Romans 8 – Brandon Hatmaker “Life of Peace”
Friday, May 30th, 2008
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” – Romans 8:1-2
Do we believe this? Really? Then why is it so hard for us to live it (Freedom and Joy)? Why is it that we feel that we can never do enough (Peace)? Why do we still have the idea that God is sitting up on a cloud often mad at us and waiting for the right moment to throw a thunderbolt at us (Guilt)?
I’m pretty convinced it’s because we are human. It’s our human side that holds on and still feels guilty before God. I’ve even felt guilty about my guilt. It’s our flesh that wants to listen to others statements of judgment and take them on as our own. It’s not coming from God. This is why we are called to deny ourselves daily. We are forgiven in Christ. If we’ve confessed our sins, yet we struggle with these things, then we need to grow in our understanding of Grace. Jesus offers us Salvation as a gift and the peace that comes with it.
Take that in for a moment. What a relief.
When we believe it, then we can really surrender to what God is doing. Then we can let go of our pride and be okay with the sovereignty of God in our world. Then we can search out His truth and have a desire to truly seek Him and thus find Him. Then we will be thankful. Then we will want to worship. Then we will begin to measure success as God measures success. Then we will not only know how to depend on God, but we will want to.
Here’s a great quote I read recently: “A sanctified soul is a living soul; and that life is peace.”
Father, thank you for your Grace in Christ. Thank you for calling us your children. May we find peace in that reality. Amen.
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Romans 8 “Promises, promises”
ReplyDeleteV 27&27 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
V 38 & 39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When you look up the word ‘gospel’ in the dictionary you get several definitions, two in particular standout; a) The teachings of Jesus and the apostles; the Christian revelation and b) Something regarded as true and implicitly believed: to take his report for gospel.
So if you are one that takes Paul’s report as true and implicitly believed then Romans 8 is of great comfort. Today’s scripture contains at least two great promises that I can rest in. The first promise is that even when I have no idea what to tell my Father, when I am in complete doubt the Holy Spirit, resident within me, can communicate on my behalf. Sorry for the analogy, but the Spirit is like some anti-virus software running in the background of me, making sure that I am in constant touch with the Father
The second promise that I can rest in is Paul’s promise that nothing can separate me from the love of God. Sometimes at night when I put Sam to bed, we play a short game of ‘how much do I love you’. I will say, ‘Sam, how much do I love you?’ and Sam will respond, “bigger than this room, bigger than this house, bigger than Austin…’ He will keep going and then at some point I will say ‘Sam, I love you bigger than this universe’. You can almost see his breath slow down, his shoulders relax and a inner peace come over him. He is resting in the knowledge that there is nothing he can ever say or do that will make me love him more or less than I love him at that moment. He is protected with love. So it is with our Father and we should rest well.
Promises, promises…there is an old German proverb, “Promises are like the full moon, if they are not kept at once they diminish day by day”. If we look around us, we will see God keeping his promise every day.
"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit ..." - verse 9
ReplyDeleteHow can this happen?? We are saying man is sinful but, then Paul says if we are in Christ, we are controlled by the Spirit. Lets be honest, isn't this were we all want to be?? Isn't this the life we all want to live?? When we get up in the morning who wouldn't like to say, "OK God You got it. Tell me what You want me to do." How many of us say that but, then don't follow through? It is so easy to say God is in control. How many times have we sung songs about it on Sunday mornings or in our cars listening to that radio station? The meat of it comes from actually putting action to the words. It is a daily living sacrifice. It is a walk with God. Both of these lines have to do with something physical. They have to do with action. God is not the one that leaves. We are the ones that don't walk to Him. How much more do we want Him to come to us?? Isn't coming to earth to die for our sins enough?? We have to move towards Him. We have to hold up our half. We have to be IN the Spirit.
- Michael