Written by: Dr Christine Gore – Church Army
Romans 8 v 1-4
So now, those who are in Christ Jesus are not judged guilty. Through Christ Jesus
the law of the Spirit that brings life made me free from the law that brings
sin and death. The law was without power, because the law was made weak by
our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son
to earth with the same human life that others use for sin. By sending his Son
to be an offering to pay for sin, God used a human life to destroy sin. He
did this so that we could be the kind of people the law correctly wants us
to be. Now we do not live following our sinful selves, but we live following
the Spirit.
Notes
Previously we have looked at the early chapters of Romans, and this week we
begin Romans 8. It’s fairly complicated and reads like an extract from a
legal textbook rather than a letter! How can we get our heads around Paul’s
closely argued case? Perhaps by casting our minds back to August and Athens.
Imagine the Olympic Stadium and a hurdles race. Everything is as it should be - the hurdles the right height, the track in perfect condition, the athletes in top form - yet only one of them finishes the race! What went wrong? Were the hurdles unnecessarily high? But if they were any lower what would be the point – an Olympic standard has to be maintained! So what did the one who won have that the others didn’t? An enquiry is held, and it is discovered that all of the other athletes were trained by one coach. Coach Law was a relentless nag who was always quick to point out their shortcomings. His fittest athletes just didn’t have what it physically took to complete the race, and his coaching ultimately demoralised them further, so they always failed. But the winning athlete was different – he had the physical potential and the best coach - so he was able to clear the hurdles and complete the race. Coach Spirit believed in enabling and equipping his athlete – developing his potential; running the race ahead of him to show him how to do it.
Christians are no longer under the rule of Coach Law or physically unable to run the race according to Olympic standards. Because of what Christ has done we have a new coach – Coach Spirit - who equips and enables us. We also have the physical capability (the Spirit of Jesus within) to run and complete the race.
Prayer
Lord God, I am amazed at all I have in Christ. Thank You that I am no longer
judged a failure and guilty under the Law. Thank You, Lord, for coming in
human likeness to show me how to live and, by Your death, to bring me freedom.
Help me this and every day to live a life worthy of You. Thank You that I
have Your Spirit within me, enabling and equipping me to follow in Your footsteps.
Amen
Romans 8 v 5-8
Those who live following their sinful selves think only about things that their
sinful selves want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking
about the things the Spirit wants them to do. If people’s thinking is controlled
by the sinful self, there is death. But if their thinking is controlled by
the Spirit, there is life and peace. When people’s thinking is controlled
by the sinful self, they are against God, because they refuse to obey God’s
law and really are not even able to obey God’s law. Those people who are
ruled by their sinful selves cannot please God.
Notes
Half of the battle for successful athletes is the mental battle. They need
to be focused on their goal – crossing that finishing line, vaulting that
bar, lifting that weight. If they set out thinking they are going to be beaten,
they’ll never win, no matter how physically fit they are.
Paul also knows the importance of the mental battle in our lives. In today’s reading he contrasts two kinds of people – those who live with their thoughts focused on themselves, and those who live with their thoughts focused on God. To live a self-absorbed life is the hallmark of someone who does not know God. If we are self-obsessed we cannot please God, for how is it possible to love God and others - as the two greatest commands tell us - when we can only think of ourselves? Ultimately self-obsession leads to a complete breakdown in any relationship and especially separation from God (i.e. spiritual death). This is the bad news.
Conversely, there is good news for those who have set out to live following the Spirit of God. A life focused on God and a mind centred on Him, however tentatively, brings us closer to God, and with that closeness comes spiritual life and peace.
What things do you focus your thoughts on in an average day? How might you centre your thoughts more on God and less on self? The best way I know is to take time to pray and read the Bible (via word-on-the-web and/or by your own reading). Also, let God, by His Spirit, be part of your day by asking yourself questions like: “What is the God-loving/neighbour-loving thing to do here?” It gets easier with practice – but you will need to work at it. So persevere!
Prayer activity
Look back over your day (or if you are reading this in the morning, look back
over your previous day). What did you spend most of your time thinking about?
How might you have brought God more into those thoughts? Where might you
have stopped for prayer (however briefly!) or asked another Christian friend
what they thought? Where could you have asked the Spirit to guide or enlighten?
How will tomorrow (or the coming day) be different in light of what you have
learnt? Bring these things now to God in prayer.
Romans 8 v 9-11
But you are not ruled by your sinful selves. You are ruled by the Spirit, if
that Spirit of God really lives in you. But the person who does not have
the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. Your body will always be
dead because of sin. But if Christ is in you, then the Spirit gives you life,
because Christ made you right with God. God raised Jesus from the dead, and
if God’s Spirit is living in you, he will also give life to your bodies that
die. God is the One who raised Christ from the dead, and he will give life
through his Spirit that lives in you.
Notes
The previous words in Romans were tough, and Paul knows it for he goes on to
reassure his Roman readers that they are no longer those self-obsessed people
he had just described. As Christians they have the reassurance that God has
now taken up residence in their lives via His Spirit. This is not just the
case for the privileged few – but for all Christians!
Do you ever doubt that God’s Spirit is in you? When are those times? If you are like me, it’s when I say or do things I know hurt God and others, or when I feel inadequate or a failure or … you get the picture! So what are the signs of life to look out for to reassure us that God is “at home”, resident in our lives, even if we find it had to believe? Here are some tips:
1. Do you care about what God thinks?
2. Do you care about others? Do you care enough to put their needs before your
own?
3. Look out each day for signs of God’s hand on your life – in the big things,
but more so in the small things, e.g. answered prayers, amazing coincidences,
but also: acts of kindness, things that made you smile, even things that made
you angry, provision of your needs – however small.
4. Being grateful to God – praise and thanks.
5. Do you see the fruit of the Spirit in your life (see Galatians 5 v 22-23)?
6. Don’t write yourself off if you mess up! All Christians experience the limitations
of their humanity (see Romans 7); that’s why we need to keep saying sorry to
God and others. The fact it bothers you is an excellent sign of life!
Can you add to this list from your own experience?
Prayer
Father God, I ask that, through Your grace and mercy, I will be aware of You
working within my life each day. Spirit of God, make real to me God’s love
and power that I might be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ.
Son of God, help me to know Your mind and heart that I might share your life-giving
Gospel with others. Amen
Romans 8 v 12-13
So, my brothers and sisters, we must not be ruled by our sinful selves or live
the way our sinful selves want. If you use your lives to do the wrong things
your sinful selves want, you will die spiritually. But if you use the Spirit’s
help to stop doing the wrong things you do with your body, you will have
true life.
Notes
Sometimes I think Paul must have been schizophrenic! Previously he told us
that we cannot be ruled by our sinful selves – today he seems to have changed
his mind and tells us that we must not be ruled by our sinful selves! Make
your mind up Paul – which is it to be?
Previously we read about the logical impossibility of any Christian continuing to live according to their old life. “If anyone belongs to Christ, there begins a new creation. The old things have gone: everything is made new!” (2 Corinthians 5 v 17). This doesn’t mean that a fairy godmother has waved her magic wand and turned us into spiritual superheroes overnight. We are still frail human beings who need to, consciously and daily, choose to live God’s way. It’s all very well having the genetic make-up of a marathon runner, but if you don’t train and discipline your lifestyle you’ll never make it off the sofa! Christians have the genetic make-up of a true child of God – but we still need to train and discipline ourselves to be what we were born (again) to be, otherwise we’ll never get off the spiritual starting blocks.
This causes a tension in the life of every believer – the tension
of the “already and the not yet”. Already we are God’s children, but we have
yet to leave behind our vulnerable and frail humanity. Already we have eternal
life, but we have yet to receive our resurrected bodies. Already we have God’s
power at work within us, but we have yet to receive its full measure. Nevertheless,
in this present age we are “to live the life of the future in the power of
the Spirit”; to live as those “stamped with eternity” (from the book “God’s
Empowering Presence” by G.D. Fee).
Prayer activity
Think about yourself and the church. Where do you see the struggle between
the “already and the not yet” being worked out? What frustrations does this
cause you? Bring your frustrations to God in prayer.
Romans 8 v 14-17
The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. The Spirit
we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of
God. With that Spirit we cry out, “Father”. And the Spirit himself joins
with our spirits to say we are God’s children. If we are God’s children,
we will receive blessings from God together with Christ. But we must suffer
as Christ suffered so that we will have glory as Christ has glory.
Notes
Paul uses the language of liberty/slavery more than any other New Testament
(NT) writer. In Rome in NT times the ratio of free people to slaves was about
3:1 (around 250,000 people). Most of the Jews in Rome were the descendants
of freed slaves (originally brought from Palestine in 62BC by Pompey). Paul’s
readers, therefore, would have had real insights - first or second-hand -
into what being a slave meant. And for many it meant fear, since if you were
a slave you were someone else’s property and treated as a thing rather than
a person. However, on rare occasions, slaves might be adopted as sons and
heirs – with equal rights to any natural born children.
Paul draws on this background in today’s reading to make a point about spiritual slaves and children and the difference between the two. Before we were Christians Paul says we were like slaves in bondage to Master Law. But now we are the adopted children of Master Grace with nothing to fear.
Being a child speaks of freedom, intimacy and trust – slavery of the lack of freedom, knowing your place and carrying out the orders of another. A child does their parents’ will - motivated by an internal desire to please, rooted in love. A slave obeys - motivated by an external pressure, rooted in fear!
As adopted children what is expected of us?
· To let God’s Spirit lead us (to develop the family likeness).
· To call/cry out to our “Father” (literally “Daddy”!).
And what can we expect?
· To be reassured that we are God’s true children by His
Spirit (even though adopted).
· To share in the inheritance/blessings of Christ (our adopted older brother).
· To share in the sufferings of Christ and His glory (following in His
footsteps).
Prayer reflection:
“The Father’s Song”
(by Matt Redman, Survivor Records 2000)
I have heard so many songs
Listened to a thousand tongues
But there is one that sounds above them all.
The Father’s song, the Father’s love
You sung it over me in full
Eternity is written on my heart.
Heaven’s perfect melody
The Creator’s symphony
You are singing over me
The Father’s song.
Heaven’s perfect mystery
The King of Love has sent for me
And now you’re singing over me
The Father’s song.
Romans 8 v 18-21
The sufferings we have now are nothing compared to the great glory that will
be shown to us. Everything God made is waiting with excitement for God to
show his children’s glory completely. Everything God made was changed to
become useless, not by its own wish but because God wanted it and because
all along there was this hope: that everything God made would be set free
from ruin to have the freedom and glory that belong to God’s children.
Notes
The world has had some weird weather recently. The climate of the Earth is
always changing and in the past it has altered as a result of natural causes.
But the changes we’ve seen over recent years, and those which are predicted
over the next 80 years, are thought to be mainly the result of human behaviour
(see http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/evidence/index.shtml). I don’t know about
the rest of you island dwellers, but I find the prospect of sea levels rising
dramatically, and the warming Gulf Stream disappearing from UK waters in
our lifetime, all rather worrying!
Human beings have a lot to answer for. God trusted us enough to give us the care of this planet and yet we have proved to be poor and unreliable caretakers - preferring, on the whole, to spoil and exploit rather than nurture and develop. Paul’s opinion is that creation will also be liberated from bondage to sin and death in the future. Here’s a different translation of verses 19-21: “The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile the joyful anticipation deepens” (from The Message translation of the Bible). God is committed to His creation – He will never walk away from it. Yet things are not as they should be or will be. It’s that “already and not yet” tension!
Human life, our physical, spiritual and emotional life, is closely tied into the rest of creation – so closely that our redemption has repercussions in the created world! Part of our Christian calling is to responsibly care for God’s creation - so what are doing about this?
Prayer activity
Take time to think about what you are doing to responsibly care for creation.
What more could you be doing: e.g. recycling, not dropping litter, not leaving
electrical equipment on standby, etc? Prayerfully ask God what He would have
you do. Look out for opportunities to put this into practice at home/work/place
of study.
Romans 8 v 22-25
We know that everything God made has been waiting until now in pain, like a
woman ready to give birth. Not only the world, but we also have been waiting
with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God’s promise.
So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children, which means
our bodies will be made free. We were saved, and we have this hope. If we
see what we are waiting for, that is not really hope. People do not hope
for something they already have. But we are hoping for something we do not
have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently.
Notes
As I write I know three women waiting to have their first babies – it’s an
epidemic which I hope isn’t catching! Paul says that waiting for God to fully
liberate and gloriously transform all of creation is like being in a long
labour - full of pain and yet full of anticipation! We see the labour pains
all around us, and we feel the labour pains within us, as we wait for the
end of sin and death.
But how can we be sure this baby is ever coming? We can be sure
because God has given us His Spirit as the deposit guaranteeing the fulfilment
of His promise. The Spirit is like God’s engagement ring for us – a ring which
says, “I am yours and you are Mine”; a sign that the promised marriage will
come and we will fully give ourselves to one another in intimacy and commitment.
One day the “not yet” will be the “yes, now!”. One day creation will be gloriously
transformed - as we will have new resurrected bodies, so creation will have
its own transformed “body”. There will be continuity and discontinuity – our
resurrected bodies will be recognisable to us, but radically different from
us. Creation will be recognisable to us, yet gloriously different.
We are people who live in the in-between times - “between
present difficulty and future destiny” - and as we do “We are to wait neither
so eagerly that we lose our patience, nor so patiently that we lose our expectation”
(from the book “The Message of Romans” by John Stott). We are to be people
of hope who live in hope, and that is not some vague thing, like we hope
it won’t rain today, but a sure and certain thing.
Prayer reflection
Nelson Fry said: “Hope is to hear the music of the future; faith is to dance
to it today.” How much should the thought that one day all will be well affect
how you live today? (If you find that difficult to answer, think about what
your life would be like without this future perspective.) Ask God to help you
to be a person of hope who is able to hear the music of the future and have
the faith to dance to it today.
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes