Thank you for joining today as we seek God’s wisdom together. Let’s begin with prayer.
“Lord Jesus, I ask that you take the words in this blog and breathe life into them. Apart from your anointing they are just words on a page. I ask that you quicken our hearts to hear, see, and act upon what you are trying to teach us by the Power of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.”
This is part 5 of the series I have entitled: “You have the Power to overcome sin in your life”. The premise comes from the Book of Romans chapter 8 and that is where we will look to now.
Romans 8: 12-17
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him ‘Abba Father’. 16For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17And since we are his children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.”
What the Word is Saying
The very first word of verse 12 cements what Paul said in verses 1-11. “Therefore” is an affirmation of the reality of what he said. It is the natural outflow of what has occurred. Just as gravity keeps us from floating out into space when we jump. The Holy Spirit keeps us from being bound to Sin. Using the same metaphor in another way. Just because gravity keeps us from floating out to space does not mean we are forced to sin. God through the work of His Son and Spirit have changed the laws as it pertains to the believer. The non-believer is bound to the law and cannot get loose from sin. Whereas the believer has been placed within a new reality in which the law of sin has no application to them. As verse 15 says we are not enslaved to sin and prevented from doing anything else. Rather we were adopted by God and now are His children free to do what we want and not bound any longer. For this we call the Father ‘Abba’ which can be translated ‘daddy’. The father does not force us to do his will. Rather He gives us the freedom to do His will and in so doing we gratefully do what He asks.
Verse 17 wraps it up for us in saying that we are His children we also are His heirs. Lastly, saying we then must share in His suffering. Immediately the Christian is drawn to the picture of the cross when we think of His suffering. How could it not, it was a terrible event and despite knowledge aforethought of what was going to occur Jesus followed the path laid out before Him. However, there was also suffering He incurred before then. Most importantly It was that He being God emptied Himself into a human body with all of its flaws and the curse of sin within it. But also think of the strain that He was under while He was in. Knowledge of His ultimate ending weighed on Him all the time. The crowds pushing in on Him seeking their needs to be fulfilled was no doubt physically exhausting. Finally, having to train and lead a group of people who expected Him to do contrary to His mission which was His own sacrifice. They expected Him to conquer the army’s and establish the Jewish Kingdom over all the earth. Instead, he would conquer the world by becoming a sacrifice for it and restoring the people to their pre-Adam condition. No longer bound by the sentence of death. Therefore, as His heirs we should act in the same way as He did.
Jesus though being God emptied Himself into a mortal body. He spent His ministry with sinners and healed the sick and diseased. He set free those held captive by sin and or demonic activity. This is what He has called us to. We are not to be like the Royal family. Obtuse and not isolated from the common or lower classes of people. Rather as heirs we are to go into the dark places and rescue those who are trapped by the sin that holds them. We must share in His suffering and humble ourselves as He did. Because that is what He is asking of us. Too many Christians get this wrong, our kingdom is in Heaven not here on earth. Jesus set us free from sin so we could be His heirs and go out to reach our fellow heirs who have not yet received Him. May we never forget that is the mission He left for us.
If you have not yet come to know Jesus as your personal savior let me implore you to do so. I am convinced you did not happen upon this blog by chance. Rather the Holy Spirit has drawn you to it. You are in bondage to sin and the effects of that sin has left you weary and without hope. I have good news for you! Jesus who lived a sinless life came to this earth and died on a cross so that you can find victory over sin and death. The Bible says in Romans 10:9-10: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved”. You may be swaying but I don’t understand what you are saying. I did when I came to know Christ I had very little Christian upbringing but, I heard a still small voice in my head telling me to pray the prayer know and that I would understand it later. I have found that to be true. So encourage you to do the same. Pray with me now right where you are and confess aloud: “Jesus I believe that you are Lord of all and that you died on a cross, and God raised you from the dead. I confess to you that I am a sinner and ask you to forgive me and change my heart”. If you prayed that prayer, I encourage you to contact us and let us know what occurred. We would love the opportunity to pray with you and offer comfort and direction for what you should do next. I also encourage you to find a church to go to. Maybe there is someone you know that is a Christian, ask them to help you. I assure you that we all have been where you are and were able to keep following hard after Jesus with the help and support of other believers. We would love to do the same for you.
God bless you all and thank you for allowing me to take this time to share "what the word is saying" to us today!
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Comentários