Will God Surprise in Missions: We are Never Separated

Introduction

Last Week we talked about Never Forgotten Love on the Gospel map

We tested our dead reckoning skills.

We saw that the gospel began with God and ends in our glorification.

God’s mission of redemption began with his foreknowledge where he foreknew everyone

From there we journeyed to the next fixed point of predestination.

Passing it, we God’s call.

Answering the call is the turning point of justification.

Our final fixed point is our glorification.

This week we are reminded this chapter began No Condemnation and we will see it ends with No Separation.

Romans 8:31–39 KJV 1900

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pray

God be for us (31)

What shall we say ....

This is a look back statement.

We do not want to rehash all we’ve learned from Romans but it would be good to remember some of the things in Chapter 8

We bean this chapter with NO CONDEMNATION! (1 - 4)

For the uncondemned, none of our sins bring back to condemnation.

We the sinful are uncondemned because Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned sin in the flesh.

In receiving this foreign righteousness from Jesus, we have the ability to walk after the Spirit.

We have the Holy Spirit (5-9)

With the Holy Spirit we can set our minds on following after the Spirit

The Holy Spirit dwells in us.

What can we say to that?

The Holy Spirit dwelling in us marks us as one of His.

We Christ in us (10-13)

With the Spirit of Christ in us, we are made alive to righteousness.

With that righteousness we can walk after the Spirit and not the Flesh.

Walking after the Spirit we live.

We are lead by the Spirit of God (14-18)

Being led by the Spirit, we show we are the children of God.

As children we are heirs with Christ our Saviour.

We can face suffering as the children of God.

We have hope of deliverance from this bondage of corruption (19-25)

The whole creation groans because of the corruption of sin, our sin.

The Spirit makes intercession for us and He does in the will of God. (26-28)

When we do not have the words to express and we have those deep groanings in our soul, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us.

We know there is purpose in all we go through, it is God’s purpose for us.

Then, there is the second part of verse 31

… If God be for us, Who can be against us?

How cool is that?

When we are are living after the Spirit, Who can prevent us from reaching the goal?

Tying this to the previous verses in the gospel road map that every Christian is following, Who can hold us down from our future glorification?

This word AGAINST means down along a trajectory.

This Greek word kata translated against has a rich meaning that does not match what we think when we read it.

We think something totally different when this word against.

It has rich and powerful meaning when you dig into it.

A trajector moves down along a trajectory relative to a static landmark.

Trajector has landmark starting point, and it has a trajectory, specific downward path it travels, and a fixed landmark as it destination.

A person fires a weapon from a specific location, the trajector, the actual bullet, moves down a trajectory to a specific landmark, the target.

Our Gospel Road Map we talked about last week fits right into this word meaning.

Redemption the trajector move down a trajectory.

The gospel message starts with God, the landmark, it moves down a trajectory, predestination > calling > justification > glorification as the final destination, landmark.

This is not new for God’s people.

We have this idea through all of the Bible.

Cathy and I read the story of Jacob this week.

Jacob’s parents sent him down to Padan-aram and to Laban’s house to take a wife.

He stopped for the night where he dreamed.

In his dreams he saw angels ascending and descending, we sometimes call it Jacobs ladder.

God stood at the top of the ladder and blessed him with the blessing of Abraham and Isaac.

The blessing of a great nation, and land for an inheritance, and his seed would be a blessing to all the families of the earth.

God further blessed Jacob with the promised that he would not leave him until God had done all that he promised.

There many of God’s people who were put on the trajectory.

Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Samson, countless people in Scripture and in life.

Phillip and the eunuch went on their way...

Acts 8:36 KJV 1900

36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

Phillip and eunuch are the trajector and their way or the road is the trajectory and the water for baptism is the landmark. (physically)

Phillip and the eunuch are the trajector, they were studying down through Scripture, and the eunuch saw his responsibility to repent, believe, and he became a new person, landmark. (spiritually)

All of God’s people are on this trajectory.

So, when we say as Paul did, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” it take on a whole new meaning.

How can I be discouraged? How can you be discouraged?

God did not save us and leave us to our own devices to complete the journey.

He has put on a path, His path, and this path a specific destination and purpose; to make us in the image of Christ, our brother.

Does that make you want to jump up and down on the inside?

It does me.

Freely gives (32)

God Justifies (33)

Makes Intercession (34)