Romans,
page
2
Future glory
Romans 8.18-27
The
whole world is moved by the plight of Madeleine’s family but the suffering of
that one family is only the tip of a huge iceberg of suffering that engulfs every
family in the world. Not a person in this building is untouched by suffering
The
scale of human suffering is vast. Today thousands of families will see children
die. Children will see parents die. People will be told they are terminally
ill. Others will injured and killed in accidents, crimes, and natural disasters
In
Romans chapter 8.18, the Apostle doesn’t attempt a glib answer to the world’s suffering;
instead he puts into perspective :
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
The
sufferings of the world are great, but when you compare them to the glory to
come, they will seem insignificant - not because our sufferings are minor but
because the glory to come, being so great, will completely dwarf them
Now let
us see how Paul moves from suffering to glory, allowing us to put the troubles
of this life into the perspective of the world to come:
|
|
Suffering |
Glory |
|
Creation |
‘groaning
as in the pains of childbirth’ v22 |
‘liberated
from bondage to decay’ v21 |
|
God’s
People |
‘we
who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan inwardly’ v23 |
‘adoption
as sons, the redemption of our bodies’ v23 |
1. SUFFERING
a) The Creation
22 We know that the whole creation has been
groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time
The
very universe, the very earth we live on is suffering, groaning like a woman in
child birth Eg Tsunami. We live in a broken, damaged
fallen world
It was
not always like this however, and it will not always be like this
20 For the creation was
subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope
The
world as it is now in its broken, suffering state, is
as a result of the fall. God’s judgment is upon the world. He has subjected it
to judgment as part of his judgment against mankind’s disobedience
But
even in his judgment there were seeds of hope because in God’s plan the
creation will not suffer for ever. Just like a woman’s labour pain leads to new life, so the
suffering of creation will give rise to a new creation – more about that later
b) God’s People
23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly
But its not just the creation that is groaning, God’s people
are, too. We have the first fruits of the Spirit – we have God’s Spirit within
us – we are citizens of the world to come. But for the time being we
still live here in this old world, this broken, damaged world, and we still
have old-style perishable bodies. And so we get ill, we suffer, we die, just
like anyone else , ad so, says Paul, we groan inwardly
What a
contrast this is with the so-called health & wealth Prosperity Gospel that proclaims that God’s will for his people now is material prosperity and universal
physical healing. Try telling that to the believers in
Indeed,
this is predicted because in the verse previous to our passage Paul says this:
17Now if we are children, then we are
heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his
sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory
By
grace God has given us a status equal with Christ’s – we are sons and daughters
of God, we are co-heirs with Christ, we shall inherit the blessings of God’s
kingdom alongside him. But if one day we shall share in his glory – in the
world to come – then for the time being we suffer on earth, as he suffered
In fact
it’s a kind of rule of the kingdom: suffering leading to glory. That is always
the way in God’s purposes. And its to the crown, to the
glory that follows on from suffering that we now move
2. GLORY
a) The Creation
21….] the creation itself will be liberated
from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children
of God
The
creation is not going to be done away with. Its going
to be set free, not destroyed but wonderfully renewed. At present it is in
bondage to decay, but when Jesus returns and there will be a new heaven and a new earth
In Revelation 21v5 the returning, reigning Lord Jesus
says, “Behold, I make all things new.”
b) God’s People 23b ‘w e wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the
redemption of our bodies.’
Although
we have already been adopted into God’s family there is a deeper fully more intimate
relationship with him to come, when we see him face to face when God’s home is
once again with mankind
Revelation
21 again (verse 3):
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They
will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
And we
look forward too, not only to a deeper more intimate relationship with God, but
also to the redemption of our bodies. On the great day we shall new,
resurrected bodies, imperishable, free from the process of decay and death and
disability that afflicts them now
Its
going to be such a good day, but in the meantime we wait, we groan, we look
forward, but we are not left alone to fend for ourselves in this suffering and
broken world, because the Spirit comes
to helps us and , most wonderfully of all, to pray for us:
The Spirit helps us
26 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
At the
times when you find it hardest to pray, when you are suffering most, when
perhaps God seems distant, relax - the Spirit is praying for you. And when you don’t know what to pray –
no problem the Spirit does and he is praying on your behalf
And the
most wonderful thing about the Spirit’s prayers is that they are always spot on
27 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
When
you or I pray we sometimes simply pray for things that are not God’s will for
us, but when the Spirit prays – he knows God’s will. He has inside knowledge if
you like– he always prays for you and me in accordance with God’s will for us, and so his prayers for us
are always answered
The
Holy Spirit of God is the perfect pray-er!
And so
to conclude we return to the beginning and these great bible words:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us
And all
of this is not because the sufferings aren’t very great but because the glory
is immeasurably greater:
"Eye has not seen ,
nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him
(1
Corinthians 2:9)
YOU WERE SHAPED FOR SERVING GOD – Romans 12.1-8
By
Graham Hayles
The
Bible is God’s revelation of truths which tell us why we are here, what His
purposes for us are.
God
tells us that You were made to know Him and enjoy Him
for ever.
You
were planned for God’s pleasure to worship Him as your best friend.
You
were formed to belong to God’s family, you were created to become like Christ.
Now
our focus is on what the Bible has to tell us about our being shaped for
serving God
Let’s
turn to Romans 12
First
let the obvious sink in.
Ro
12:1 Brothers: The church in
Ro
12:1 Full of Gratitude to God; in view of Gods mercy – The picture is of the court room. They stand
before the judge who they know would rightly condemn but to whom they have
appealed, not for their rights or just deserts, but for mercy. All their
Christian life was due to the fact that they were debtors to mercy. Peace with
God through the Lord Jesus Christ, The constant presence of God and empowering
through His indwelling Holy Spirit, the gift of eternal life. All through the mercies of God. In view of having received more than we could
ever hope for through the mercies of God
give your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God. Not just
your heart, not just your spirit, but this lump of flesh and blood in which you
live. All of all that you are, given to God. As those who are
dependant on God’s mercy knowing they have nothing to boast about, but
are now what they are by God’s grace.
Ro
12:2 Changed world view “Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s
will is. As you absorb the Bible, God’s word, the Spirit of God will teach
you what God’s view is, and as you obey what you learn, your mind will be
changed. As
Brothers
united, full of gratitude to God’s mercy, seeing things from God’s perspective
3.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AS HIGH A VIEW OF THE CHURCH AS GOD DOES
Ro 12:4 Just as each of us has one body with many
members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we
who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
“You are the body
of Christ.” Paul specifically states in
1
Cor 12:27.
One of God’s purposes is that we become Christ-like. The church, the body of Christ,
should then be about what Jesus was about. Let’s remind ourselves of the
importance of the church in God’s mind
Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock
of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the
Eph 1:22 And God placed all things under his
(Christ’s) feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Eph
5:27 and to present her to himself as a
radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and
blameless.
The Church, is what Jesus came to earth to die
for, is what God wants to see cared for now and will one day present to Himself
in glory. Each individual Christian matters, and so does the collection of them
together. The church is not an afterthought in the mind of God, and it
therefore must not be an afterthought in our minds - renewed minds see things
from God’s point of view.
So:-
1 Cor 14: Since you are
eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.
THE
CHURCH HAS HUNDREDS OF ORGANS – ALL OF THEM VITAL FOR THE HEALTH OF THE BODY
RO 12:4 Just as each of us has one body with many
members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body,
and each member belongs to all the others.
We have different gifts,
Paul
gives this remarkable picture of each one of us being placed by God as an organ
within the body of Christ. The local group of Christians meeting is the body of
Christ there.
The
church in
Ÿ
Sadly some
churches in the UK are more like spare part surgery stores, with arms, hearts,
brains and feet in cold storage and never grafted into the living body, which
limps along as best it can lacking those arms, hearts, and feet.
Ÿ
Sadly too,
some churches in the
Ÿ
But some
churches seem to be working so well, and with such mature Christians that newer arrivals can’t believe that they are needed other
than to be there for worship and the collection/offering. But what they are
seeing is the “swan effect” - all serene above the surface, but paddling like
mad just to stay where they are, with no chance of being able to develop the
potential or respond to fresh challenges.
In
the human body every organ has an important function. In the Body of Christ
what are the functions of those organs?
The Bible speaks of these functions as “gifts” – God given gifts. About
20 different gifts are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4 and
1 Peter. Because the lists are quite varied it would seem that they are not
exhaustive lists, but are a selection of gifts which God has given. We note
that the source of the gifts is Trinitarian; Father Son and Holy Spirit. In 1 Cor 12: 4-11 the gifts are given by the Holy Spirit In Ephesians 4:11 they are given by the Son of God. In
Romans 12 and 1 Peter 4:11 it is God who gives them.
The
gifts are divided into two main headings by Peter 1 Pet 4:11 1. Teaching gifts 2. Service gifts. 1 Peter
4:11 If anyone
speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone
serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things
God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
TEACHING
GIFTS
Paul
takes the teaching gifts – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers as
being fundamental to Christians becoming effective in their own ministry or
service. A well taught Christian, a biblical Christian will be fashioned by the
Spirit of God who will take the word of God to make them like the Son of God. (
Eph
4:11 It was he who gave some to be
apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors
and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body
of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the
knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure
of the fullness of Christ.
Teaching
children, teenagers, adults, evangelizing all ages with the Biblical Gospel,
correcting excesses, counseling the individual is fundamental to the good
health of all the organs. Teachers are in every joint of the body, they are in
the marrow of the bones producing healthy blood to nourish the whole body, they are in the eyes and the heart of the body feeding it
with the protein of the word of Christ who is the head.
Could
the Lord of the church be setting before you the call to teach or evangelize?
Has He equipped you with a gift which needs developing and refining, but which
could be released to serve Him in teaching adults or children or young people?
In these days of a quick fix, the
SERVICE
GIFTS
The
service gifts include administration, co-ordinating
the church so that instead of descending into chaos as everyone does what is
right in their own eyes, the church is focussed on
reaching new people with the Gospel, the new Christians are gathered to be
nurtured, established Christians are encouraged to develop their gifts and
finances are properly looked after. It includes encouragement, acts of mercy
and compassion, those wonderful people it is just so good to know, who lift you
up when you’re down, who call you back to your
Christian discipleship through their non judgmental friendship that won’t give
up on you. It may be that the Lord has given you the more extraordinary gifts
of healing, or tongues or the interpretation of tongues, or that He has made
you large hearted and welcoming, or placed you in favourable
financial position and you just know that the lord wants you to be generous to
those He lays on your heart or brings across your way. Each gift is a ministry,
a service to the whole body. Every Christian is a minister when they exercise
their God given gifts.
WHAT
GIFTS DO I HAVE? S.H.A.P.E. (Rick Warren)
Rick
Warren has a helpful way to think through what your gifts might be. He calls it
finding your SHAPE.
What
are your Spiritual gifts, God has given you some for the benefit of the church
family. Sometimes they are recognized by other Christian leaders who might well
ask you to think about a particular service, because they believe you are well
suited to the task.
What
do you have a Heart for? Where do you find you have a strong interest,
perhaps it might be music in playing or singing. It maybe administration,
getting things organized well, facts and figures. It may be you are a “people
person” – getting alongside others God has given us the gifts to make that
vision a reality right here
What
Abilities do you have? Are you computer literate, a whiz at electronics or
art, an able cook or carpenter, a driver. Each person
has some 500 different abilities.
What
Personality do you have? Your personality will all be used by God
in His gifting so that you will be able to offer a unique contribution to the
body of Christ here. Round pegs in round holes.
What
Experiences have you had, including painful ones. They are often
times we grow most in some areas of our Christian life, and what you have
learned will be of great help to others going through hard times.
WITHOUT
LOVE, FORGET IT!
Finally
we need to be reminded that the way we use our gifts is so important.
1 Cor 12 listing so many gifts and 1 Cor
14 showing how they work out in practice are divided by 1 Cor
13, the way we should use our gifts is in love which is patient, kind, doesn’t
envy the gifts others have or their effectiveness, doesn’t boast, is not rude,
is not self-seeking, isn’t easily upset, that keeps no record of wrongs, love
that always protects, trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Ro
12:9-13 love must be sincere.. be
devoted to one another in brotherly love, share with God’s people who are in
need, practise hospitality.
The
amazing and glorious fact of the matter is that a church where its members use
their God-given gifts lovingly, where they serve and teach in the way the Lord of
the Church told them to, will be a church where Jesus will be seen. Truly the
body of Christ
1 Jn 4:12
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and
his love is made manifest in us.
Eph
4:12 so that the body of Christ may be
built up until we all reach unity in the
faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to
the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
What is the
Gospel? Romans 1.1-5
by Mick
Hough
Picture
this scene – you are sitting chatting with a friend and you let slip that you
were at church on Sunday evening. He or she asks –‘What do you Xns believe in?’ ‘I’d like to think about becoming a Xn! Tell me what I need to do!’
What do you say? Turn to the person next to you – what simple answer would you
give? (If it has happened to you, what did you say?)
Lots of
people worry about evangelism – dread having to talk about their Xn faith ‘What if I get it wrong? Put them off forever?
What if they turn against me once they know what I believe?’
This
evening is the start of this sermon series on evangelism – hopefully it will
encourage us and equip us to share the good news of Jesus effectively.
This
evening’s qn is ‘What is the gospel?’ If we get the
message right in our own minds, that will help, won’t it?
Turn to
Rom.1:1-5 We could have chosen any one of a
number of passages, but Paul makes some important statements and makes them
clearly for us.
Firstly The origin of the gospel: The gospel is God’s!
v.1b
Not made
up by Paul, nor any of the other apostle – originates
with God. God the Father, maker of heaven and earth has revealed something
important to us. A good reason for having confidence in it! If I am thinking
about buying a car, a radio, or something, I will probably look at where it
comes from – what confidence can I have that it will stand the test of time and
use. The gospel is the gospel of God – good reason to have confidence in it!
The gospel isn’t just a collection of human thoughts about God – our best
efforts to make sense of the world. No, It originates
with God.
v.2 tells
us that it has been God’s plan since the beginning of the world. Not an afterthought – God hasn’t been forced into doing something
that he didn’t want to do – he always planned to deal with his creation and his
creatures in this way. God’s eternal plan for the world – and as we read
the OT we see God revealing his plan of salvation little by little until its
fulfilment in Jesus Christ.
Now
how does this help us in our scenario with our friend?
Well,
because it’s God’s gospel we mustn’t alter it to fit what our friend wants to
hear! Temptation to tamper with the gospel to make it more palatable to today’s
society. To cut out the demanding bits, or to fail to mention
sin or the cross. Tempting to talk about something that is like the
gospel but not quite the real thing – but if we do that it will lack the power
to bring them to the real Christ and permanently change people’s lives.
People
need to hear the true gospel, even if it raises all sorts of questions and
problems for them.
Sometimes
we worry about the response to the gospel.
‘What
if people reject it, don’t believe it?’
But
again, if the gospel is God’s, then we don’t have to apologise for it, or feel
that people’s response is our responsibility. If our friend doesn’t like what
she hears – if she chooses to reject it on this occasion, then that is between
her and God. If we’ve passed on the message properly, then we have been
faithful.
Of
course we ought to be concerned that people do respond positively – pray,
invitation to think about it some more. But we mustn’t change it in order to
make it more palatable. It’s God’s, not ours.
v.3
Second point is about the focus of the gospel. Its content.
‘regarding his Son’ The gospel is all about Jesus –
he’s where the gospel begins and ends. If we want to give people God’s gospel,
we need to be talking about Jesus. Interesting that so many of our Xn leaders (bishops etc.) if we hear them on the radio
we’ll hear them talk about God, but rarely about Jesus. Jesus is controversial
and exclusive and you risk upsetting people when you talk about him – that was
true when he walked on the earth and it’s true today. Yet the gospel is the
gospel concerning his Son.
The
word gospel in the ancient world was used to describe an important
announcement – usually of great political importance, like the birth or
accession of a new emperor. That was a gospel.
So, for
instance, if the Queen were to suddenly announce that she was stepping down to
make way for Charles to be King, she would send out (in the ancient
understanding of the word) a gospel from Buck Palace concerning her son who
will be crowned the next King of England.
God’s
gospel is the announcement regarding his Son – a proclamation sent out from
heaven.
And the
proclamation says simply this – that Jesus is Christ and Lord (v.4). Or Saviour
and Lord. He is the one who has come from God, born as man to take our
sins on his shoulders. He is our Christ, our saviour. But he is also Lord – the to whom we are to submit our lives.
Those 2
titles for Jesus – Saviour and Lord are key to the
gospel we have to share.
Paul
expands on this a bit v.3.
Human
nature: The gospel concerning Jesus
is a gospel that’s truly rooted in human history. God the Son
who existed before all time stepped into human history by being born of a
woman. He grew up, ate, slept, and befriended large amounts of people,
some of whom recorded what they saw. It’s important that we remember this – Xty isn’t based on a myth or a philosophy but on a
genuinely historic figure who can be examined and
researched – as can all the events that surrounded his life.
Great
encouragement to us:
·
You know if you
really believe something is you can wake up at 2.30am and still believe it.
·
I can believe the
gospel at 2.30 am because it isn’t based on my feelings or emotions, but on
historical fact – I would have to ignore certain historical facts in order to
say that I no longer believed it to be true.
The gospel
concerns Jesus, and the historical events surrounding his life.
Descendant
of David: Human Jesus born into the
line of David. This probably isn’t the place we’d start to talk about Jesus –
but it’s important in that it shows that Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s
promise to send a King who would reign over his people forever.
Jesus
is the King of God’s eternal Kingdom. He is the one that God has made King, or
Lord, of heaven and earth. All authority, Jesus says, has been given to him by
God his Father. He is the one who rightly calls us to serve him.
Our
friend may well ask, ‘Why do you believe that Jesus is who he said he was?
What
makes you sure that he has saved you from sin?’
Answer
comes in v.4.
The
resurrection of Jesus by God is God’s big YES!, his
big tick against everything that Jesus said and did. His claim to forgive sin,
his claim that to see him was to see the Father, his claim that he would die
and be raised again after 3 days were all confirmed by his resurrection.
The
effectiveness of the cross was also confirmed by the resurrection. It shows
God’s approval and acceptance of Jesus’ death in our place. Sin and death
really were defeated on the cross for all those who put their trust in Christ.
God says yes to Jesus through the resurrection.
Because
of this, we cannot bypass the cross and resurrection when we’re talking with
our friends about Jesus.
Not
enough to talk about Jesus’ teaching or his character – nor just to talk about
the difference he’s made in our life (though important). The good news about
Jesus is that he is our Saviour who came to die to take the punishment for our
sin, and that he was raised by God to life 3 days later. This is the core of
the gospel. And because Jesus was raised from the dead to eternal life, that means
he is alive now – and the Bible tells us that we will meet him one day. All of
us – that’s why the gospel is relevant to our friend!
What
about a response to the gospel? What do we expect people to do if they believe
in Jesus as a result of what we tell them?
Turn to
Peter’s first sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2: 36-38).
v.36
Peter tells the gospel.
v.37
People believe it and are cut to the heart. What shall we do?
v.38
Repent and be baptised…Turn to Christ as Lord. Give your life to him and serve
him with every part of it. ‘Wouldn’t it be a great thing to have real meaning
and purpose in your life, and to know that you were serving the true Lord?’
Does
anyone travel up the M1 on a regular basis? Someone has written on one of the
motorway bridges ‘Jesus is Lord’ and if you get to the next bridge you see See Romans 10v9! Seen it?
The gospel in a nutshell. Jesus is Lord.
Challenge
to us and our friends is ‘Is he our Lord?’
Have we
given our lives wholeheartedly to Jesus? Not just to add a bit of spirituality
to our lives – or a bit of churchgoing, but to serve him in every part of our
lives.
When we
meet him, whether at death or when he returns, how will he greet us? As friends, or as strangers? As those who willingly serve
him in this life, or as those who have rejected his rule over us in this life?
God’s
gospel, concerning his Son, is that his Son is Saviour (in him we can be
forgiven and restored to God) and that he is Lord (the one whom God has made King
over heaven and earth, and whom one day we will meet).