemnation of Christ as your own and walk forward in forgiveness and strength and confidence and hope. And then when the devil brings charges against you, throw up the shield of Romans 8:1 and say no, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” and I stand in his righteousness and not my own.

Second, let us beware of false gospels that arise in our hearts. Do not think for a second that condemnation is not needed or that hell is not real but just a figment of insecure and ignorant Christians. No, our souls demand it and heap up guilt deep within because they know its reality. So if you do not yet consider yourself a Christian then begin following Jesus today and receive all his blessing provided for you.

If you do claim to be a Christian, a follower of Christ, do not believe the false gospel that would tell you that you got Jesus so you are okay. Jesus isn’t interested in being some lifeboat on the side of a cruise ship. No, he is our anchor and our daily safety in the ocean of this world. We need to live for Christ daily. So realize that you need Jesus and his salvation every day. Be in Christ and make your life all about him.

Lastly, be forgiven. Run to the forgiveness of Christ time and time again. There is no end to his supply. He is the eternal son of God and his death on the cross was of infinite worth, large enough to cover every single sin of every single human throughout all time. Become a forgiven person who is forgiving to others. That is what is going to change San Diego and start a gospel city within the city…the loving forgiveness of our church family who knows the ground of forgiveness, Jesus. Do you need forgiveness today? Receive the love and compassion of our Lord.

And for our kids, today’s sermon has been about how you feel all icky inside when you do something wrong and how the only way to make that go away is to pray and ask Jesus to forgive you and take it away. On the cross Jesus died for you and all the things you have done wrong and will do wrong, so always follow and love Jesus.

Let’s pray.

Listen 
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:: The Resolved Church :: May 20th, 2007

“No Condemnation in Christ (part I)”
Romans 8:1

I. Katakrima: A Sentence and Execution
II. From Outside to Inside Christ Jesus
III. The Loving Discipline of the Father

introduction

Let’s read today’s text from the Holy Word of God and then pray. Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Let’s pray. Lord God, today the words we are looking at are few…but they are far from feeble triviality or insignificance. These words hold a wealth of wisdom, relief, and joy. May that transfer that happens from thinking about the words of your Bible…to thinking about our lives and how the Bible speaks to our souls, may that transfer happen today. By your Spirit illumine our understanding and instigate our joy. Amen.

Last week we began a journey into what many throughout the history of Christianity have considered to be one of the greatest and most joyful and freeing chapters in the whole Bible. I tried with the best of my ability to give an overview of the entire chapter and where we have been in Romans so far…I probably erred on the side of giving too much information. But if you are new to our church and our study of Romans, hopefully it was a help to you to sort of orient yourself to what we are doing with the Bible here. Today, we are going the opposite direction…we are going to pull back and just focus in on verse 1.

I. Katakrima: A Sentence and Execution

We are going to begin with this word “condemnation” because that is a big word and big words are fun to talk about…for me. J The truth is the bigger the word the more precise of a definition it has. Big words are designed to say a lot by saying very little. The problem is that sometimes their definition alludes us.

So “condemnation.” The New Testament was written in Greek, so the question for us is not so much what the English word condemnation means but what the Greek word means that gets translated as “condemnation.” And the Greek word is “katakrima.” You can see it up there on the screen. Katakrima is the two different Greek words thrown together. Kata here is, against and krima is judge. So what you have is judge against. There is therefore now no judging against those who are in Christ Jesus.

So we have a base definition…but there is more. As a word starts to get used in life and culture it starts to take on a more and more specific meaning in how it is used. Like this one. Katakrima was a word used in the court setting, where a judgment was given and then the execution of the judgment followed right afterward. You get a picture of this with Jesus, where there is a hearing, then a katakrima and immediately the execution of the judgment takes place where he is dragged away to be killed. So katakrima includes both the sentence and the judgment.

I was trying to find a good illustration on the internet for the way we used the word “condemned” like some story of an old building that was deemed totally corrupt because of rat and termite infestation and then was demolished by explosions and bulldozers or something…but all that was coming up on google was these video game, blood and guts and gore stuff and I would click on these sights and skulls and stuff would start coming up on the screen and then this voice says, “we are the condemned.” J

So anyway, so much for that. The point is what is it’s connection or relevance in Romans? Here’s the deal. There may have been a few of you that were around for it but pretty much for the first five chapters of Romans he ends up talking about God and his wrath, hell, judgment, anger, and fury against our sin, unrighteousness, wicked deeds and so on. And it is dark, it is deathly, it is frustrating sad and depressing.

Now, we took those things seriously because we didn’t want to only read or listen to things in the Bible that just sound good, like the love of God. And we learned a general principle that runs through Romans that goes like this…the more we know the depth of our human condition, our sinfulness, the more beautiful and wonderful the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes to us. The principle is the more we know our sin the more joy we find in knowing the savior. Honesty about our condition, humility and godly sorrow is what brings us to repentance in coming to know the greatness and the goodness of the love of Christ (2 Cor 7:10).

That’s the principle. It’s not a popular principle. Here is why. Some say, “It’s wrong to try and scare people into believing in Jesus. You shouldn’t try and manipulate and coerce people into faith. Romans 2:4 says it is the kindness of the Lord that leads people to repentance, so we should just talk about the love of God and that will be enough.” What do you guys think? I mean, yeah, I don’t want to trick anyone into believing in Jesus either or try and force them to do something they don’t want to do. But is there no way to be kind and loving if you talk about the reality of us having sin and needing a savior? Are those really mutually exclusive?

It seems that if we are going to be truly honest with ourselves and others and really not trick, manipulate, and coerce and allow our friends to come to a true faith we have to be forthright about this life and what is going on…isn’t the very nature of kindness and love, what makes them so wonderful, is when they are expressed to you and you don’t expect it or deserve it? So my answer is, yes warn people of the reality of hell and eternity but at the same time extend our hand of fellowship and love and care and the great gospel of Jesus who delivers us from that sentence and execution.

The sentence and the execution. The sentence of condemnation is when God gazes internally into our souls and sees the thoughts and the attitudes of our heart and then he scans across the history of our lives like a movie and we are found guilty, corrupt, wanting…and that is everyone here in this room. We are sentenced as condemned and then execution is what comes at the end of this life, when all chances and opportunities for repentance disappear and we receive full brunt of God’s wrath for eternity.

II. From Outside to Inside Christ Jesus

That is condemnation. But our verse says, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” No Condemnation. Which is the reason why this verse becomes such a freeing and assuring passage to us as Christians. There is a way to escape condemnation and the way belongs to three words, three very important words, “in Christ Jesus.”

What this verse tells us is that there are two different kinds of people, two different states of people are in, those who are “in Christ Jesus” and those who are not “in Christ Jesus.” That phrase, “in Christ Jesus” is so important.

Paul is clearly not a universalist, thinking that all will ultimately be saved somehow whether it is through purgatory or some other means because God is love…no, some are in Christ and some are not. And those who are not in Christ receive just condemnation from God. Thus Paul is also not an annihilationist, because those who are in Christ escape condemnation. Paul affirms for us here that when we die we will not be just biologically cooking animals…no there is a blessing to be had called “no condemnation.”

Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher called these false ideas “the serpent’s gospel” which began at the beginning of human history in the garden of Eden when the serpent said, “Did God really say?” Did God, the God of love, really say he would condemn and punish his creatures? Does God really say that if we live in sin and die there will be judgment? Did God really say that we need to believe the testimony of his son and come into a state of being “in Christ?” The answer, the terrible, truthful answer is “yes.” Out of God’s love he warns us and pleads with us to fly to the safety of Jesus.

If it is true that there is such a thing as condemnation and that there are two kinds of humans, those who are in Christ and those who are not, then how does one go from a state of being outside Christ to inside Christ and how can that be, what does it mean to be “in Christ?”

Let me answer the first question, how do you go from being outside the protection and covering of Christ to inside the safety and security of Christ? John 3:36 is good here, listen, “The one who believes the Son has eternal life but he who does not obey the Son will not see life but the wrath of God abides on him.” So believing in Jesus secures eternity and disobeying and not believing results in the wrath of God abiding…a state of condemnation given where you are awaiting the execution of the sentence. So hear the answer…flee to Christ and embrace him as yours. Come into his covering and be safe.

There is a covering. A moment ago I raised the question, “what does it mean to be ‘in Christ’?” It means that whatever happened to him happened to you. The reason we escape condemnation in Jesus is because he was already condemned for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says Jesus, “who knew no sin became sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” To be in Christ is to be in his family and to receive all the blessings and benefits that come to those who are his. If you are separated from him and not part of his family then you are outside of his covering and condemnation abides and awaits you.

Are you “in Christ” today? Is he the head of your life, the Lord whom you believe in and follow? If not flee to him. Put your faith in the condemnation of Christ for your sin and do not wait to pay condemnation of your own. Hide in the safety of his arms for a storm is coming, when it is coming we do not know but there is shelter in Christ and there is infinite room.

I fear we do not fear enough…I fear we think the lives we live and the choices we make are insignificant. I’m afraid we fail to see how certain choices lead to other choices and we do not look ahead to see where we are going and where we will end up. I fear for us ending up in a place far away from Jesus where there is no safety and security. Are you unsure of whether you are truly a Christian today? The answer is Jesus, flee to him.

I said last week that Romans chapter 6 and 7 where a sort of digression where Paul had to deal with some things because of where he ended up at the end of chapter five and that in one sense Romans 8 is picking up where chapter 5 left off. Listen to Romans 5:18-19 “As one trespass (Adam in the garden of Eden) led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness (Jesus, the sinless eternal son of God’s death on the cross), leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience (Adam) the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience (Jesus) the many will be made righteous.”

The key to going from a state of being outside to inside Christ Jesus is by embracing his work on the cross as being for you, taking care of your sin and its ramifications. What is left is nothing but love and favor from God. For those who are in Christ, when God looks at you, all he sees is Jesus on the cross and his wrathful eye passes by.

III. The Loving Discipline of the Father

But maybe you don’t believe that. Maybe you wonder then why things still don’t go right for you even after you put your faith in Christ? Maybe it seems there is no difference and that the wrath of God and his condemnation is still upon you? What is the deal with that? Is God judging me? When I do something wrong is God spiteful and strike down his finger and cause something bad to happen to me?

Let’s talk about that for a minute because it is true that though the full brunt of God’s eternal wrath and condemnation begins at the point of human death. And it is true that on this side of death it does seem that a lot of bad things happen…divorce, cancer, adultery, financial loss, broken down vehicles, losing a job. And almost immediately the question comes, why God? Does this text tell us anything about that?

I think so. I think it tells us something amazingly profound and wonderful that provides a great assurance and comfort to us. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This text guarantees us that whatever sufferings we may experience…what we are experiencing if we are in Christ is far different than what we experience if we are not. Something entirely different is going on depending one what state you are in.

What do you mean Duane? I mean this, Hebrews 12:5-6, “Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son (or daughter) whom he receives.” I mean is 1 Corinthians 11:32 “When we are judged by the Lord we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

What these two verses mean along with our Romans verse is that the hard things of life are the loving discipline of the Father for the one who is in Christ, but for the one who is outside of Christ, they are condemnation intended to compel and persuade the ungodly to put their faith in Christ. So what may be an experience of wrath for one person may be an experience of loving discipline for the other.

For example, as human beings contaminated with the physical corruption that comes from sin, we often get sick…we get a cold or the flu or a fever. For the Christian, this experience makes us weak and causes us to long for our redeemed bodies, it causes us to pray and experience the grace of God manifesting his comfort and closeness to us. Through it we learn to rely and trust in Christ. We spend extra time reading the Bible and trusting in its promises. There are all kinds of benefits we experience through being sick when we are in the family of Christ.

But for the unbeliever this is not so. Intense sickness may cause one to fear death, especially if it is a terminal disease. The unbeliever may comfort themselves with medication but the fear of eternal sickness and discomfort cannot be dismissed or absolved. An aching body can cause a moral torment to consume one as they contemplate why they are deserving of such ailment. There is no spiritual solace and hope to find since they do not have Christ. Empathy from friends and family are the closest resemblances around but their comfort cannot comfort the soul.

What I mean is that when a believer goes through hard things you can see that hard thing as really counting for something meaningful…there is something to learn and grow in through it. But if you are not in Christ it is just meaningless evil and there is no point to it except misery and depression.

I don’t think that means that every time you get sick it is because God is reacting to a particular sin. Maybe, sometimes. But what Romans 8:1 says, is when we are sick or when hardship comes there is one thing we can be confident in, God is not my enemy, because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ and I stand upon the claim of the blood of Christ as my soul source of hope and joy. Discipline may be at work but this is not condemnation, for I have an advocate…the Lord Jesus Christ!

conclusion

Let’s conclude today’s sermon. Katakrima…condemnation, it reminds us that we are sinful as humans and that if we are judged alone, by ourselves, the verdict is clear…we are condemned. But Romans is a book about the good news, gospel of Jesus…it says there is a way not to be condemned and that is by being in Christ.

Christ was condemned for us. A second payment is not due and is not accepted if we try. The sentence and its execution was laid down in AD 33 upon the body and soul of Jesus Christ. He suffered for us a physical and eternal death as the infinite son of God and He rose again, sits on a throne awaiting the full number of those he died for to come to him before he returns in all his divine glory.

So here is my plea…make sure you are in Christ. How do you do that? By putting your faith in his work on the cross as sufficient for your sin. By believing in his testimony, that he is who he said he was…the lamb of God that takes away your sin. By making decisions about the way you live your life that are going to reflect that you are truly a person who is “in Christ.”

Where are you today? Does your life reflect somebody who is “in Christ” or does it reflect something else? If you look across the course of the last few weeks or months or years of your life what do you find? Are you living as though you are part of his family, eating and drinking in his house, feasting on his word, striving for the joy of his holiness, valuing what he values, making decisions that put his glory on display to the world?

If you are not…come to Christ today. Find the assurance found in his infinite grace. Come with money you do not have and buy. Come and drink though you have no cup. Receive his condemnation as your own and be forgiven. Be saved from the wrath to come and hide in the shelter of his robes. Fall on your face in repentance and trust him for your all.

Perhaps you have considered yourself as one “in Christ” but the trials and the hardships and the temptations and the pressures of life have consumed you and you have fallen prey to the condemnation that comes from the guilt of squandering your treasure? Know today that Christ stands before you in loving mercy. Respond to his reproof and find the loving arms of the Father who invite you and say come near my child, you are welcome. Fear not for the wrath of Father does not abide on you, repent of your evil deeds find the forgiveness of Christ that reaches as high as the heavens.

Know that the conviction you feel now is the discipline of his love. We’re you not his you may not feel those groanings. Learn from the wisdom of the all-knowing God as he is teaching you the things your soul must be trained and taught in. Waste your life no longer and get about the business of building the kingdom of Christ.

As your Pastor I am committed to helping us pursue Christ. At times my heart weights heavy with your sin and mine. But, oh the freedom and the consolation in these words, “there is therefore now know condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” What rest, what peace, what joy to know we are his and his forever.

Kids, today’s sermon has been the love that Jesus has for those who are in his family. If you are not in his family you can become part of it if you believe in him as your savior and Lord. And then when you are a part of his family and when things don’t go the way you want them to, Jesus is with you and is teaching you something very important because he loves you.

Let’s pray.