5 Days Through Romans 8
Ephesians 2:10 (AMP)
“What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later . . . all creation is waiting eagerly for that . . . . glorious freedom from death and decay. . . . all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we. . .also groan, . . .for we long . . . to be released from sin and suffering." Romans 8:18-25 (NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
This is one of the most defining passages in all of scripture. It explains why we yearn always for something more. And it explains how there is a sense in all of us that things as they are now are not as they always will be.
All of nature and humanity is groaning, writes Paul, waiting for God to redeem the world. God will put humpty dumpty back together again. But for now, we wait, groan, and hope. Paul says this groaning is like childbirth. It’s terribly painful. However what mother looks back on that pain and complains? When she looks at the child that was born, the pain dwindles to nothingness compared the beauty of what was birthed.
I hope you can hear what scripture is saying. Genesis 1 teaches us who God is, Genesis 2 teaches us who we are and Genesis 3 tells why we are having so much trouble. But Romans 8 summarizes all the rest of the Bible from Genesis through Revelation. It’s the story of God’s putting it all back together again. And that includes every detail of your life. Believe that. Believe. Believe when it’s easy to believe, Believe when it’s hard to believe. And when you can’t believe anymore, believe nonetheless.
“The leaves of scripture rustle with the “rumor” that one day all will be made right and that we will get to see that day”
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Pastor Jeff, I so much appreciate your insight and thoughts on your daily scripture. Thank you for sharing what God has put in your heart for us to hear. I attended a conference last week where we were challenged to know Him more; to spend time with God so we can be prepared to deal with this world; to believe because God put it in our hearts to do so, even when we can't see anything happening; to know that God is at work and he has prepared the way for us and because of that we can rest in Him and not work so hard trying to "make" things happen; to submit to God and let Him continually transform us into His image so that He can use us to help the hurting in the world around us; to be sensitive to His promptings and nudges to do good to those around us. We are blessed to be a blessing and sometimes I think we forget that and get really comfortable where we are. It was quite the confirmation that you were also speaking about these "promptings" in your sermon on Sunday. It is a wake up call to be "in the flow" so that we can affect the world we live in with Jesus' love.
ReplyDelete