New parents often feel the challenge of trying to visualize the first baby that will be born into their family. The prospective mother feels the life within her, but she cannot know much about the baby other than feeling it move and knowing it has a heartbeat. She is a carrier of life, but her imagination has not fully comprehended this new person. The mother holds life in her womb but lacks complete understanding of what that new life will be like or how the birth will change her world. Likewise, we who are alive IN CHRIST do not fully fathom what the life that is developing within us will be like when manifested before all creation. As the woman experiences pain during the birthing of a child, so does creation experience pain under the curse God has placed upon it. As God said after the fall, I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. (Genesis 3:16) We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Because of the curse, we too are experiencing the pain and suffering that has been placed upon all creation. Violence, chaos, and all manner of troubles characterize the womb. Paul tells us that not only is the womb itself suffering, but we too, hidden deeply in the womb, surrounded by the protective amniotic fluid of the Holy Spirit, experience some of the hardships of this world. However, no matter what the shocks and bumps we feel from the outside world, the power of the Holy Spirit maintains the life within the new creature inside of this creation. We who are alive IN CHRIST have the protection of God surrounding our lives. When Paul met Christ on the road to Damascus, the light that confronted him surrounded him, and he went forth a changed person. We too who are IN CHRIST have that light surrounding us: front and back, side to side. We are securely covered by the blood of Christ. As Paul will write a little later in this chapter, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) Despite this powerful security, we remain in this finite, comfortless world, a lethal environment for the new creation if not for the protection of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we would die in this contaminating habitation. We groan to be delivered from this temporary existence, for we know this present world is not our final home, a place of peace and harmony. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. We wait with great hope, great anticipation of the day when we will fully be manifested as God’s sons and daughters, when the angels will rejoice at the beauty of the newly created. We who have been developed in the glory of God will shine as stars. As John said, Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)
All of our hope in Christ is garnered by faith. We have a hope that will not fade away. This expectation has not been realized at this time. If so, it would not be hope. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who believes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In this world of suffering, we are aliens, just passing through. We have a belief in a Promised Land. God gave us this hope when we turned to him in faith. Our faith resides in our breast. We pray, read the Bible, and fellowship with each other to keep this hope alive. As part of the body of Christ we pray for each other and build one another up in the faith, just as we pray for you today as Paul prayed for the Romans. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13) Nonetheless, sometimes we falter because of the trials and temptations of this wilderness. We get discouraged—we wonder why we have to endure so much. But through all the issues of life, the Spirit of God IS with his new creations. He alone truly knows our situation; he knows how we were made; he knows our genetics; he knows how we were raised. He guides us through this wilderness of life; strengthening us with food and water, often giving us a place to rest, an oasis from the winds of the desert. We are never alone, abandoned. We might not hear his voice because the cacophony of life fills our ears with useless noise, but He is always with us, and He is speaking words of peace and love. He is our light during the night, our cloud during the day. He is our hope of making it through the wilderness as we rest in his power and authority in our lives. As today’s verses tell us, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. We pray thoughts that we cannot even utter, for we do not know the direction through this life, He expresses the truth for us in wordless groans. He knows our travails, our pains, our depression, our despair. He knows when we are about to give it all up, saying it is too hard to hang on by faith. He, who never abandons us, will beseech the Father Of All Things on our behalf with divine insight and wisdom. As Moses interceded for the wayward Israelites in their rebellion, the Spirit of God always intercedes for us, no matter where we are in life or how difficult the journey. He is also there with us in times of great victory and rejoicing to help us express our joy. Peter describes the Spirit’s joy when he writes: Though you have not seen him you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of you faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9) What an awesome thought to be so caught up in the joy of the Lord that we cannot express our emotions in words!
Despite those glorious times of inexpressible and glorious joy, we all experience times when we feel everything in our lives is blowing up at once and obedience to God suddenly becomes difficult. Under those circumstances, we might feel that we are alone in this desert of wind and heat, shriveling up under the adverse conditions. How can this be God’s perfect plan for us? How can what we are experiencing be God’s best for us? Paul sermonizes often about obedience to God’s nature and his ways. He instructs us to rejoice even in the most dire of circumstances. How difficult that is, but we have the hope of a future much greater than what we are experiencing in this land of hopelessness. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7) The Lord is always near to us. The Holy Spirit’s voice within us is a reality. The Spirit of God’s direction in us is so important in living a victorious life; his avenue of life is where we should abide. This avenue has many names: Servanthood, Dedication, Obedience, Commitment, Righteousness. Along this avenue of life are addresses: temperance, moderation, kindness, gentleness, patience, long suffering, love, joy, peace, forbearance, goodness, faithfulness, self-control. All of these addresses are written in blood, for Christ won the victory at the cross for their existence. They are places where we stop as we journey down this avenue as the Holy Spirit leads us. They are places of restoration, revival, healing; we pause a while for rejuvenation, restoration, instruction in how to act, think, spread the gospel. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9) As of now, we have not escaped the womb. We still groan every day to be delivered. We still wonder about the wilderness and how much of it we are yet to traverse. Sometimes, we grow weary, but God says, “keep moving.” Dear friends in your daily walk, listen to the Spirit of God within you. You will have wonderful days of oasis habitations and you will have days when the sun beats heavily upon you. But either way, you look toward your heavenly home. You are like Abraham. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:9-10 KJV). As we all await that wonderful day when we enter the City of God, may we place all our hope in our precious Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment