Romans 8: No, Nothing

Intro:

Leader Slide Good morning, Concord Kids! I’m so excited to be with you guys today to continue The Biggest Story! In this part of the biggest story, we have been studying the Acts and Epistles. Acts is all the things that the followers of Jesus began to do in the early church, which we just finished learning about last week in the story of Paul's journey.

This week, we begin the Epistles section of the greatest story, which covers the letters written by the apostles. Slide 1 An Epistle is a formal letter, sent to a church by an apostle, with instructions about what Jesus has done and how it affects us. The Epistles in our Bible are important because the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostles of Jesus to write the letters. These letters can be short or long, but they all have the same purpose in instructing believers about how to live in response to what Jesus has done. The authors of the letters include Peter, John, James, Paul, and some others. There are 21 letters in our New Testament, and Paul actually writes 13 of those, which is more than any other author.

Today, we are going to be studying Paul’s most famous letter. Can anyone guess what it is? Paul's letter to the Romans! We are also going to be studying the most famous chapter in that letter. Any guesses? It’s chapter 8! Paul's letter to the Romans is one of his most famous letters for a variety of reasons, one is that it is one of his longest letters, two is that it is rich for studying to learn more about God, and three, it can also be one of his most encouraging letters. Chapter 8, in particular, is considered to be the most encouraging part because it is all about assurance in what Jesus has done, despite suffering, trials, or anything else that life throws at us.

Lesson:

Lesson Slide If you have your bible, go ahead and turn to Romans chapter 8. If you don’t know where that is, turn to your New Testament, go past the four gospels and Acts, and then you will hit Romans. If you are in a letter that ends in ians, then you've gone too far. Slide 2 We are going to go ahead and start reading now, but before we get going, I need everyone to get their wiggles out, so stand up and get wiggly! AND settle, now everyone take a seat, and let's all take a deep breath. Slide 3 I want you guys to look at me for a second. Today's lesson might be harder to understand at times. Romans chapter 8 is very deep. I recently read an entire book devoted to studying this chapter. But I believe that you guys can understand it if you pay attention well. Let’s go ahead and read the first four verses of chapter 8. Romans 8:1-4 Slides 4-6

Paul begins Romans 8 with a triumphant declaration. Slide 4 That: there is therefore no condemnation for those who are with Jesus! We have some questions to answer, though. The first is what's that, therefore, there for? In chapter 7, Paul talks all about the Old Testament law, and how its entire purpose is to show and expose sin and how badly sin has infected our world. By the end, Paul is even reminded of how badly sin exists in his own life. But then he shifts this idea and states that those in Jesus are no longer under sin’s condemnation. Paul uses the term in Christ Jesus a lot in this chapter, when He says that it means those who have been saved by Jesus through faith in what He’s done.

The next question is, what is condemnation? Condemnation is a legal term that describes a consequence for someone. Think about a courtroom with me, the convict, or the person who did wrong, is sitting there, and the judge then condemns the criminal to jail because of the crimes they committed. In Romans 3, Paul says that all people have and currently do sin, and they all sit under the condemnation that their actions bring. But the good news is that there is no more condemnation for those who are in Jesus. Slide 7 Everyone shout NO CONDEMNATION! Do this three times.

If there is no more condemnation, it's a fair question to ask why it’s gone. What happened to take away the condemnation that our sin held us under? Paul explains in the next two verses what happened to take away the condemnation we were under. Slide 5 In verse 3, he says that we are set free by the Holy Spirit when we are in Jesus, from the sin that the law convicted us of. Remember, all people are sinners, but those who follow Jesus are set free from sin and its hold that condemns us. Paul says that God can set us free because He sent his one and only Son to take on our sins and die for them to bear our condemnation. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and in that moment, He took the condemnation that our sins held against us on Himself. Slide 6 If you look at verse four, we see that Jesus did this so that those who walk in the Spirit might be righteous before God. That's what the phrase, so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us means. Jesus perfectly satisfied the law's demands for the punishment of sin on the cross. Jesus died on the cross so that we might be in right standing with God. In summary, because of Jesus’s death on the cross, we are set free from sin and the conviction of being unrighteous before God. Slide 8 Everyone shout SET FREE! Do this three times.

So that's only the first four verses of Romans chapter 8, and we just covered so much! I would love to go through every verse, but we would be here for an hour or more if I did so I’m going to summarize the major points that happen in the middle. Slide 9 After what we just learned about, Paul says that because Jesus has risen from the dead, those who trust in Him will also be raised in verses 5-11. Next, he moves on to share the profound truth that those who trust and hope in Jesus are adopted into God’s family, verses 12-17! Then Paul moves on to talking about suffering, how all of the creation is under suffering, including humans, and how there is hope for believers in suffering because God is working in all of it to turn the suffering to good in verses 18-28!

Then Paul finishes with a powerful conclusion to all of the different points he made in the first 30 verses. Let's check it out by reading Romans 8:31-39. Romans 8:31-39 Slides 10-13

Something I want to point out in these five verses is that Paul is asking a lot of questions. In this section, he uses a literary tool called a Rhetorical Question. Rhetorical questions ask a question that has an obvious answer. A good example is, “Is the sky blue?” The obvious answer is, of course, the sky is blue. Paul asks multiple rhetorical questions that I want us to look at.

If God is for us, who can be against us? The answer is no one! If God, the creator of the universe, is on our side, then no one can truly stand against us, even if it seems that way in the moment.

If God gave Jesus as a sacrifice for us, will He not give us everything? Yes, He will! God, in His great love toward us, gives us so many blessings and joys that we don’t deserve!

Can anyone bring any charge or any condemnation against God’s people? No, they can’t! Paul says that because God is the one who makes us right, no one can say that we are still condemned. On top of that, Jesus’s sacrifice and current work in our lives keep us from being able to be condemned by others.

And ultimately, can anyone or anything separate us from the love of Jesus Christ? Paul brings up a very real reality that those who follow Jesus will suffer and go through terrible things. Whether it’s sickness, famine, persecution, or danger. But despite that, He can answer confidently that no, nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord! Slide 14 Everyone shout NO NOTHING!Do this three times.

Application/Closing:

Big Truth Slide Our Big Truth is In Jesus, God loves us always and forever. Think back to the lesson we had last week, Paul was experiencing so many scary and terrible things. Our lives will also have times like that, where we go through times of trouble and pain. But, for those who follow Jesus, we have a hope that because of what He has done for us, God loves us forever, and nothing can take that away. Not death, not bad dreams, not bad people, not cancer, not car accidents, not things in the sky or things in the sea—no, nothing. We know through Jesus that the snake has been crushed, that our sins have been paid for, and that death has been defeated. We have nothing to fear! We are safe. Safe in Jesus. If that isn’t good news, then nothing is!

Lets Pray