I was invited to share a testimony/devotional in the alternative chapel at my University. This is what I had been planning to say, it went a bit off script, so I am putting it here in its more coherent version. My recorded version I will post later once it become available.
Orphans, Slaves or Sons
Romans 8:9-17
What to do?
What is important to me?
Truth
Being
Authentic
I have since the age of 9 been challenged to adopt, around college I discovered the importance of foster care. I truly believe God has a heart for adoption, after all he adopted us.
In Jordan, my sister is learning
about Adoption and Orphan’s aging out of the
system. What she has found is that most
orphans have a hard and challenging time their entire lives.
It is assumed that to be orphaned
means that you or your family did something to offend Allah. Therefore your
orphaned state is something to be shunned, because family name and connections
are how Arab society works. If you lose
your parents you are supposed to end up with some extended family members, but
to be completely alone and with out family there is almost nothing worse.
Orphan is stamped on all your
government documents, it means no family now and possibly in the future. It means a lack of job security, a lack of
marriage prospects, and for many a lack of being able to move out of poverty.
Adoption in the Jewish context of Paul's day was
very similar. Esther is the first time
we see a scenario that is more than foster care, a child living with someone
other than their immediate family (think Moses). For the Jews, actual genes from the
husbands lineage are needed to pass on the family name (think Tamar, Obed, etc).
The Romans were the first to have adoption the
way we think about it in the United States. Men of means could adopt children
with few prospects to be the heirs of their estates, this gave them legal
rights, and allowed their names to travel forward with the adopted child’s genes.
Romans 8:
9 However, you are not in the
flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If
Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is
[d]alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus
from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies [e]through His Spirit who dwells in you.12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the
flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you [f]must
die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you
will live. 14 For all who are
being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery [g]leading
to fear again, but you have received [h]a spirit of adoption as
sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The
Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow
heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be
glorified with Him.” NASB
When looking up some
commentaries about this passage I would have to say I like Moo’s interpretation the most. Why? Well it is because his commentary stays
pretty simple and gives the believer a lot of hope in the future. Of all the religions out there, Christianity
has a difference, we don’t need to prove ourselves by
good works out of the goodness of our hearts.
One: we don’t have any natural goodness
in our hearts and Two: Through God’s grace
he gave us a bit of himself. Every
Christian has God’s spirit residing in himself/herself. We are infinitely blessed because this
indwelling of the Holy Spirit allows us to do things that we couldn’t do on our own.
We went from creatures enslaved to sin to be God’s sons and daughters!
This is an amazing gift, it is a gift that is hard to comprehend.
We are God’s heirs, we have the full rights and privileges of the
King of the Galaxy, if that doesn’t stun
you I am not sure what else can. Imagine
a child an orphan who doesn’t know anything other than
anxiety and fear of the future, they cannot understand security, peace,
anticipating a future that doesn’t
involve struggle and danger, then they are adopted by the Daddy Warlocks of the
Universe. I believe it would take some
time to become comfortable with this their new situation, but until we
experience that sense of security in the awesome love of our new Heavenly
Father- how can be effective messengers for God?
I suppose that is why I get confused
by my own sin- Why do we who love God,
who are his sons and daughters so frequently become caught up in sin? Paul lets
us know that it is because our current bodies are slaves to sin, we are born
cursed to want our own way. The only
way, the only cure is acknowledging God as our Father, and allowing the Holy
Spirit to continually work within us to help free us from this slavery to sin
so that we can obey Jesus and love others.
It isn’t until we die and receive our new bodies that we will
be completely free from sins bonds.
For each of us that sin looks a
bit different. Sometimes it is an
outright sin, and sometimes it is the sin of disbelief. That disbelief can take
many forms. For me, the disbelief comes
in a lack of trust. I like being safe
and secure, certain of the next week, next month, etc. That is why I am stunned when I take an
honest look at my heart- I know and love God. Why would I rely on my “wisdom” to lead me to a safe place,
instead of relying on my Heavenly Father who “knows
the plans he has for me”.
This is why I like The Message’s wording for Roman 8:“9-17 TBut if God himself has taken up residence in your
life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of
course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit
of Christ, won’t
know what we’re
talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations
of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason,
doesn’t
it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into
your life, he’ll
do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself?
When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus),
you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body
will be as alive as Christ’s!
12-14 So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us,
nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with
your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to
go!
15-17 This resurrection life you received from God is not a
timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a
childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we
really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly
what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go
through the good times with him!”
It is so much safer to tend graves,
no surprises, no adventures, no questions.
But that isn’t
what we have been called to. There are
no guarantees in life. If we cannot love
God, if we cannot take risks with him in charge, how are we loving him?
Think of the last time you played
with a child…how
many little children shout and giggle to be thrown higher, to go just one more
time. That is what we need to be
striving for in this life, we want to go higher, to trust God so much that our
chains of slavery are gone and instead we strive just to keep up with our
heavenly Father.
Challenges/Questions
How do you view God? Tyrant, ATM,
Impersonal, Friend, Father, Shepherd, or something in-between?
Are you amazed by God’s adoption of us? Why or Why not?
Are you an effective messenger of God’s love? Yes or No? Is something
holding you back?
Audio from Chapel
Audio from Chapel
