Hi and welcome back to another episode of Perspective For Today. This is our 50th episode!
God has made this podcast my calling. I have tried to be faithful to it.
But like so many endeavors I often fall short. But it is only through perseverance and looking to the cross that this podcast will continue to be made available. It is my prayer that whatever God has called you to do, that you will be faithful to it. Don’t ever let your emotions dictate whether you will continue to go forward with His will, but rather look to the cross and all that Christ was willing to endure for you.
So let’s continue with our study of Romans.
Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
In the previous verse we acknowledge our adoption into God’s family as we cry out Abba, Father. For some there is doubt as to the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
They say in their heart I feel no different. But this has nothing to do with your feelings. It is all about a Father’s Love. Once we have come to that saving Grace and we realize the magnitude of God’s love. That he would give his only begotten Son in order that we could have a relationship with Him. It is in that moment that the Holy Spirit communes with our spirit and we are brought into a right relationship with our heavenly Father.
As we begin to feel the conviction of our sins that have caused a great divide between us and the Father, it is then that we start to bear fruit.
That fruit is of the Holy Spirit. The most important thing to remember is that none of this is possible without the Father’s Love For Us. It is the Father’s love being manifested in us through the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
We are heirs of God.
That means we have an inheritance waiting for us, if we stand fast in the faith. All that the Father has is ours. And we are joint heirs with Christ. We live in a sin-stained world. Because of that we are going to suffer. But our sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us. Paul was no stranger to suffering. He endured so much for Christ. He did so willingly.
2 Corinthians 11:23-28 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
2 Corinthians 11:24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
2 Corinthians 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
2 Corinthians 11:26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
2 Corinthians 11:27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
2 Corinthians 11:28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
I venture it’s safe to say that none of us have endured as much as Paul.
Paul knew that the servant was not above the Master. He knew that he could not expect better treatment in the world than his Master had received and neither should we.
Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Paul knew that even with all the suffering The pain, the anguish and all the humiliation that it paled in comparison to the glory to come.
We need to keep things in perspective. Our time on planet Earth is nothing when compared to an eternity with our heavenly Father. There is no comparison.
Romans 8:19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
Oh glorious Day!
All of creation, all of nature awaits the coming day. The day that all of the saints will reign with the coming King. They will reign in glory. But for the time being we appear to others or should appear to others as humble servants. In this life there is nothing glorious about us. We live our lives in subjection to the coming King. Hallelujah!
Romans 8:20-21 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.
When Adam sinned his transgression affected not only mankind, but all of creation.
For God said,
Genesis 3:17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ’You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
When Christ comes again everything will be put back in perfect order.
All of creation will be restored to its former state before sin entered the world. No longer will there be weeds and hardened soil. All of God’s creation will live in harmony.
Isaiah 11:6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
Isaiah 11:8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
Isaiah 11:9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah’s prophecy should encourage us to live for Christ, for the glory to come.
This brings us to the end of another episode.
I’d like to thank you for listening and as always may you have a week full of opportunities to share this good news with those that need to hear it.