Romans 1:8-13 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong — that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
In the above passage, we see the heart of Paul the apostle, the missionary, as he expresses a desire to go to Rome to impart to them some spiritual gift to make them strong in the Lord. They are new creatures born of the Spirit, alive to God; yet, they needed help to survive in this world. They required the bread of life and living water to help them travel through life's wilderness. A man of the Spirit, called by God just as Moses was called by God, Paul carried a commission to spread the Good News to the world. As with all the prophets, he could not help but speak for the Lord. A fire burned in his soul to work for the Lord, a mission given to him by Jesus to tell the world that eternal life came through faith in his work on the cross. Paul desired for all the world to know eternal life came to all who would believe in Christ's death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. Paul knew the man Jesus of Nazareth performed many miracles and wonders that only God's Son could have done. Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. (Acts 2:22) The fire and the joy in Paul's heart was to tell the world they could be changed from God's enemies to his friends, from sinfulness to holiness. This message drove him night and day as he prayed for the Spirit of God to keep him in tune with God's will for his life. The Spirit was alive in him with this message of deliverance to such a degree that he relates how he prays he would be able to come to them. What he heard in his ears from the Holy Spirit, he wanted to broadcast to the whole world. He was compelled by the Spirit of God to travel to other places, including Rome. As the prophet Joel proclaimed, In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18) Paul's life fulfilled this prophecy by his inclination to interact with God twenty-four hours a day. His statement of praying for the Romans seems somewhat redundant: constantly I remember you in prayers at all times. But it isn't: day and night he was involved with God. If God gives old men dreams, He surely never leaves us, even in the night; for Christ said, And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
What message do we carry to the world to alleviate hopelessness, darkness, blindness, and pain? What message will give finite man hope for the future? We see this message of deliverance in the story of the crippled man that Peter and John met at the temple gate. One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer — at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts3:1-6) We have the story, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. There is no other answer for mankind. Paul knew this. No one will walk eternally unless he or she has an eternal God and Jesus Christ his son as Savior. No one can put off the veil of flesh by his or her own efforts. As Jesus told Nicodemus, You must be born again. (John 3:7) All believers need the abiding Holy Spirit to express the will of God at all times, just as Paul was sensitive to the voice and will of God in his life. Man's natural nature, Adam's nature, opposes God's authority. When Moses tells the people what God wants of them, he says, we will no longer have every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. (Deuteronomy 12:8) He understood mankind's basic nature was to decide what is right, what should be done, what is best for "me" in every situation. By following their own desires, people estrange themselves from God's authority. They shun the first of two royal commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37) At best, we place God in second place rather than becoming intimately involved with him at all times. If God is at a distance, people can shelve him in their minds as an afterthought, someone to consider in a convenient place, such as a church service or maybe on a nature walk. In those cases, we are as idol worshippers, going someplace to find our god. But as Paul and all the disciples knew, we are not idol worshippers: we have the presence of God with us at all times. In Paul's case, he was driven to other lands to speak the message of Jesus Christ. Peter and John had nothing to give except the presence of Jesus Christ in them: Arise and walk in the name of Jesus!
We who are in Jesus Christ are still walking, still driven as Paul was driven to share the Good News. The Spirit of God in us wants us to keep walking and revealing the Good News in a hurting world. As Peter wrote: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15) Our choices and our actions should reveal that we are new creatures in Christ. We are not people who condemn, but we are people who love and forgive, offering deliverance from darkness through Jesus. In any community, we should be salt and light, not people sitting in judgment, condemnation, fear, or hatred of others. If we do that, we become just as the people of the world. Our authority is not God, but ourselves. If we judge or hate others because of their ideology, religion, philosophy, lifestyle, ethnicity, we are under the control of the Adam spirit, not Jesus' control. How easy it is to gossip, to find fault, to tell tales; but how hard it is to hear the voice of love when we wander from the Lord. God is always speaking to us, but do we listen? The Spirit comes to abide in every Christian. If we ignore his voice of love and sacrifice, we fight against the Spirit of God, which is a dangerous place for our souls. Before he met Jesus, Paul thought he was doing God's will by persecuting and killing the Christians. He had no love for them. But Jesus stopped him. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:3-6) You might say, "Of course God would stop him. He was persecuting Christians." But remember, Christ gave his life for everyone. Are you persecuting Jesus by not loving others, by avoiding the second royal commandment of loving others as yourself? Have you picked out an ethnic or religious or political group to hate? Remember, all humans are made in God's image. Paul was going to the Romans because they were made in God's image. He had Good News for the Romans, the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Galatians, the Jews. His insights from God might strengthen their faith or bolster their walk in Christ. In his journeys, Paul collected a harvest of souls. We also should be so overflowing with God's love that we willingly answer his call: And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. (Luke 14:23) Yes, Lord, send us out. Your servants are willing.
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