We're Special

Rom. 8:1-4……………Notes on file / 8-5-06

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Cf…Michael Breissen was a new father, and he was not about to let his wife’s first Mother’s Day pass…

Do you recall mistakes in your life that still make you grieve ?

Cf…maybe sometimes you lay awake at night thinking of those things in you past…

We humans can feel so guilty even though we are forgiven.

That is what sins can do to us…(some may never feel guilt, pain)

But for the child of God there is a freedom from this guilt, pain…

Cf…apostle Paul said it well in V. 1…can you believe it?...that makes us special…

I want you to consider:

I. OUR STANDING IN CHRIST IS ONE OF NO CONDEMNATION.

 That means just what it says…one of great promises in Word of God.

 In spite of ourselves God doesn’t condemn us who are saved.

 Paul exclaimed in Rom. 7:22-25…a great struggle raged inside himself…so it is with us.

Cf…I picture Paul as a man bigger than the average Christian. (not physical but spiritually)…who stood in front of

        Kings, emporers, great men…Yet he emphasizes how powerful the struggle was in his soul.

A. PROMISE FROM LORD…because He doesn’t look upon us as condemned sinners but saved sinners.

 We can take heart in fact that God deals with us that way.

Cf…even though we lose our temper, lash out at the spouse, hollow at kids, have nasty thoughts in our heads…

 As a child of God you are free from condemnation.

II. OUR SEPARATION FROM SIN…V.2

Cf… “And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that            leads to death.’’

 It is the love of God that frees us from this grip of sin.

Cf…remember the story of the Prodigal Son?...wayward boy disregarded his father and himself…but the difference in

        that boy and the pig in pen was, “I will arise and go to my father.” The father was ready to clean him up, party!

A. IS A WORK THE LORD DOES…because he loves us so much.

 Father of the prodigal never condemned the boy for his waywardness.

 You and I can be free from the worry of our past sins.

Cf…member this church(where he sat)died grieving over his past…never experience joy…

 Yes, we fail, we could kick ourselves, even may feel as if you want to hide from God…

Cf… Adam, Eve hid from the Lord, not that he didn’t know, it was there stupidity to think they could hid and cover up

 God does not hold anything against His own.

III. OUR SUPPLY FOR RIGHTEOUS LIVING…V. 3-4

 Jesus whom the father sent is our supply in every way…

Cf…He is our living water (woman at well)…Ps. 73:26…in confession David cried, Ps.142:5

A. OUR PORTION FOREVER…as David cried out so many times.

 Today, as so many seek after the things of this world and forsake the things of God, you and I must share with  them

 the immeasurable riches of God’s grace.

 God is soon to shake this world to it’s foundation…

 We see the hated, conflict among the nations…neighbors, families..

 Beloved, my need, my supply will be Christ, my strength,  in whom I find peace.

CONCLUSION:  (go over three points above)

Cf… A little while back I heard a story about a girl who was the daughter of one of the royal families of Europe. She          had a big, round nose that destroyed her beauty in the eyes of others -- and especially in her own eyes. She grew          up with this terrible image of herself as an ugly person. So her family hired a plastic surgeon to change the          contour of her nose… so deeply embedded was this girl’s ugly image of herself that when she saw herself in the          mirror, she couldn’t see any change