Devotional Assignment 4

Final Devotional Sample Name: Nick Hall Text: Romans 8:14-18 [Announce the Text] Please turn with me to Romans 8:14-18. [Help those unfamiliar with the Bible to find it] If this letter is new to you, take your time. Romans is located in the New Testament. You will find it to the right of the Gospels just after Acts and just prior to 1 and 2 Corinthians. [Scripture Introduction] As you are finding your way to the passage, I would like us all to consider a time when we were afraid. What do you feel like God’s posture was towards you in that moment? What kind of images come into your mind about God in those moments? Is he far away? Or is he close? In this passage we will learn how God feels towards us and what our posture towards Him should be in these moments.

[Read the Text] 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slaveryto fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoptionas 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, 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. (Romans 8:14-18 ESV) [Prayer for Illumination] Let’s pray . . . [Introduction] I recently watched the movie called Antwone Fisher and now it’s one of my favorite movies. Have any of you seen it? If you haven’t, it starts out very sad, but it tells a story of redemption and gives hope to those who feel forgotten. This sermon similarly will start sad, but redemption and the love of our father will shine through.

This movie, as you may have guessed, is about a man named Antwone Fisher. He was a young man in the Navy who grew up as an orphan. His mom was actually alive, but he had never met her. He never had a father figure in his life, and to make matters worse, his foster mom and babysitter took their anger and pain out on him in horrific ways.

I warned you guys that this sermon would start out sad, but I think it’s important for us to sit in this emotion and let this passage speak to it. Antwone Fisher learned to deal with his pain on his own, or not to deal with it at all. Going into the Navy, Antwone learned that authority figures are tough, they don’t care about his pain, and they demand results without complaining.

Antwone was without Father and mother, those in his authority did not want to comfort or be close to him. This left him feeling unwanted and he didn’t trust anyone or let them into his personal life. I don’t know all of your stories, but perhaps you can relate. My story is not as extreme as Antwone’s but sometimes I feel forgotten and unwanted and I seek to push through my struggles on my own. Is that what the Christian life is all about? Being strong in and of ourselves so that we don’t need any help? I don’t think so.

[Bond to the Textual Situation] Paul also seems to have something else in mind as he writes this text. He writes this section of Romans to remind a faltering church of their sonship to God, and that they should depend on God as children depend on their parents. [FCF] Some of us relate to Antwone and it’s easy for us to believe at times that no one cares for us. When challenges come our way, we sometimes struggle to remember that we are God’s children and to hope in the promises of our inheritance [COR] The church in Rome, who received this letter experienced their own set of hardships which could have made them wonder if God still cared about them. Christianity was mocked by Roman Citizens such as Jevenal, an ancient Roman poet and satirist as oriental superstition. They were accused of incest and cannibalism and blamed by Nero for the fire in AD 64. They were tortured for their faith in brutal ways to entertain the Romans. While we will hopefully not be persecuted to the same extent, we will sufferas Christians - sometimes persecution, but not always from other people. We will also suffer from our own sin, from the sin of others, and from the brokenness of this world. (Romans 8:19-23) But the good news is that God has adoptedus as his children. Out of this truth, Paul encourages the church, and he encourages us, to [Big Idea] Human Response: We must sufferwith Christ into glory [Analytical Question] But how can we suffer without giving into despair? Why should we suffer? Paul gives us three reasons why we can suffer with Christ into glory Our Father hearsus (vs. 15) The Spirit reminds us (vs. 14,16) Jesus is with us (vs. 17,18) [Main Point 1] Our Father hears us (vs. 15) [State, Place & Prove] Look with me in verses 14 and 15. 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!” The first thing that Paul does in these verses is remind us that we are sons of God. All who the Holy Spirit belong to the family of God and He is their Father.

[Explanation in relation to Cultural Grammar] If you are like Antwone, you might not think of a father as someone to whom you would call out in your distress. Perhaps you like Antwone only know rigid authority figures that you only show your best. Showing God your failures and weakness may seem wrong. As we read what Paul writes about our heavenly father, we unintentionally place an image behind “father” that is shaped by the men in our lives - for good or for evil. I have spoken with many people who tragically skim past the sections of Scripture that describe God as a father. They do this because the pain of their past makes these passages hard to read that God is their father. Maybe might react to these passages with fear or insecurity. If this is the case, then I want to say that I am sorry for the pain you must feel, I feel this pain in my own way to some extent. I encourage you to boldly listen, because this passage has good news especially for those who feel hurt and abandoned. God hears us!Even if we are not used to being heard. God hears us. Many of you have had great fathers/authority figures, but none of them are perfect. They are all human. We all must recognize that we approach this text with an image of “Father” that has true and false aspects of what a father ought to be. If you really admire your biological father, then praise God! and know that your biological father is only a shadow of what our Heavenly Father is. If you think you had an intimate relationship with your biological father, know that your heavenly Father wants an even deeper connection. If you are afraid of the idea of a Father, trust Paul that your heavenly Father wants to comfort you to fill your heart with himself in a close and trustworthy relationship.

Paul says that we did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.

Before receiving the Spirit of adoption, we lived enslaved to the spirit of fear. The truth is, that we live in a scary world. The world today is not the way it is supposed to be, it’s not the way God designed it before sin entered and sought to destroy all that is good.

Our stuff being stolen

people breaking into our house

identity theft

environmental concerns

political state of our nation and the world.

There are so many things to be afraid of, and everyone will be a slave to this fear if they do not find security in the rock of their salvation, our heavenly Father.

Paul speaks to believers that had a lot to be afraid of as well. Believing in Jesus put them at risk of public humiliation and torturous death. Look what Paul tells these Christians in verses 14-15. 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!” [illustration] This word Abbais actually an Aramaic word that children would often use in a tender way to address their fathers. Fathers, think of the tenderness that you had in your hearts for your children when they were young. Think of how you would rush outside to the sound of their cry when they got stung by a bee or when they were scared by a neighbor’s dog. Remember the sorrow you felt when they scraped their knee or when they were afraid of the dark. And wasn’t it a deeper sorrow that you felt when they started to get older and felt like they didn’t need you anymore to comfort them. Did the separation hurt you when they wanted to be strong without you, or when they were ashamed to tell you of their fears? The connection that you desire to have with your children to comfort them in their pain is only a shadow of the relationship that the Father wants to have with us. God wants to hearus! Maybe this is hard for some of you to hear who did not have fathers like this. If that is the case, I urge you to take a risk and let God be this father for you. He longs to be near us when we are afraid. He longs to comfort us and to take that fear away as he reminds us of his presence and strength. He hates when we distance ourselves from him in our pain and fearout of a pride that tells us we can fight our battles on our own. He wants to hear us! We see this in the life of Jesus himself. God did not take him out of the world but brought Jesus right down to the middle of our mess. Jesus followed God perfectly, and even He suffered. He suffered more than any other human. In one of the darkest hours of his life on Earth, before going to the cross, he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. While his closest friends were falling asleep, he cried out to God, “Abba Father!” Beads of blood dripped out of his skin like sweat. The weight on his shoulders of the cosmic spiritual battle was building up and climaxing. He knew that he was about to be arrested and charged as a criminal. He knew he would not be heard, he would be falsely accused and embarrassed. He would be rejected by the nation he formed to be his own and left by his closest companions. In this dark moment there was only one place he could go to seek comfort. There was only one person who would listen to him. He prayed to God, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) Jesus wanted the punishment to be removed from him, but he followed through none the less. HE trusted the will of his father over his own. I believe he could only have such trust in his father because he knew that his father heard his tender cry, Abba Father. He knew that the Father knew his pain and that this was part of His plan. [application]

So often, we come to Christ, and hope that our will be done in response to obedience to God. It’s natural to be afraid and want our fearful circumstances to be taken away immediately. But Paul would not give us these words if he never thought that we should be afraid. Paul knows that we are like sheep and that we will be afraid all the time, so he encourages us to callout to God.

Notice also, that the spirit of slavery is replaced by the Spirit of adoption. With slavery comes fear, and with adoption comes… What accompanies adoption?

not removal from the scary things in life. He does not turn us into super humans that never fear.

With slavery comes fear, and with adoption comes God himself

He gives us himself, to whom we can cry ABBA FATHER. The solution is not circumstantial, the solution is a person - a person to whom we can direct that fear and who will handle it perfectly. He will comfort us and never leave us. He is our security when we are afraid. He hears us and desires us to cry to him when we are afraid. By giving us these words, ABBA FATHER, Paul unites us with Christ. It is an honor to be given the same words to address the Father that Jesus used in his moment of deepest peril. It is a holy calling to follow Jesus, even when it seems like danger is all around us. Jesus makes us his own and gives us the access to the Father that only he deserves. We have a similar access to the Father that Jesus had in that moment, and Paul urges us to take advantage of this access. Paul knows we will need this powerful relationship to the father and urges us to use it as we live in this painful world. Cry out to God, He hears us!

The Psalms If you have trouble crying out to God, then perhaps the psalms will help you. In one of the hardest seasons of my life, I discovered the richness of the psalms and their truths started to grow in the soil of my heart that was plowed and prepared by hardship. The same word for “cry” in verse 15 is used over 40 times in the Psalms. The people of Israel were constantly afraid from mighty enemy armies, corruption within Israel, rejection of their peers, you name it, and they sang their fear to God. The Psalms model for us how to be honest with our Father in an emotional way - they are songs that express the feelings of the heart! Read them, pray them, sing them if you can! They give us language to cry out to our ABBA FATHER. Use this language! If you want pointers to specific psalms for specific situations or have any other questions about the Psalms, please ask and I will gladly help you in any way that I can. I know that many of you have a hard time imagining what your relationship with your heavenly Father would be like because of imperfect relationships with authority figures in your lives. Perhaps you think of God as a father who demands stoic courage in the face of fear, or perhaps your father has made you afraid of the idea of pouring out yourself and being vulnerable before your heavenly father. If you are hurt by what your father wasn’t, I ask you to boldly believe that God wants to fill those voids in your heart and to be the opposite of what you experienced in the past. Look to the example of Jesus! Let this phrase, ABBA FATHER, remind you of the intimacy that Jesus had with the Father. Even when he lost everything and knew that death was right around the corner, he did not loose his connection to the Father. [Transition] One of the greatest attacks of Satan, is the lie that we do not have this connection to God the Father. He doesn’t want us to use this powerful intimacy, so he sows seeds of doubt that God doesn’t want to be near us when life is messy. We may feel disgusted with ourselves and assume that God feels the same way towards us. These are lies, God adopted us as sons. We can suffer with Christ into glory because God hears us, and also because the Spirit reminds us. [Main Point 2] The Spirit reminds us (vs. 14,16) [Main Point 3] Jesus is with us (vs. 17,18) [Conclusion with an illustration of some kind] The story of Antwone Fisher did not end in the hopeless wreck that he was in the beginning of the movie. Without giving away too much of the movie, I will say that an older man came into his life that provided a trusting space in which he could honestly pour out his heart. The real person Antwone Fisher wrote a poem for that person in his life that goes like this.

Who will cry for the little boy? Lost and all alone. Who will cry for the little boy? Abandoned without his own? Who will cry for the little boy? He cried himself to sleep. Who will cry for the little boy? He never had for keeps. Who will cry for the little boy? He walked the burning sand Who will cry for the little boy? The boy inside the man. Who will cry for the little boy? Who knows well hurt and pain Who will cry for the little boy? He died again and again. Who will cry for the little boy? A good boy he tried to be Who will cry for the little boy? Who cries inside of me

It’s a beautiful poem that expresses the sorrow that many men are confronted with in a world where they are not supposed to feel sorrow. Men in this world are often not heard when they are sad because our culture tells them that they are not supposed to feel this sadness. As I reflect on this passage in Romans and the example of Jesus, I see an image of humanity, where we, men and women, are encouraged to honestly cry out to God. I find in this passage the answer to his longing heart! An answer that eternally satisfies the longing of our searching heart. I rewrote the poem based on the truth of this passage:

Abba Father will cry for his little son, Lost and all alone. Abba Father will cry for his little son, Abandoned without his own? Abba Father will cry for his little son, He cried himself to sleep. Abba Father will cry for his little son, He never had for keeps. Abba Father will cry for his little son, He walked the burning sand Abba Father will cry for his little son, The boy inside the man. Abba Father will cry for his little son, Who knows well hurt and pain Abba Father will cry for his little son, He died again and again. Abba Father will cry for his little son, A good boy he tried to be Abba Father will cry for his little son, Who cries inside of me

We suffer with Christ into Glory, because God adopted us as his eternal children. He is our eternal father. Our Abba Father listens to us, the Spirit reminds us of our sonship, and Jesus is with us in the struggle. We fight alongside our savior. So, when life is hard, don’t loose hart. Cry out to God. Remember who you are in Christ and experience these moments with Him