The Power Source_ Romans 8_1-27

The Power Source: Romans 8:1-27

Introduction

            -What kind of power impresses you?

Top Fuel Dragster:  37 times more powerful than the average car or 7000 horsepower.  Does 0 to 100 mph in 0.8 seconds!

Airbus 380:  Can seat 555 passengers, and has 280000 foot pounds of thrust.

Space shuttle:  Has three engines each weighing about the same as a car engine but they produce a combined 37 million horsepower.  The equivalent to the power of 13 hoover dams.

The Sun:  400 septillion watts (4 x 1026), or 126 trillion horsepower is sent to Earth.

            -What are some of our thoughts on the Holy Spirit

But there is a power that is beyond any of these amazing power sources.  The H.S. has power available to us that goes beyond any of these.  This is not the kind of power that can be rated in horsepower or watts, but is measured in something much greater: Changed lives.

Before we go much further I am not talking about some of the current manifestations occurring in our churches.  We can become so afraid of the Holy Spirit because of the abuses that we avoid the Spirit in our churches and lives all together.

            -The focus of this message and the reason for omitting 18-24.

The focus for our study of Romans 8 is on the work of the Holy Spirit that occurs for the salvation of every person and is at work in every believer.  The entire chapter of Romans 8 talks about the position of the believer but we will not be focusing on verses 18-24 because we want to deal specifically with the work of the Spirit today.

Please open your Bibles to Romans 8 as we take a closer look at the Holy Spirit:  OUR POWER SOURCE!!

1. The Holy Spirit is Our Great Liberator. (1-11)

-Verse 1 is an introduction to this section stating that the believer is not condemned.  Verses 2-11 tell us why the believer is not placed under judgment through the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is active in bringing people to Christ.

a)      The Holy Spirit by his power sets us free from the power of sin and death through Christ.  (2-3)

What was the Law?  Hebrews 10:1-4:

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Trying to atone for sins by human power and strength.

What did the H.S. do?  Romans 6:16:

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

The H.S. made a way for us to be free from the law that enslaves. 

b)      The Holy Spirit meets the righteous requirements of the law by Christ. (4)

God in his righteousness required only what Christ could provide and it is through the power of the H.S. that this requirement is met in us.

So what are these righteous requirements?  What did God require in order for us to have a relationship with Him?  Sin had to be condemned, taken out of the equation, and eliminated as a factor hindering us from access to God.  When we live according to the Spirit sin is condemned and has no power.  But how does this work? What does this mean?  Verses 5-8 provide the answer.

c)      The Holy Spirit provides life and peace. (5-8)

When we are set on the sinful nature we are living according to the sinful nature. When we are set on the Spirit we have our mind set on what the H.S. desires.  This mind set is more than a particular focus or momentary state of mind but rather it is a WORLDVIEW.  It is an entire state of living and through the power of the H.S. we are able to have an entire change in our life’s ORIENTATION!!

Verse six says that the H.S. can give us life and peace:

What kind of life?  Galatians 6:8:

The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

The type of life provided is not the temporal and limited one of this world, but rather we are provided with life that is eternal and inexhaustible.

What kind of peace?  Romans 8:7:

The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

This verse is not describing world peace, peace between one person to another. It is not the peace dreamed of that eliminates war and creates a utopian society.  It is the only peace that God ever fully provides that of peace with him!!!  We can become so focused on world peace and pacifistic tranquility that we completely forget about our relationship with God.  More importantly in our quest for worldly peace we neglect to offer the world peace with God.

d)      The Spirit of God raised Christ from the dead, this same Spirit also gives life to us if we have Christ. (9-11)

The H.S. has the power to control us over the power of sin if he lives in you.  The condition for having the Spirit is having Christ.  And if you do not have the Spirit you do not have Christ- YOU HAVE THE H.S. IF YOU HAVE CHRIST!!!  Your access to his power and comfort is not something you gain latter but it is available from the moment you receive Christ!

But as Christians we still sin-our bodies are still corrupt but our spirit is righteous.  By the H.S. in the same power that raised Christ’s body from the grave will give our mortal bodies life.  Romans 6:5-6:

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin

1. The Holy Spirit is Our Great Enabler. (12-17)

-Verse 12 gives an introduction to this section informing us that we have an obligation as believers to not live according to the sinful nature.  To do this the Holy Spirit gives us the power to meet our obligation to live by the Spirit.

a)      The Holy Spirit enables us to put to death sins and live as sons and daughters of God. (13-14)

People often do not rise above the level of their current lives.  If you are born into particular class or are told you will always be average there is a good chance it will come true.

We are living with a sinful nature that wants us to remain where it is but as believers we are given a new lease on life.  Christians are no longer average but are Children of God!!!  Malachi 3:17-18:

They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him.  And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

But our task of living holy lives and placing trust in Christ is not on our own but through the power of the H.S.!!  Why do we so often live as defeated powerless people?

b)      The Holy Spirit enables us to call God ‘Abba’ father. (15)

As believers we do not have to live as a slave to fear.  What does it mean to live in fear?  Fear of what, lack of life and peace?  2 Timothy 1:7:

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

We have been adopted, able to call God Father with full rights because of the power of the H.S.  But how often do we live not as an heir but as a prisoner? 

c)      The Holy Spirit enables us to have assurance of salvation. (16)

Our lives can often be so contrary to what we truly are.  What does it meant to be the CHILD OF THE KING OF KINGS?  How does a CHILD OF THE KING walk, talk, act, care, love, and live?

The H.S. speaks to our souls that we have this glorious assurance that we are his children without reservation, without compromise, without having to doubt, without fear, without any notion of insecurity, without any thought that we are not forever his!!!

So why do we so often live our lives less than what we truly are?  It is time to live as we were meant to live, to live as heirs and co-heirs in Christ.

d)      The Holy Spirit enables us to be heirs of God’s Glory. (17)

We are given a place of honor.  James and John inquired as to their place in the kingdom, and we are told here that as God’s children we will one day inherit as co-heirs with Christ.  We will experience the Glory that Christ has been given.  2 Timothy 2:11-12a:

Here is a trustworthy saying:  If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.

The H.S. works with power in our lives giving us this great honor.  It is time to live.  It is time to understand that through Christ we no longer have to be the same, we are given a new position, the right to be different, the right to live in glory!!

1. The Holy Spirit is Our Great Sustainer.  (25-27)

-Verse 25 provides an introduction and sets the context for the following verses.  It indicates that there is hope for the believer because of the way the power of the Holy Spirit sustains us.

a)      The Holy Spirit sustains us by helping us when we do not know what to pray. (26a)

In our weakness we can hardly begin to know how to deal with every problem and fault that is in our lives.  But we can be assured that the H.S. knows our weakness.  Do any of us really know what we need?  Do we really know what others need?  Do we know without doubt the will of God?

Thankfully the H.S. has the power to sustain us when we are speechless!!!  He provides hope when all looks hopeless.

b)      The Holy Spirit sustains us by interceding for us with groans when words are inadequate. (26b)

What is meant by Groans?  Is it anything like we understand the word to mean?  Could it really mean that the H.S. is making pathetic rumblings?  Groaning in the Bible for this context carries two different ideas:

-Groaning of creation over sin.  Jeremiah 12:4:

How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished.  Moreover, the people are saying, “He will not see what happens to us.”

-Groaning as believers awaiting glory.  Romans 8:23:

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

It brings the idea of a cry, a wail or lament that is beyond words.  A deep expression that cannot be contained or expressed with language.  The H.S. intercedes for us at a level that is beyond expression in only a way that God can appeal to God!!!

c)      The Holy Spirit sustains us by knowing our hearts and interceding in accordance with God’s will. (27)

One of the greatest struggles of every believer at one time or another is determining God’s will.  We struggle to know the heart of God, but we are given hope.  The H.S. is God and God has searched our hearts and knows the mind of the Spirit.  The H.S. appeals with these groans in perfect harmony with God’s will.

Maybe we should spend less time agonizing over God’s will in prayer and take more time to ask God to do as the H.S. has interceded on our behalf!!  We are known by God and the desires of our hearts when in line with His will have been taken to God by the intercession of the H.S.

You want to serve Christ?  You want to reach this world?  You what to be his minister?  You want to be a good friend, parent or child?  You want to have health restored?  You want to be rid of sinfulness?  If it is in accordance with God’s will (and we can see his will in his Word) THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS INTERCEDED FOR YOU!!!!

Conclusion

The power of the H.S. has done incredible feats in our lives:

 He has liberated us from the power of sin so that we can have eternal life and peace with God with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead!

He has enabled us to be obedient to Christ because we have been made adopted children of God with full rights who have full assurance or our salvation and can look forward to being heirs of God’s glory!

He has sustained us by helping us when we do not know how to pray by interceding with inexpressible groans which are the perfect fit because he intercedes in accordance with God’s will!

So how will you respond to the power of the Holy Spirit: 

If you are not yet a follower of Christ he can do great things in your life if only you would give your life into his hands.  As you can see from what we have studied, he does not disappoint!!

If you are a believer in what ways can you live according to the Spirit?  What areas of your life are you holding back still following the law of sin and death?  He has so much to give you and he promises that he will be your great liberator, enabler and sustainer.  How will you respond to him today?

If you saw Daniel Huffman at the local McDonald’s, you’d never realize what an outstanding and unusual young man he was. When he was 17, he stood 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighed 275 pounds, and football meant the world to him. He was a defensive lineman for his high school team in Rossville until his senior year. In July of that year, Daniel decided to skip his senior year of football to give his ailing grandmother one of his kidneys.

That’s right, a kid who loved football set it aside to give life to another. People who know Daniel would tell you he was just that kind of kid. He was an honor-roll student, member of the school chorus, class vice president, writer of poetry, cocaptain of the football team, and he’s also The Screamer—a one man pep rally!

Yet he had no designs on stardom. Daniel once told his team’s star running back, “It will be my privilege to block for you.” That’s how Daniel was. He really believed it was a privilege to help others. He loved to set the stage for others’ good and blessing. So, it wasn’t out of character for him to give one of his kidneys to his diabetic grandma who had raised him since eighth grade.

A family had a hobby of putting together jigsaw puzzles. The father regularly brought home puzzles of greater and greater difficulty. One night he presented his family with a puzzle of over one thousand pieces. Immediately they tackled it. After an hour, however, the family was frustrated. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t get the puzzle started.

The father then discovered that he had accidentally switched the box top with the top from another puzzle. The picture they were looking at wasn’t the puzzle they were working on.

A family was awakened by their smoke detector in the middle of the night to discover that their house was on fire. The father ran into the upstairs bedroom of his children and carried his eighteen-month-old baby in his arms while dragging his four-year-old son by the hand.

They were halfway down the stairs when the little boy remembered that he had left his teddy bear in the bedroom, so he broke free from his father’s hand and ran back to the bedroom to retrieve it. In the furor and confusion, the father didn’t notice that his son wasn’t with him until he got outside. By now the little boy was trapped by the flames and smoke in his second-story bedroom. Smoke swirled around him and he coughed and cried out from the upstairs window, “Daddy, Daddy! Help me!”

His father yelled from below, “Jump out of the window, Andy! I’ll catch you!”

In the darkness and smoke, the little boy yelled back, “But Daddy! I can’t see you!”

Daddy shouted back, “That’s okay, son. I can see you! Jump!”