Co-Heirs with Christ
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Pastoral Reminder: Head Heart Hands
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Let us continue in Chapter 8 of Romans. Go ahead and turn there in your bibles. As I continue to grow a Christian, I look back and see that there were things that I just did not remember learning. Whether it was my selective hearing or and absence of focus, one of the areas that I found lacking in my understanding of God is the work of the Holy Spirit. This chapter speaks of the great works of the Spirit and when you lean on them and start to dig in the word, we find the great work of the Spirit in a believers life.
Last week we looked at the new identity that we have in the Lord. Where by the work of the Spirit of adoption we have become children of God.
14 For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”
We are able to approach the King of Kings by the work of the Spirit that dwells in God’s children. Those that are shown to be children by being lead by God’s Spirit. Paul continues in the next verse with blessings that come with being brought into the family of God.
16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
The first blessing that we see is that we now have a divine witness.
Testify Together
Testify Together
16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,
It can be difficult in our time to fully appreciate the privilege it is to be called God’s children. The enemies of God are relentless in their pursuit of tearing apart the reality of the family.
The orphan has just found that he has been adopted into a home that he did nothing to earn. He stands there almost dumbfounded, how can it be that I now have a home. Can it be true? He runs back to his friends and tells them the great news but they do not believe him. Doubt sets in as this just does not add up, but I know it is true.
It is common to have doubts when something so unexpected, mercified, and gracious happens. What is the catch?
But to the one who have been adopted, the Spirit himself bears witness to this fact.
The Spirit himself is an uncommon phrase in the scriptures and is only found in this chapter. Here and in verse 26
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.
Paul emphasizes in this chapter that the work of Spirit is personal to the Spirit himself. That Holy Spirit is the one doing the work in this aspect of a Christian’s life.
Here he testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. This means that the Spirit of God comes alongside our own spirit and bears witness to the new life we claim as true.
Truth requires two parts to be proven to be valid. There must be a claim and and evidence. One of the evidences that held great weight was the testimony of a second witness.
17 Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.
We tend to think of forensics as having the greatest weight in a situation as it is tangible and easily evaluated. We know that anyone can lie so we tend to not believe people even witnesses. But under the Jewish justice system, truth was of great importance, Founded from the 10 commandments
16 Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
False testimonies were taken very seriously, so much so that witness who was found of bearing a false testimony would not only be punished but would receive the punishment the accused would have recieved if the testimony was true.
16 “If a malicious witness testifies against someone accusing him of a crime, 17 the two people in the dispute are to stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and judges in authority at that time. 18 The judges are to make a careful investigation, and if the witness turns out to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother, 19 you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from you.
Could you imagine what would change if this was still in play today?
If you found yourself in need of someone to collaborate your story, wouldn't you want someone who is known for always being truthful? Well there is only one man who has never uttered a lie from his mouth and his Spirit is the truth.
6 ... And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
Any good witness is one who tells the truth. But the Spirit is the truth. There is no greater witness than that of the Spirit of God, who comes alongside our own spirit testifying that we are God’s children. As Paul uses this court room imagery we may ask who is the testimony before? Who is judging us?
The first is God himself? As he judges all according to his moral standards the Spirit testifies that the requirements of the are fulfilled in those that are walking according to the Spirit.
3 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, 4 in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
The indwelling Spirit produces fruit that bears witness to our claim to be a child of God. A changed life through the work of the Spirit is a confirmed life. We can enter in confident with the Spirit as our witness.
The second judge is the judge of the world. We will find that we are judged by the world’s standards and when we are, we should be found guilty of violating the evil that the world calls good.
29 They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. 32 Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
A life that is lived in the Spirit will be contrary to the world and will bring about accusations and charges that we are not good.
If we believe that God is precious and that a relationship with him is the highest priority and that we strive to have our children come to know the Lord as their savior, we will be charged with mental abuse for brainwashing our children.
If we stand up for the sanctity of life and stand for the unborn and against abortion we will be called unloving and unkind.
If we are unwavering on our belief that there are only two genders we will be called hateful and mean.
If we believe that God has instituted marriage between one man and one woman and that they become one flesh and this is the place of all sexual intimacy then we are old-fashioned and antiquated.
The Spirit will transform the mind of the man to align with God’s truth and in doing so makes him set apart from the thinking of the world.
2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
The Spirit testifies that we are not of the world any more.
The third judge is the church and other believers. As we come into the gathered community, anyone can walk in and claim to be a follower of Jesus and a Christian. But there must be a desire to follow God, repent of sin, know the Son, and to live for God or there is no second witness. But when the Spirit is at work and fruit of sanctification is growing we can observe and agree that this person is a child of the living God and a brother and sister in Christ.
32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
The fourth judge is our own hearts and minds. This can be a tricky one at times as we still feel and have the remnant of sinful man that we can question at times our own position as God’s children. This is the time that we look to who we were and how God has changed us for without the Spirit we would have never changed.
19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God
So just as the Spirit testified that Jesus was who he claimed to be as the first son, the Spirit also testifies that we have been brought into the family as well.
5 Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 Jesus Christ—he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are in agreement. 9 If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that he has given about his Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
When we confess with out mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, when our spirit knows this to be true, The Spirit himself comes alongside to bear witness with us before all of creation that we are God’s Children!!!
Receive Together
Receive Together
17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—…
The Spirit testifies with us that we are God’s children and as God’s children we share in the inheritance of the inheritance of Jesus who is the heir of all things.
2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.
God has brought us into his household by the work of his will and as we enter we become coheirs with Christ. This was a question that was brought up many times to Jesus in the gospels.
“What must I do to receive eternal life?” was the question of the rich young ruler and the expert in the law. Jesus would respond with questions and parables. Like the Good Samaritan or the Parable of the Vineyard Owner.
Or The parable of the Sheep and Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 “ ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’ 44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Those that are lead by the Spirit will show love for the other brothers and sisters in God’s household. The one who has the Spirit wants to help and serve others and here Jesus tell them that there will be those that have a profession of faith but not actual faith. They will claim the title but not have the Spirit. But the true children of God will inherit eternal life. It all comes back to Jesus and the cross.
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 5 he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
What must I do to receive eternal life? This is the ultimate question for there are two rewards eternal life for the children of God and eternal punishment for those that are not. Who will receive his portion? Those that believe.
14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
And this is a work of God and a gift from God.
22 But now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the outcome is eternal life! 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A gift that is not earned or worked for but comes by faith and through the work of the Spirit that produces sanctifying fruit in our lives. Point to the time where we will receive the full portion of our inheritance.
13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. 14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
Eternal life is the reward and there is nothing like it on this side of heaven.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
It is the Spirit who is the beginning of that inheritance.
The children of God will sow in the Spirit and reap the harvest of eternal life.
7 Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, 8 because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
Suffer Together
Suffer Together
17 … —if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
The Christian life is marketed in many ways to the world today. I say marketed because there are many that have come to spend their time on trying to convince the world that Jesus is the solution to all of their worldly issues. Like a used car salesman they put together a pitch that speaks of all of the benefits, shifting to what Jesus can do for you.
They neglect the challenging parts of a Christian life. They preach that Jesus will fix everything and it is all at no expense to you. Many hear this message and buy into it. They see their life as one of ease and comfort with no my trial or tribulation.
But it doesn’t take long for them to find that this half gospel is no gospel at all.
On the other hand there are those that preach the good news that God saves sinners, not by works but by grace and that all who come to Jesus with repentance and belief will be saved from condemnation. This is great news but as all believers find, this life is far from an easy one.
The battle of our flesh rages against our minds as we work to deny self and kill sin. Seeing and understanding the depth of our desire to sin and the weakness of our flesh to change it. We learn that we need God to live this new life. We start to understand that we are not everything we thought we were. We are constantly humbled by the fact that we need the Spirit.
But we also find that as the Spirit does his sanctifying work in our lives and we mature and grow, it doesn’t guarantee that we will be free of trials or hardships in life. Many times we actually find the opposite. That the Christian life is one that suffers.
Paul simply put it this wat to Timothy
12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
When you look through the scriptures the people who speak the truth of God and live a life in line with those truths are not usually highly favored. The kings of the old testament we not very fond of the words of the prophets. Jesus said that those that are persecuted are even blessed.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 11 “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. 12 Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Suffering is a proof of a transformed and transforming life lived out in a fallen world. This is a hard truth for many people. They were sold the easy life and they find that people of the world don’t like what they stand for.
But there is this mindset change that that persecution that happens against believers, is something to rejoice in and that there is great rewards in heaven for those being persecuted.
The author of Hebrews encouraged the Church to look to Jesus as the one who endured great suffering and great reward so that we do not get weary or give up.
3 For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.
For if the world is hostile and hateful towards Jesus, and if the Spirit of Christ dwells in a believer, and produces fruit that conforms to the image of Christ. Then as we think, speak, and act more like Jesus, we will find that the world has not changed and if it rejected Jesus when he walked in the light on this earth, then the same world will reject you and me as we walk in the light of the Spirit.
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you. 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. 16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.
There is to be a sense of rejoicing when we share in the sufferings of Christ because suffering with Christ is lifting up the work of God in our lives. God get the glory for his work in the lives of God’s Children. This is true because only God’s children are lead by the Spirit and live for the king of heaven. And we can then have confidence that if we are suffering for doing what is right, then we will also receive the reward when finish his work.
10 The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.
The Christian takes solace in the fact that the work that started a salvation when we were justified will continue its work until full completion once the full inheritance has been given when we are fully glorified.
18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
The Spirit of God in us leads us to be transformed into the same image of our savior, step by step little by little knowing that what God started in us he will finish.
6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Suffering is a proof that the Spirit is leading us and that we are God’s children and coheirs with Christ and that we will receive the reward of our salvation eternal life. Each moment of suffering for doing the will of God bring him glory today and we will be fully glorified in the end.
30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
Conclusions
Conclusions
We are professed children of God and we can make that claim because the Spirit of God is working in our lives. Transforming and changing who we are. Being conformed in to the image of the Son of God. The Spirit testifies to all of creation that we are God’s children as we conform to his image.
It is a life that is more and more dependent on the Spirit of God and not on the strength of man.
We have been given personal access to God where we can approach and call out to God, Abba Father. and we can do this with confidence because we see the Spirit’s work as a testimony to a changed life. We can have confidence that we will receive the promise of eternal life and this should spur us on to do the work that God has laid out for us.
Our inheritance is secured, our salvation is complete, our hope is anchored in Christ, so we turn to the father and say here I am use me for my future is secure, what will you have me do?
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Blessing/Benediction
20 But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.
