Even a 24-hour day, never mind a year, can make a huge difference to the course of our lives.
Especially if your name is Jack Bauer and you've got 24 hours to save the world.
But for Jack Bauer, it's the most 24-hour traumatic day of his life.
For everyone watching, it's just wasted 24 hours.
But either way, 24 hours makes a difference.
And a year in our lives makes a huge difference.
And so at the end of it, as it comes, you know, closer to the end of the year,
and as it comes to 11 p.m. on the 31st of December,
we get very conscious of time passing by.
The world around us is changing.
People around us have changed.
And as we reflect, we feel the need to change ourselves as well.
The change is troubling.
And sometimes we want to change just to keep up with the pace of everything else.
Everything from changing our clues to changing our minds.
Most of the time, in truth, the changes that we make,
and the New Year's resolutions,
rather being a desire for something really new,
are an attempt to control or to limit the change that's already happening too fast in our lives.
We make resolutions, for example, to change diet and exercise,
because we look in the mirror or we go for a walk and we don't like how our body is changing.
Many other changes we make to save more, to spend more time with children.
Whatever the change might be,
chances are that we're doing it because we're afraid of what else might change if we don't.
We don't like change.
That's why whenever people look at a child,
if they haven't seen them for a while,
they say,
Wow, you've really grown.
Because I think deep down in our hearts,
we kind of expect everything to just stay the same.
We almost get shocked when a child grows,
whereas it would be terrible if a child remained two feet tall all their life, wouldn't it?
But we don't really like it when things change.
But it's nearly 2013,
and everything, everything except God,
has changed and is changing.
And being a believer is being certain of what we're changing into.
So that as we see all the change in the world around us,
we don't get overcome with fear and troubled in our minds,
but instead we well up with hope.
Why?
Well, turn with me please to Romans 8.
We'll read it through together.
Excuse me when I cough.
So Romans chapter 8.
I'll just read through the whole chapter,
and we're going to look through it briefly.
We're not going to focus on anything in too much detail.
But the flow of the chapter kind of lends itself to looking at it all at once.
So we'll read the whole chapter.
Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus,
the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law was powerless to do,
because it was weakened by the flesh?
God did,
by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.
And so he condemns sin in the flesh,
in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us,
who do not live according to the flesh,
but according to the Spirit.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires,
but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
The mind governed by the flesh is death,
but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.
It does not submit to God's law,
nor can it do so.
Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
You, however,
are not in the realm of the flesh,
but in the realm of the Spirit,
if indeed the Spirit,
thank you again,
if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.
And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
they do not belong to Christ.
But if Christ is in you,
then even though your body is subject to death because of sin,
the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you,
he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers and sisters,
we have an obligation,
but it is not to the flesh to live according to it.
For if you live according to the flesh,
you will die.
But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,
you will live.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God
or the children of God,
the Spirit you receive does not make you slaves
so that you live in fear again.
Rather, the Spirit you received
brought about your adoption to sonship,
and by him we cry,
Abba, Father.
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit
that we are God's children.
Now if we are children,
then we are heirs,
heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,
if indeed we share in his sufferings
in order that we may share in his glory.
I consider that our present sufferings
are not worth comparing with the glory
that will be revealed in us.
For the creation waits in eager expectation
for the children of God to be revealed.
For the creation was subjected to frustration,
not by its own choice,
but by the will of the one who subjected it,
in hope that the creation itself
will be liberated from its bondage to decay
and brought into the freedom and glory
of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation
has been groaning
as in the pains of childbirth
right up to this present time.
Not only so,
but we ourselves,
who have the first fruits of the Spirit
grown inwardly
as we wait eagerly
for our adoption to sonship,
the redemption of our bodies.
For in this hope,
we are saved.
But hope that is seen
is no hope at all.
Who hopes for what they already have?
But if we hope for what we do not yet have,
we wait for it patiently.
In the same way,
the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for,
but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us
through wordless groans.
And He who searches our hearts
knows the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for God's people
in accordance with the will of God.
And we know that in all things,
God works for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called according to His purpose.
For those God foreknew,
He also predestined
to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
And those He predestined,
He also called.
Those He called,
He also justified.
Those He justified,
He also glorified.
What then shall we say
in response to these things?
If God is for us,
who can be against 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?
Who will bring any charge
against those whom God has chosen?
It is God who justifies.
Who then is the one who condemns?
No one.
Christ Jesus who died,
more than that,
who is raised to life,
is at the right hand of God
and is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ?
Shall trouble,
or hardship,
or persecution,
or famine,
or nakedness,
or danger,
or sword?
As it is written,
for your sake,
we face death all day long.
We are considered
as sheep to be slaughtered.
No.
In all these things,
we are more than conquerors
through Him who loved us.
For I am convinced
that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers,
neither height nor depth,
nor anything else
in all creation,
will be able to separate us
from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.
So we'll just pray briefly
before we look at the passage.
Father, we thank You for Your Word.
And we thank You, Lord,
that we have it in our own language,
that we can freely read it
and think about it
and hear it talked about.
And Father, we pray
that as we look at it now
that You would help us
to understand it
and apply it to our hearts and lives
and be changed as a result
to be more like Jesus.
And in His name we pray.
Amen.
Well, Romans 5
till the end of chapter 8,
I suppose the biggest theme
is probably the theme of hope.
Hope comes through faith.
And chapter 8,
particularly towards the end,
is all about the future hope.
But before we get to that,
Paul talks about
two different types of people.
And the reason why he does
is because only one group
has a future.
Only one has a hope.
So verses 1 to 17,
briefly then,
the people of the Spirit
and the people of the flesh.
Now, he starts with those
who are in Christ,
identified with Christ.
They have the Holy Spirit
that was living in Christ,
now living in them.
Now, previously in chapter 7,
he had been talking about the law,
the moral law,
the Old Testament law,
the simple knowledge
of right and wrong,
and how really,
even though it's good in itself,
it condemns us as human beings
because we fail to keep it.
So here in verse 3,
if you look at verse 3,
when he writes about
the law being powerless
because it was weakened by the flesh,
he is saying that,
right and good,
though the law may be,
it won't save us
from our sinful, selfish self
because the more law we know,
the more we just end up breaking.
So really,
even though the law,
like the law in society,
may have a restraining effect on us,
because of the way we are
as human beings,
because of our sinful selves,
always inclined to look out
for number one,
then it might help us
clean up a little,
but it will never really change
who we are deep down.
And that's because
we've got a serious problem.
Now Paul describes it here
as the flesh.
Now he's not literally,
of course,
talking about our skin
or our shells
or our physical bodies,
but really more
the fallen part of our humanity,
our worldly desires
and our materialism
and our worship of self.
And instead of, I suppose,
using the word material,
like the material uses
versus the spiritual,
he uses flesh.
Because the image is more like
something to do with
our own humanness.
Even, if you will,
if you kind of stretch it
about our human meat.
Meat, it's not,
a flesh is not an appealing term.
If you think of flesh,
flesh of an animal
or a flesh of a human,
it might be something
that looks nice
and appealing one day,
but a few days down the line
it's all rotten.
It's not really
that glamorous an image.
Now if we think about
the context of Romans,
it'll maybe make it
a little bit clearer.
In AD 49,
Claudius,
he expelled all the Jews
from Rome.
And the reason was
because there was
continual rioting
between the Jewish Orthodox,
the Jewish believers,
or the Jewish Jews,
and the Jewish Christians.
So the Jews,
whether they were Christians
or whether they were
traditional Jews,
they were all expelled
from Rome.
And Aquila and Priscilla,
I suppose,
in Acts 18.2
are examples of this.
It talks about it
in Acts 18.2.
But five years later,
whenever Nero came to power
in AD 54,
the expulsion was revoked
and all the Jews,
including the Jewish believers,
were allowed back to Rome.
So now,
as Paul writes
in AD 57,
he's writing to a church
that was predominantly
Gentile believers
for five years
and then the Jews
come back,
Jewish believers,
and they're struggling
to understand the whole thing
about the Jewish heritage
and the gospel.
And that's what Paul
writes to.
Now,
for the Jew,
the word flesh
goes right back
to creation.
When Adam looked at Eve
and he says,
bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh,
it's really the meat
of human existence.
God says later,
at the time of Noah,
that all flesh
had become corrupted
and we have other references
to flesh
and the flesh of man.
So,
for the Jewish,
for the Jews,
the Jewish understanding
is that for man
to be flesh
means that man is mortal.
He is dying.
And so,
in verse 3,
when Paul writes
that Jesus came
in the likeness
of sinful flesh,
he isn't saying
that Jesus came
in the likeness
of sinful nature.
It doesn't make any sense
to say that Jesus
looked like he had
a sinful nature.
But what is clear
is that Jesus was born
in human flesh.
He was born
just like us
with a decaying
and cursed body
even though
he had no sin.
he was born
in the flesh
just like us sinners.
And the purpose of it,
as he says,
was so that he could
offer his flesh
as a sacrifice
to us,
for us,
to redeem our bodies
through the Spirit.
And so,
the whole consequence
of Paul's argument
is that he's saying
for those in Christ,
there is no condemnation.
Instead,
we have the same
Holy Spirit
that was in Christ
living in us.
so that unlike
before when we
didn't know Christ,
when it was impossible
for us to keep the law,
we can now keep the law
by following Christ
because we follow
the one who kept the law,
who came
in the flesh.
So then in verses 5-8,
we move on,
we have this great distinction
between those who live
according to the flesh
and those who live
according to the Spirit.
Those who live out their lives
always keeping in mind
their own flesh,
their own skin,
their own earthly,
mortal existence,
and those who look beyond that
to the spiritual.
Now everything that goes
with the flesh is decaying.
It's going to die.
It's rotting
because it's under God's curse.
But to live in the Spirit
means peace with God
and life to come.
And we get to verses 9-11
and Paul explains
just how the Spirit
brings life.
He says,
you either have the Spirit
or you don't.
You either belong to Christ
or you don't.
If you have the Spirit,
Paul explains,
that you're not in the realm
of the flesh.
In other words,
your flesh doesn't own you anymore.
It doesn't control you anymore.
Now even though we have
a physical body
with flesh and blood,
he explains in verse 10,
in spite of that,
you will live
because you have the Spirit
dwelling in you
and the Spirit brings life.
Now how or what does he mean?
Is he talking about
spiritual life
and out-of-body life
in another realm?
Well,
we do have
a new spiritual life
in Christ.
But really,
what he is referring to
mostly here
is that we're going to have
a real physical life.
Rather than being
rid of our bodies
in the end,
those bodies
are going to be redeemed.
And this is the whole purpose
of these verses.
The whole point
in these verses
and the whole
what the hope
rests on.
And that's why
Paul says elsewhere
that if it was only
for this life
that we have no hope,
or sorry,
if it was only
for this life
that we have hope
in Christ,
then we of all people
are to be most pitied
because the hope
isn't for this life.
It's all in the next.
It's all in the resurrection.
All eggs in one basket
and that's in the next life.
The hope is in the resurrection.
So verse 12 and following.
Why then?
Would you have anything,
would you want to have
anything to do
with conforming to this word?
Focusing on our attention
and setting our thoughts
and such
fleshly things
in this life
when in the end
they're all just going to
pass away into death.
And if we're gripped
by these things
then they're just going to
drag us down with them.
But Christ,
he says,
saves us from that.
He frees us
from slavery to sin
and saves us
from ourselves,
me, myself and I.
And he gives us
a new identity
as a child of God.
Having the Spirit
of God in us
marks us out now
as belonging to him,
as his children
with privilege.
In the Old Testament
God sat at the top
of Mount Sinai
in unapproachable fire
whenever the Holy Spirit
came at Pentecost.
The very feast
which commemorated
the giving of the law
to Moses
at Pentecost,
that unapproachable fire
came down
and rested
on the disciples' heads.
Because of what
Jesus had done,
the unapproachable
holy, holy, holy God
would now be called
Abba Father.
Basically,
Dada.
The same kind of
word that
a little child
would use
to cry out
to their daddy.
Now if you've put
your trust in Christ,
then this
is
your identity.
The first verses
that we looked at there
in the chapter
are all about
the technical legality
and the theology
that tells us
about the two identities.
There's people of the flesh
and there's people
of the Spirit.
But if you've trusted
in Christ
as your Savior
and your King,
then this is where
you are now.
You're identified
with God
as his Son,
as one who has
the Spirit of God
inside them.
Because of Jesus' death,
you have forgiveness,
you have no condemnation,
freedom from sin,
freedom from self,
to have a new identity
and a new relationship.
One where God
becomes our Father
and our protector
and our provider
and the one that we live
to please
and enjoy.
So like Christ,
if we love him
and know him
and accepted him
as our Savior,
then we are God's sons,
his children.
And like Christ,
we will be raised
from death.
And that's
where the hope lies.
So verses 18 to 30,
secondly then,
let's look a little bit
at the hope
and what that means
for us
in an uncertain world.
Well, verse 18,
well, Paul says
the main consequence
is that when you think
about the hope
for the future
and you think
about today's troubles,
whatever they might be,
they're not even worth
bothering
comparing to
what is coming.
The pure glory
of what's going
to happen to us
as our broken bodies
get fixed
and our troubled minds
are finally
and completely calmed
and every sin
which bothered us
is finally taken away
or removed.
Every pain
and every hurt
is gone.
That will be
the greatest
demonstration
of God's work
in all its glory.
The redemption
of the creation
and particularly us
the redemption
of his prize.
He says it's not worth
comparing
even the greatest
troubles in life
that we might have
and he had plenty.
He says
even
in verses 19 to 22
even the creation
looks on
in anticipation
to see what's
going to happen
to us
as we're fully
transformed
into the children
of God.
The creation
can't wait.
Since the fall
everything in the
entire creation
from stars
to shellfish
has been suffering
because of our sin.
Everything from
massive tsunamis
to hurricanes
to myxomatosis
and little bunny rabbits
can be traced back
to the first
human decision
to rebel
against the creator.
The creation
didn't decide
to sin.
It didn't rebel
against its creator.
Animals didn't decide
to rebel
against their creator.
But Paul reminds us
that God chose
to frustrate
the entire world
and any hope
for humanity.
God frustrated
the creation
so that it might
play its part
in the redemption
of humanity
in the hope
that the creation
itself would one day
be set free
and share in the
freedom and redemption
with the caretakers
that it was originally
created to have.
That's the hope
for the world around us.
Verse 18 to 22
and then 23 to 30
we have the hope
for the child of God.
Now it's not just
the creation
that wants the redemption
to come.
We should too.
We must do
if we have the spirit
of God in us.
Not that we'd want
to give up on life
or want it all
to be over
or wish it all away
but there's something
in us
that just wants it all
to be fixed.
Instead of having
a fearful expectation
of judgment
to come after death
there's a desire
for everything
to be made new
for us to be made new.
And specifically here
of looking forward
to redemption
of our bodies
as we gain
the full benefits
of sonship.
As Christians
a huge amount
of our time
is spent
in demonstrating
God's redemption
to the world now.
Good deeds
transforming society
where we can.
Having a good
or a redemptive influence
on someone else's life.
And most of all
sharing the good news
of Jesus
with others.
I know
even though we can hope
for some kind of redemption
in the world around us
and we should
just as we are
described as first risk
we should also hope
for fruit in the world
but really
ultimately
the real hope
is as just in the last point
isn't for now
but it's all eggs
in one basket
and it's all for the life
to come.
Hope through Christ
beyond the grave.
Verse 24
because it's this hope
that we're saved.
No hope
in results
for the transformation
of the community
or society
or even results
for our church
that is not
what our hope is in.
Our saving hope
cannot even be seen
in this life
he says.
In fact
Paul says
the hope that is seen
is no hope at all.
It's no hope
for something
that we can actually
envisage getting hold of
in this life
or something more
of what we already know.
it's hope for something
that we don't have yet
and we have to
read right up
until the end
patiently he says
until we can claim it.
Until then
the spirit will help us
even in our prayers.
Verse 26
And he's not
talking about tongues
here so much
but he's talking about
like before
some kind of
a holy attitude
of discontent
where we know
that we need to pray
and we know
that there's something
not right in our lives
and we're not content
with the way
the world is around us
and we just want to change
but we don't even know
what to say
or where to start
or how to pray about it.
The Holy Spirit
is interceding for us
and groaning
in our behalf.
That's what Paul's
talking about
because it's all
in the context
of hope
and change.
The spirit is
inside us
and he's changing us
and transforming us
as we look forward
to the day
when everything
is going to be
completely restored.
In all things
we know
that God is working
and will work
for the good
of those who love him.
And it all comes back
to that initial trust
and faith.
If we
have faith
and trust in him
to save us
and guide us
in our lives
then we have
the spirit in us
and we know
that there is
a future for us.
we have been called
according to his purpose.
He knew us
and he loved us
from the beginning
and he gave us
the destiny
of being like Jesus
predestined
according to the
likeness of his son.
That means our destiny
is to be like Jesus.
The day is coming
when we will see
Jesus face to face
along with many others
like ourselves
and he says
it will be glorious.
That's the future
that we hope for.
So finally then
what is the response?
And what should
our response be
for 2013
as we face change
and uncertainty
and trouble
and pain
in the world
around us
and in ourselves?
Verses 31 to 39
the response is
confidence.
God subjected
his entire creation
to futility
and decay.
He sent his son
to rescue us
in our hopeless state.
He set out
a whole plan
of redemption
for us
in a new creation.
Verse 31 then
if God wants
good for us
and loves us
and went to such
length
to redeem us
if he really has
this eternal plan
for our little lives
then no change
or trouble
is ever going
to upset that.
If he has already
sent his son
to die
to bring this
whole plan
into action
and bring this
hope to reality
then he's not
going to just decide
now that he wants
to give up on it all
and not bring us
to redemption
or bring us
everything that he's
promised to give us.
No one can bring
any charge
no one can condemn
Jesus has died
and he has risen again
so that we will die
and we will rise again
with him.
So nothing
he says
will separate us
from God's love
and his plan
for us.
No financial difficulty
not even to the point
of nakedness
no slagging
or work at school
even to the point
of physical persecution
no danger
no threat
not even death
itself
will thwart his plan
or separate us
from being loved
and loving him
as our father
forever.
Paul finishes
by explaining
I'll just read out
the verses
for I am convinced
that neither death
nor life
neither angels
nor demons
neither the present
nor the future
nor any powers
neither height
nor depth
nor anything else
in all creation
will be able
to separate us
from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
So
when you look in the mirror
on Monday night
or consider your finances
or worry about the future
or your children's future
or just feel some fear
of what might lie ahead
remember
the hope
of the redemption
and the hope
of the resurrection
that one day
it's all coming
the world is changing
our bodies are changing
but no matter what happens
if the Holy Spirit
lives in you
through faith in Christ
then nothing
will change the plan
that God has for you
and nothing
will stop the changes
that God has set in motion
for his creation
the creation will be changed
we will be changed
and we can be sure
that our hope
will not be disappointed
Amen
Thanks so much