12/03/06

We Are Under Obligation

Romans 8:10-25

And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

 [11] But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.

    [12] So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- [13] for if you

are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the

body, you will live. [14] For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. [15] For you

have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by

which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" [16] The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of

God, [17] and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in

order that we may also be glorified with Him.

   [18] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that

which shall be revealed to us. [19] For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing

of the sons of God. [20] For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who

subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the

freedom of the glory of the children of God. [22] For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the

pains of childbirth together until now. [23] And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of

the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption

of our body. [24] For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope

for what he sees? [25] But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

 God is at work

Our sinfulness is not a surprise or a point of confusion with God.  You cannot disappoint God.  Eph. 4:30 says   that we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit.  However, when you understand the character of God, you            realize that the word grieve is not to be understood in human terms.

When we were at our worst, He brought us to a point of justification.

Now justified, is He going to stop working because of our sin?  No, because in His sight we are justified in

            Christ Jesus.

Our sanctification is the point.  Sanctification is the process of our being made righteous in thought, deed, and     attitude.

Progress is made through process.  God is working to make us perfect…continuing action…we never will         experience perfection this side of heaven.  But His work gives us hope.  Hope is confidence.

Remember: God’s call upon your life, His quickening your spirit, bringing you to a place of faith by grace,

            bringing you to a place of sanctification, and then calling you to your place of glorification (heaven) is

            all His work.

 We are under obligation…we were also under obligation to sin…but now the obligation is to live in righteousness.  When was the last time you heard someone say, “I am tired of paying my house note.  I refuse to pay it anymore.  Just let them try and get me out.”  Or when was the last time you heard, “I am not going to work anymore.  I am going on permanent leave of absence.  However, I will go to pick up my weekly checks.”  Yeah, right!  The person who refuses to pay his mortgage or rent will not be long at their residence.  The person who does not go to work will soon realize that he is expendable.  The point is that we have obligatory responsibilities in life that cannot be ignored, yet, there is that obligation on the spiritual side, as well.  Jesus set the standard for us in declaring that He was constrained to do the will of the Father, above all else.

 We have to remember that there is a struggle going on that will not end until the return of Christ or at that point in which we are taken home.  There is an earnest expectation (this is what hope is)…a longing for something that we know will happen…for that which God has promised (a release for the presence of sin and death.)  Being and equal sufferer means that we will be an equal sharer in the glory.  And Paul goes on to say that the glory will far outweigh the sufferings.  Reality is always better than the dreams.  But what is the glory like?  Will it really be worth the trials, the suffering, the struggles?  This is where faith plays a huge role.  We are told in scripture that there will be no pain, no tears, no suffering, no sin.  We are told that there will be no sun or moon in heaven because God is our light.  And yet, is that the real expanse of heaven?  Do we just believe in God so that we can go to heaven because we think that we will go somewhere to “feel better” or have a place where we have our own places one the streets of gold?

 Though heaven is most assuredly a place of peace and sinlessness, it is more to be said to be a place where God the Father, in all of His magnificent glory is.  Heaven cannot be looked upon as my personal place of refuge where I will get away from all my suffering and troubles.  Heaven will be that for sure.  But if my focus of what heaven will be is based upon me…my delight, my freedom from sin, etc. and not upon the reality of God, then my focus is almost idolatrous.  It is hard to think that heaven could be a place of idolatry, but if the longing is how it will make me feel instead of the fact that heaven is a place for God’s glory, then I have made it into something that God did not intend.

 We are not to think in terms of what heaven will mean for us, but rather what it means for God.  God has been in preparation for the “Bride” of His son.  There will be a coronation where we are united with our Savior for eternity.  This will be to the glory of the Father.  Weddings…joy in the union of the two…seeing Craig and Liz together this weekend.  All that He has done is for His glory.

 Yet, it is not something that we can divorce ourselves from.  There is a groaning, a longing for that which God has been in the process of bringing to completion since Eden.