Romans 8:31-39
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read entire passage:
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SLIDE 3:
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Romans 8:31-
SLIDE 4:
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
SLIDE 5:
Romans 8:34-
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
SLIDE 6:
Romans 8:35-36
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
pray - intro:
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As is the case with the entire book of Romans, Paul is wrapping of a conclusion which was build upon a previous conclusion, and the current conclusion lays the foundation for the new lesson which we are entering into today.
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He even lets us know, that this present message, is firmly dependent upon the previous..
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Vs. 1 states: WHAT THEN SHALL WE SAY TO THESE THINGS?
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Well, here we are… it’s a new day and a new message separated from the previous by 7 days… so before we move forward with an answer to this questions..
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We need to recap, for a moment… just what “these things” are..
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Beginning at verse 18, Erin showed us last week… that there is a glory which is present.. in both creation, and in the life of the believer… that is awaiting a time of revelation.
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As we await for this glory, which is going to be hugely significant, we will experience suffering. - Why? Because we exist in a creation that was made for us… it was designed in perfection for a perfect mankind. but… AS WE ALL KNOW… - NEITHER HUMANS NOR CREATION ITSELF… are even remotely perfect.
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So creation is fallen… it is in a state of vanity… or as vs. 20 states it… it is subjected to futility.. But from that state of vanity, there is also hope.
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In a literary fashion, Paul personifies creation, so that we can better understand how similar our conditions are…
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Creation has hope… it has hope in the reality that it will one day be set free from bondage and corruption..
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And interestingly… the source of that freedom is because of what God will reveal in us. .. that is.. the glory, from vs. 18.
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I think it’s hard to define glory. In a song I wrote, that we sometimes sing here in church, I have defined it this way…
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SLIDE 7:
That which can’t be seen
Perceived clearly like a sign
The beauty we call glory
Is Your signature divine.
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We get hints of glory… when we recognize the wonder of His work in creation… as we look at the mountains and the sun rise, and the clouds, and through our telescopes into space and even through our microscopes at the beauty of cell structure and dna…
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And we look, and we say “Wow”… because we recognize something that is amazing… - and it’s amazing, because God’s divine signature is clearly seen… and it’s beautiful.
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God wants us to be a people who say “Wow!”
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As we saw in … this is the ultimate motivation in our lives… that we would hope in the one thing that will not disappoint… and that’s God’s glory. He will be glorified.
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There is so much in this world, right now… that causes us to say “Wow!”.. and this world, is subject to futility. just imagine the kind of Wows we will be saying… WHEN THAT GLORY IS REVEALED IN US.
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Many people will tell you… that our world is dying. Why? Because corrupt people are living on a corrupt world… and as a result… at times, we might look and say… “This place… this planet… is dying.”
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But Paul doesn’t call it death… he calls it childbirth.. and those of you ladies who have done natural childbirth can attest… that you literally feel like you might be dying..
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But, you’re not… you’re giving birth… Something amazing is about to be revealed in you, on the other side of that pain… and you are going to say “Wow.” - And you’ll look back… and you’ll say… the suffering of the childbirth, is not worth comparing to the glory of having this beautiful child in my life.
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So… a glory is going to be revealed in and through the believers… which will bring joyful freedom to creation…
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So now we are left wondering… what is this wonderful thing that is going to be revealed in us… that is so awe inspiring.. and so powerfully impacting … that it will cause creation itself to obtain freedom??
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What are we waiting for? - Paul told us in vs. 23… we are waiting for the consummation of our adoption, and the redemption of our bodies.
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Right now, we are spiritual beings trapped in broken and corrupt bodies… so our experience of glory, is pretty limited in comparison to the future revelation.
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But all is not lost… we have the first fruits of of the Spirit. We have a little bit of something from the Spirit of God… who works in and through us… causing us to yearn for this fulfilled adoption experience… This Spirit helps us to communicate with God in ways that we fall short…
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THIS WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN OUR LIVES… IS AMAZING… AND YET.. IT’S JUST A TASTE… A SAMPLE… A REFLECTION… OF THE WORLD CHANGING GLORY WHICH SHALL BE REVEALED IN US… - when our bodies are redeemed… and we receive in full, the inheritance which our adoption qualifies us for.
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It’s not a small thing.... that we would be glorified… - vss 28-30 showed us that…
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God will glorify us, because He has justified us. God justified us, because he called us. God called us, because He predestined us. God predestined us, because He foreknew us…
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God is heavily invested in your life… He had a plan laid out for you as long as He has foreknown you… and since God is eternal, and knows everything, He has had you and me on His mind for all eternity… and He’s been thinking about making you His own child, and all that this entails..
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What an amazing privilege! The sufferings of this world pale in comparison to things God has done for us, in us, and through us…
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Because of this privilege… look now… again, at vs. 31. “What shall we say to these amazing things that God has done for us? This amazing eternal plan and investment that God has laid out for us. This amazing experience of the Spirit being imparted into our lives, causing us to recognized His Fatherhood and our adoption…
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What shall we say because of all this?
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Well, this is for certain… The God who has done all of that which is laid out in verses 18-30… MOST SURELY, IS GOING TO BE ON OUR SIDE in light of any opposition that this world might throw our way.
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Who or what… in all of the cosmos… could possibly pose a threat of opposition against God???
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If God is on your side… you are on the winning side. You plus God, is the majority.
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And then… if His opulent investment laid out in the previous verses wasn’t enough… look what God has done for us in verse 32..
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SLIDE 8:
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
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And by “all things”… He’s not including… broken things. God has glorious things for you. Right now… we merely have a firstfruits experience of the Spirit… - we recognize that God is our father and we have an inheritance as children because of Spirit… we get some help communicating with God… we experience conviction, interpretation of the Word, and occasionally a miraculous uttering of knowledge, prophecy or tongues… And none of this is to be discounted in any way…
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But it’s merely a barley loaf in comparison to the full wheat harvest which is still to come.
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God didn’t give His Son… so that we could spend eternity suffering in the midst of creation’s birth pangs… as we do now
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God didn’t give His Son… so that we could spend eternity fighting with this broken and diseased flesh...
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God gave us His Son.. so that one day, as we step into eternity and experience our full redemption and adoption… - All things… and for a better understanding ‘all things’… look back to verse 28.... - all things that work together for good… will be ours.
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was not written down back in the days of Joshua… but he and his friend Caleb understood the principle. - Ten others returned from spying out the promised land… and they were fearful. GOD TOLD THEM, THAT THE LAND WAS THEIRS FOR THE TAKING… - But they didn’t believe it.
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The people who lived there were big… apparently, in their estimation… they were bigger than God.. - BUT NOT JOSHUA AND CALEB. They were determined to lead Israel into that land, solely on their confidence in God’s promise.
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Jonathan, the son of Saul understood this principle…
SLIDE 9:
6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
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Another song we sing here regularly… Whom Shall I Fear… is from
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SLIDE 10
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. 3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
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and then… consider this passage from Isa. 50:9
SLIDE 11
9 Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
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Isaiah’s words parallel our next verse in ..
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SLIDE 12
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Rom 8:
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There is no judge… there is no court… there is no ruling authority that is higher than God. We saw in our study from two weeks ago.. - Verse one of this chapter reads: “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
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People on this planet and chose to condemn you. The courts in this land might condemn you. Your relatives might condemn you. You might even earn it on behalf of our secular justice system…
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But all of that is temporary… it’s small.. it’s puny in comparison… - When God looks upon you… He sees the righteousness of Jesus, and extends that to you.
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YOu might ask: Well, what about Satan?
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SLIDE 13
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
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Satan is constantly bringing accusations against us.
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And you know what we should say in response to that?
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SLIDE 14
So What?!?
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His accusations are empty… they have no substance. They are all directed towards the old life that is accounted as dead. - Satan might stand before God and say:
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-___________ stole Laffy Taffy from the snack shop at the public swimming pool back in 1978.
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God would respond… - I’m looking at _______________ right now, and I only see the righteousness of Christ.
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_Oh yea… well______________ told lies about one of her class mates in High School.
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God would respond… “I’m looking at __________ right now, and I only see the righteousness of Christ.
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-Oh yea… well this guy is a criminal and has served time for doing a heinous thing.
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And God would respond… “I only see the righteousness of Christ.”
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And this process could go on and on an on… and not a single one of the accuser’s accusations would stick.
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There is no foe that can conquer us, if God is on our side… there is no fear that is validated, if God is with us… and there is no accusation that will stick…
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But… if we are not thinking about these amazing truths with the right perspectives… - we might dismiss them as platitudes.
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You’re a believer… and yet, even with God on your side… you still suffer hardship… you still have sickness… you still experience the accusations… -Me plus God is a majority, but sometimes I still lose battles… I get fired, I get passed up on the promotion… the relationships break… and the car breaks down…
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If this is your perspective… you have missed out on what Paul said in verse 18. You think the Bible reads, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time ARE worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” - You are severely and grossly underestimating the magnitude of that glory…
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I would also say… that you are grieving… actually denying… the work that the Holy Spirit does in the life of the believer.. to produce hope as defined earlier in verses 23-24.
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God made a perfect world for a perfect Adam and a perfect Eve… But creation… and humanity… are no longer perfect.. - It’s all a broken, fallen, corrupt, violent and sinful mess right now..
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But with that… there’s hope. With that… there are promises… With that… there is a firstfruit of what is yet to come..
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These closing verses reveal, even more… the hope and the promises…
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SLIDE 15
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35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:
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Look at vs. 35… that’s some bad stuff… But the reality is.. It’s actually worse than it looks. -Nakedness doesn’t speak merely of being un-clothed.. It means, you are so poor and so destitute… that you are unable to attain clothes.
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The sword… that doesn’t mean that an individual might come against you with violence… No, this term speaks directly of execution.
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IN vs. 36, he quotes … and a plea to God for speedy aid in a time of sore distress… - This verse is an indication… that there might be times where the opposition is so great… that there is no reprieve.
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Paul greatly exaggerates the suffering in this explanation… (thought some would suffer with this level of severity… but not many… )… but the exaggeration stands, to reflect how great the love of God is.
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The worst of the worst of the worst that humanity could throw at you would not even remotely separate you from the love of Christ.
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This world might bring some form of pain and persecution upon you… it might claim a victory of you… your life might not reflect the world’s estimation of success or victory…
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But… with God, you are no just a conqueror.. you are more than a conqueror. Literally, the term here is “we are super-conquerors”
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Paul sets forth a second list starting in verse 38… which can be summed up with one phrase in vs. 39 - ‘nor anything else in all creation’… there is not one single thing, that can pull you away from the love of God in Christ…
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God is invested in you.
YOu’ve been on His mind for all eternity.
He gave His Son, in death, to give you life as His children..
He has an amazing plan, to reveal His glory in you, in such a way, that creation itself will be set free.
He is committed to you.
And there is nothing, that is going to separate His love from you.
Today… I want to encourage you to be amazed by this reality. Be blown away by this. KNow whole heartedly… that His future revelation in you and through you, will make this hardship… these birth pangs… a distant memory, not even worthy of comparison to how amazing His plan for you is.
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close.