In View Of God’s Mercy

Romans 12:1,2

Introduction

I had pretty much been cruising through high school and university. What I mean is, I was there, but learning was not my top priority and my marks showed it. In my first year of seminary, I did better, but my marks were still nothing special. After the first year of seminary, Carla and I participated in Northern Missionary Training Camp run by Northern Canada Evangelical Mission. After the summer’s experience, we had very little money. We were both returning to school and unsure of how we would manage. When we came home, we were opening all the mail which had accumulated during the summer and in that mail there was a bank note from an unknown donor which was enough to cover my seminary tuition.

As seminary started, I got into my studies, but one day I was finding it difficult to get motivated. I remember quite well that I was sitting in the library, in what is now Providence College, and I knew I had to make a decision. Would I continue or would I quit? I realized that if I was going to continue, I would have to do better than just OK, I would have to really give it my all. One of the factors in my decision to continue and be more diligent in my studies was the fact that I had received the donation. The love shown and the fact that someone believed in me was a strong motivator to continue.

In our study of Romans, we have come to a significant transition point. In Romans 12:1,2 Paul says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” The word “therefore” suggests that what follows is somehow linked to what has been written up to this point. What has been written up to this point is a powerful theological treatise demonstrating the amazing love God has poured out on us. What follows is an invitation, or perhaps more accurately a command, that as people who have experienced this amazing love, we must respond with a diligent obedience to God. We have already noted that the word faith can be translated “faith” or “faithfulness” and I have suggested that in Romans most often “faithfulness” is the better translation. If we truly understand the grace of God given to us, we will understand that the response required is a trust that is obedient to God, in other words, “faithfulness.” What follows in the last 5 chapters of Romans is an explanation of some of the practical implications of faithfulness. From now until the end of April, we will examine that theme, beginning this morning with Romans 12:1,2.

Foundation

What Is Your Foundation?

One year I was involved in a building project. A group of men from our church, including a builder, were going to put up a cabin at Simonhouse Bible Camp. I was the organizer and the builder was the expert. We had one day, and I thought we should easily be able to put up the main structure in that time. As we began, I was getting impatient with the progress. We were taking a long time to get the foundation absolutely straight and level. As we talked about this, it became clear to me how important the foundation was. If it is crooked, then the rest of the building will be crooked. If it is straight, then the rest will also be straight. Once we got the foundation properly laid, we were able to do the rest quite quickly.

Do you have a foundation on which you have built your life? Not everyone has a foundation. Some people just drift through life without any basic principles or guidelines. If you do have a foundation what is it? Some people’s foundation is “am I happy?” Some people’s foundation is, “Is everyone happy?” Some have the foundation that “he who dies with the most toys wins.”

When Paul says, “therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy” he is inviting us to recognize that we as followers of Jesus have a foundation. He is inviting us to acknowledge and deliberately choose to stand on a very particular foundation. Are you standing on a foundation? What is that foundation? Is it a solid foundation?

The Foundation Of God’s Mercy

The foundation which we are called to establish in our lives as Christians is “in view of God’s mercy.” This little phrase refers to everything that has been written in Romans 1-11. The life we are building, as Christians, must be built on the foundation of who God is and what God has done for us, the foundation of His mercy.

We have already spent much time examining that foundation, but let me remind you briefly of it once again. Romans 1 began with the recognition that everyone on earth has an understanding of God, but rejects that understanding. Those who are born Jewish have not only an understanding of God’s existence, but a knowledge of his laws. Yet, they do not obey those laws and the conclusion, found in Romans 3, is that all people on earth are under the wrath of God because of their disobedience. Because He is holy, God’s wrath must be poured out on all people, but because He is love, God has chosen to be merciful. He does not want to pour out His wrath and therefore He has sent Jesus. As a human being, Jesus experienced the full power of sin, but he never yielded to it. Because he was obedient, God’s punishment of Him on the cross meant that He died for our sins and bore our guilt. As a result, we are made righteous in Jesus when we put our trust in Him. This gift of grace is for all people – both Jews and Gentiles. It is given to all people on the same basis – the basis of trust. This marvelous gift is a powerful demonstration of God’s love. We are the recipients of mercy.

That mercy of God, that love of God is the foundation on which we must build our lives.

A Living Sacrifice

So what does it mean to build on that foundation? How do we respond when we have received an undeserved and very expensive gift? Paul’s first command, and it is a command, is that we must “offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.”

Offer To God

We have encountered the word “offer” before. In Romans 6:13,19, Paul warned that it was inconsistent for those who have experienced the grace of God to offer their bodies to sin. We have a choice about where we offer ourselves. As he transitions to the ethical portion of the letter, Paul makes it clear that we must and why we must offer ourselves to God. To offer means to give. Have we given ourselves to God? With what kind of an attitude have we given ourselves to God? Do we give grudgingly? Do we give reluctantly? Do we give with the thought of taking back? Or do we give cheerfully and willingly and generously?

In view of God’s mercy, we have every reason to make the offer willingly, cheerfully and generously! The offering is to God. It is in response to what He has given us. As I suggested in the introduction, when we have received a great gift, it is natural and appropriate to respond with gratitude to the giver. Because God has given us such a great gift, it just makes sense to respond to God by willingly offering ourselves.

Offer Your Body

The offering is the offering of our body. As we discuss our relationship to God, we often discuss it in terms of a spiritual reality. It is perhaps a little unexpected then to find here that we are encouraged to offer our bodies. Do our bodies matter that much? Isn’t it OK if we offer our minds and our hearts? I think this is written in light of Romans 7:22-23 which says, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” According to this verse, it seems that our hearts want to do what is right, but our body rebels. If we understand the amazing grace we have received, it is not good enough to let that kind of life go on. Daily, we must offer not only our hearts, minds and wills, but also our bodies to God. When we do then our eyes, our mouths, our hands, our whole self will belong to God for His use every day.

As A Living Sacrifice

Because Paul uses the language of sacrifice we can see that this is a high challenge. People of that time were familiar with sacrifices. Both Jewish and pagan religions involved sacrifices. What the people knew about those sacrifices is that when you offered a sacrifice, whatever you offered was put to death and it was no longer at your disposal. I think that is the idea behind the call to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. When we do, we don’t belong to ourselves any more. Our eyes belong to God - will they see others with the purity and compassion of Christ? Our mouths belong to God - will they speak blessing instead of cursing? Our hands belong to God - will they be busy serving instead of being consumed with self indulgence?

It Is A Logical Response

Such a life seems like a high challenge, but Paul points out that it is just reasonable to make this offer. What is translated “spiritual worship” in NIV is translated “which is your reasonable service” in NKJV, which is a better translation. We have experienced this incredible love from God. Why not let go of control of our own life and give ourselves whole heartedly to God. It makes so much sense! Because of God’s mercy, we know that God is going to do what is best. He is the life giver. He is the one who has sacrificed to give us life. Why will He not also give us all we need for life? Why will anything that He gives to us be bad?

The reasonableness of this offer is seen when we compare this call to be a living sacrifice with the first chapter of Romans. There we saw that all who reject God are under the wrath of God, but we are those who have experienced the mercies of God. There we recognized that those under the wrath of God refused to glorify God, but by God’s mercy we are able to offer ourselves as a holy sacrifice to God. There we saw that those who reject God, dishonor their bodies as they are given over to the consequences of their rejection, but those under God’s mercy are able to offer a pleasing sacrifice to God. The people under God’s wrath offer idolatrous service, but we can offer a reasonable service of worship to God. There we saw how “their thinking became darkened” but because of the mercies of God we have the possibility of a renewed mind. Those under the wrath of God reject the will of God, but those who have experienced His grace and have been transformed are able to discern and even reveal the will of God.

It is so reasonable and yet we find it so hard to do this. We want to retain control. We want to do things our way and we are afraid that God’s way will be too hard and too demanding. Why would the one who loves us do that to us. Yes, the walk with Christ will demand sacrifice and yes persecution may be included. But, as we offer ourselves, we will find that this is the way to life. How hard it is for us to let go in that way and to give ourselves unreservedly to God. I know how hard it is. I fight for my right to self determination and quite frankly often don’t trust God. I don’t know why, when I know that He has loved me sacrificially? My hope and my prayer and my desire is that gradually, by the power of the Spirit, I will come to grasp His love deeply and completely and let go so that He has complete control. I want to be a living sacrifice. Lord help me!

Such an offering is an act of worship. In fact, it is really our first act of worship. Singing, reading Scripture, praying are wonderful ways to glorify God for all He has done, but, in light of His amazing grace, our first act of worship must be to offer ourselves to God.

A Transformed Mind

The second response, found in the second verse is that we are called to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Do Not Conform

This passage presents two ways of living. The one is according to the “pattern of this world,” the other is according to “God’s will.” Of course not everything in this world is bad. Many things in this world are according to God’s will. Eating, sleeping, kindness, which are things which are in this world, are all according to God’s will. However, there are also many values and worldviews, which are accepted as normal in this world which are not according to God’s will.

For example, what are the world’s values when it comes to money? Isn’t it true that often the highest value in our society is money? Isn’t it true that people get sucked into gambling because they desire more money? Isn’t it true that things are sold not according to their cost of production, but according to what the market will bear. That is why you can get a 2 l pop for 99 cents in the grocery store, but you pay $3.50 for 500ml. at a football game. Isn’t that why people go shopping in the US even though it may take a job away from their neighbor? The question is, is this a value, a worldview which is according to the will of God? Don’t we rather find in Scripture that God calls us to justice and generosity rather than loving money and self indulgence?

The first step towards a transformed mind is to stop being conformed to his world. John E. Toews suggests that this means that we, “engage in mental resistance to outside pressure to conform to this age.”

Be Transformed

The problem is, it is hard for us to distinguish between the two sets of values. Before we became followers of Jesus, our whole life was permeated with the world’s values. After we become followers of Jesus, we still live in a world where all around us people accept the world’s values as absolutely normal. How can we change from being conformed to the world to living according to God’s will?

When people become new Christians we often begin to disciple them by teaching them not to conform to this world. However, we do so by teaching them the things they should not do and the things they should do. When we do that, the time inevitably comes when they test to see why we have given them this list of practices. The time may come when the pressure to conform is so great that they disobey the set of practices we have taught them. The problem is that we have taught them to transform the outward practices, but that is not necessarily the same as teaching them how to live according to God’s will.

So if conformity to this world permeates our hearts and the world around us and if we have often only taught each other the outward practices, how will we be able to live according to the will of God, on the foundation of the mercy of Christ? The text says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

It is no good saying, “This year I will only watch good shows on TV and read my Bible more often.” If our mind is not transformed on this point, such resolutions will go the way of most New Year’s resolutions. If it isn’t our hearts desire to view that which blesses and if it isn’t our hearts desire to know God through His Word, we may be able to do it, but it will be by the will of discipline. Is that what God wants for us? What this verse teaches us is that we need to have our mind trained to think in a different way. We need our mind transformed according to the will of God. When that happens, doing the will of God will come naturally and we won’t even give it a second thought, we will just do it.

The first thing we need to notice is that the word “transformed” is passive. Because it is passive, “being transformed,” means that this is something that God does in us. Titus 3:5 tells about God at work in us through Spirit empowered renewal of the mind. I believe there are several things which are true about the fact that God is transforming our minds. In one way it is something that is happening to us even though we are unaware of it. On the other hand, I believe it happens much better when, because our foundation is the mercy of God, we deeply desire that transformation and pray diligently and earnestly that God will make it happen in us. When God does it in spite of our permission, we often have to learn things the hard way. When we yield ourselves to God as a living sacrifice and deeply desire such a transformation, we work with God instead of fighting Him all the way.

So we find that the command to “be transformed” is not only passive, it is also imperative. That means we participate. How do we participate? We participate as we give God permission to work in our minds. We participate with God when we immerse our minds with His Word. His Word is “quick and powerful…able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” as Hebrews tells us. God’s Word, spoken to our mind and heart will begin to change the way we think and consequently the way we act.

John Piper says, “The Spirit must work from the outside in, through Christ-exalting truth, and from the inside out, through truth-embracing humility.”

Demonstrating God’s Will

When we allow our mind to be transformed by the power of God, we will be a living demonstration of God’s will. To “prove” means to show that which is genuine. When our mind is transformed, we will demonstrate what God is really like, we will be a demonstration of what it means to belong to Him and we will love to follow His way and know that it is the best way.

The other thing is that we will be able to distinguish between those things that matter and those things that don’t. Our value system will be one of wisdom and what brings life instead of a static list of rules.

John Piper shows what living according to the will of God means in our lives. He says, “You are free in Christ, because when you do from the inside what you love to do, you are free, if what you love to do is what you ought to do. And that’s what transformation means: when you are transformed in Christ you love to do what you ought to do.”

Conclusion

These two little verses are amazing. They remind us of God’s grace, they are very real and they give us hope and direction.

They remind us of God’s grace when they remind us of all that God has done for us in Christ, lavishing His love on us, forgiving our sins and making us righteous.

They are real in that they imply that being Christian is not always easy and that the pressures of this life are sometimes very strong.

They give hope in that they show us that God is working in us to transform our minds and make us completely new.

They give direction by reminding us of the amazing foundation of God’s mercy upon which we are able to build lives of sacrifice, non-conformity which are transformed into Christ likeness.

May our lives be lived on the foundation of the one who has loved us and still loves us. May we respond as we offer our bodies to Him and may we allow Him to transform our minds so that we will live in an utterly new way, bringing glory to the one who will bring us to glory.

God Is Faithful

Romans 9-11

Introduction

Don’t you just hate it when something doesn’t work the way it is supposed to? Perhaps it is your computer. You expect to check your email, but you aren’t able to connect. You want to read someone’s blog but blogger isn’t working today. Perhaps it is your clothes dryer. One day it works fine and another day you put your clothes in for several cycles and they are still not dry. Perhaps it is your car. One day it starts and the next it doesn’t. Perhaps it is a person. You expect them to help you and they are no where to be found. Things that are untrustworthy are frustrating and we certainly learn very quickly not to put our hope in them.

Is God trustworthy? Does He do what He promises? Can we count on Him? Since September we have been examining the wonder of salvation and all that God has done for us in Christ. Two weeks ago we rejoiced to know that nothing can separate us from God’s love. But what if these are just words? What if God has failed to live up to His promises and shown Himself to be unfaithful? Can we trust Him?

Please join me as we examine Romans 9-11 where the underlying theme is the trustworthiness of God.

Questions About Israel

The words “Israel” and “Jew” appear 14 times in Romans 9-11. Already numerous times we have noted that Paul often makes reference to Jews and Gentiles in Romans. Clearly there is some kind of an issue in regards to these two national groups.

Rome was the capital of the empire and the center of power for the world into which Christ came. The Jews who had been scattered had also made their way to Rome and there were Jewish synagogues in that city. As the gospel spread to Rome, some of these Jews became Christians. Of course many Gentiles also became Christians. As Paul writes, he acknowledges that both of these kinds of people are in the church in Rome. In Romans 1:16 Paul writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” He has shocked the Jews by accusing in Romans 3:9 that “We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.” As he discusses the power of the gospel for salvation he has stated boldly, “Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, ^30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.” Since the way to God is through faith, access to God is open not only to Jews, but also to Gentiles in the exact same way.

This thesis which has been mentioned repeatedly in Romans raises a question. What does this do to the special place the Jews have as the people of God? God had made a special covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 that he would bless him and his descendants. He had made a covenant with the people of Israel when he brought them out of Egypt and had promised them that He would go with them and that of all the people on the earth, they would be His special people. We even read that they should not associate with people who were not God’s people so that they would not become defiled. In Romans 9:4, 5 Paul lists all the special blessings that belong to the people of Israel. There we read, “Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”

But now it seems that the gospel is not only for the Jews. Their special place as God’s people seems to have been diminished. Even though they have acted wickedly and been full of sin, the Gentiles are now identified as God’s people and also experience the blessings of God. The Gentiles seem to be receiving the promises made to the Jews!

What is even worse is that few Jews were actually embracing the gospel. Even though they had all the background and promises which should have made them receptive to the gospel, most of them reject it. Paul’s greatest opponents wherever he went were his own people. More than once, as he has tried to preach the gospel of Christ, it was the Jews who tried to kill him.

This raises some significant questions. Are the Jews rejected because they crucified Jesus? If they are, what has happened to God’s promises? Are they cut off because they do not respond to the gospel? If they are, is God not powerful enough to redeem them? Are God’s people now made up of the church alone?

This was a personal and passionate issue for Paul. In Romans 9:1-4 we see the great sorrow and anguish which he has because the Jews are rejecting the gospel. In Romans 10:1 we see his hearts desire for the salvation of the Jews. He was deeply, even emotionally concerned about their rejection of the gospel.

The relationship of God to Jews and Gentiles was also an important issue for the church in Rome. Why was Paul always speaking of Jews and Gentiles? The Jewish believers had a hard time recognizing that the gospel was available to the Gentiles by faith alone. In Romans 11:13-24, he warned the Gentile Christians that they should not become arrogant about their position. It seems likely that the Gentiles believed that the Jews were cut off and that the people of God were now the church. These differing perspectives were creating tensions in the church and needed a response.

We also have an interest in these issues because we want to know what has happened to the Jews and what has happened to the promises God made to them? We are curious about what is happening in Israel/Palestine today and wonder if it has anything to do with God’s promises to the Jewish people. The issue before us raises questions we are curious about. But the question is much more important to us than that. If God has rejected Israel and offered the gospel to the Gentiles, is God faithful? If God failed to live up to the covenants He made with Israel, will He live up to the covenant of Christ’s blood which we have put our hope in? If the Jews are no longer God’s people because of their disobedience, what does that say about God’s ability to create a people for himself? Will He be able to make us into His people? In other words, it raises the question of the faithfulness of God.

Let us listen to Paul’s answer to this problem as supported by God’s Word. As we do, I believe that we will be encouraged that God is faithful.

God Chooses Whom He Will

Paul dives right in when in Romans 9:6 he asks, “Has God’s Word failed?” If the gospel is for the Gentiles who were not the promised people of God and if the Jews, who were the promised people of God have rejected their Messiah, does that mean that God’s Word has not been fulfilled?

The first answer to this question is that it has never been the people of a certain race or culture or genealogy who are God’s people, but rather those whom God has chosen to receive the promise. Paul then reminds his readers of two Old Testament stories which demonstrate that this is a scriptural principle revealing how God works.

The first story is that of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham had a number of children, including Ishmael, Isaac and actually also others. But it was only through one of those children, Isaac, that the promises of God were carried. Only Isaac was the son of promise. Paul clearly says in regards to this, “It is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise.” The Biblical principle is that God chooses those who are His people. As this is applied to the question of the place of the Gentiles among the people of God, it demonstrates that if God chooses them to be His people, it is not the first time He has made such a choice. Including the Gentiles is consistent with the way that even the Jews were chosen as God’s people in the first place.

In the next story, which is the story of Jacob and Esau, Paul goes one step further in making his argument. Not only does God choose the children of promise, He chooses them not on the basis of the good deeds they have done, but simply by His sovereign choice. Jacob and Esau were both children of Isaac, who was the promised heir of Abraham. Before they were born, before they had given any indication of obedience, God had already chosen Jacob and rejected Esau. In other words, God’s choice is sovereign.

One of the things we have to be very careful about in interpreting this passage is that it does not talk about God’s choice or rejection of individual believers, but rather his choice of a people. If we misinterpret this, as many have done, to speak of individual election, we get into all kinds of theological trouble which can lead us to teach double predestination – that God predestines some to hell - and also that human choice means nothing. That is not what is being taught here, rather, it speaks about why the Gentiles have been chosen to be included in the people of God. The answer in this section is that God has chosen them, even though they have done nothing to deserve that choice.

The next obvious question is, “Is it fair for God to do this?” Paul’s answer is “God is not unfair!” But we want to know, by what scheme of justice can God justify choosing some and rejecting others? The answer to that question is to look at the character of God. Of course God can do what He wants because He is sovereign, but how is His sovereignty exercised? Is He arbitrary in His judgments? Is he capricious and unstable? Paul quotes Exodus 33:19 in Romans 9:15 to show us the character of God. In that passage, Moses wanted to see the face of God. Although God did not show him His face, He did show him His character. The character of God is that He is merciful and compassionate. Therefore we understand that God’s election is carried out in mercy.

Paul goes on to explain in Romans 9:16-18, that God chose Pharaoh for a special purpose – in order that he could show His mercy to Israel and bring them out of Egypt. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart in order that He could show His glory and deliver Israel in an amazing and miraculous way. He demonstrated His mercy to them even though they did not deserve it and He made them His people so He could show mercy to them.

We still have trouble understanding this and in Romans 9:19 Paul asks, “Then why does God still blame us?” Romans 9:22 answers when it points out that God has chosen to bear “with great patience the objects of His wrath – prepared for destruction.” We have already seen this truth in Romans 3 where we learned that “there are none who are righteous.” All are deserving of destruction, but in His great mercy He has taken some of the objects of His wrath and has chosen to show His mercy to some of them so that some of those who are not His people can become His people.

This is how Israel was chosen as the people of God. God is sovereign and has the right, because He is compassionate to do the same thing for the Gentiles so that they also, who have not been the people of God, can become the people of God.

It is the mercy of God which has allowed Israel to be His chosen people. Apart from His mercy, all Israel would have long ago become like Sodom and Gomorrah as it says in Romans 9:29, but they are still God’s people. In the same way, God, in mercy, has invited the Gentiles to become the people of God as well.

The question was, “has God’s word failed?” The answer is clear and strong. God’s Word has not failed. Calling the Gentiles to be His people is completely consistent with the way God has always done things. It is consistent with all the principles by which Israel was chosen. God is merciful and in mercy chooses some of those who are destined for destruction in order that He can make them His people.

God is trustworthy!

Everyone Who Trusts In Christ Will Be Saved 9:30-10:21

The arguments in Romans 9 demonstrate that God is faithful to His promises in choosing to redeem the Gentiles. But that only answers half of the question. The other half of the question is, why have the Jews missed it? The truth about Jesus permeates the Old Testament. The Jews had access to all the information about God. They had been diligently seeking God. Especially after the exile to Babylon they had been extremely diligent in seeking God. The question is, “now that God has fulfilled His promises in Jesus, why have they rejected Him?” This is a very intense question, especially when we realize that the Gentiles, who did not even want to look for God, have found Him!? This is the question raised in Romans 9:30-31 and answered in Romans 9:32-10:21.

The problem is that Israel missed the point. They were looking for God and were zealous for God, but they sought to reach Him on their own. They missed God, in Christ, because they were not looking for help, they were looking at what they were accomplishing for God. They were very proud of being Jewish and thought they had done so much and were so exceptional. They relied on their Jewishness and their self righteousness.

All along and especially in Jesus, God was calling them to a righteousness that was by faith. They were seeking the heavens in order to discover all the things that needed to be done in order to become part of the family of God. In Romans 10:6, Paul warns that such a pursuit diminishes the power of Christ’s death. They were looking into the deepest parts of the earth in order to find the way to please God, but in Romans 10:7, Paul warns that such a pursuit does not take seriously the power of God in raising Jesus from the dead.

Paul goes on to explain that the way to God is not nearly so complicated. It is near! It is in your mouth and in your heart. People become children of God and receive the blessings promised to His children simply by faith.

In Romans 10:9,10, we have one of those verses which is well known by many of you. We don’t often recognize that the context of these verses is in explaining why the Jews have missed Jesus. Paul explains that the way to God is simple. It is simply faith in our heart and confession with our mouth that brings us into the family of God. We don’t need to become Jewish, be circumcised or follow all the laws in order to be among those whom God has chosen. We simply need to trust God and declare that trust to those around us.

Throughout Israel’s history, this word of faith had been proclaimed. God had sent the preachers. The preachers had gone out and Israel had heard the message from God. As they heard, they came to understand what God was saying and they had the opportunity to believe. But, as Isaiah says, they were a “disobedient and obstinate people.” They rejected what was right before their eyes. On the other hand, those who previously were not the people of God, the Gentiles, when they heard the preaching did respond.

God is faithful! His Word has faithfully gone out into all the world. The Jews were the first to hear it and had every opportunity to receive it. Because they missed it due to their disobedience and unbelief, God’s faithfulness remains.

What Happens To Israel? 11:1-32

As we turn over to chapter 11, we come to the next question, “Is this rejection permanent?” Is there any hope for the Jews at all? Paul answers this question with three points in Romans 11.

Remnant 11:1-6

The first answer is that not all have rejected the gospel. Paul himself is a Jew and a Christian, so in part, the answer is that not all Israel has missed it. The disciples, the many who believed on the day of Pentecost, Paul and a number in the synagogues he visited, including the one in Rome had believed and accepted God’s word about Jesus.

The Old Testament also points out the concept of a remnant, the idea of a few who have followed God. This was not the first time that the people of Israel had refused to follow God. There was a time when Elijah, the prophet, thought he was all alone in being faithful to God. But God revealed to him, in I Kings 19:18, that he was not alone, that there were 7000 others who had not fallen away.

So the covenant promises to the people of Israel are carried on among the remnant who have recognized that Christ is the fulfillment of the law and the fulfillment of the promises.

God’s Plan 11:7-16

In Romans 11:11ff, we see that even for those who have rejected Jesus, God has a plan. What has happened is not outside of God’s knowledge or purposes.

God’s purpose is that the rejection of the gospel by the Jews will become the means by which the gospel is offered to the Gentiles. This is quite clearly demonstrated in Acts. Whenever Paul preached, he always went to the Jews first. When they rejected the message, as they inevitably did, Paul went to the Gentiles and there found a reception. Paul summarizes the point in Romans 11:11, “…because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles…”

But that is only part one of the answer. Part two is the hope and prayer of Paul that as the Gentiles embrace the gospel, Jews will become jealous and take another look at it and also accept Jesus. This is what he says in Romans 11:13,14, “Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.”

This is God’s plan, but we as Gentiles need to be careful that we don’t become arrogant. Israel became arrogant and excluded everyone who was not of their nation. If we now think that Israel is rejected and cut off and the promises have all fallen to us, we are wrong. That means that there is no support at all for anti-Semitism in Scripture. God is using the rejection of the Jews to bring the Gentiles to faith and that is happening all over the world. The hope is that as the Gentiles come to faith, the Jews will see this and also recognize that Jesus is Messiah.

Israel Will Be Saved 11:25-32

But even that is not the end of the story. The final part of the story is given in Romans 11:25,26. Paul is looking forward to the day when “all Israel will be saved.” He is hopeful that when “the full number of the Gentiles has come in” Israel will also return to the Lord. This is amazing, especially from our point of view, because of all the things we have read about in this passage, this is the only one which has not yet happened. This is prophecy.

How will it happen? Of one thing I am sure. Although God may use the gathering to the present land of Israel to accomplish this, it is not yet the fulfillment of this prophecy. What has happened since 1948 has been a political and military event. The return that God is talking about here is a spiritual one. When masses of Jewish people begin to turn to Jesus, then we will know that this prophecy is being fulfilled. Therefore, the mission to the Jews is one that must continue until they accept Christ.

Conclusion

These three chapters are filled with profound thought after profound thought. I would encourage you to read the Scripture carefully and re-read the message. This morning we have just barely scratched the surface of what is taught in these chapters about what God is up to. We have seen that the fact that the Gentiles have now become God’s people is consistent with God’s Word and thus reveals God’s faithfulness. We have been saddened that the Jews, who have always been and still are God’s people, have missed recognizing that Jesus is their Messiah because of their disobedience. But we have also been encouraged that God is not finished with them yet. In all of this, we seen a little glimpse of what God is up to and what God is up to is amazing. It is nothing less than the fulfillment of the promise He made long ago to create a people for Himself. It is nothing less than the salvation of all those who put their trust in Him. It is nothing less than the fulfillment of the law by Christ in whom we live in righteousness. It is nothing less than the gathering of a universal people of God who trust in Christ from among all nations and also from among the Jews. It reveals from beginning to end the compassion, mercy and faithfulness of God.

How do you conclude such a display of God’s amazing work? Paul’s conclusion to this amazing revelation of God’s faithfulness is a doxology. I have been using it for a while now to conclude our service. It is a wonderful and fitting word of praise in response to the amazing things we have seen of God’s work in all the preceding chapters.

In Romans 11:33-36 we read, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

I like John E. Toews’ comments, “Worship is the only appropriate response to the grandeur of God’s work of salvation.” “The God who is righteous, who elects a people and remains faithful to that people despite their disobedience, who effects salvation in Messiah Jesus for all people and for the creation, is worthy of praise.”

Let Us Approach The Throne Of Grace

Hebrews 4:14-16

Introduction

We all have needs. Some of our needs are physical, perhaps a need for healing or relief from pain. Some of our needs are mental. We need to make decisions in our life and we don’t understand all of the different factors involved and so we need wisdom. Some of our needs are emotional. We have fears and are in need of assurance and peace. Some of our needs are spiritual. We face temptation or doubt. What do we do with our needs?

This morning I would like to draw your attention to Hebrews 4:14-16. Although we will look at the entire passage, I would like to particularly ask you to take note of the invitation found in verse 16. There we read in the TEV, “Let us have confidence, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.”

I. We Approach A Throne!

I want us to notice first of all that we are invited to approach a throne. “Let us then approach the throne.” What does a throne represent? Why is an invitation to approach a throne important?

A throne represents several things. In one way, it represents power. Earthly thrones, or if we want to use language we are more used to, seats of government, have power. Our government makes laws, enforces them, protects citizens, leads the country. There is power there to accomplish things. If I break the law, the government has the power to arrest and put me in jail. In northern Canada, our government is exercising its power to indicate Canadian sovereignty in the north. So as we think of approaching the throne of God, we know that we come to a place of power. God has the power to help us in our time of need.

If we think of the power Canada has to defend itself, we would not feel too confident. Our army is small and if the US decided to invade, we would not have much power to defend. The power of God, however, is not weak. He is the creator of the entire universe. The throne we are invited to approach is that of one who has made our bodies, sustains the universe and knows the beginning and the end. So as we approach His throne, we know that we come to one who has the power to help us.

But a throne not only represents power, but also authority. Some groups have power, but not authority. There are rebel armies, like the warlords in Afghanistan, who have power, but do not have legitimate authority to carry that power. As we think about God, we are encouraged that when we come to the throne, we come to one who also has the right to rule. God is sovereign over all. He is Lord. Some people make promises, but do not have the authority to actually fulfill those promises. That is no problem with God. He has both the power and authority to fulfill the promises He has made to us and therefore is able to help us.

We do not have access to many places of authority. Even going to get a passport is an exercise which reminds us that we come to ask for this document at the mercy of the government. If we wanted to go see Stephen Harper, we would not just be able to drop by as we might visit a friend. We would have to have a reason and an appointment and even then it would have to be a pretty good reason. In Hebrews 4, however, we notice that we do have access to the power and authority of the presence of God because of Jesus. By faith, we know Jesus who is in the place of power. At His ascension, He went into the presence of God and is seated at His right hand as our high priest. The imagery of a priest reminds us of the Old Testament high priests who also had access to the presence of God, but the access was only for the high priest and only once a year. How privileged we are to have access to God through Jesus at all times.

So as we think about the fact that we approach a throne, it is good to know that we have access into the place of power and authority.

II. It Is A Throne Of Grace

The second thing I would like us to notice is that we approach a throne of grace. It is not enough that we have access to power and authority. It is also important to have access to someone who will listen to us. If we had a concern and were able to get an appointment with the most powerful person in Canada who had the authority and power to help us, but if that person did not understand or care about our concern, we would still not have the answer we would need.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us why we can also expect to receive sympathy at the throne of God. There it says that Jesus is able to “sympathize with our weaknesses.” He fully understands what it is like to be human. This text says that He “has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.” Sometimes we do not recognize the extent to which Jesus understands the human condition, even in the area of temptation.

One writer wonders if it is not possible that Jesus was tempted to lie to save his life when on trial; to covet all the nice things that Zacchaeus owned; to take revenge when he was wrongly accused; to pout with self-pity when his disciples fell asleep in his last hour of trial and to murmur at God when John the Baptist died at the whim of a dancing girl. Jesus faced all of these temptations. Sometimes we think that because he was God it was easy for him to resist, but we need to take this verse seriously when it says that He was tempted in all things as we are. C.S. Lewis points out an interesting perspective. He invites us to consider who experiences the power of temptation more, a person who yields to it right away or a person who resists for a long time before they yield. I think we would have to say that the person who really knows the power of temptation is the person who says “no” for a long time. If that is the case, then Jesus knows more about temptation than any of us because he resisted to the point of never yielding.

Because that is the case, Jesus understands all of the things that we go through. He understands grief as is seen when he responded to the death of Lazarus. He understands pain when he was whipped and later crucified. He understands temptation, as we see when Satan tempted Him. Therefore, we know that we approach a throne of grace, a throne where we are understood and our struggles are known and we are cared for.

III. Let Us Approach With Confidence

Therefore, because we have a place to go that has the power and authority to help and because we know we will receive sympathy there, we are invited to approach the throne of grace.

This is an invitation. A funny thing about invitations is that we recognize that some of them are not very serious and we tend to ignore them. Others are serious and we respond to them. If we are talking to someone and they say to us, “come over some time,” we may believe that they want us to come over and we might be quite happy to go, but because the invitation is so vague we will probably ignore it. On the other hand, if we receive a hand delivered, hand written invitation to come to a birthday party on a certain day and at a certain time, we will probably take it seriously, we will respond to the invitation.

What kind of an invitation is the one we receive here? It says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace.” As we recognize the preparations which have been made by God to extend this invitation in sending His Son to die on the cross and open the way into the holy presence of God, we know that this invitation is meant to be taken seriously. God is sincerely inviting us into His presence. Just because it is an open invitation, does not take away from the sincerity of it.

Sometimes we respond to invitations with fear and trembling. We are insecure within ourselves and we doubt that we would really be invited. A few years ago when the queen celebrated her 80^th birthday, she invited people who had a birthday exactly the same day as she to have a party and quite a number of people attended this party. Can you imagine receiving such an invitation? If we received an invitation from the queen to meet with her, I suspect we might question whether it was genuine. Would you take it seriously? Would you believe that you could actually go? As we read this text, we understand that we have an even greater privilege. We can approach the throne of God with confidence. Because it is a throne of grace and because we have this invitation, we should not hesitate, but we should be bold to respond with confidence.

IV. We Receive

As we approach the throne of grace we do so with the hope that we will receive help. We are invited to come, and because we come to one who has power and authority, we have the hope that we will receive the help we need. I think that this is much more than a verse which presents a hope or a possibility. I think we need to take this as a promise. Because of all the things that we have seen here – the fact that we approach a throne, a place of power and authority; the fact that we will receive a sympathetic hearing; the fact that we have an invitation to come – all suggest that this is a promise which assures us that when we come, the need we have will be met by God.

What we can rejoice about is that we will receive mercy and grace. If we need forgiveness, we will receive it. If we need comfort, it will come. If we need guidance, it will be given.

The other thing we see is that it will be timely help. Not every translation brings this out, but in the Greek, the phrase is “unto timely help.” This is the point at which faith and maintaining hope become so important. Given the background of this invitation and promise, the one thing we can be sure of is that it will happen. God will answer in a way that reflects His love and grace and mercy. The problem is that we do not always see the answer in the time and in the way that we would like. But we need to trust the promises of God and the timing of God. Hebrews 11:13 says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance…” In the same way, we need to continue to hope in God that in His time, which will be the right time, He will fulfill the promises He has made and meet the need we bring to Him as we approach His throne of grace. Psalm 31:15 reminds us, “My times are in your hand…”

Conclusion

So my invitation to you this morning is to have confidence to respond to this invitation.

We have so much reason to do so. Because we approach a throne, with all its power and authority; because we know we will receive a sympathetic hearing; because we have the invitation, let us respond to God’s invitation and approach His throne of grace boldly. I invite all of us to pray about our needs and have confidence that God will answer!

God Is On Our Side

Romans 8:31-39

Introduction

One year we attended a winter carnival in Mather, Manitoba. Part of the carnival involved a hockey game in which the boys played against their dads. I think the boys were between 8 and 10 years old. You would think that in such a game the dads would easily win, but in that game the boys had one advantage. Playing for them was Terry Yake, who at that time had just been drafted by the Harford Whalers and went on to play for the NHL for 11 years playing for Hartford and also Toronto and Anaheim. I don’t remember who won, but with him on their side they sure had a lot of help and probably won.

When we think of our life, we might ask, “Who is on our side?”

Since September, we have been studying Romans and have discovered the most in depth and profound description of all that God has done in Christ to redeem a people for Himself. In the first 8 chapters, we have already been given all the information we need to rejoice that we have received, will receive and are receiving everything we need from God. Romans 8:31 asks, “What then shall we say to this?” As we think about all that God has done, what are the implications?

The words we/us appear 12 times in Romans 8:31-39 and give us the wonderful, affirming word that all of this is written for those whom God has chosen, the people of God both Jews and Gentiles. The implication for us is that we can rejoice in the unqualified affirmation that God is on our side! As Paul concludes this section of Romans and this constantly heightened description of what God has done, he does so with a hymn of praise to God, a victory song affirming that we are people who are loved by God.

What a foundation upon which to begin 2008! As we know that we are loved, we can go forward with hope and confidence. This is undoubtedly one of the most encouraging passages in the whole Bible. As we examine it, I trust that we will be encouraged to have faith in God and to move forward with hope.

Is God For Us?

What follows begins with the word “if” which is a conditional word. We read, “If God is for us” and ask the question, “is God for us?” How do we know?

He Did Not Spare His Own Son!

How do we know if someone is for us? One of the most hurtful things we can experience is to believe that someone likes us and even to hear them say that they like us and then to find that they have gossiped about us. Their actions deny their words. So it isn’t only words which let us know that someone is for us. How do we know if someone is for us? Some of the things I look for is to listen to their heart, to notice when they go out of their way to be with us, when they do something for us. But I think the thing that most lets us know that someone is for us is when they are willing to make a sacrifice for us. When I think of that, I think of mothers. I know that Carla loves our children because she is often willing to make sacrifices for them. When they come home, she always tries to make their favorite food. If they call and ask us to babysit or help with something else, I don’t even have to ask her if she wants to go. That is just something that mothers do. I think of my own mom. This year again she made a Christmas cake for me and New Year’s cookies for my brothers because she knows that we like these things. A warm heart, a face turned towards another person, friendly conversation and above all a willingness to sacrifice are ways in which we know that someone is for us.

If that is the measure of when we know that someone is for us, then we should have no doubt that God is for us. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Romans 8:32 which says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all…” We have this incredible confidence that God is for us when we realize that He made a huge sacrifice for us. He gave up His own Son. He was willing to send Jesus to earth to experience temptation, pain and suffering and ultimately death. What a great sacrifice God made! We also notice that He made that sacrifice “for us.” We don’t know what the benefit was for God, who does not need anything, but we know from this passage that He did it for us. He was thinking of us, His face was turned towards us, His heart was for us as He made this awesome sacrifice. Because He did, we know that God is for us.

It is God Who Justifies!

The confirmation that God is for us is even stated in another way in what follows.

I heard of a situation in which an estate was being divided up following the death of the last remaining parent. While the parent was living, one of the family members had already tried to get the parent to give him money to help him buy a car. When the will was read, this same person objected to the will and felt it was unfairly divided. He felt that one member of the family was getting too much. It was a messy situation and the relationship between that family member and most of the rest of the family has been broken ever since.

When someone does something wrong against another person, the relationship is broken. The two are not “for” each other. One has a complaint against the other. The other has an accusation against the first person and things are a mess. Usually in such a situation, we expect that the person who has done the wrong will admit it and come back and make things right. After that, it may be possible, if people are gracious, to be for each other again.

In our relationship with the creator of the universe, we are the ones who have done wrong. We have broken relationship with God. We have rejected Him. We have made a mess. God has every reason to lodge a complaint against us, to accuse us of wrongdoing and to judge us. He is God and holy and just and we are wrong.

Paul asks in Romans 8:33,34, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?” and “Who is He that condemns?” God is the one who can bring a charge against us. God is the one who has the right to condemn us. But, He doesn’t! It seems only right that we should go to Him to make things right, but instead, He has come to us and has chosen to make us right. Instead, Jesus died and was raised to life and is interceding on our behalf in the presence of God. God is not the one who has done wrong and come back to make it right. God is the one who was wronged but has found a way, through Jesus Christ, to make us right. God is the one whom we rejected and with whom we have broken relationship but He is the one who has reached out to us. There is no more accusation because Jesus who died is the only one who can judge and because He died, he won’t. Therefore, we know that God is for us.

So if God has sacrificed for us and if God has nothing against us because of that sacrifice, we know without a shadow of doubt that God is on our side.

The conditional statement “if God is for us” is answered and affirmed, “God is for us!!!!”

Nothing Can Separate Us From His Love!

But Paul isn’t finished describing the amazing love God has for us. He continues to talk about it as he asks in Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Whenever the word “of” appears in a sentence one must always ask the question, “is it a subjective genitive or an objective genitive.” In other words, which direction does the love go? Is it talking about our love for Christ and thus asking what can separate us from loving Jesus? Or is it talking about Christ’s love for us and therefore asking what can stop Christ from loving us? Sometimes it is a difficult question to answer. In this case it seems very clear from the entire context that this is talking about Christ’s love for us. So the question is, what will ever prevent Christ from loving us?

If we think about human relationships, what prevents one person from loving another? It isn’t hard to think of lots of things. I have heard of families in which a child goes astray and the parents relationship is broken, or a fire destroys the house and also breaks up the home. My father died when I was 19 years old. As much as I love my father, his love for me ceased to be expressed or even relevant the day he died.

Can these things also prevent God from loving us and expressing His love for us?

Shall Persecution?

Paul acknowledges that persecution and trouble are a reality for God’s people. In Romans 8:35,36 this recognition is addressed. In response to the question “who shall separate us from the love of Christ,” and we read, “shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” This covers a wide variety of human experience. Although persecution is primarily in mind, the words “trouble” and “hardship” suggest that it can apply to many situations. Can whatever difficulty we experience because we live in a broken world that rejects God separate us from God’s love for us? Is it a sign that God does not love us when our dishwasher and car both break down on the same day that we hear that our best friend has cancer? Does it mean that God does not love us when our friends reject us?

Paul quotes a verse from Psalm 44:22 which acknowledges that God’s people can expect that persecution and ultimately death will come to every one of them. Although the Bible acknowledges the presence of persecution, suffering and death; to us that feels like the end of God’s love. When we experience hardship, it feels like God is not there. When God’s people are persecuted, it feels like God doesn’t care to or have the power to overcome the enemy. Sometimes it feels like His love doesn’t have enough power to help His people.

However, Romans 8:37 is a confident statement that assures us once again that we are loved by Christ. Because He sacrificed for us and because He restored relationship with us even though we broke it, we know that we are loved and therefore there is nothing – not trouble nor hardship nor persecution which can separate us from His love for us.

Indeed, we are “more than conquerors” because of Christ. The feelings of defeat can be conquered in the knowledge that we are loved. When we are discouraged, when we doubt, when we feel all alone, when we are afraid, we can conquer all of that in the knowledge that God is for us. We can conquer all when we know that we are loved in Christ. When I think back of my dating years, I went out with a few different girls. I liked some of them, but the one who has stuck with me for over 35 years is the one who also showed that she loved me. Because she loved me, I was more drawn to her than the others who were just interesting. When we are loved, we respond in love. This is why it is so important for us to be encouraged and reminded that we are people who are tremendously loved by God. When we know that we are so loved and that not even persecution and hardship and difficulty can separate us from the love He has for us, then we also are encouraged to continue to remain in a love relationship with Him.

When we know that we are loved by God in this way, then we are also encouraged to know once again that what was said in Romans 8:28 is true. If we are loved and if we cannot be separated from His love even by persecution and hardship, then we can be sure that no matter what happens, God truly is on our side!

I Am Convinced!

In a final statement, Paul affirms that of which he is convinced. There is confidence and hope in this statement in Romans 8:38,39. What do I know for sure? In all the insecurities of life, in all the fickle things in this world, in all the random acts of violence, in all the chance meetings of metal to metal on the highway, in all the unexplainable events of life by which one person dies at birth as my daughter-in-laws nephew did and another walks with a brisk step at 100, as I saw Mary Loewen do the other day, what is it that we can be completely confident about?

Paul says, I am convinced that…nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Do we always understand how all this works? Certainly not! Do we always feel loved? Probably not. Can we have confidence that God’s love is always with us? Absolutely!

Following this confident statement, Paul raises pairs of scenarios. They are opposite pairs to help us look at things from the extremes of every possible situation which life can bring which could possibly leave us without God’s love.

The first pair is death and life. These are the two possibilities in which every person exists. Even a person on life support is either dead or alive. If our name was not listed in the obituaries this morning and if we are here we are alive. If our permanent dwelling is across the street in the cemetery, we are dead. It is either one place or the other. But of one thing we can have complete confidence. Whether we are here or across the street, we are not separated from the love of God!

The next pair is angels and demons. There are spiritual powers, which we don’t know much about, but which we understand operate in our world. Angels operate as messengers of God and, we believe, move us toward God. Demons work against God and have power to make a mess. There are some people who think that demons can play enough tricks and are powerful enough to separate us from God. But that is not true. Neither the powers exercised by angels or demons are enough to separate us from God’s love for us.

The third pair dealing with the present and the future introduces another aspect. Because we only see what is now and don’t always know how what is now will impact what is yet to come, we often fear the future. We are starting to make plans for our sabbatical and already the fear of the future has entered my heart. Will things work out the way we want? Will there be peace in Israel when we are there? What will it be like to be gone so long? But in all our fears about the future, the one thing we can be confident about is that God’s love will not be absent.

Powers is mentioned alone without a pair, but it is almost as if he is thinking about the power of life and death, the power of angels and demons, the power of the present and the future and wrapping it up with a mention of any other potential power like the power of governments, dictators, terrorists, forces of nature or any other thing. He is covering all the bases with confident assurance that no power can separate us from God’s love!

Finally he mentions height nor depth and again goes to the extremes of what is above and what is below and declares that anything in all that has been created is able to separate us from God’s love for us.

This is a formidable list of powers, but not a single one of these powers is able to separate us from God’s love. How incredibly we are loved!

The last part of Romans 8:39 says that this love is in Christ Jesus and that is important. Whenever you doubt. Whenever you wonder why you have constant pain. Whenever you wonder why your best friend died. Whenever you wonder why you suffer with temptations that no one else seems to experience. Whenever you feel all alone in the world and doubt that anyone truly cares for you and understands you. Whatever might cause you to question and doubt, know this for a certainty - nothing can separate you from God’s love. How do we know that? We can go right back to what God did in Jesus. Romans 8:32 assures us, “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.”

We have this confident assurance, God is for us!

Conclusion

The first question that was asked as we began looking at this passage was, “What then shall we say in response to this?”

As we conclude our examination of this passage, I would like to ask this question once again. “What shall we say in response to this?” What do we say when we know that we are loved by the creator of the universe?

First of all, we can say “thank you.” We don’t deserve this love that is for sure, but we have it. A humble and deeply grateful “thank you!” is in order.

We can say, “I trust you.” Paul says, “I am convinced.” When we see all of the evidence of God’s love and the depth of what is promised, how can we not say “yes” and put our confidence in God no matter what the circumstances of our life.

We can say “I have peace.” What can shake our world and destroy it if we know that we are loved? Nothing! This allows us to live each day from January 6, 2008 until all eternity with a deep and profound peace in our hearts.

We can say, “I can hardly wait!” We can live with a hope for tomorrow and the tomorrow after that with the confidence God’s goodness and love are not only a promise, but will be powerfully evident along the way and in a most wonderful way in the final end.

As you begin this year, please know with all confidence that you are loved!