Thought for the Week 2020 – Advent 4

Luke 2: 1 - 20

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

 

Advent 4 – Do Not be Afraid: There is Good News!

Right now we need hope in a time of despair; we need life in the midst of death. Covid-19 has had a massive impact on our entire world during 2020. Nothing since WWII that has affected just about every human being in the world in the way this virus has done. And as we come towards the end of the year there is a mixture of fear with hope. It was very recently that three vaccines reached a stage of development where they could start to be administered. And people began to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But even more recently we have learned of a new variant of the virus which spreads much more easily and rapidly. The hospitals are at the point of being overwhelmed, family gatherings for Christmas are all but cancelled, church buildings are closing once again. The light at the end of the tunnel looks like it is being smothered. Who can we turn to?

‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.’

The greatest story ever told is right here in Luke 2. God became man and made his dwelling among us. The Creator became a part of the creation. We call it the ‘incarnation’ – meaning that God became human and took on human flesh. God came to be with us in such a real, physical, tangible sense. And part of the message is stated by the angels who appeared to the shepherds: ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.’ How are we feeling right now? Are we afraid because of the news of the rapid spread of the new variant of the virus? Are we anxious and fearful of what the future might hold? There is good news! There is a reason for joy for all people! A Saviour has been born! Yes, there is uncertainty and we might be anxious about what is happening in our world. But we can trust in the Good News of the Saviour, and rest in him – there really is Good News in the midst of so much bad news.

After the first angel had given the message, he was joined by ‘a great company’ of angels. Imagine what that must have looked like to those shepherds! And they said,’ Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’ Who are the people ‘on whom God’s favour rests’? Does he have favourites? God’s favour rests on all people, but sadly not all people recognise or accept it. The peace of God is available for all people – we can receive his peace, love and joy if we will turn to him. There is peace on earth for all who will turn their backs on selfish, proud living, and come to God in humility, confession and repentance. God has the very best for us – and the proof of that is his willingness to send his only Son to live for us, to die for us and to rise again.

Much as we might be saddened by the way this Christmas is so different, nothing can replace the joy of what Christmas is really all about, and nothing can take away the peace that Jesus brings.

 

Prayer

Father, no matter what else is happening in life, we rejoice today in the Good News that your Son was born. We praise you that we can know God With Us every day of our life. We thank you that no matter what else is happening in our world right now, Jesus is our King, our Saviour and out Friend. May we know your love, strength, protection, joy and peace in our lives every single day, and not just at Christmas. Amen.

Thought for the Week 2020 – Advent 3

Matthew 1: 18 – 2: 2

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: his mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’

²² All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

2¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’

 

Advent 3 – God With Us

Our Nativity plays would be very different if we only had Matthew’s account, and didn’t have Luke’s version as well. Paintings and Christmas card pictures would also be very different. There would be no stable scene or innkeeper (not that Luke mentions a stable or an inkeeper anyway, but that’s another matter!). A ‘Matthew only’ Nativity would focus on Joseph, and whilst we might include an angel, we wouldn’t have the angel visiting Mary or the shepherds – his only role would be appearing to Joseph in a dream. There would be no explanation of how Mary came to be ‘pregnant through the Holy Spirit’ nor anything about the journey to Bethlehem – we would simply assume that Bethlehem was where they lived. The main part of the story would focus on the Wise Men and Herod – no shepherds! The paintings and plays would be set in a house in Bethlehem, with the Magi bringing gifts, and Herod glowering in the corner!

But our Bibles are rich because we have more than one angle on this story (and other stories). No contradictions in the different accounts – Matthew alone or Luke alone would be like black and white: together they give us a colour picture of the Nativity! And although Mark and John do not describe the birth of Jesus, their Gospel accounts add further dimensions to what we know of the birth, life, ministry, teaching, miracles, death and resurrection of Jesus!

Two weeks ago we looked at the prophecy in Isaiah 7 that Matthew quotes here in verse 23 of our reading: “‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).” It was a prophecy written about 700 years before the birth of Jesus, and Matthew (inspired by the Holy Spirit) is in no doubt that it has reached its fulfilment in the birth of Christ which he is writing about. Both Matthew and Luke, writing independently (and each taking a very different angle on the story), include the fact that Mary was a virgin. And Matthew makes it clear that this is a fulfilment of prophecy. And not only that, but this ‘name’ (or almost a ‘nickname’) would apply – Immanuel, meaning ‘God With Us’. It is interesting that neither the son of Isaiah, born in Isaiah 7, nor the Son of God born in Matthew 2 was actually named Immanuel. Nevertheless, it is clear in both cases that God was with the people. That’s what the reminder was at the time of Isaiah; and most importantly, when Jesus came it was fully realised! When Jesus came, God was truly with us in a way he never had been before. He was fully man and fully God – ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.’ (John 1: 14)

Today, we still have ‘Immanuel’ because God is still with us. He promised it and we can know that it is true. We face uncertainty, change and anxiety. Everything is different this Christmas compared to last year. And we are all hoping that next Christmas will be ‘back to normal’ – However, today there is fear and uncertainty. But through it all we can know Immanuel: God is with us, he never leaves us and he will come with us as we pass though these troubled times.

A few years from now (if we are still here) we will look back on this very different Christmas in 2020 – and I pray that we will say, ‘Yes, although there was a lot of uncertainty and worry, and so much was different, the thing that really marked out that Christmas was the knowledge of Immanuel – God really was with us in a wonderful and powerful way.’

 

Prayer

Almighty God, we praise you for the Good News of the incarnation at Christmas – a reminder of Immanuel, God With Us, and always with us. We thank you for your Word, recorded and preserved for us in the Bible, and for the joy of the stories of the Nativity that we find there.

Father, we come to you in worship this year, but you know that we also come with some fear and anxiety in our hearts at the moment. We pray for peace for all of us – may we trust in you to never leave us and to go with us through all that we are facing in our world and our community this year. Amen.

Thought for the Week 2020 – Advent 2

Psalm 62

¹ Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
² Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.

³ How long will you assault me?
    Would all of you throw me down –
    this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
⁴ Surely they intend to topple me
    from my lofty place;
    they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
    but in their hearts they curse.

⁵ Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
⁶ Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I shall not be shaken.
⁷ My salvation and my honour depend on God;
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge.

⁹ Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
    the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
    together they are only a breath.
¹⁰ Do not trust in extortion
    or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
    do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ One thing God has spoken,
    two things I have heard:
‘Power belongs to you, God,
¹²     and with you, Lord, is unfailing love’;
and, ‘You reward everyone
    according to what they have done.’

Advent 2 – Incarnation, not Tradition.

When I was a child, December was the slowest moving month of all. Yes, I had an advent calendar to open, to help count down the days down to, (alternate doors, with my brother) but the month seemed to take so long to get from the 1^st to the 25^th! (There was no chocolate in my advent calendar, and I had the same one every year – we just closed all the doors and put it away until the next year). Now, as an adult, the month of December flies by! Especially since it has been part of my job to lead carol services and so on – they just come around so quickly when you think you have plenty of time to organise them!

So, we are already in the second week of Advent. Presents have been bought, planning has been done, but there is still a lot more to do, and not much time left. This year is going to be a strange Christmas for all of us. It will be the first year for over 20 years when Jen and I have not travelled to see parents on Christmas Day. And the first year ever (since we got married 30 years ago) in which we have not travelled to see parents at all over the whole Christmas period.

Do you feel anxious about Christmas 2020? How will we cope with our traditions all being changed? If you can only join with two other households, how will you choose which family members to see and which not? No ‘Carols by Candlelight’ this year, no Club 707 ‘Christmas Wrapped Up’ for the schoolchildren. Will it really be Christmas?

Christmas is a reminder of the greatest moment in world history – the most amazing, astonishing thing to happen, and the most wonderful. It is a reminder of the ‘incarnation’ – God became a human being and came and lived amongst us. The creator became a part of his creation. God himself took on human flesh – he grew inside the womb of a young woman, was born in poverty and was utterly dependant upon his mother for some years. He did it so that we could have a relationship with him, so that we could know the truth of what it means to follow him, and he did it to win our salvation and the forgiveness of sins. Is any of that cancelled? Certainly not! Is any of that changed by the fact that we can’t have a normal carol service? Absolutely not!

“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.” (Ps. 62: 1 - 2) Our salvation is in Christ alone and the facts of his birth, death and resurrection. Our salvation does not come through traditions! My soul finds rest in God, says the psalmist. And again, in verse 5: “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.”

This year, despite so many things being different, and despite the anxiety associated with the virus, may we all truly find rest and hope in our Saviour. May we rejoice in the Saviour’s birth, and celebrate it with thanksgiving. May we trust in him to bring us through this difficult time in our history and out the other side into something new! Verse 8 says, “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”

 

Prayer

Dear Lord, our Father, we thank and praise you for the truth of the incarnation and all that it means to us in our lives and for our salvation. This Christmas will be different in many ways, but at its heart there will be no difference at all. In its true meaning it is a very real Christmas. So may we once again celebrate, and know your love and presence with us and surrounding us. Please help us to trust in you at all times, and to find rest in you, from whom our hope comes. We pray for all who are troubled and struggling and suffering in many ways – please put your arms of love and comfort around them, and give them peace through the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thought for the Week 2020 – Advent 1

Isaiah 7: 10 - 17

¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to [King] Ahaz, ¹¹ ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.’

¹² But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.’

¹³ Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, ¹⁶ for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. ¹⁷ The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah – he will bring the king of Assyria.’

 

Advent 1 – Time is in the Lord’s Hands.

Advent is the season in which look ahead and we wait upon the Lord. We look ahead to the coming of the Messiah – remembering the first time he came and in expectation of the second time he will come. In the Bible Course, which some of us have been studying recently, we have just come to the end of the Old Testament. It is the period in which prophets such as Malachi set the scene, and whose words were left hanging in expectation for about 400 years.

Isaiah wrote the words that we have read today, roughly 700 years before Jesus came. These are long periods of time! In the case of Isaiah, it is as if we were reading a book today that is even older than Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (written between 1387 and 1400), and spotting and interpreting a prophecy about the covid-19 crisis! And the gap after Malachi is similar to the time that has passed since the publication of the King James Bible. It was a long time in which there was silence – no prophets, and no word from God.

The people of God were waiting for the fulfilment of prophecy – they were waiting for the coming Messiah, and they waited a very long time. And finally, by the time the Angel Gabriel visited Zechariah the priest in the temple, and then, six months later, a teenage peasant girl called Mary in Nazareth, the people were longing and desperate to see God do something in order to restore the nation, and get rid of the hated Romans.

It is fair to say that some of the prophecies in the Old Testament that we recognise as being about Jesus are only recognisable because we have that wonderful gift called hindsight! Also, the fact that some of the New Testament writers quoted the relevant passages gives us a huge pointer! At the time Isaiah wrote chapter 7 (and during the 700 years that followed) it is likely that few people would have realised that right in the middle of it we find a prophecy that the Messiah would be born to a virgin. But there it is, in verse 14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” And this verse was quoted by Matthew in Matt. 1: 23 – a verse that we hear read every single year in Carol services.

When Isaiah wrote chapter 7 of his book, he was writing about Middle East politics of the day. Power struggles can change very quickly, as we know. Ahaz, the king of Judah, was fearful about possible attacks from Israel and from Aram. And the Prophet Isaiah says here, bringing the Word of God, that Ahaz could stop worrying, because within the next couple of years both of those lands would be laid waste by a much bigger player – Assyria. And the ‘sign’ was the length of time it takes for a baby to be conceived, born, grow old enough to eat curds and honey, but not be old enough to be able to choose right from wrong. How long is that? A couple of years?

So the theme for this week’s reading is ‘time’. There are the centuries that passed as people waited for the Messiah, and there is the very short time (measured in the period of a baby’s early stages) in which whole nations and empires can rise and fall! How long is God’s time? We have waited nearly 2000 years for Jesus to return and we are still waiting. Meanwhile, we have waited a few months for the development of a covid-19 vaccine. Through it all we trust in God. We trust in the King of kings – and we have no alternative, because who else is there that we can we turn to? God sees the big picture, and sometimes it seems to us that things happen too quickly; and often it seems that we have to wait a very long time. We have limited vision – the length of a day, a year, even a lifetime. But God has the whole of world history in his view, and indeed, in his hands. It can sometimes be difficult to be patient and it can be difficult to trust God, but he is utterly faithful, and we need to learn to rest in his goodness, rest in his peace and rest in his timing, knowing that he knows best and he sees the end from the beginning.

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, this Advent may we have peace in our hearts as we wait on the Lord. We wait for the Saviour to be revealed in our lives, in our church and in our world. We thank you for the Good News of the Saviour who was born in Bethlehem – at just the right time, even 700 years after the words of Isaiah, and over 400 years after Malachi. May we hold on to the hope and expectation of seeing Jesus come again: we wait with eager anticipation! Please bless us during this Advent season – very different from previous years, but the truth and relevance of the birth of our Saviour remain unchanged. Amen.

Advent - Psalm 27

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation –
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life –
    of whom shall I be afraid?

² When the wicked advance against me
    to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
    who will stumble and fall.
³ Though an army besiege me,
    my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
    even then I will be confident.

⁴ One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.
⁵ For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
    and set me high upon a rock.

⁶ Then my head will be exalted
    above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
    I will sing and make music to the Lord.

⁷ Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
    be merciful to me and answer me.

⁸ My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’
    Your face, Lord, I will seek.
⁹ Do not hide your face from me,
    do not turn your servant away in anger;
    you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
    God my Saviour.
¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
    the Lord will receive me.
¹¹ Teach me your way, Lord;
    lead me in a straight path
    because of my oppressors.
¹² Do not hand me over to the desire of my foes,
    for false witnesses rise up against me,
    spouting malicious accusations.

¹³ I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.

Wait for the Lord.

This Sunday is Advent Sunday. It is the beginning of four weeks that lead up to Christmas. And during Advent we prepare our hearts as we wait for the coming of the Saviour.

Psalm 27 is a wonderful, peaceful, meditative piece of Scripture that reminds us that we are to wait on God. The last verse summarises the theme of the Psalm: ‘Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’ Waiting is not expected to be easy, according to the psalmist. First – we wait for the Lord. Second – we must be strong, and third – we must take heart. Yes. It is not to do with lying back on the sofa, drinking a cup of tea and watching the telly while you wait for the children to come home from school (As if any of us would behave like that!).

No, as we wait we must be strong; we must take heart. And then what? Then we wait for the Lord. Be vigilant, be watchful, be attentive, listening for his voice. During this global pandemic which has completely turned our lives upside down, and affected everyone in the world, we know that we must wait for the Lord. There is no alternative – we must wait on him and trust in him alone.

Day by day we want to hear his voice and go his way. The first three verses of Psalm 27 talk about being in a dangerous situation but trusting in the Lord for safety and protection. ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?’ Who indeed? If we really trust in God and rest in him, and if we are really followers of Jesus, then we can join the psalmist in these words of confidence. Yes, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Is he? We should pause and ask ourselves that kind of question from time to time. Just to check; just to confirm that yes, we really do still trust in the Lord. The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Is he? Ask it and check. And if it remains true that yes, the Lord is my light and my salvation, and he is my stronghold, then whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid?

Yesterday we read this wonderful verse in Romans 8: 31 – ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ Who indeed? Verse 3 of this Psalm says a similar thing: ‘Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.’

May we come into this Advent season trusting in the Lord, and waiting for him and waiting on him. May we wait in peace, knowing that God is always with us and that he will never let us go. He if faithful and just, and remembers all his promises to us.

 

Prayer

Father, please help us as we wait on you to always trust and never fear. We pray for an end to the spread of covid-19, and we pray that in all things we will be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Amen.

Romans 8: 28 - 39

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

‘For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ 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.

Who Can be Against Us?

Today we come to the end of our readings in the first eight chapters of Romans, and you could say that we have reached a climax. Certainly there are more well-known and remembered sayings in these twelve verses than in any of the previous passages we have covered. And I would say that this whole section is definitely worth memorising as an encouragement!

Verse 28 tells us that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him. It doesn’t mean that everything in life will have a happy ending, nor even that every cloud has a silver lining. Nevertheless, God is always on our side, and he always has our best interests at heart, and he is working for us. In this covid-19 pandemic there is good that comes out of it and good that will come out of it. God hasn’t left us or abandoned us. It is worth pausing and spending time thinking about how God has been blessing us individually, as a church and as a nation over the last nine months.

Verse 31 – ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ This is so encouraging when facing difficulties or opposition or persecution. It doesn’t matter who or what is against us, because God is always for us. Always.

Verse 35 – ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?’ No, none of those things shall separate us from the love of Christ, nor will a global pandemic. The love of Christ is strong and steadfast; he is unchanging and always faithful.

This whole passage reminds us that no matter what happens in our lives or in our community or in the world, God never lets us down. He is always on our side, he never lets us go, and he is perfectly and eternally faithful. Nothing can change that – nothing can separate us from God.

‘In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.’ (v. 37). No matter what comes against us, we can defeat it in Christ, because he is always with us, always strengthening and blessing us. Not that trouble doesn’t come – but in Christ we are on the victory side!

‘For I am convinced that neither lockdown nor face masks, neither firebreaks nor social distancing, neither the virus nor the vaccine, nor any covid-deniers, neither a persistent cough nor a high temperature, nor a loss or change in taste or smell, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I thank you that you are perfectly faithful. I thank you that there is nothing in my life or in the world that is strong enough to separate me from your love. Your love is eternal and unchanging, and I rejoice in it! Amen.

Romans 8: 18 - 27

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, 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. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Groaning.

Decay is everywhere, and it can be quite depressing if you think about it too much. Look at the rotting leaves on the ground at this time of year. Build a wooden fence in the garden, and the wood will need some kind of preservative on it to extend its life. But not just once – it needs doing regularly, otherwise the wood will just rot away in the rain.

Way back on the 8^th Oct we looked at the consequences of sin in Genesis 3. Because Adam and Eve sinned, there was a curse on them, and on the snake and on the whole of creation. It is this curse that Paul is referring to in today’s reading – ‘creation was subjected to frustration’ (v. 20), ‘bondage to decay’ (v. 21), ‘the whole creation has been groaning’ (v. 22)

When Jesus returns, he will make all things new. We will be given new, resurrection bodies, and the whole of creation will be renewed – no longer groaning, no longer decaying, but made new like it was in the Garden of Eden before sin came into the world! It’s a world of perfection that we long for. The creation itself waits in eager expectation for that day, and so should we.

In the opening verse of our reading, Paul writes, ‘I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’ (v. 18) That’s quite a statement, when you consider how much Paul suffered for his faith! People reading this might be going through various degrees of suffering. But without wishing to belittle your sufferings, or gloss over them, we can rejoice in this statement that Paul makes – that no matter how bad your sufferings, they are simply not worth comparing with the glory that will come to us in Christ!

And finally we have more ‘groaning’. Not only is the whole of creation groaning, but we are groaning inwardly as we wait for our resurrection bodies that we will receive when Christ returns. Maybe your body creaks, and, like me, you make that ‘old person’ noise when you stand up! Let’s look ahead eagerly to the day when Jesus will come again. And also, in verses 26 and 27, Paul talks about a different kind of groaning. This is groaning in prayer, when we cannot put our prayers into words. We want to call out to God but we simply can’t find the words to say. Maybe you have known this experience – the thing we want to pray about is beyond words for us. And when this happens, the Holy Spirit himself prays on our behalf. He ‘intercedes for us through wordless groans.’

 

Prayer

Lord, we join with all creation in looking forward to that glorious day of re-creation when Jesus come again. There are times when our heart longs for you in prayer, and we cannot find the words to cry out. Thank you that the Holy Spirit will always intercede for us in prayer. Amen.

Romans 8: 1 - 17

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ 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, ⁴ 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.

⁵ 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. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ 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. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ 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.

¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ 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.

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ 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.’ ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ 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.

No Condemnation.

In the last part of Romans 7, Paul described the difficult human situation of wanting to do good, but finding oneself doing evil instead. He pleaded – who will rescue me? And back came the answer, ‘Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ (Rom. 7: 25)

Now, chapter 8 begins with ‘Therefore’: meaning that even though we can find ourselves in a struggle with the sinful nature, God delivers us through Christ. So it follows that ‘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.’ (v. 1 and 2)

Romans 8: 1 is a well-known and well-loved verse that is important when we find we are struggling to forgive ourselves for something in the past, or we are racked by shame and guilt. If you are in Christ, then there really is no condemnation for you! God does not condemn you, and you should not condemn yourself, nor accept the condemnation of others.

In John 8, a woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, to see what he would do. The Teachers of the Law and Pharisees pointed out that the Law of Moses required that she should be stoned. And Jesus famously said, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Everyone went away, leaving just the woman and Jesus. And he said to her, ‘‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

‘No one, sir,’ she said.

‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’

As believers, we are in a similar position to that woman. Jesus truly does not condemn us, and we need to believe that and rejoice in it! But also, he says to us all, ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’ And we must obey that command – Romans 8: 1 requires it, and the rest of this passage makes that point.

And in verses 14 to 17, Paul writes that as those led by the Spirit, we are now God’s children. We are heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ. That is amazing news, and something that we should take time to think about and to explore. God promises that we inherit the gift of new life if we will put our trust in Christ. We are no longer slaves – now we are sons of God! Remember in the parable of the Prodigal Son, how the son wanted to be taken on by his father as a servant? But the father welcomed him back as a son! And the same is true for our Heavenly Father who welcomes us back!

 

Prayer

Lord, I thank you that in Christ there is now no condemnation for me, and I have the wonderful gift of new life and of being your son. No longer a slave to sin, but now an heir of God! Amen.

Romans 7: 13 - 26

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognised as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

¹⁴ We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ 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.

²¹ So I find this law at work: although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ 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. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ 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.

Who Will Rescue Me?

Paul has been leading up to this explanation of the law and sin. The law is good, but through knowing it we are tempted to break it. At the end of Friday’s reading, Paul suggests that it seems that the more we know the law, the more we sin by breaking it! And now, in today’s reading, Paul paints a tragic picture, and one that we can all relate to. Even if this is not a permanent picture of what our lives are like, we have all known this experience at some time.

Paul says that what he really wants is to do good. He wants to do the right thing, and he wants to obey the law of God. But as an imperfect, sinful human being, he finds that sometimes the exact opposite occurs. He wants to do good, but fails to do so. He really doesn’t want to do bad or evil things, and yet finds that he is drawn to them and even does them. It might sound a bit strange – like a person who is controlled by some other ‘law’ inside them; but actually it is something we can all recognise in ourselves. We know the good things we should do – being kind and generous, showing love and helping others, spending time in prayer and reading the Bible and worshipping God. And yet, when it comes to it, we choose not to do those things. The temptation to do something else, and not to bother with the good things becomes overwhelming. Having started the day with good intentions and plans to do good things, by the end of the day we look back and realise that we hardly did any of it. Or maybe there is persistent sinful behaviour – selfishness and choosing wrong rather than right. We decide to definitely not do those things… and yet we still give in to temptation and do them.

I am not saying this is our story every day (if you are finding that it is, take time to talk it through with a Christian friend and pray together about it). But all of us can say, yes, at some time, that has been our story. And maybe we feel trapped in the wrong cycle – ‘who will rescue me?’ Paul asks that exact question in verse 24: ‘What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?’ And then, in the first half of verse 25, this glorious answer comes: ‘Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!’

If we follow Jesus, and trust in him, and are filled with the Holy Spirit, we can live, every day in his will. Yes, we will sometimes slip, and when we do we can come to him in confession and repentance and know we will be forgiven. But the important thing is that in the Spirit, the cycle of sin is broken and we are no longer in chains, slaves to sin, but now we have true freedom! Again – get in touch with me or another Christian friend if you feel this is not your experience at the moment.

 

Prayer

Lord, I thank you that I am no longer in chains. You have rescued me from slavery to sin. Thank you that the answer to our problem is in verse 25: ‘Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ Amen.

Romans 7: 1 - 12

1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters – for I am speaking to those who know the law – that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? ² For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. ³ So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴ So, my 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, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ 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. ⁶ But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

⁷ What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ ⁸ But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. ⁹ Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰ I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. ¹¹ For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. ¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

Alive in Christ, Bearing Fruit for God.

In Romans 7 we come to another of Paul’s arguments of logic concerning the law. When we became Christians, we died to the law, and we came alive in Christ. The illustration that Paul uses concerning marriage has troubled some people – and it is important to not look into it too deeply, nor use it as an allegory, but it doesn’t work that way. The important point is that a death took place, and that changed everything. Jesus, the Son of God, came to live for us, teaching us the truths of how we should live for God, and he died for us. Jesus died on the cross – the perfect man who had never sinned died a criminal’s death. And in doing so, he took our place and he paid for our sins. He averted the wrath of God from us and thereby restored our relationship with him. And when we trust in Jesus, our old sinful way of life is also put to death – the illustration has been used before that we died to sin. Or, to put it another way, the old sinful life was put to death by being nailed to the cross with Jesus.

And following that death, we can now live! We are brought into freedom – mainly freedom from sin and freedom from death. But was also might say freedom from the law, which is what Paul writes about here. Now, when we say we are free from the law, it doesn’t mean we are free from having to keep the law. The Ten Commandments still apply to us as much now as ever. But the difference is that under the old covenant, people were required to live under the law in order to be righteous before God. Now, in Christ, we have his righteousness, which has nothing to do with our keeping of the law. Rather, the righteousness of Christ that we have comes through faith in him, and through his death on the cross. And we now obey the law of God because we are saved – not the other way around.

‘So, my 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, in order that we might bear fruit for God.’ (v.4). What kind of fruit are you and I bearing for God? Galatians 5 talks about the fruit of the Spirit, which is one kind of fruit. Jesus also talked about being fruitful in a different way in the parable of the sower. Are you full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Are you seeing fruit for the kingdom in people who are getting to meet Jesus through you? Are people seeing the fruit of good works in your life as you live for Christ and follow him?

 

Prayer

Lord, I thank you that through the death of Jesus, I can know life. I thank you that my old sinful life is put to death, and I am risen to new life in you. Please fill me with your Spirit, and help me to bear fruit for you. May I have opportunities to live for you in my interactions with other people, and may I see those opportunities and take them! Amen.

Romans 6: 15 - 23

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹ I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Choose Your Master.

In today’s reading, Paul is really continuing the point that he made in the opening verses of the chapter, which we looked at yesterday. Again, in verse 15, he asks the question of whether we now have an ‘excuse’ to sin. But whereas in verse 1 the logic of such a position was that ‘the more we sin, the more grace we receive’, this time the premise is that we are no longer under the Law of Moses, but under grace – so if we are not under the law, we can easily break the law! And once again, Paul explains why that is a completely incorrect position to reach. ‘By no means!’ he says.

In this section, Paul is expanding on the idea of being ‘slaves’ – either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. Verses 17 and 18: ‘But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.’

Although Paul shows this as a choice between two masters, they are very different. Slaves to sin are in servitude – they can’t help but obey the evil desires of sin. They get deeper and deeper into ‘impurity and ever-increasing wickedness’ (v. 19). Slaves to sin feel shame; they are sentenced to hard labour and they die in service – three times Paul says that being a slave sin leads to death (verses 16, 21 and 23).

By comparison, this is what it is like to be a slave of God, or of righteousness: We are free from the control of the old slave master (v. 18)! As we have seen recently in Gal. 5: 1, ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.’ We are now free to live a holy life, and see our characters transformed (verses 18 and 19). We reap great benefits and fruit in our lives. As slaves of God we have very generous treatment – not wages, but a free gift of eternal life in Christ (v. 23). And being slaves of God means we no longer face death from being slaves of sin, but now receive life – it is life to the full, and it is eternal life. So being a ‘slave’ of God is nothing like our idea of slavery – rather, it is being children of God!

Verse 23 is often quoted in an evangelistic sense: ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ It certainly makes clear the big difference between these two masters. If you choose sin, then you are choosing death. But if you choose God, then you are choosing life!

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the amazing gift of life! I thank you that through Christ I have been freed from slavery to sin and death. Lord, I willingly change my allegiance and come into your service – no longer bound or chained in slavery, but now truly free. Amen.

Romans 6: 1 - 14

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ!

At the end of yesterday’s reading, in Rom. 5: 20, Paul wrote that the Law caused sin to increase, which in turn caused God’s grace to increase. It might sound a strange argument to our ears, but he is saying that once the Law of Moses was introduced, there was then a law for people to break, and thereby be guilty of sin! And because God forgives sin by his grace, if there is more sin, then there is more grace!

So in verse 1 of today’s reading, Paul turns things around, and re-visits a question that came up in Rom. 3: 8. ‘The more I sin, the more God forgives me, and the more grace I receive. So I should sin more!’ This is a serious case of twisting the truth, and Paul objects greatly to it. I wonder whether anyone actually said this, or whether Paul’s logical mind had realised that this was a potential mis-reading of what he had just been saying, and therefore feels the need to address it. Clearly it is nonsense to suggest that we should sin more in order to receive more grace from God.

So, for the rest of this passage, Paul is explaining why, as Christians, we should resist sin. When we put our trust in Jesus and came to him as our Saviour, choosing to follow him, we were forgiven for our sins. It was like our old sinful nature had been put to death, nailed to the cross with Jesus. It was buried, and just as Jesus rose from the grave, so we have risen to a new life. And as Christian people today we should live in that new life – a life in which our aim is to go Jesus’ way, following his teaching and being obedient to him. And although, as humans, the sinful nature is still within us, we should live recognising that it has been put to death, and no longer has any control over us. Verses 6 and 7 make the point clearly: ‘For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.’

We are free from sin – and as we live for Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, we should remember that. Sadly, there are people who have never met Jesus, who are slaves to sin and addiction. And sadder still, there are some who have met Jesus, and who slip back into being slaves to sin and addiction again. Paul writes that ‘we should no longer be slaves to sin’ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, those chains of slavery can be broken. If you are struggling in this way, please seek help and prayer for your situation. I would willingly spend time with you and help you to come to Christ to be set free!

 

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, as your follower I love you and want to always go your way. Please fill me with the Holy Spirit and strengthen me to choose your way, which is the way of life, rather than the way of my old sinful nature, which is the way of death. Amen.