Romans 8:17-21 Co-heirs with Christ!

Romans 8:17-21  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 

If you are the child of a king, you are heir of all he possesses.  We as Christians are known as children of God.  We are not the only begotten Son who has been with the Father forever, we are children born out of season.  As God’s children, we are heirs of his glory.  We belong in an intimate relationship with our Father God.  As Jesus is in right relationship with God, likewise so are we.  The bloodline within us is holy, for Christ who bought us with his own blood has given us his holy likeness, his perfection.  Our spiritual genetics no longer match the nature of the finite Adam but line up with the nature of the eternal God.  By faith in Christ, we are no longer limited to our transitory existence in our fleshly bodies, for we have a celestial hope in our beings, an understanding that we are predestined to be with God forever.  Our biological shells will be shed someday at our demise, but our spiritual lives will be enclosed within God’s eternal being.  We will be heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, like the Father and the Son in their glory.  For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And having chosen them, he called them to come to him.  And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself.  And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.  (Romans 8:29-30)  However, this inheritance of his glory comes only to those who endure to the end in the wilderness of life.  We are new creatures for sure, but we are in a land of sufferings.  We will not escape the hot sun or the parched land of the living within a cursed creation.  When disobedience was manifested in the Garden of Eden, the results of this waywardness fell upon all of God’s creation.  Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse.  (Romans 8:20, NLT)  As children of faith, we still live in this world: we have not received our new-creation bodies.  Gravity holds us down; food, water, and lodging are important to us.  We meet all the vicissitudes of life that everyone else meets.  The concerns of the fleshly existence will always be with us.  Sickness and aging will be a part of our everyday experience.  No one will escape these physical and biological demands.  The most spiritual of us, even men or women of great faith, will not be able to avoid the realities of the flesh as they grow old.  Their skin will sag, their hair will turn white or fall out, their bodies will groan as their joints stiffen.  Christ lived in the flesh.  He knew what it was to grow weary, to be hungry, to lack sleep.  He knew the journey in the wilderness is not always kind to the flesh.  But rather than faint because life can be hard, He followed his Father’s will to the end, even to the cross.  We who are alive IN CHRIST must also persevere to the end.  We will suffer hardships, either through the natural consequences of living or the trials because of our testimony for the living God.  Either way, life is not easy.  As Paul told Timothy, Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  (2 Timothy 2:3)  The journey must be traversed with adamant faith in the living God.  Faith is believing God resurrects the dead, and He has created all things for his purposes.  By faith our lives are hidden in his will and not ours.  

A good analogy of our lives of faith can be found in Caleb’s life depicted in the Old Testament.  When the Children of Israel reached the Promised Land, their faith in God and his power wavered.  Moses sent twelve men into the Promised Land for forty days to spy out the land.  When they returned to the camp of the Israelites, ten of them said the land could not be taken by them.  The cities in Canaan were too fortified, and the men were like giants compared to them.  They were unwilling to proclaim by faith that God would take care of the Israelites by giving them the land of the Canaanites.  Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, presented an opposite view, a report of faith.  Joshua is a type of Christ, and the Lord dealt directly with him because of his faith and vision.  But Caleb was just an ordinary man of faith, believing and trusting God in everything he did.  In the face of opposition, Caleb said, Let’s go at once to take the land.  We can certainly conquer it!  (Numbers 13:30)  However, he did not escape the suffering the Israelites were going to experience in the next forty years of life along with the rejection from others who resented his faith.  He along with all the other Israelites were turned back to the wilderness by God.  There they would all die except Joshua and Caleb.  Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins.  Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.  I, the Lord, have spoken!  I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me.  They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!  (Numbers 14:34-35, NLT)  Caleb experienced the arid land and the sterile desert existence the same as everyone else.  He was a man of great faith, but he had to live in the land of barrenness for forty years, eating the same meal every day, experiencing the searing heat of the sun, living without the amenities of life.  We also are like Caleb, even though we possess faith, believing in God’s work through us and in us, we are still in the harsh land of sickness, sinfulness and rebellion.  We experience the curse God put on all creation.  In America, we go to work at six in the morning and come home at six at night, eking out a living, with little time to ponder the reason for living.  Our thoughts are focused on the needs and desires of the flesh, not on our eternal welfare.  Diverse pains attack our bodies, not only the pain of childbirth, but attacks of hunger, deprivation, poor choices, a toxic environment, and the like.  We who are IN CHRIST are part of all the pressures of our biological existence.  There is no escape from the consequences of living in the desert.  

Breakfast companions, heirs of the glory of God, endure to the end.  Paul told the church at Colossia that as each person grew in the knowledge of the Lord, God was giving each one strength with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.  (Colossians 1:11-12)  Fear not for God is with you!  Caleb received a promise from the Lord for his faith that is eternal.  My servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have.  He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored.  His descendants will possess their full share of that land.  (Numbers 14:24, NLT)  Caleb wandered with the Israelites for forty years, but finally the promise God made to him was realized when the second generation of the Israelites moved into the land of Promise.  He suffered for those forty years, but finally he settled where God wanted him to be all along.  We who trust in Christ regardless of the circumstances also have a promise.  We have a land to inhabit.  All creation will know someday that we are people of faith, trusting in the holiness of God to walk us through this wilderness in the clothing of the perfect one, Jesus Christ.  All of us will cross Jordan someday to enter into our home.  In that place of glory, we will be recognized for who we really are.  We are part of the bride of Christ.  We are members of the household of God, partakers of the glory of God.   Paul says, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  How true that is dear readers.  We are more than what we think we are.  We sometimes seem like little ants, walking around on the earth’s surface without much notoriety or impression on others.  But in actuality, in God’s glory, we are gigantic galaxies, whirling and spinning, on fire with God’s holy energy, to be seen by all creation forever. Amen!  LET IT BE SO, dear Lord! 

Romans 8:10-16 We Cry, "Abba Father"

Romans 8:10-16  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.  Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.  For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.  For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.  And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  

Christians live life for eternity because Christ lives in them.  He gives us a life that goes beyond this veil of tears.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.  We who are IN CHRIST because of faith in his works and not our works are alive evermore.  Consequently, we really have no reason to cater to mankind’s fleshly desires, placing the inclinations of the flesh above the spiritual domain in our lives.  Our lives should be directed by the voice of God—this voice will lead us to God’s will, not our own will in the flesh.  For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  How can we be led by the Spirit unless we hear his direction, his appeal to our inner man?  We who are alive IN CHRIST must be ready to hear his voice, to be inspired by his words, those written down in the Bible and his words within our spirits.  If we fail to recognize his voice, his leading, we are just as lost as people in a vast desert, with no landmarks to help them find their way out of the arid land.  As Christians, if we listen to the Spirit, we need not fear becoming lost or losing heart.  As the writer of Hebrews reminded the church, Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.  (Hebrews 3:15)  Consequently, we must stay in tune with the Holy Spirit’s voice in our lives.  He will direct us to places where we can find comfort and hope.  He will remind us that Christian fellowship is important to us for our survival.  He will inspire us to pray and to read the Bible.  The Spirit will focus our eyes and our attention on our celestial destination and not on our present terrestrial existence.  He will help us understand that every day we are with our Father God, for He has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  (Ephesians 2:6-7 NKJV)  We can cry, “Abba, Father" to the Creator of everything, knowing his realm is our existence.  This is living by the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, knowing we ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 

The Word of God teaches us that we who ARE ALIVE IN CHRIST have not received the spirit of fear but of sonship.  The Spirit we receive does not make us slaves, so that we live in fear again; rather, the Spirit we received brought about our adoption as sons and daughters of the Most High God.  Living by the law will bring us into fear, for the law can only condemn us, but living by the voice of God will lead us into peace.  A love relationship will bring peace; a relationship of criticism and judgment will bring fear and condemnation.  Paul’s conversion happened in a few minutes, and it changed him from Saul who lived by the law to Paul who lived by the voice of God.  Before his conversion, Saul was an enemy of Jesus Christ, attacking Jesus’ body by persecuting and killing Christians.  He was very zealous in his duty of doing away with any apostasy in the Jewish religion.  His intentions were to destroy all who named Jesus as their savior.  But Jesus stopped him on the road of Damascus: “Saul! Saul!  Why do you persecute me?”  “Who are you, Lord?” I asked.  “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.  My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.  “What shall I do, Lord?” I asked.  ”Get up,”  the Lord said, “and go into Damascus.  There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.”  (Acts 22:7-10)  In this conversion, we see Paul delivered from slavery to the law into the hands of a loving God in just a few short statements: “What shall I do, Lord?”  “Get up,” the Lord said, “and go into Damascus.  There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.”  Paul calls him Lord or Master.  Immediately, Paul places his life into the hands of the Lord.  He does what the Lord instructs him to do.  He becomes converted by placing his trust in the person behind the voice that called his name.  He walks away from that Damascus’ road scene as an adopted son in the family of God.  From that time on, He could call his Creator, Abba Father.  Of course, later on, we know he was baptized in water and in the Spirit.  But before those events, we see a blind man, Saul, obeying one that he knows is Lord by going to Damascus in obedience to his call.  Hearing God’s voice is our choice as well, to obey our Lord as He directs our lives, calls us to a life with him.  The result of conversion is placing our lives in the hands of God.  On a walk of faith, we place our trust in the one who has called us by name.  Do you hear your name in place of Saul’s name?  God is calling you just as emphatically today.  As Jesus said to his disciples, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  (Matthew 16:24)  Those who answer his call and are led by the Spirit are God’s sons and daughters ! 

Circumstances can defeat us if we take our eyes off the Lord, losing sight of his promises to give life to our mortal bodies.  When we become defeated, we sometimes think the best answer is closeting ourselves away from everyone or taking to our beds, literally covering up our heads.  Retreat often seems attractive when we are overwhelmed by the trials of life.  But as we take another look at the scene on the road to Damascus, we see the Lord telling Paul, "GET UP!  Go to Damascus, do what I have asked you to do.”  This is Christ’s directive for each of us, no matter if we are having days of success or times of failure.  The word of the Lord is always: GET UP!  God has a renewed purpose for your life every day.  He has a new goal for you, a new work for you.  Paul needed to go to Damascus to find his new goal for living.  Jesus was telling him, “You were traveling to Damascus for one purpose, but I have changed that purpose to a new one.  NOW GET UP, go to Damascus, and a man will greet you there, telling you a new purpose for your life.”  We who are IN CHRIST must always align ourselves to God’s new directions.  We are ambassadors of Christ to this world.  Recently, we went to a memorial service for Mom’s Uncle Phil.  Phil was a highly decorated soldier in the Korean War who became a Christian just before marrying Aunt Eddie.  One time Phil came to Mom to apologize for a disagreement they had over his reaction to one of his children.  Mom did not need him to apologize, but he was listening to the Spirit.  He needed to say what he said, and he found peace in the saying of his apology.  He carried out the mission, just as he did so many times in the military.  But now he was God’s soldier.  Every day in a believer’s life there is a new reason to live, a new assignment to carry out.  But to fulfill God’s plans, we must first get up and then go forth.  Hearing and obeying the voice of God will bless us greatly.  Jesus said, He who believes in Me as the Scripture has said, out of his heart (innermost being) will flow rivers of living water.  (John 7:38 NKJV)  We must go to the cistern within us that holds this water and let it flow out to others, so they can taste and see the goodness of the Lord.  Meet your Lord today, face-to-face.  He has given you an ear to hear his still small voice.  His words of endearment and encouragement are always there for you.  His guidance and comfort for you are also present in his words.  We do not live in fear of God’s judgment, for Jesus offered the supreme sacrifice for our sins; therefore, we live in a close, intimate relationship with our Father.  Christ is our righteousness: we abide IN HIM, WITH HIM, FOREVER.  As we know: This righteousness is given through Faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  (Romans 3:22)  Place your total faith in him today as the Spirit of God leads you. 

Romans 8:1-9 A New Creation!

Romans 8:1-9  Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.  The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.  You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.

Why does sin abound within my being? The Spirit of God is alive in every born again Christian.  You cannot be born again unless you have a new life governing you.  Every baby that comes into this world has a spirit within him or her.  Babies have something inside of them that governs their flesh, and as they grow, their spirits are revealed to their parents.  Their spirits can be conditioned by their parents and other people to do positive things, but their innate spirit, made by God, makes each child distinct from all other babies.  God finds glory and honor in each of these new creations.  We who are IN CHRIST are exactly as these newborn babies.  When we are born again, the Spirit of God becomes real in us.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  We still possess unique characteristics that separate us from all other humans, yet we do have a driving force within us that is godlike, something we have inherited from God’s very hands, his Son, Jesus Christ becomes the Lord of our lives.  We are no longer our own, but we are like Jesus Christ in all dimensions: here on Earth and there in heaven.  We are truly born again.  This is the heart of the New Testament gospel story.  The Bible says that we need to have a Savior, someone who is totally accepted by God the Father.  That Savior is Jesus Christ.  He puts his Spirit in us, making us completely acceptable to God.  We are no longer in the realm of the flesh but in the realm of the Spirit.  You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.  If indeed the Spirit of God lives in you?  Of course, the Spirit of God comes to abide in us when we place our faith in Christ’s work and not our own.  Our faith transcends this realm of flesh and plants us in the realm of the Spirit.  We are born again when we trust in Christ, made alive to God, allowed to enter his realm, no longer abiding in the realm of the flesh.  What then has happened to the fleshly man, and his place in the universe?  He has died to the law that counts up our transgressions.  The accountant of the law is dead to us.  His ledger is no longer before God, pointing out our many sins.  Our sins are no longer before us, for we are new creatures, without the strictures of the law condemning us.  So, brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.  For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.  (See Romans 7:4-6)  When the law was alive in us, we were in the realm of the flesh and of death, but now we are IN CHRIST, the realm of the Spirit and eternal life.  As we read in today’s verses, we are free from the law of sin and death. 

What about our minds?  Are we not still in the flesh, in death, if our minds deceive us by dwelling incessantly in the flesh, considering man’s nature and its goodness is the way to heaven.  Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the self desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  Living for the flesh, under the restrictions of law will cause our minds to forget who we really are: adopted sons and daughters of the Most High.  When the law enters our thinking, we mind the things of the flesh.  The law kills or makes sin more powerful, allowing our thoughts to go to our works and not Christ’s works.  Only Christ’s works bring eternal life; only He has fulfilled the requirements of the law.  Yet our minds seem so strong and often defeat us.  How do we keep from delving into defeating thoughts and straying into worldly pursuits?  We know the Bible says everything in the world—the  lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  (1 John 2:16)  We should not go back to the law in an attempt to govern our minds and activities.  Doing this causes us to jump back into condemnation and defeat.  We do not live by the law but by the Spirit within us.  As Paul told the church in Corinth: He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.  (2 Corinthians 3:6)  Therefore, we bring everything under God’s authority, into his realm.  When we do something that is not equal to his holiness, we bring our failure to God, asking his forgiveness, moving on as his new creation.  We are Christ’s creation.  We serve him.  He alone is our Lord, our everything: we are no longer in charge, for we were bought with a price.  We always bring our lives under his authority, for we know He has made us pleasing to God.  Our minds should be consecrated to doing his will.  Our spirits should be fixed on Christ.  From the beginning of our day to the end, we should have a running conversation with God through the Holy Spirit within us.  If you lack this relationship, seek the privilege that is yours.  When Jesus told his disciples that He must go away, He also told them, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  (John 14:26)  This is the life of a Christian, continuous contact with the Holy Spirit.  We are no longer citizens of this world, we are heavenly creatures: eternal, pleasing to God because we are joint heirs with his Son.   

What about the law?  So often we feel punished in our spirits because we know in our thinking and in our living we are not acting according to God’s desires.  Our minds wander into fleshly thoughts: our hopes and dreams become worldly rather than spiritual.  We strive for success in this world, rather than victory in God’s kingdom.  We know that we are outside of God’s best for us.  Caught in this dilemma, what then should we do?  How should we live in this world of flesh?  First, we should not live under condemnation, for condemnation brings alienation.  When we feel condemned, rather than moving towards God, we retreat to our corners, hiding as Adam and Eve did in the Garden after they disobeyed.  We stop engaging with the Christian community for help and fellowship.  We stop reading our Bibles, praying, and seeking to do the will of God.  This is a way of backsliding into more fleshly thoughts and behaviors.  If we are especially sensitive to doing what is right, we probably will say that we just cannot live this life of a Christian.  If we are not very concerned about right and wrong, we may continue to live a life with some Christian activity, painting our lives by the numbers, not knowing the Holy Spirit’s power to create his design in our lives, making us productive and vibrant, alive to him in our newborn bodies.  As believers we understand and agree with Paul: For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  (Romans 7:18)  In other words, we never can be absolutely like God in the flesh.  Our minds and activities will always fall short of God’s perfection, either with omission or commission, either we failed to recognize what we should have done in the flesh, such as giving help to a homeless person or we did something we knew was wrong.  Although the fleshly realm does not please God; in the realm of the Spirit, we are always pleasing to God because we live in the perfection of Jesus Christ.  Living for Christ is not an emulsifying life; otherwise, mixing two immersible things together such as oil and water and then coming up with a new product.  No, given time, they will always separate into oil and water because they do not form one compound.  The flesh and the spirit will not mix either.  We might try to follow the law to such a degree that everyone around us believes that our efforts of emulsification have really worked, but we know in our spirits that we are still just goblets of spirit and flesh.  Depending on the circumstances, one or the other will come to the surface in our lives.  This is not oneness.  Jesus Christ has brought oneness.  God’s NEW CREATURE  is in us where the Holy Spirit dwells—where the transformation has occurred. When we give the Spirit free reign in our lives, He directs us in an intimate way.  Under his guidance, we become more focused on God’s will than our own.  He gives us a new song as He directs our steps.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  (Psalm 40:3)   When we fail in word or deed, we turn quickly to the Lord.  God will tell us, “Get up, I am perfect, you are not.  I live in you, I forgive you, and I will never abandon you.  For I love you, and I gave my love, JESUS CHRIST, to you for your perfection.”  Walk in the light of Christ’s love today.  For we know if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  (1 John 1:7)  

Romans 7:14-25 Who Delivers Me?

Romans 7:14-25  We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.  I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.  What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  Why does sin abound within my being?  This thinking process is Paul’s struggle and our own.  Often people function in life, believing they are much like a cup that can hold good thoughts or bad thoughts.  To a degree that is true: we can choose to think good thoughts and do positive things.  We might perform activities that are self-sacrificing, merciful, loving, full of grace.  Many times, we function in this mode of goodness and helpfulness.  But at other times, we live in a self-serving manner: “me first” is our credo.  We do not consider the concerns of others or give them space in our consciousness until we have satisfied our desires and needs.  Too often, we will hurt others or even destroy them if they get in the way of our fleshly pursuits.  Sometimes, because of our sinful nature, we will fight or quarrel even with our closest loved ones.  We will hurt and humiliate others to have our way.  Of course, the bigger the context of human existence—wars, hostile actions between groups and nations—the more we see the selfish nature of mankind as part of the human story.  We have in us a self-willed, destructive nature without limits.  We have come to the point in history where we can destroy everything on Earth through nuclear war.  This is the Adamic spirit of rebellion: to tweak existence for our own benefit during our brief time on earth.  If we view ourselves as a cup, holding bad things in it, then the answer is to clean out the cup.  This is the law’s purpose.  Law informs us that we need to get rid of wrong thinking, sinful activities.  We think with such a cleansing, everything will be more harmonious in the world.  Instead of a competitive world with winners and losers, we would have a world of cooperation and love. The royal law of loving others as ourselves would be operative.  Rather than desiring to be the Bill Gates leaders of the world with enormous wealth and people’s adulation and praise, we would be slaves to righteousness and goodness, servants to all.  Of course the latter is not what the flesh truly wants.  The flesh wants the Bill Gates’ life, but within a “Christian” context of outward goodness.  People often wish God would let them win the lotto, then they would give ninety percent away to the poor, the disabled, the needy.  “Just fill up my cup with goodness, advantages, Lord, then I will do good all the time.”  This is the cry of the Adamic spirit.  “I will do your will, Oh God, if it pays out for me.  I am basically a loving, generous person, but I don’t have the advantages in life to allow that good person to come to the forefront in my life.  A few million dollars would allow the goodness to surface in me.”   But God’s goodness does not fill the cup no matter how much wealth or how many advantages we have.  Without surrender to Christ, we will always consider ourselves first; our hopes and dreams will come first.  The old nature in us desires to alter our existence to make our lives better, not to help others.  Adam and Eve appreciated God’s kingdom, the life He gave them.  They probably thought, “Yes God, your work is good, your Garden is beautiful, but we can make our existence better by eating of the Tree of Knowledge.  We will not rest with you at this time.  We will keep the holy sabbath after we have a taste of the Tree of Knowledge.”  Of course, God will not share his glory with man.  His will is to be done, not man’s will.  The cup itself became dishonored by man’s choice; then God said man’s cup would be a cup of sorrow.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.  (Genesis 3:10)   

What then is Paul talking about concerning the struggle with sin within each of our lives?  Why not just cleanse himself, the cup, getting rid of bad thoughts and activities!  But he says: So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  We might say,  “Paul, just dump out the contents of the cup!  Get rid of the evil!”  But Paul learns that the problem is not the contents in the cup that defeat him, it is the cup itself.  Who will rescue me from this body?  It is not the content that is carcinogenic: it is the cup that is a deadly cancer.  The entity that I am produces death.  Years ago in a comic strip called Pogo, one of the characters said, “We have met the enemy, and it is us."  The whole of my being is a slave to sin.  The DNA I have inherited is cancerous, producing or leading to death, not only biological death, but eternal death away from a loving God.  In today’s verses, Paul despairs:  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death.  After Noah came out of the Ark, he sacrificed some of the clean animals and birds to the Lord.  The Lord found his sacrifice pleasing.  Yet, he says of the people, Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, EVEN THOUGH EVERY INCLINATION OF THE HUMAN HEART IS EVIL FROM CHILDHOOD.  (GENESIS 8:21)  We see from Paul’s words his identification of the reality of evil in mankind as an integral part of his struggle within himself.  Even though he desires to do good, evil is right there with me.  In other words, the essence of his inherited humanity has created his problem with sin.  The nature of rebellion sits strong within his being, causing him condemnation, for he knows that a selfish attitude and worldly activities run counter to God’s goodness and perfection.  Paul knows he is terminally ill: death reigns in him.  Can law rid him of this sickness, bring health back into his life?  Can law satisfy God’s requirements on his life?  Of course, the answer is no.  As we have seen, the law is a mirror, showing him his failures.  The law clearly outlines the imperfections in man’s soul.  The law cannot bring life to the hardness of a man’s heart; the law can show only the hopelessness of man’s condition.

What then is the hope of humankind?  How can a fallen people ever please God if the very container we exist in is corrupted?  Made in God’s image, is God’s creation now so corrupt that God will destroy it unless it is changed.  That is exactly what Jesus said when he told Nicodemus, You must be born again.  A new cup is needed.  As we read in the Word, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  This new cup will be able to hold the very presence of God.  The voice of God will rest in that cup, speaking to his new creation.  We are known as tabernacles of God or as temples of God.  We who are new IN THE LORD have been made just as exact as the tabernacle in Moses’ time.  Everything in that tabernacle had to be made exactly as God desired.  Nothing could be too long or too short: everything had to be precise before God would inhabit that tabernacle.  This is true of each one of us.  When God redeems us, we are exact, perfect.  We are individual places God inhabits.  In Moses’ time, the voice of God came from the Ark underneath the cherubim’s wings.  Moses went into the inner sanctuary to hear from God, to commune with God.  We who ARE ALIVE IN CHRIST have that holy place within us.  We have the privilege to talk to God and to listen to his responses.  Jesus was not just saying something about our attitude when he told Nicodemus that we must be born again.  We do not change the content of the cup, the cup itself must be made new.  This is Christianity.  This separates us from all other religions and cults.  Our work is not good enough to please God, but his work through Jesus Christ is good enough to please him.  Jesus is the exact replication of God.  When He comes into our lives through faith, the exactness, perfection, holiness of God comes to reside in us.  The temple within us, God built.  We are his.  This life we live is not our life of perfection; it is his life of perfection.  Every imperfection that we perceive in us is quickly covered by the saving grace of the blood, if we put our trust completely in his work and not our works.  God will not share his glory with you.  Your salvation either is a reality or it is nothing.  If you try to win your soul’s eternal existence through adding your work to his good work, you will fail and you will find yourself in Paul’s dilemma.  Jesus is EVERYTHING.  Paul learned this was the answer to his struggle with the old Adamic nature.  He told the church in Corinth, I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. . .  He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Corinthians 1:4&8)  Take hold of who you are in Christ today and live in HIS SABBATH rest.