Tag: love of God

November 3rd 2024: Mark Jenkins

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November 3rd 2024: Mark Jenkins

Romans 8: The Christian life, keeping the right perspective.

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If you were watching Family Fortunes and 100 people were asked in church, ‘Which verse do you go to for comfort?’ one of the top answers would be from Romans 8. This chapter is full of so many truths which you can turn to for comfort, for assurance, peace and hope. Why is it such a popular passage of scripture? It reminds us of glorious truths that when God justifies guilty, condemned sinners, by grace alone through faith alone, in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, none can take them from His hands.

We are all different. The full details of our lives are not known by all, but are by God, including things not seen by others. Just as God speaks to us as individuals, He also speaks to us collectively. No matter what we face in life, in our different struggles, we should all approach Him in the same way. There will be times when we suffer and face difficulties, but there will also be times in our lives when things go well. No matter what we face, our perspective in life should always be the same.

The Christian life, keeping the right perspective.

Paul recognises that there are two ways of approaching our lives. There are two different perspectives of living, which he refers to as the present sufferings. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (v.18). Paul sees two perspectives – one where we are focused on the sufferings of this world and the other where we focus on the glory that is to come. What are the sufferings he is referring to?

Paul knew what is was to suffer (2 Corinthians 11). The suffering Paul refers to here in Romans 8 is to everything we experience in this present age. Everything is corrupted by sin. Even when we think life is doing very well. All of creation is subjected to the bondage of corruption, marred by sin. But in all Paul experiences, he looks to future glory. He encourages us that we too can live this way.

Do we let the negativity of living in a sinful world get us down? We should be saddened to see the broken world and be comforted. Jesus Himself was saddened by the reality of what He saw, the consequences of what sin had done. (John 11). Never let this sorrow turn to negativity. Why do we become so negative? Because we are focused on the moment.

Think of the word ‘moan.’  M is for the moment. Think of the word ‘groan,’ of the ‘gr’ representing glory revealed. When we focus on the moment we moan, but when we focus on the glory revealed, we groan. We long for that day when everything will be restored to how it should be. We are to acknowledge we are broken people living in a broken world. We are to long for that day when creation will be restored. We are to long for that day when glory will be revealed. Paul writes this letter to challenge us to have the right perspective in life, to live our lives in the right way.

In verses 18-25 Paul explains why life is the way it is, but also explains it is only a temporary thing. One day, God’s glory will be revealed. As believers, we should be looking forward to that day. It is not easy to keep this perspective. The wonderful moments in life can cause us to change our perspective. We should be focused on glory revealed but our attention shifts with distractions. Paul would agree it is not easy to keep this perspective.

Paul has incorporated in this chapter reasons why we are to have this perspective and how we can have this perspective in life. There are four things about how we can look forward to that day when glory will be revealed and why we should be looking forward to that day.

I have four points and truths which make up the acronym LIFE.

L. We as believers live by the Spirit. There are two ways of living this life (v.1-11), walking by the flesh or living in the Spirit. You can live your life by flesh – having a sinful nature in which we gratify ourselves. Paul reminds the readers we are a new creation, not controlled by our sinful nature but by God’s Spirit (v.9). This is what enables us to live every day as His children, to look forward to a day when glory will be revealed (v.9-10). Paul makes it clear the Spirit of God dwells in those who know Christ.

I. We, as believes, are in Christ. Salvation is only available through faith in Jesus Christ, not by works. Paul Knows we so quickly forget we are in Christ. He also knows, all too often we turn to our sinful desires. So, he opens chapter 8 with a great truth – if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ you face no condemnation for your sins.

F. We are free from the bondage of sin. No one likes to be told what to do. To control someone is so debilitating. We are all slaves to sin. Peter, in his second letter, also tells us we are slaves to sin. Jesus also said this. A slave is forced to do what the master wants them to do – sin. Romans 6 teaches and tells us what it means to be slaves to sin. If we are believers we are free from the bondage of sin. We are now slaves of righteousness. ‘Slaves of righteousness’ can be emotive. So why does Paul use this phrase? All the negative confusion we have of slavery is from a human mind. ‘Slaves of righteousness’ is different; the binding here is a binding to God, the holy, mighty, just, gracious, loving God. We can now call Him our loving, heavenly Father.

E. We are embraced by God. When we feel anxious, remind ourselves we are embraced by the living God. It gives such a sense of security. Paul reminds us of why our hope is so secure. He tells us what it means to be embraced by the living God, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 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.” (38-39).

Despite all sufferings and challenges, Paul could still look to the future and be positive and rejoice in his sufferings. Why? Because he knew his hope for the future was secure. He knew it wasn’t dependent on him or what he did, that it was all dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ and what He had accomplished. Paul knew he had been embraced by God the Father in a way that God the Father would embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son. Nothing could separate Him from God the Father. This is why we can look forward to the day when God’s glory will be revealed.

October 27th 2024: Andrew Bowden

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“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31.

Our Lord encounters a barrage of questions from the religious establishment. Many are trite, trivial and show shear arrogance and impertinence of men questioning the second person of the Trinity. They have such a sceptical approach. The Bible begins with God questioning man and woman. Adam is asked, ‘Where are you in all this mess?’ There is nothing trivial about the question. We read the Lord will come to seek and save the lost. Christ will be the central figure in the answer, opening up the way in His sacrificial death. That is the gospel. He came to deal decisively with sin.

The second question is to Eve, ‘What is this you have done? Don’t you realise the ramifications?’ The answer from God is what He will do on the cross and Christ will say, “It is finished.”

In the setting here in Mark’s gospel There is formality and hypocrisy before all questions. They lost the essence of the law, which is love. There is a stark contrast of them being so hard-hearted and Jesus reaching out to all. We see grace personified in Jesus. The very one God raised up to be the mediator, in His very demeanour, is so approachable, tender and compassionate. Incredible!

A lawyer steps forward and says to Jesus, ‘Which is the greatest commandment?’ It is like saying, ‘Which of your children do you love the most?’ Jesus comes to the very heart of the law – love is the essence. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” We are looking at our love towards God and how we should love God. The word ‘love’ covers so many things. It is a love, first of all, which is personal – ‘love your God.’

The gospel is not about ritual and ceremony, rules, regulations and robes. The gospel is about a loving, living, dynamic relationship with God. God has made us and created us to respond to stimuli: a sunset, a meadow of spring flowers, crashing waves on a shore. We respond to beauty with awe. The whole earth is full of the glory of God. God is behind it all. If the dawn chorus only happened once a year, no one would go to bed! Yet the human heart does not respond to God with all, wonder and love. Yet we know we are made for something more. We are made to know God in a personal way. We should respond to Calvary and the cross. John 3:16. The love of God towards us, is demonstrated in a way which will stand for all eternity as a thing of wonder.

The response on our part is to take God at His word, (Isaac Watts, ‘When I Survey the wondrous cross). We should have a personal response of love and appreciation, where we love God above all. This is the first and greatest of all the commands, with all the intensity of our being. Is there anything greater than love? (1 Corinthians 13).

Love is not legalistic. Marriage can deteriorate to something functional, having all the passion of yesterday morning’s cornflakes! Remember when you first came to know the Lord, when the Lord’s day came round you came with joyful zeal. You had a passion for prayer, excitement of sharing everything with God. But the passion evaporates, There is no real fire. You have lost your first love. Where has it gone? Where is the love? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” We are to love with the entirety of our being because God has loved us, given His all for us. The only fitting response is our all – our talent, our time, our gifts, our resources – all used for His glory. Use everything to the glory of God and please Him above all else.

Paul addresses losing heart. The heart is all; it is where your deepest thinking goes on. The Christian life is not something imposed upon us. It is not outward but inward. Work out your salvation. It is God who is at work in you. When something is from the heart it is the driving force. How can anything material satisfy when there is a spiritual appetite for God and His word? Every breath we take is to make known the wonder of His Saviour. I praise my Maker while I have breath.

Live for Him. Breathe for Him with all your mind. Do you realise how heavenly a gift your mind is? Tozer writes, ‘There is an inner beauty in truth and a deliciousness in truth and she invites you, she beckons you into an enchanted world.’

We are so blessed with literature. There is so much available to us. We need to serve the lord with all our mind. Sing psalms and hymns which stretch us and our minds.

Love has another dimension. It is not just something that is vertical, it is horizontal. We are meant to be channels, conduits of the love of God, shown towards others. How can someone who has known such grace not, in turn, be gracious? How can somebody who has known such pardoning, such mercy, not in turn be merciful? How can someone who has come to adore the wonder and kindness of God not be good and kind in relating to others?

If we really love God we are meant to show the love of God. In the early church a people emerged who were wholesome, clean, attractive, principled and pure. That is what impacted the life of the early church. There was a spirit of love, compassion and grace.

February 2nd 2020: Gareth Edwards

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Gareth Edwards - Feb 2020Isaiah 42:5-9

There has never been a more important announcement than God sending His servant into the world to bring the benefits of His Kingdom to men. We would expect the news to be serious but to have joyful tones and to be dramatic. That is the case in these verses here. God underline the enormity of this announcement as He first addresses the servant Himself and then the people of Israel.

  1. God is identified in verse 5.
  2. God addresses the servant – verses 6-7
  3. God addresses the nation – verses 8-9

(We know God addresses the servant in verses 6-7 because the ‘you’ is singular. In verses 8-9 God addresses the nation; ‘you’ at the end of verse 9 is plural).

God’s serious intent is to bring about a remarkable change amongst men by the greatness of His love and power. There will be a distinctive intervention in the person of the servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. We trust we will be thrilled to hear the good news of what God has done for us, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

  1. The announcement comes directly from God,

‘Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:’

    Isaiah 42:5

It emphasises the word for God, underlining He is the uncomparable one, the only true God, the one who effortlessly laid out the universe, who unfolded the whole of the universe with consummate ease and ultimate power. He is the author of all human life, the one who is to be listened to and obeyed. He is the one who we must pay the utmost attention to as He speaks. The ‘Lord speaks of His covenant faithfulness. He came for all He has created. He did not abandon the universe and men to sin. He cares and maintains all creation.

He sustains men by giving them breath. Here is the God who has created this universe and set men in it. He is committed to the welfare of it, He does not stand idly by. In love and mercy He sends His servant to be the Saviour. He does not stand aloof from His creation. He is intimately concerned for men. The Lord Jesus Christ reflects this in His life. We see God’s commanding control over nature and disease, His care for sinners.

This announcement should be accompanied by a great fanfare because it is good news. The coming of His servant, the lord Jesus Christ, proves it. The love of God is so great for the world He made, which rejected His rule, He desires the well-being of His creatures. He must condemn fallen mankind because of their sin. But He shows ‘common grace’, His goodness, to all men. His particular love towards His people is all embracing. We should be comforted to know that our Creator cares for us, even when we all others desert us.

  1. God addresses the servant. Just as God does not abandon creation, He will never abandon His servant who He sends to bring salvation,

‘I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
    I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
    a light for the nations,
     to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness.’

(Isaiah 42: 6-7)

He promises to accompany His servant, to take Him by the hand, to make His success certain. Consequently, the servant will be the embodiment of God’s covenant. Every commitment He has made to men will be fulfilled through His servant. Man, in his rebellion, has plunged himself into bondage and sin. God sends His servant to bring light into darkness, and freedom from their bondage. He will restore His people to true freedom. The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s light to a world wrapped in the darkness of unbelief (John 8:12). God sends Him to release men from their bondage to sin. He brings light and freedom where there is darkness and bondage.

By nature we all live in the darkness of sin (John 3:19). We have lived lives in sinful indulgence, in bondage to our sinful desires, full of darkness of godlessness. This is the terrible predicament of all who reject God. But God in His mercy has sent the Lord Jesus Christ to solve the problem. In His perfect life we see what man is supposed to be. But He is more than our example; by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sin, He offers a relationship for us with God, which brings light into our world. He offered Himself willingly up to that cross that we might now the freedom of knowing Him. The freedom of what we are supposed to be – children of God.

  1. God turns to address the nation,

‘I am the Lord; that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to carved idols.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
    and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
    I tell you of them.’

Isaiah 42:-8-9

He declares that His concern is rightly for the honour of His name. Here is the God of glory, the God who is able to do all. He is a jealous of His own name. He will not share His glory with any other (idols). God tells them of a new era in which His glory will be demonstrated more fully than before. All that He has done so far will fade into comparison to the new things He will accomplish with His servant. It will eventually blossom into the new heavens and new earth (Isaiah 65:17, Revelation 21).

God is speaking here of how His past glory had been magnificently demonstrated but it is nothing of the glory to be demonstrated in the future – in the work, life, death, resurrection and return of His servant, which will lead to the new heavens and new earth. With the coming of His servant, God’s glory would shine for all to see. The glory given to God through all His other servants, through all His works, are totally eclipsed by the glory gained through His servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, God’s glory is displayed to the nations. He declares, ‘Sit back and see what I’m going to do through my servant and marvel!’ (Colossians 1:19, John 1:14).