Photo by Ave Calvar on Unsplash
In the eighth chapter of the New Testament book of Romans, the Apostle Paul lays out a sermon’s worth of information about the resurrection life in Christ.
I will do my best to break it down into bite-sized pieces over the next several weeks.
“With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma [working out my own salvation] is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud.
A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them – living and breathing God!
Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.
Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing.
And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.”
Romans 8:1-8 The Message
The Messiah has come, and his name is Jesus. His coming was no after-thought effort to redeem and restore lost humanity.
It was, and has always been the main event in human history.
Those who embrace it (which is much deeper than speaking a few emotionally charged words, only to go about their lives as if nothing happened) experience a freeing power the apostle describes as a “strong wind” clearing the air that frees them from “a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.”
What a powerful image: your hair blown back, eyes wide-eyed open, a broad smile on your face, without a trace of chains or shackles.
You no longer live under a “low-lying black cloud” of oppression and depression.
The Apostle Paul says a new power—the spirit of life in Christ—is in charge.
Do not miss the implication of verses three and four.
The apostle calls it “the law code,” a list of rules and regulations that had to be strictly adhered to to be righteous.
Resurrection life does not come from adherence to the law code. It comes from accepting the free-given gift of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Consider how important this is.
The Apostle Paul says it is not the “redoubling” of your efforts (works) but the embracing (faith) of what God the Holy Spirit is doing in you.
The one—works—forces you to do and adhere to rules and regulations, while the other—faith—allows you to embrace God as you are.
God the Holy Spirit is making your life work as you embrace his instructions, which may include rules and regulations.
This is the confusing part, but perhaps this may help.
Religion says follow the rules and regulations, and you will be rewarded.
Relationship says obey God’s voice, and you will be rewarded.
Religion is based on willpower and mental ascent, while relationship is based on the yearning of your heart.
One (religion) pleases man, and the other (relationship) pleases God.
God the Holy Spirit works to bring you into a resurrection life by helping you develop a close personal relationship with God—as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul addresses this in verses five through eight.
He says things like,
“Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed…”
“Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God.”
“Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God…”
YOU are the subject of these sentences.
However,
“Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them – living and breathing God!”
“Attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.”
Resurrection life is not about how many scripture verses you can quote or how many prayers you can pray.
A resurrection life is about having a close personal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead provides you a living hope. It is a living anticipation full of expectation of something good happening.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might lear
You must be logged in to post a comment.