Category Archives: Romans 8

A Seat at the Table

Friends of ours recently adopted a child from foster care. What a joy it was to walk with them through the process, from the time of placement when the child was 5 weeks old, to legal adoption at 2 years old. 

Our church small group hosted a party at church to celebrate the adoption. We made a taco bar, decorated with green, blue, and dinosaurs, and had a huge cake. The guest of honor was oblivious through the festivities, adorably so. 

When everyone was served, we made our plates and sat down at the table. The little guy crawled up in my lap, picked up my fork, and dug into my plate. I smiled, not just because I was clearly spoiling him, but because his little life was a beautiful illustration of what God does for us. 

Adoption is one of the blessings of salvation through Jesus Christ. He not only forgives our sin through the cross, but transfers us into an adoptive, paternal relationship with him. 

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.

Romans 8:14-16

Because of the work of Jesus, we have a place at God’s table. He doesn’t leave us crumbs. We have a seat, and even have the freedom and relationship to crawl up in his lap. He doesn’t withhold any spiritual blessing from us because of the glorious blood of Jesus. 

It’s not just a metaphorical table either. When God’s Kingdom is fully ushered in, we’ll eat the marriage feast of the Lamb in the presence of God. 

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

Rev. 19:6a-9

Jesus secured our adoption and seat at the table. Praise him for his kindness and mercy in making us his daughters! 

All Things New

Famine in Sudan. An earthquake in Papua New Guinea. War and starvation in Yemen. Bombings in Syria. Wildfires in California. Children die school shootings. A friend dies of cancer. A sister suffers a miscarriage. A desperate man ends his own life. Arguments ends a marriage. Gossip kills a friendship.

Our world is hopelessly broken. Deep down, at its core, humanity and the planet we inhabit are shattered.

Glory Scorned

It wasn’t always like this. In the beginning, God spoke into being everything we know. He created a perfect world and declared every part of it good. Whole. Complete. Lacking nothing. Creator and Creation lived in perfect harmony, and the glory of the Lord was over all the earth.

Pride brought it all crashing down. The serpent tempted Eve to disobey God and she fell for it. She doubted God’s word and ate of the forbidden fruit, giving some to Adam as well. Humanity and creation plunged into the ugly brokenness of sin. God, being just, handed down punishment. A curse was laid over Adam, Eve, the serpent, and all of creation.

Groaning for Glory

Here we are. Post-fall, with millenniums of sin, destruction, and suffering. What hope do we have in this cursed, sinful, fallen world?

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18

Read that again. The suffering of this world cannot be compared with the glory that is waiting us on the other side of eternity. When you are in the midst of suffering and trial, we have this sweet promise. It’s nothing compared to our glorious future with Christ! Paul wasn’t saying this lightly. He knew suffering intimately (1 Cor. 11:24-28). Yet he said all this couldn’t be compared to our glorious future with Christ. Amen!

 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Romans 8:19-22

Adam and Eve did not only implicate themselves. They subjected creation to futility, sin, and the curse. “Actions have consequences” my parents often told me while I was growing up, and this had a global effect. The lordship God had given to Adam to rule over the creation was handed over to the serpent for a bite of fruit. Creation groans under the weight of futility. What was created for the glory of God is twisted and torn by sin. It longs for all to be made right.

And it will be made right! Creation will be set free from its bondage to corruption as surely as we will be freed from our sinful flesh! Like a woman giving birth, her moans, screams, and pains are leading to something new.

Glorious Good News

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Rom. 8:23-14

In the face of disaster, famine, and death, the world says, “If only we could come together and stop hurting one another, everything would be ok”. But we know better. We who walk by the Spirit know that our world and the people in it are broken, deep down, rotten to the core. We too groan in anticipation of the freedom of glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). We need to be made new. We need a rebirth to wash all the sin, darkness, and evil from this world.

But God already covered the earth once with water, judging wicked mankind, except for one family. Noah worshipped God, but sin was written in his DNA. Sin lived on. Abraham came and sinned. Moses came and failed. David came and stumbled. Not one of the prophets could live the life of perfection God requires, until he sent his only son, fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life, being tempted in every way but he chose to obey God. He died the death that we deserve, the punishment for our sins, and rose again, defeating death and sin! In Adam all sinned, but in Christ, the true and better Adam, we find life.

 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17

Abundance of grace! Free gift of righteousness! These are yours if you follow Jesus! And if you do not follow Jesus yet, they can be yours! The gift of salvation is open to all who believe. The righteousness of Christ is yours if you trust in Jesus for salvation. Amen, praise God!

Hope for Glory

Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:25

So we hope. We wait. We groan. We walk through the suffering of this life knowing that when Jesus comes back, his Kingdom will be fully ushered in. Every tear wiped away. There will be a new heavens and earth. We will be with God in resurrected bodies, untouched by sin and shame. Yes, we wait with patience, knowing our God is working all things together in his time for his glory and our good (Rom. 8:28).

(Check our my previous articles on Romans 8 here, here, and here. Happy reading!)AllthingsnewRom8:20-21