Romans 8.1-4 1 Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because
through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free
from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because
it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in
order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who
do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. – St. Paul
The good thing about Romans 7: it prepares us for the glories of chapter 8: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It’s
kinda like the other shoe has dropped. That’s the beauty of the Gospel; it
gives us bad news of how hopeless it is on our own; but not to leave us hanging,
it gives us the relief of what life in Christ truly is: glorious.
Our problem is we think
we understand the word, glory, but we
can only understand it in a human context in this present fallen world. Somebody
might remark that this is glorious,
or that is divine in speaking of
something that is of earth. It ain’t so, because we truly don’t know and can’t
relate to words like that from our earthly point of view.
But the Bible speaks of gloriousness, and gives us glimpses of what that truly means: it is of heaven. In our capacity here
though, we can only imagine. Now that isn’t to say that we can’t have moments
of glory or moments of intense divine interaction, but they are short-lived in
our present stage. These things are reserved for a new people, in the new
heavens and on the new earth.
Then why have
them!? For this one reason: hope. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. O what a
foretaste of glory divine... We learn
in this world, through Romans 8, of hope
in the coming glory that is ours secured in Christ. Without hope our natural
propensity to forget or to get distracted is heightened to the point that, to us, hope
completely disappears.
Then why hope,
if it is only deferred? Because our dear God and Father is pursuing with songs
of love those yet He wishes to be with Him in that deferred future that is presently
ours in Jesus. And that ought to give us hope as well that the grace of God
never gives up until the last full measure of grace is poured, and the wrath of
God finally begins.
Thank God for Romans 8 in the light of the glories to
come, and, of the wrath to come. Wrath will be when God removes His hand and
allows what is to be, to be. Until then, there is no condemnation for those in
Christ Jesus – they will share in the indescribable glories that are now
deferred, and be spared that terrible moment when God finally says, “I love
you, but I tried to warn you...”.
Father, thank You
for the glories that are mine today in Jesus Christ. Thank You that one day I
will see your glories for what they truly are and how I’ll be affected by them
forever. Thank You for grace today and may it have its full measure to everyone
who will yet respond to You in anticipation of the future glories. Use me to
share Your grace that the blind may see and seek Your face. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment