Life in the Spirit, Part 2
Life in the Spirit • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewGod adds us to the family through Christ and gives us a future hope.
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12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
The church is called to be radically countercultural.
1. Through the Holy Spirit, we are children of God. (vs. 12-17)
1. Through the Holy Spirit, we are children of God. (vs. 12-17)
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Our calling as followers of Jesus is to live differently than the rest of the world. We have been given the gift of salvation by grace alone and so our lives are to reflect that new reality. However, we must submit to the will of God. We make the conscious choice to give into the desires of the flesh even though we are no longer dominated by the corruption of sin.
The Holy Spirit gives us life so that we can live according to the Spirit rather than the flesh. As such, we are adopted into the family of God and become sons and daughters of God. What is interesting here for Paul is that this idea of being led by the Spirit evokes images of the exodus. Remember that the Israelites were led out into the wilderness by God where they stayed for forty years before they received their inheritance of the the promise land.
Promise made to Abraham
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
We live in this in between time when we have been given the promise and hope of the full inheritance that will be given to us when Jesus consummates his kingdom at his return. In the meantime, we live as if we have already entered into that promise land. We are led by the Spirit to receive the fullness of the promise. This is how we are called children of God and are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
We are not a child of God just because we are made in God’s image. Becoming a child of God is predicated on whether or not we accept Christ and live a righteous life according to his Word. This is a misnomer that some try to propagate. We are not children of God prior to our accepting of Jesus. We are enemies of God. We cannot inherit the kingdom when we live outside of Christ according to the flesh and our desires.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
This is the exact opposite of how we are to live in Christ. Living according to the flesh leads to death, but a life in the Spirit brings us into intimate relationship with God so that we will not fall back under the slavery of fear but bear witness to God even through our suffering.
2. Sin has caused suffering throughout creation. (vs. 18-22)
2. Sin has caused suffering throughout creation. (vs. 18-22)
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
As Paul is writing this letter to the Romans, the empire was under the false pretense that they were in a glorious age of peace. It is often referred to as the “Pax Romana” or “Roman Peace.” When Augustus was declared to be the Caesar, he was given god-like and messianic attributes that would make him solely responsible for this seemingly idyllic age. It was prophesied by the Roman philosopher Virgil that eventually the land would produce without human work and that all people would no longer pollute the world with their impiety.
Paul cuts through this nonsense by declaring that suffering is present in the world for all creation. There is suffering for those who are followers of Jesus and for the wider world because of the presence of sin. Creation groans in pain because of the affects of sin. We along with creation suffer as a sign of suffering with Christ in the present.
Jesus makes reference to this in the Olivet Discourse in Mark 13:7-8
7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.
However, Paul makes certain that we understand that God will triumph over the corruption of the cosmic order created by sin. The work has already been accomplished in Christ’s death and resurrection. All of creation will be fully restored when Christ returns.
Paul makes the declaration that God will begin the re-creation of the earth through the witness of the gospel through the “sons of God.” It is a call for the church to take responsibility to take Christ to the nations and expand the kingdom.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
There is a clear vision here that even in the times of the birth pangs when there is pain and delusion in the hearts of humanity God is calling the church to embark on a mission to advance God’s glory through the gospel not weapons of war. The power of sin has been broken through the death and resurrection of Christ. It is the call of the church to begin the process of setting creation free from the bondage of corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God one heart at a time.
3. We demonstrate the healing power of the Spirit. (vs. 23-25)
3. We demonstrate the healing power of the Spirit. (vs. 23-25)
23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
The Holy Spirit indwelling us is the first sign of this future age. The work of the Holy Spirit by grace that takes us on toward perfection in love is a demonstration of what will happen at the consummation when our bodies will be transformed and glorified. This is not a fleeting expectation but a new reality in which we live because we are already a new creation in Christ according to 2 Corinthians 5:17.
But what we have to understand is that this work of sanctifying and perfecting grace is not to glorify ourselves or somehow make us divine and somehow invulnerable to suffering. There are those who teach that real Christians who are truly empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit will not experience difficulties or suffering in this life. All will be overcome if we just have faith as if faith is some kind of magical incantation that protects us from all the bad in the world. Paul has already refuted that notion by saying that we along with all of creation are groaning and awaiting the coming of Christ when all will be made right and suffering will completely end.
We demonstrate our status as sons and daughters of God by exercising the kind of dominion in creation that heals rather than destroys. Paul is encouraging believers to enact the rights and privileges of sonship and daughtership now by refusing to conform to the fallen age and acting rightly toward the groaning of creation by taking the healing message of the gospel to everyone so that they can experience the power of being made into a new creation now.
Ultimately, Paul’s vision goes back to Genesis 1:28
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
This idea of dominion over the earth is something that begins with the church now as we take the gospel to all creation as it groans under the power of sin. The gospel brings freedom from sin. The spread of the gospel message to all the world is the power that heals the nations.
2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
The church through the power of the Spirit is to express this healing through the proclamation of the gospel and witness of the community. We are to be a taste or a forerunner to what will be when the new heavens and new earth come to pass. We are experiencing this new creation in our hearts and in our relationships in some sense already. This is the power that the Holy Spirit displays to the nations through the church.