Now that I Think About It

Rom 8:18, 38-39

HOOK- My Granny

The trait I believe was most outstanding was her giving heart—she much preferred giving to receiving

You could stop by her house unannounced and if she didn’t have anything to offer you, she would find something; it took me a while into my young adult years to grasp this, but eventually I understood—this is what she loved to do, so let her do it

Aunt Tricia and Uncle Junior would sometimes invite friends over from school and of course she would try to feed them

She would often fix food for multiple households and send it to their respective places in a plethora of containers

My Father’s 18th Birthday story takes the cake—literally (as I’ve heard it)

She bought me my first bike at age 10—it was a red BMX bike and somehow I found out that in 1990, my Granny (Papa) were willing to pay $100 on me for a bike

She loved to give

I didn’t understand it then, but I certainly do now

She would watch me while my parents went to work before I was old enough for preschool

She would see Tricia and junior off to school

Cook breakfast

Clean house, wash clothes

Prepare dinner

Take a nap

Work a 3pm-11pm shift as a nurse at Methodist Hospital

And then come and do it all over again

She was an amazing woman, we’ll miss her

Transition: But here is why I have hope

Future Glory Outweighs Present Suffering (vv.18-25)

Explain:

Paul makes a claim that forces one to face the realities of life head-on

He doesn’t backdown from the fact that there are grim aspects to this side of life

He doesn’t avoid talking about the negative impact of sin and death

And according to the previous chapter, he doesn’t even act as if he has never fallen prey to the pull and tug of evil

But what does do is give the believer reasons to hope, having weighed the evidence

Paul gives us two important terms for understanding this

The first is λογίζομαι, which is an accounting term

If I can pause here just to let someone know that on Good Friday and the Eve of Easter/Resurrection, the Christian faith is a logical faith

It pictures a ledger of credits and debits, where the debits represent suffering and the credits represent what God has done in Christ Jesus

But he doesn’t leave it there for us to simply stare at—he does something with it

This is where our second term comes in—ἄξιος (compare) tells us to take our ledger of credits and debits and place them on the scale in order to see which one weighs the most

And once I consider all debits and credits and place them side by side on the balance scale, my conclusion is that they are not worth mentioning in the same breath as the glory to be revealed in us

TRANS- well Paul that’s a pretty bold claim and while I think highly of you, I’ll need a little help processing what you said

Creation

The first piece of evidence Paul gives us is the longing of creation

Creation is eager for the redemption of the Sons of God—to the point where it cranes its proverbial neck in anticipation for God to finish what he’s started with us

One might even say, it penalizes our oft stupidity thinking that this is all there is

Its volatility and unpredictability are a protest against the present sin-laden condition in which it is in

Application

And so this is for the saint—you too ought feel a sense of longing for the home that is yet to be realized

I get nervous when I see Christians living as if this is all there is God has for us

The Holy Spirit Comes to the Aid of Believers in Weakness (vv. 26-27)

Explain

His second line of support is seen in the work of the Holy Spirit

One of the Spirit’s jobs is to come to the aid of the saint

In times of weakness is when the Spirit does some of His greatest work

Particularly in those times when you don’t know what to do

Paul says even when we can’t put the words together—he speaks to the Father for me, and because their relationship is everything that it should be—perfect and complete

I don’t always have to know exactly what to say when I pray, but if I’m God’s child, the Spirit comes to my rescue

Illustrate (Spirit)

This is why Jesus told His disciples that I must go away, yes to prepare a place, but also—SO that the Comforter will come (parakletos)

Because the Comforter (The Spirit of God) living inside you is better than me (Jesus) walking beside you

Application

And so in times like this—especially in times like this, the Christian needs to know, the Spirit is talking to the Father on your behalf

God Works All Things Out for Those who Love Him (vv.28-30)

Explain

This is Paul third and final proof for his conclusion in verse 18

He basically says, that by now you ought to be with me—we’ve come this far in the letter and in our discussion, and here is an affirmation we should be able to claim together—”We Know”

He uses a form of the word know (οἶδα) in the perfect tense, which indicates a knowledge anchored in the past, relevant in the present, that also has future implication

More specifically, you ought to know that God is on the side of the believer

And you should also know that in his meticulous and unique care of you God is the Sovereign Lord over all that you encounter

Perhaps you say—What then with the negative things I’ve experienced?

Illustrate- Edited Script (John Ortberg)

Imagine you're handed a script of your newborn child's entire life. Better yet, you're given an eraser and five minutes to edit out whatever you want. You read that she will have a learning disability in grade school. Reading, which comes easily for some kids, will be laborious for her. In high school, she will make a great circle of friends, then one of them will die of cancer. After high school, she will get into her preferred college, but while there, she will lose a leg in a car accident. Following that, she will go through a difficult depression. A few years later she'll get a great job, then lose that job in an economic downturn. She'll get married, but then go through the grief of separation.

With this script of your child's life and five minutes to edit it, what would you erase? Psychologist Jonathon Haidt poses this question in this hypothetical exercise: Wouldn't you want to take out all the stuff that would cause them pain?

If you could erase every failure, disappointment, and period of suffering, would that be a good idea? Would that cause them to grow into the best version of themselves? Is it possible that we actually need adversity and setbacks—maybe even crises and trauma—to reach the fullest potential of development and growth?

Ortberg contends that God doesn't always erase all our stress and pain before it starts. Instead, God can use the failures, disappointments, and periods of suffering to help us grow. Ortberg writes, "God isn't at work producing the circumstances I want. God is at work in bad circumstances to produce the me he wants."

Application

What this teaches us is that God is not so weak where the only thing he knows how to work with is good times

But his power is so vast and far reaching that he is able to look at that ledger, and in his own way transform debits in to credits—He knows how to turn negatives into positives

JOB’S Testimony

This is what the entire book of JOB teaches us, is it not—that God is sovereign over all, and that while at a distance, I have my doubts as I don’t quite know what I’m looking at

But as I experience Him, I learn that my distant perceptions of him were ignorant (without understanding) and off center

Trans

And so what do you say to a God who cares like this

How do you respond to a God who has a Five Fold ministry (vv.29-30)

Foreknowledge

Predestination

Calling

Justification

Glorification

What do you say to a God who was not willing to spare His own Son?

And So, I AM Persuaded (vv.38-39)

Paul doubles down from earlier and says I’m persuaded

You can take away everything else I know, but this I am convinced of—that there is nothing that can separate the believer in Christ from God’s love

That’s the only reason we’ve (as a family) been able to come here today and not lose our minds

Because we know that if we have believed in Christ, as Sis Booth did, we will see Jesus, but because she also believed—we’ll see her again

And so we’re persuaded (speaking for the family)

that neither death, nor life

Angels nor principalities

Things present, or things to come, no powers

No height nor depth

Nothing created can separate us from the love of God accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord

TOOK- Suffering John Stott

How does the cross of Jesus speak to a world of pain and suffering?

After explaining the full range of biblical ideas of the atonement, John Stott concludes his book with a chapter entitled "Suffering and glory." He describes the miserable conditions of millions of people who live in shanty towns of Africa and Asia, the barriadas of Latin American and the favelas of Brazil.

Then he tells a story about an imaginary poor man from the slums of Brazil who climbs 2,310 feet up the mountain to the colossal statue of Christ that towers above Rio de Janeiro—"The Christ of Corcovado." After the difficult climb, the poor man finally reaches Jesus and says,

I have climbed up to meet you, Christ, from the filthy, confined quarters down there … to put before you, most respectfully, these considerations: there are 900,000 of us down there in the slums of that splendid city … And you … do you remain here at Corcovado surrounded by divine glory? Go down there to the favelas … Don't stay away from us; live among us and give us new faith in you and in the Father. Amen.

Stott asks, "What would Christ say in response to such an entreaty? Would he not say '[in the suffering of the cross] I did come down to live among you, and I live among you still'"?

Then Stott adds,

We have to learn to climb the hill called Calvary, and from that vantage-ground survey all life's tragedies. 

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown.