hope – Simply True

Christians—not better, but better off (Romans 5:1-11)

No-one should doubt that righteousness is a major concern for everyone. In simple terms, we all want to be right. A child is indignant if its idea of right is crossed. Old men and women want to be sure their legacy is rightly recorded. From cradle to grave, righteousness is high on our agenda.

But here, in Romans, God is saying to us, ‘You can only be right by trusting in me—in my Son’. All our protests that we are right are husks flying in the wind. We are subject to God’s judgement. And Paul is bringing this to light so we have opportunity to get things truly right. Or rather, for God to get things truly right.

Paul describes two things in this chapter. First, the astonishing benefits that are given to believers in Christ (vv. 1-11). Second, the astonishing Christ who creates these benefits (vv. 12-21). We’ll just look at the first of these at the moment.

So, what are the benefits that come to us because we are justified by faith?

First, we don’t have to fight the idea of there being a God we must answer to[i]. We don’t have to spend our life avoiding God. Rather, we know him and are at peace with him.

Behind all the crises we have in this life there hangs the nagging thought that we don’t deserve anything better. We’re always uneasy. But then, knowing we are justified changes everything. He’s not counting our sins against us. He’s deciding how to bless us. We are at peace with God because he’s at peace with us.

This doesn’t mean we always feel peaceful. There’s lots of circumstances and thoughts that can make us uneasy. But we are starting from having a secure place in the Father’s affections.

Second, we have constant access to God’s grace.

Every day, we are needing forgiveness, direction, strength and courage. And we can find that the Lord is gracious—every day. He’s not calculating or tardy. So, it’s a relief and a pleasure to come to him. Jesus is our way of access to all that the Father is eager to provide.

Third, we exult, or have joy, or boast because of the promise that we will share God’s glory. We have seen God’s glory in Christ and what he has done. But now, we are told that we will share in being like him—glorious,[ii] and participate in the glory of the new heavens and earth.

This word translated ‘rejoice’ has recurred four times already in this letter, and been translated as ‘boasting’. Without Christ, our exulting has been false—because it’s all been based on us. But now, it’s based on Christ and looking forward to the world God is making. So, our exulting is real. Our hubris is replaced with humility.

Fourth, this confidence is so substantial, that our troubles take on a different character. Without justification, we had been seeing them as threats to our ego. Now, they help us learn patience.

If we’re honest, we know that impatience exposes our selfishness. Now, we’ve got a chance to change—to develop some character[iii].

We’re learning to hope in what God has promised—to actually live by faith. This is what Paul raised when he first started talking about justification[iv]. We begin with faith, and this faith must grow to encompass the widening circles of our life.

Fifth, none of this fails! While life, and other people, and the devil suggest we give up, God’s love—poured into our hears by the Holy Spirit—keeps us looking to the peace we have, and our access to grace, and to Jesus himself. We’re really exulting! And it’s all flowing from the fact that we are loved by God.

Let’s dwell on this love—as Paul now does.

Why does God love us? It’s got nothing to do with our nature or performance. In fact, we’ve been weak—unable to get up and be who God called us to be. We’ve been ungodly—thinking about ourselves instead of him. We’ve been sinners—missing what God expects of us all the time. We’ve actually been God’s enemies. And all this time, he’s been loving us!

If we don’t understand this, we haven’t been hearing what Paul is saying. God is good—to people who are not! He’s giving us everything we need. We now have a life filled with his Spirit—with his loving.

So, move over! Let it happen! Keep yourselves in the love of God![v]

Perhaps we can imagine being present when Jesus is nailed to his cross. We hear him say, ‘Father forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.’ Here is love—overflowing! And the gospel Paul preaches in this letter shows that what Jesus said then is now being said to us.

The death of Jesus, and his resurrection, have secured our justification. We’re all set up to rejoice, not just in our experience of salvation, but in God himself.

As Paul will say later, God’s reign is all about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit[vi]. This is not natural. It’s not explainable. It’s from God who loves us. It springs up within us. It’s real and it’s eternal. And, as we must now see, it’s all because of one man. And it’s for everybody. His grace, his giving and his obedience dwarf anything else that’s ever happened.

[i] This may well be the major reason why people refuse to believe in God.

[ii] This will arise later in chapter 8, verses 23-25; also 1 Cor. 15:59

[iii] In a similar way, James tells us to let patience have its full effect—James 1:4

[iv] Rom. 1:17

[v] Jude 21

[vi] Rom. 14;17.

[i] This may well be the major reason why people refuse to believe in God.

[ii] This will arise later in chapter 8, verses 23-25; also 1 Cor. 15:59

[iii] In a similar way, James tells us to let patience have its full effect—James 1:4

[iv] Rom. 1:17

[v] Jude 21

[vi] Rom. 14:17

God’s story (Rom. 5:12-21)

Paul has told us how privileged Christians are[i]. And now, in case we think these privileges are for a select few, he tells us they are for ‘the many’. God is doing nothing less than recreating the human race—making a people who can know and enjoy him. And the sole reason for this is ‘one man’—Jesus Christ.

We could say that this is the story of the world—God’s narrative. Paul himself has been travelling widely and seeing the power of his message work out among many peoples. It’s no longer limited to Jews.

We all need this big picture because, in one way or another, we try to make sense of what we see and experience. And there is no lack of human stories—religions or ideologies—on offer.

But other stories cannot offer a solution to the pain and disfunction we live with. What we need is not new ideas. We need a redeemer.

God’s story starts with Adam—the beginning of the human race. But it moves quickly to Jesus Christ because our human journey will never make sense without him.

Adam’s story[ii] may seem to be so long ago as to be irrelevant, but what this man does at the beginning of our history explains and describes exactly where we are now. It’s our story.

God’s sets up a garden for Adam, a place where he may know God and share in looking after the creation.

But Adam tries to write God out of the story. He sins, disobeys or transgresses God’s command. So, God condemns what he has done. And death is decreed. He won’t live forever.

But God is not only dealing with Adam. He’s looking at humanity. Adam’s sin is not just his. It’s ours. We could say that when Adam asserts his independence from God and his word, we all feel proud of him. We break out in applause. We all belong to Adam, regardless of our nationality or religion.

Adam has no-one to blame. He’s surrounded with perfection. Not like us. We have lots of people and situations to blame. But God shows us that in a perfect situation, this is the choice we make.

We may protest, but the facts are in front of us—and Paul has spoken about them already. We all sin. We all know God condemns us. And we all die. We’re not in charge after all! Sin is. And guilt is. And death is[iii]. Can anyone argue with this?

But this is not God’s idea of a human race! He has made Adam in his image, but has always purposed to bring his creation to completion through his Son—coming among us as a man.

We’ve heard that Christ died for our sins. We’ve heard that he’s been raised for our justification, but now, we need to see how comprehensive all this is. It’s for ‘many’, even for ‘all men’—that is, ‘all’ without distinction[iv]. We could be anybody from anywhere or any circumstance.

If the choice and deed of Adam has been catastrophic, the choice and deed of Jesus Christ is nothing less than a new creation. So, let’s look at the contrasts Paul makes between what we have in Adam and what we have in Christ.

Under Adam, we are focused on what’s gone wrong. We’re always asking who’s to blame—a natural reaction when we know we’re being condemned by God. And we are always living under a shroud of death[v]. Nothing we do can have any permanence. With nothing more in our narrative than this, our living and societies tend towards helplessness and hopelessness.

In stark contrast to this, under Jesus Christ, we have received new life. We’ve received a free gift[vi]. The change in perspective couldn’t be greater. We’re not obsessed with what we deserve. We’ve been treated with grace. And this new life is plentiful—it doesn’t run out like bank balances or government budgets.

And this gift of God is righteousness—that is, we are standing with dignity before God in heaven, and standing up boldly for God in the world.

Adam has seen to it that we start of as sinners. ‘Made sinners’ is what Paul says. But Jesus sees to it that we start off as righteous. Again, we’ve been ‘made righteous’. There’s no social evolution here. No gradual reform. It’s not being progressive. It’s nothing less than a new creation.

And Paul anticipates the day when we will ‘reign in life’. We’ll actually be everything that God had in mind in creating the human race. As Isaiah tells us, God will make a feast for all people, he will swallow up the shroud of death that lies over all peoples and will wipe away our tears. With a hope like this we are ready to live!

Paul has mentioned the law of Moses at the beginning and end of this passage. Where does this fit in God’s narrative? It certainly doesn’t set anyone free. Rather, it increases the amount of sinning we do and are aware of.

On the other hand, under Christ, what’s increasing is the abundant flow of God’s grace.

So, finally, who or what is in charge of the world we envisage? Will sin be the shape of the future? Will guilt be the main driver? Will death write the last chapter? No! No! And no!

Rather, grace is in charge. We’re free of our shame. And the end is assured—eternal life.

Any other story than this one is a fairy tale.

[i] Rom. 5:1-11

[ii] Gen. 2—3

[iii] Heb. 2:14-15

[iv] Vv. 15, 18, 19

[v] Isa. 25:6-9

[vi] v. 15

Living with sorrows, expecting glory (Rom. 8:18-39)

We’ve come to a climax in this letter to the Romans. And we’ve needed all that has been said so far to appreciate the strong confidence of this section.

Through the gospel of Christ, we’ve been released from condemnation and are no longer bound by sin. And we’re not dependent on a regime of law, or doomed merely to die.

But what’s all this freedom for? In part, this has been answered already. We’ve been freed to be what we are created to be—beloved and obedient children of God. But there’s more.

God made us in his image and is working to the end that we will share his glory. Nothing less!

This matter of glory hasn’t been prominent in what we’ve learned so far, but it’s been present.

Back in chapter two, Paul says everyone should be spending their lives living well, so as to share in God’s glory, honour and immortality. If we don’t want this, expect this and work towards this, we’re traitors. If we’re not expecting to see God reigning gloriously over all he has made, and, ourselves sharing in that glory, God is ashamed to be called our God.[i]

Rather, as Paul says in chapter 5, we are now rejoicing in hope of sharing God’s glory.[ii] The threat of condemnation and gloom of being compromised are lifted. We are even embracing the difficulties of our lives because they are God’s way to better equip us for this wonderful future.

This is what Paul now takes up. Pain and confusion are a part of our present life. Paul knows this very well, but refuses to give it centre-stage. He says it’s not worth comparing with the new situation God is bringing about.

So, first, the creation is framed in hope (vv. 18-30).

There’s no doubt that the natural world is groaning. God has given it up to futility. Nothing in this world can ever be ultimately meaningful of itself. But God has added a promise so that we can learn to live in hope. It’s the things we do because we trust his promise that are meaningful.

Creation’s groaning is not it’s objecting to the way we abuse it—as some suggest. It grieves because it can’t be the home for us that it was designed to be. And then, it’s moans are like a mother’s giving birth to a child. From God’s point of view, creation knows it will be reborn and share the freedom that’s coming to us. Its pain is not fear of a fate but anticipation of a destiny.

And there is no doubt that we Christians also are groaning.

How can we not? We have been given new life from God. We know we are meant for ‘the freedom of the glory of children of God!’ How come our life is so mundane when anticipation of such a future has been built into us?

This is illustrated wonderfully by a former pastor of mine who said as he battled a serious illness, ‘God didn’t just mean for us to live anyhow, but gloriously!’

The Holy Spirit, living in us, is evidence that he will also renew our tired and tainted bodies. And he will give the strength we need to continue to live by faith and hope and love when our familiar and trusted framework begins to crumble.

But yet, we groan. How can we not? But we’re learning, through our pain, to see things that are unseen—because they are the things that are going to last. And we’re learning to wait. Our troubles are preparing us for a substantial and eternal glory.[iii]

In fact, this precious gift of the Holy Spirit groans too—from within us. More deeply than we can know. It’s what Isaiah tells us: ‘In all their affliction he [God] was afflicted… he lifted them and carried them’.[iv] The Spirit knows the Father’s mind—for our present and our future. And his prayers are answered. When our suffering renders us unable to pray, our communion with the Father remains in full action.

And then, look at the way God has been working with us. He has known us from eternity past—meaning he determined from the beginning to set his love on us. He chose our destiny—to be his sons and daughters. Then, he called us—meaning we heard the gospel and recognised he was speaking to us. And he glorified us—meaning that if God decides to do something, it’s as good as done. Notice, on this agenda of God’s dealing with us, we are four fifths of the way through his list—nearly there!

Given this agenda, can we imagine anything that won’t work in such a way as to be for our benefit? His purpose is nothing less than to make us like his Son—full of powerful grace and love.

And now, love will hold us—the love of God in Christ (vv. 31-39).

We’ve needed all the previous chapters of Romans to be able to hear this truth. Love may seem to be a simple thing, but it’s the deepest thing of all. And we’re talking about the love of God. And, we’re talking about ourselves as people who’ve flirted with many other ways to live than living in the love of God!

We need to meditate on what this means for us.

God has ‘given up’ his Son for us. He does this in the same way that he gives sinners up to their own evil deeds.[v] He doesn’t grant his Son’s wish to be spared this awful cup. He pours out his wrath on his own Son—for us. And we belong to that Son—now raised from the dead. With love like that, God’s not going to give us up!

So, what about all the accusations made against us? That’s the question that must be settled if we’re going to know the love of God. It’s no good relying on feelings here. We need to think.

Where does Jesus Christ fit in all that’s happening to us? He’s died for us. He’s been raised for us. He’s now speaking to the Father for us.

In other words, he not only loved us as he died.[vi] He loves us now.[vii] And this is what is going on between the Father and the Son.[viii] We’re caught up in a Godhead love story. And we are the subject of their conversation!

It’s so important to have this in mind when trouble comes. Our old self-sufficient consciences may have been reckoning that we were the reason for the delights we’d received. And then, when this is reversed, we tip into thinking that we are the reason for that too.

Wrong, both times! We need to be reckoning from what is going on in heaven! The accusations die with a look from our Saviour.[ix] Only this can help us to travel through our trials.

So, people who try to get our attention with their anger can’t win. Pain can’t have the last word. Danger isn’t all there is. We know the love of God to us in Jesus Christ. And he is Lord over all things. And as we continue to walk in faith, hope and love, we are more than conquerors.

[i] Heb. 11:16

[ii] Rom. 5:2

[iii] 2 Cor. 4:17-18

[iv] Isa. 63:9

[v] Rom. 1:24, 26, 28

[vi] Gal. 2:20

[vii] Rev. 1:5

[viii] John 17:22-23

[ix] Luke 22:61. If Peter remembered Jesus saying he would fail, he must also have recalled that Jesus prayed that his faith would not fail. And it didn’t. He finished as ‘more than conqueror’.

God keeps to his own plan—of mercy (Rom. 9—11)

Paul has been giving us an account of what God has done through Jesus Christ, concluding with a promise of a glorious future.

This hope is vital for us, so we need to be sure that God keeps his promises. And Israel is the ‘working case-history’ of God making promises and keeping them. We need to know their story.

So, in this section, Paul shows that God still has Israel in mind. More than that—he loves them. There’s more to his promise than their present rejection of him is indicating. And if God still reaches out to Israel through Paul more than two decades after they kill his Messiah, is it any different after two millennia have passed?

I had a conversation with a Jewish Rabbi here in Australia some years ago. He asked me what I thought was going on in the Middle East regarding Israel.

I said to him, ‘Anyone who hates Israel is shooting themselves in the foot!’ Understandably, he wanted to know what I meant by this and we spent an hour talking about it.

Clearly, we should love Israel. Paul makes it clear that he does. He describes how God’s promises to them are being fulfilled. And he describes the battle God must wage with them until they realise that they need to depend on his mercy.

Israel is not special in the sense of being more important than any other nation. They are important because they are chosen to be an example—to us all—of how God’s promises lead to his mercy. So, it needs to be emphasized that this discussion is not talking about the rights and wrongs of what is happening in the Middle East today.

In these three chapters, Paul doesn’t talk about justice. He talks about mercy[i], something all of us are going to need. God’s story with Israel is a love story. And like most love stories, it twists and turns and happens in ways no human being could have planned.[ii]

And our future, like Israel’s, will depend on God’s mercy. If we don’t understand these merciful promises made to them—and if we don’t share God’s love for them, we may have ‘shot ourselves in the foot’. Like Israel, we need to rely on God’s mercy.

So, we’ll look at what Paul tells us about Israel—and about us. And then we’ll return to the Rabbi’s question. (If you have a Bible open to Romans, you’ll see how I’m summarizing what Paul is saying.)

First, God has loved Israel and demonstrated it by giving them unique privileges (9:1-5).

God chose them to be his family—beginning with Abraham. He lived among them, bonded himself to them by a covenant with obligations, and accepted their worship. He made promises to them so they could be sure of their future. And, to them would be given a Messiah who would deliver them, and the world, from all their enemies.

This Messiah, of course, has now arrived—no less than God himself—God the Son—Jesus Christ.

So, following God’s lead, Paul longs for his fellow Israelites to recognise God’s Son and to be saved. And he spares no effort or pain to persuade them that their Messiah has come.

Second, Israel’s welfare depends wholly on God choosing them (9:6-13).

The nation needs to understand why they are the people that they are. It’s not Abraham’s older son who receives the promised blessing but the younger one. God does the choosing, not Abraham, or either of his sons.

And not us either. God’s promises apply to those he chooses. If we think we can have anything we want, we will never understand God.

Third, God’s choosing and calling Israel are acts of mercy (9:14-29).

God creates Israel by having mercy on them—rescuing them from slavery in Egypt.

We are so accustomed to mechanisms of justice and expecting to be given what we deserve that we may have forgotten what mercy is. It may not be registering in our minds that we actually deserve wrath.

God doesn’t argue with us here. He has no need to prove himself. He knows he is merciful. He knows we have no grounds to insist on our rights with him. Before him, we all stand condemned and speechless.[iii]

Paul has already shown that God is patient with those who proudly reject his Son—patient enough to let him be killed by them. Jesus transforms their sinful act into a sin offering. That’s mercy!

And if God can be merciful to his chosen nation, he can be merciful to Gentiles as well.[iv] Hosea shows that God can create a people from any nation. Belonging to him depends on his mercy—not any rights we may claim.

Fourth (9:30—10:21), the people who belong to God are righteous because they trust God to call them such.

This is why first century Jews trip up over Jesus. They reckon they are already righteous and won’t submit to the mercy being shown to them. A common problem—for Jews and Gentiles!

But Moses, the very person who receives the ten commandments and teaches Israel to keep them, also teaches them that they can’t claw their way up to God by keeping them.[v] In fact, the law will prove that they can’t keep them. They will need to receive their righteousness by faith. The law is the way to respond in love to the one who saves them.[vi]

Most first century Jews don’t recognise this—even though it’s in their Bible. So, when Jesus comes, they don’t recognise him either. But he is what their law is all about. And he will perfectly fulfill it. But Israel won’t receive something God does for them. They don’t want to be justified by faith.

It is this righteousness that Paul is announcing.[vii] The gospel is not an achievement of ours. It’s God giving up his Son for our sin and raising him for our justification. This is what we must confess. It’s the believer of this who will never be ashamed before God—Jew or Gentile. Those whom God chooses.[viii]

Paul can quote Jewish scriptures that predict everything he is doing in reaching out to Gentiles. He’s going everywhere he can. Jews are getting jealous about the privileges now being enjoyed by Gentile Christians. People who aren’t even seeking God are finding him through the preaching of the gospel. And his own people are still rejecting the grace of their God. All that God has promised is happening!

Fifth, God’s promise to save Israel is right on schedule (11:1-36).

Paul himself is a clear example of God keeping his promises.[ix] God chooses him, has mercy on him, justifies him, and makes him a true member of his people. He’s a true Israelite!

His situation is like it was in Elijah’s day when many people belonged to Israel—formally. But most had no heart for what their nation really was. They didn’t want to live by God’s bounty. So, God made sure they didn’t understand what was really going on.

Is this the end of the story?[x] By no means. God’s love weaves its way through much resistance.

Paul can even see a purpose in Israel rejecting their Messiah. When they refuse to listen to him, he is sent on to Gentiles, and many of them are grafted into Israel’s privileges.

Jealousy works wonders here! The Jews are jealous of other nations receiving favour from God. Paul knows this well.[xi] Before his conversion, he is furious at Gentiles finding peace with God. And all the while, he doesn’t have it himself. Is this why Jesus says to him outside Damascus that it is hard for him to kick against God’s gracious prodding? He’s having a hard time resisting mercy!

As we noted before, love’s path may look like a tangled web but it needs to undo what is false. And it does—with Paul. He becomes a grateful follower of Christ. He is now happy to preach to Jews, and then go to Gentiles. And all the while, he knows God is right on track with his story of mercy.

So, those of us who are Gentiles—in other words, most of us Christians—should be careful! There are no grounds for us to be smug and to think that we are secure because we belong to the right group.

And, here’s the point we must know well. Every one of us believers in Christ are where we are because of God’s kindness—plus nothing! If we forget this, God cuts us out—or shows that we never were a part of his grateful people. And he can graft his ancient people back in—easily. God has promised that he will do just this.[xii]

Here’s the principle. God proves to us all that we are not nice people but rebels. And he has mercy on those he chooses. We’re in his hands—totally. There’s no room for pride anywhere.

And God can be an enemy and a lover of his people at the same time. His loving promise will be fulfilled. For this reason, he fights against the pride of those who think they belong to him so that they will know his mercy.

So, we can trust God. And we can worship him. His promises are irrevocable.[xiii]

Notice that this is not something Paul is deducing from observation. He’s looking at everything that is happening in the world in the light of what God has promised to Israel.

Sixth, the gospel is all about knowing God.[xiv]

Every attempt that has been made to get the upper hand with God, from the beginning of this letter until now, has been shown to be futile.

On the other hand, everything God has done is powerfully effective, and has fulfilled his promises. We are in safe hands!

We should be in awe of his wisdom, his knowledge, his judgements, his ways. We should not presume that we understand him! Or that we can advise him! Or enrich him!

Mercy is something to receive, not to negotiate. The future is not something to calculate but to anticipate—gratefully. All the glory is due to God.

Returning to the Rabbi’s question, what is happening in Israel at present, and, to Jews wherever they are in the world? Has God’s plan of mercy changed? Rather, our question should be, what part of the above love story is being worked out at present?

Of the Jews who live in Israel, only some 2% are Christians. In other words, that part of Israel now living as the state of Israel is largely still rejecting their Messiah, and the mercy and the righteousness promised to them. They are not really God’s people[xv]—they are cut off. But then—this is a love story. They can be grafted back in.

God waits to have mercy on them. He wrestles with them. He may send them good things. He may be severe. But he loves them. They need to turn to their Messiah. So, with God, we should love them, and pray for them.

And what is true of Israel is his ‘working case history’ for Gentiles to take note of. God is waiting to reveal his mercy to us also, not to give us our rights!

In the end, we will see that all whom God knows as his chosen people will be saved. God will keep his promise. And those of us who are not Jews can also trust God’s promise to bring about the future he has revealed to us.

[i] Rom. 9:15-18, 23; 11:30-32

[ii] The book of Hosea is an example of God treating Israel with severe mercy.

[iii] Rom. 3:19

[iv] Gen. 12:2-3

[v] Deut. 30:2-24

[vi] Exod. 20:2-3

[vii] Rom. 10:9-13

[viii] Acts 2:39

[ix] Rom. 11:1-10

[x] Rom. 11:11-32

[xi] Rom. 7:7-9

[xii] Vv. 26-27, quoting the Greek version of Isa.59:20-21; Isa. 27:9

[xiii] Rom. 11:29

[xiv] Rom. 11:33-36

[xv] The Old Testament speaks in these terms (Hos. 1:6-11). So does Jesus (Matt. 22:14; John 10:39-41). So does Paul (Rom. 2:28-29).s.

[i] Rom. 9:15-18, 23; 11:30-32

[ii] The book of Hosea is an example of God treating Israel with severe mercy.

[iii] Rom. 3:19

[iv] Gen. 12:2-3

[v] Deut. 30:2-24

[vi] Exod. 20:2-3

[vii] Rom. 10:9-13

[viii] Acts 2:39

[ix] Rom. 11:1-10

[x] Rom. 11:11-32

[xi] Rom. 7:7-9

[xii] Vv. 26-27, quoting the Greek version of Isa.59:20-21; Isa. 27:9

[xiii] Rom. 11:29

[xiv] Rom. 11:33-36

[xv] The Old Testament speaks in these terms (Hos. 1:6-11). So does Jesus (Matt. 22:14; John 10:39-41). So does Paul (Rom. 2:28-29).

What are we waiting for?

Trusting God’s promises isn’t always easy. It takes us into new territory. And we need to grow in faith. However, none of the difficulties involved need to tarnish our faith.

God has opened his heart up to us. He’s calling us to discover his faithful love. And he wants us to live in this hope while we wait for his time of fulfilment. By promising us a future, God is enabling us to live in his eternal plan—now. But we need some perseverance.

Many of us have lived through very pleasant times. This has made us think God’s promises only relate to having more nice times. But God wants us to live in what the future will be—even while the present is proving to be difficult.

The letter of Hebrews has much to say about living by God’s promises—particularly towards its end (Hebrews 10:32—12:3). You may find it helpful to read this passage first. There’s five points that it makes clear. This makes my article longer than usual—but I hope, worthwhile.

First, our fathers in the faith faced the same difficulties that we do in living by God’s promises.

There are enemies opposing those who first get this letter (Hebrews 10:36-39). They have an option to live comfortably, but at the risk of giving up their faith in Christ. They need some help to live by what is unseen rather than what would be culturally safe. They, and we, are warned not to ‘shrink back’ from waiting for what God promises.

Israel’s founding father, Abraham, and his wife Sarah, wait for decades for the child God promises to them. Then, they live among enemies in the land God has promised (11:12-13). And there’s delay for everyone in the Old Testament, waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled (11:39-40).

God is painting on a large canvas and he needs us to step back—with him—and appreciate that more is going on than we may understand while we wait.

Second, hoping for things we can’t see (or control) is no problem to faith.

In fact, faith is being assured and persuaded that what we hope for and cannot see is substantial (11:1). God himself gives us this faith and when he does, we can ‘see’ what is invisible and experience what can’t be measured.

We need to think about the world we can see. Why is there something and not nothing? Why do we have consciousness and not just instincts? The world can’t answer these questions. But the answer is that everything we see and experience has come from something unseen—from God speaking (11:3, 27).

It’s always God’s word that makes things happen. And faith is being assured and persuaded that this is why there is a world, and a universe, and us.

If we insist that there’s no God to make everything, we exist without ever having started. We try to proceed without understanding who we are or what we are for. And we certainly have nothing to give us hope. We lack assurance and persuasion.

On the other hand, understanding that God creates everything by his word speaks to us deeply because we are made by God, and for him.

This sets the pattern for all that the writer then tells us.

Noah builds an ark in the light of things not yet visible—a flood (11:7). Then, Abraham leaves his cosy life for one promised by God. He is looking for something God builds. Something solid (11:8-10).

Paul says that seen things pass away. It’s the unseen things that are durable (2 Cor. 4:18). This idea is strange to someone who doesn’t know God. But it’s natural to faith. Everything God does starts from what we can’t see.

Third, God is setting up a world where everything will be as he intends it to be. Hebrews calls it ‘a better country’, ‘a heavenly one’ (11:16). It’s a kingdom that can’t be shaken (12:26-28).

If we believe God can’t make anything better than what we see at the moment, he wouldn’t want to be known as our God—expecting so little of him. Do we think he is satisfied with injustice, suffering and death? Are we happy for everything—including ourselves—to be no better than they are at the moment? Is a shaky world good enough?

God’s promises point to something amazing, complete, without danger or pollution.

We said earlier that all God’s promises find their ‘Yes’ in Christ. And this ‘Yes’ includes what he has done in his first coming and what he will complete in his second coming.

That’s why people who please God with their faith are people who are looking for a city that has foundations (11:10)—not like the shaky things we tend to trust at the moment.

Scoffers think the promise of Christ’s return is a fiction. But Peter tells us the reason for his delay is not incompetence or carelessness but patience with our race (2 Pet. 3:2-4, 8-13). As we noted before, God paints on a large canvas. And he longs for us to be in the picture!

Fourth, all the people who are waiting are, in fact, busy.

The catalogue of accomplishments attributed to faith is impressive. Abraham doesn’t sit and meditate. He leaves everything to take up what God is going to do with him and his family. Moses prefers trouble with God’s people to safety as a celebrity in Egypt.

Sometimes, God’s people seem to succeed, and other times, seem to fail. But it’s God who knows what will last. Being assured there will be a good outcome gives us energy, and a readiness to endure hardship.

If God’s promises are ringing in our ears and warming our hearts, we’ll do things that fit God’s eternal plan. We’re headed for a new creation, but we are already a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)—part of the future God is making.

Everything we now do through faith and love is eternal. Nothing is lost. Think of Jesus commending someone on judgement day for giving a cup of water to one of his servants (Matthew 10:42). Think of the clothes we’ll wear when the church is married to Christ. What we do now is what we’ll wear then (Revelation 19:8).

If you are a politician, you have to do things that fit the immediate situation. But if you are building what is eternal, you’ll make sure you’re doing something that Jesus will acknowledge.

In fact, what is eternal is what is best for the world now. It’s just that the world doesn’t see it that way.

Fifth, we look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith (12:2).

Jesus believes God’s promise, that he would have many brothers and sisters to share with him in knowing his Father’s love. Because he believed this promise, he endured the sufferings of death—for us. That’s where we need to be looking if we are going to carry on, and then receive what God has promised.

It’s love—his love—that keeps hope alive. The Holy Spirit comes as an outpouring of God’s love to us, and in us. This is why we don’t get disappointed or ashamed (Romans 5:5).

God takes pleasure in faith like this (11:2, 4, 5, 39)! And his pleasure is not about us being good but us discovering that he is good! We discover he can be trusted. And he says, ‘You’re mine!’

So, we have seen that when God makes promises, he takes the initiative in what goes on in his world. And he opens up his plans so we can share with him in building and enjoying what is eternal. More particularly, we discover him!

This takes us well out of our depth! We’ll need to swim. But then, we’re sharing with God is what we are made for! Our thinking and affections need more to feed on than what we can see.

We are to live by every word that God speaks. And a lot of what he has said hasn’t happened yet. So, we need to hear his promises, and persist. And then, when Christ returns, we will see that everything God promised has happened.

How Good it is that God is Judge (3)

This is the third article in a series about God as Judge. I have hoped to show why Christians can savour this truth and in what way. The other two articles are further down in the blog.

What does it mean that God is Judge of the whole world? It’s easy to dismiss this because he doesn’t seem to do anything, and the powers we answer to are more likely to wear wigs, or blue uniforms, and our brush with them has probably been minimal. Then again, our popular teachers say we are our own masters and that the idea of any external arbiter should be dismissed.

I am unlikely to persuade someone that God is Judge if they don’t already believe that Jesus is the world’s Saviour. Our persuading begins with him. He is the way God has explained himself. He explains what he means by judgement by sending his Son in the likeness of our sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin (Romans 8:3). What happens to him and how he receives what happens to him is what God means by judgement. Jesus said, ‘Now is the judgement of this world,’ and he was speaking about his own death (John 12:31). It is this event that gives all that we are saying its moral credibility.

The Apostle Paul had a conversation with a Roman governor, Felix, about faith in Jesus Christ. That was his starting point, but his conversation included, necessarily, ‘righteousness, self-control and judgment to come’, which left Felix frightened, and the discussion ended (Acts 24:24-27). The same thing would probably happen today. But I’m not primarily interested in what modern people are likely to believe but rather, what is true. At the end of the day, that is what is going to matter.

In fact, God is always doing what he needs to do to tell us that this world is his. When the gospel is being preached, he is revealing his righteousness—the true way of being right before God. Paul puts this in the present tense because God is revealing himself, and revealing how to relate to him, by having his servants preach the gospel. At the same time Paul says God is revealing his wrath (Romans 1:16-18). How this happens may seem surprising, and, I suspect, is often misunderstood.

Paul lists a number of things that are going wrong with his first century world, a list not too different from one we may compile for our own century. But he is not telling us that these things are wrong. He assumes we know that. He is saying that when people do these things, God is revealing his wrath—to them and to the world at large. The sin in this passage is not bad behaviour but repressing what God is revealing about himself. So when people do whatever they like, give way to lusts, degrading passions including homosexuality, depraved minds, wickedness, greed, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, insolence, boasting, untrustworthiness, lack of mercy, and pride in doing these things, God is revealing his wrath. People don’t just do these things, they can’t help doing them because God has given them up to them. This means that the very people who think there is no God to assess or reward their actions are actually in the hands of God.

Contrary to popular belief, God is not naturally angry but is provoked to anger by those who live their life as though he were not around. He is jealous for the affection and obedience of the creatures he has formed. He wants to give himself to them and to give them a full life. When he gives us up to our own choices, it is as though Christ himself is saying, as he said to Paul earlier, ‘It is hard for you to kick against the goads’ (Acts 26:14).

Paul’s letter is written to Christians and it is we who need to know how God acts as Judge. If we take judgement into our hands, we get it wrong. Wrath is God’s affair, not ours, but he is doing what is right in regard to people who ignore him. Our task is to be witnesses to Jesus Christ, and, in the context of that revelation of love, to tell people about judgement.

If we know God is gracious, we can see these things. We can see how God gives people over to their sins and to the social consequences of them. The world can’t see its own dilemma. Nor can it see the way God is caring for those who trust him.

The prophet Isaiah refers to this phenomenon (Isa. 26:1-12). He describes God caring for those who honour him and his law and who long for him to intervene in their world. They may be afflicted and helpless (v. 6) but know that God’s hand is ‘lifted up’ (v. 11) to save them. Their path is ‘smooth’ and ‘level’ (v. 7). They have ‘perfect peace’ (v. 3). On the other hand, God’s hand is ‘lifted up’, not only to bless his people but also to be angry with those who ignore him; his judgements are in the land (v. 9). As a result of this, things go wrong, terribly wrong (vv. 5-6). Still, says Isaiah, they can’t see it (vv. 10-11).

I wonder if we can see the parallels to this in our situation. God’s judgements are being revealed in our land. This can be tricky because there is often no direct correlation between evil and suffering. Many people get away with evil for many years and others seem to suffer innocently. But then, there are social consequences of some actions that ought to register as a moral result of actions.Here are some examples.

When people give free reign to their passions, they release a euphoria that can’t be sustained. Freedom and good will are eroded by permissiveness because demands for selfish pleasure increase. Peter Lowman has some articles that show Western secular writers over recent centuries confessing that without God, we have no substantial basis for purpose, meaning, ethics or love. You can read them at http://www.bethinking.org/atheism/after-god.
In economic terms, we are trying to build a generous economy out of selfish people and it’s not working. Our politicians try their best and speak to us warmly about how we should be able to live but they can’t produce it. And the pie we are trying to share is shrinking. We think capitalism will spread the wealth but it was not designed for that. It was put forward as the best was to generated wealth, not spread it. Only generous people can make a generous economy.
Then again, we are trying to make happy families by changing partners, and that’s not working either. Just ask the children affected by this. On a wider scale, we want the nations to behave like a family and be reasonable, but we have no Father God to call us to account and demonstrate tender strength.
And again, we are trying to define goodness by majority decisions and are becoming more polarized than united. Is this just because other people are unreasonable? Or is it saying that goodness must be defined by someone greater than us all of us put together?

In many respects, our postulating in the West about knowing what is good for the world sounds to me like the Emperor who paraded naked because he had been persuaded that his invisible ‘clothes’ were beautiful. A young boy in the crowd said, ‘The Emperor’s got no clothes’, not realising he was supposed to make out that the Emperor did have clothes on. The fact is, we are not doing well. This may sound like the naïve cry of someone uninformed about public affairs, but it should be obvious.

These dysfunctional aspects of our way of life are God’s judgement. He loves us too much to let us indulge our fantasies and is speaking to us by being what he is — our Judge. The world may not be willing to acknowledge this. Rather, as someone quipped, we look for ‘a breakthrough a day to keep the crisis at bay’. Something else must be the problem, not us.

It is important for Christians to know these things because they are the background for our announcing the good news of Jesus Christ. Somewhere, there will be people who can no longer be sated with the goodies of this world and who know life cannot proceed without righteousness, not in this life or the next, and they will hear our good news with different ears.

It is important for us Christians to know, also, that God’s hand has been, and is being, ‘lifted up’ in our favour. Have we seen the enormity of Christ rising from the dead to abolish death? Do we know how amazing it is to be forgiven for all our sins and to stand righteous before God, forever? It is easy, when things are going well, to ‘not need’ the favour of God because the world already favours us enough. We slip into thinking God is only interested in the present world and that he doesn’t want to give us any more. Let us remember that his hand is ‘lifted up’, as Judge, in our favour, and nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39). That is what we need to know.

We have stood where judgement fell on this world because God sees us as united to Christ in his crucifixion. Judgement fell on us well and truly. We know the fervour of his wrath and the heat of his holiness. Jesus Christ endured its pain, but we know it as a moral power (Rom. 6:4-6; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; 6:14; Col. 3:3-6). We love God for his holiness and for his love in reaching out to us in this way. We see the need for people to know this gracious God and cannot think God unkind when his wrath is revealed. God gives us confidence to stand before him, even when things are tough, and this is evidence, at least to us, that we are being saved. It may also be evidence to some that they are not (Phil. 1:28; 2 Thes. 1:5).

The world’s Saviour is still our Judge. We call on him as Father but should fear him as one who judges impartially (1 Peter. 1:17). Then again, Peter tells us, ‘It is time for judgement to begin with the household of God’ (1 Peter 4:17). He then talks about judgement coming to those who reject the gospel. We have to get the balance right because we will not be convincing to the world about God being Judge if we do not live before him ourselves. All the letters Christ sends to the churches in the book of Revelation (chapters 2 and 3) talk about Christ standing, effectively, as Judge among his people. He speaks about what he has for and against them, what they should do to remedy defects and what he promises to those who hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He does this, not to throw doubt on the salvation of his people but to ensure that the light from his churches burns brightly.

Picking up the exhortations Christ gives in these letters, let us ask ourselves these questions. Do we love Christ fervently, endure under trial, hate what he hates and love what he loves, live by his word and trust in his righteousness alone? These are the things Christ watches over us to produce in his church. Those Christ loves he rebukes and chastens.

If we know God is our Judge and that this judging has been entrusted to Christ, we have the proper sense of how our gospel must come to those who don’t know Christ. Paul said, ‘Knowing the fear of God, we persuade others’ (2 Corinthians 5:11-21). Through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have a proper understanding of our responsibility to God, a deep gratefulness for the love of Christ, a due sense of its cost and a hearty enjoyment of our new place in God’s favour. As such, we can say to others, with moral earnestness, ‘Be reconciled to God’. The stakes are high, and the rewards real. It is no fiction to say, ‘How good it is that God is Judge!’

I wrote the following poem some years back and I hope it captures some of what I have been saying in these articles.

§§§§§§§§§§§§

Sovereign Lord your hand is guiding

All the destinies of man.

Nations, families, cultures, kingdoms,

Flow as water through your hand.

Yet your rule is kind and good, Strong and wise and gentle;

Leaving none who seek you crushed

But calmed and gladly humbled.

Sovereign Judge the world is aching

Through its shame and wrongful ways.

You are showing your displeasure

In the tumults of our age

Yet your wrath is righteousness,

Purging our pollution;

Wishing not we be condemned,

But that we be chastened.

Sovereign Father, all your actions

Lead us to your own dear Son,

By whose death all failure’s terrors

Are absolved, forever shunned.

By your unexpected love You have won us Father.

Let us do what pleases you,

Be your new creation.

Sovereign Lord and Judge and Father,

Hallowed by your holy name.

May your kingdom come in glory,

May your gracious will be done.