I went to church with a friend this morning. After a long time of worship, it was followed by an (extremely) long set of announcements and then a guest speaker taught from Romans 8:15-30 on the necessity of hope in a life of suffering.
He was careful to explain suffering, so that his hearers would understand that suffering is promised, this side of death. Not just righteous-persecution type suffering, but really all afflictions that come forth as a direct or indirect result of sin. We all experience suffering, almost all the time.
He was also careful not to trivialize the profound sufferings of many Christians, persecuted and martyred for Christ.
The gist of the sermon was that the sufferings this life perpetually serves up calls for a constant and steadfast hope in the work of Christ. Not only that, but hope is not something we have to work to muster, but hope, even hope, is a gift given to us from God as a direct result of Christ’s finished work on the cross. He sure, complete, perfect and sufficient work on the cross.
The speaker ended with a quote from The Heidelberg Catechism:
Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?
Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, (a) am not my own, (b) but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; (c) who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, (d) and delivered me from all the power of the devil; (e) and so preserves me (f) that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; (g) yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, (h) and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, (i) and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him. (j)
“That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ…” Dang. Seriously, dang.
I immediately thought of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 6:19-20:
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
Dang. Dang. Super dang.
Paul’s word’s are, in one sense abrasive. Something like, “don’t you get it? You belong to God. He bought you. You were very costly; Quit sinning! Do your job and honor him!” But when we look at Paul’s other words, namely those in Romans 8, he clearly has another tone which I often fail to recognize:
God made a very expensive purchase, and besides my own regular failure to protect his purchase He intends full well to do so.
This is the theme of Romans 8. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)… For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)”
Hope is an absolute necessity in finishing this “race”. But the good news is, God will be protecting his investments and proving all the hope necessary.
