Paraphrase: (9/30/01)
22 All of creation is going through birth pains together, 23 even we who have the first fruits of the Spirit. We, too, groan in our eagerness to realize the redemption of our body as adopted sons of God. 24 For we were saved in hope of that redemption, but it remains to be realized. Were it realized, hope would not be needed, 25 but to hope for what is not yet realized is to eagerly await its coming with all perseverance.
Key Verse: (9/30/00)
8:23 - We wait eagerly to see the fulfillment of our bodily redemption, which is part of the promise of salvation yet to be seen.
New Thoughts (10/2/00)
Hmm. I've always read through this section of Scripture and said "yeah, we're the first fruits of the Spirit!" But that's not what it's saying. It says we have the first fruits of the Spirit. We have, if you would, the tithe of what the Spirit has to offer. All that God has done to preserve the Church, all that He has given to men throughout history to equip them for His work, all that He has showered upon this age, is but the first fruit of the Spirit! It's not a statement about us, but about Him! And look at what the first fruits are: they are the first portion of dough from which the holy loaves are made. This is what we have! We have that first portion of dough. Without the Spirit, we're never going to be holy loaves, acceptable sacrifices to God. But, if that first portion of dough is just being left to sit on the counter, we're still not going to be holy loaves. We'll remain nothing but the dirt we've always been. God doesn't show a great deal of tolerance for the sluggard. He's not looking for lumps of dough that sit on the counter. He's looking for lumps of dough that are willing to be rolled together with the Holy Spirit, that are willing to submit themselves to the hands of the Master baker, to be shaped into a form that can become a holy loaf. He's asking us to accept the fire of the oven, to be baked in His abiding flame, so that we can become those holy loaves, and can become acceptable sacrifices. Too often, I resist Your efforts, Lord. Too often, I complain under the rolling and shaping that You wish to do. Forgive me. Help me to remember always that the trials You bring are to build perseverance - not resigned survival, but cheerful endurance! God, I've never known cheerful endurance. I'm not satisfied to continue just surviving. It's not worth it. I want to know what it is to abide in the flame of Your love, to abide in the joy of Your presence, to abide in the fear and awe of Your holiness. Father, Your desire is that I bring this flesh into submission, and I've tried. But, You know me, Lord, that I am weak to fail. You've known that, but You needed me to know that. God, I can no more subdue this flesh, than subdue a lion bare-handed, I've been foolish to try, and it's made me a bitter man to fail so constantly at it. I give it over to You today. Without You making the change in me, it just can't happen. Mix in that holy seed-dough, shape me, oh God, by whatever processes You need to use. Shape me, oh Lord, into Your true image, able to reflect Your glory, able to live sacrificially according to Your desire.
One further note: I just read through Jeremiah 12, as it was referenced here, and it caught my eyes. What a word for the church today! Evil men attack the edges of Christianity. Pulpits are filled by non-believers. God is near to their lips, but far from their minds (12:2). The airwaves are plagued by such men, preaching easy but false gospels for fame and profit. The land mourns and withers because such men have said "He will not see" (12:4). God's warning reply is dire. How can we compete with the real enemy, if we can't even deal with such as these? Our own family - a great part of the Church - is against us, although they may speak kindly to our ears. BE WARNED! Look at 12:7! God declares that He has abandoned His house and His inheritance! He has given over His beloved to her enemy! Is this or is this not occurring in many churches today? Many of those who shepherd God's flocks have done so to the ruination of God's work, and those flocks mourn, at a loss for understanding. There is no peace for the church any longer. Oh, that we would be ashamed of our harvest, for we are reaping what we have truly sown (12:13). Where then, is there hope? The last paragraph of this section reads at first as a declaration to the nations, but I think perhaps it is rather a declaration to His own Church. We have, in many ways been uprooted. God is now bringing us back into the land with a warning and a promise. IF we will learn His ways, instead of teaching His people the WORLD's ways, then God will build us up together with all His children. If the Church persists, however, in perverting God's truth, and feeding God's children on poison and candy, He will uproot and destroy that Church. God help us! You're children have been learning once more to conform to the world, rather than to come out of the world. We've picked up the wrong weapons, and we're losing the war because we've forgotten to listen to our commander. God! Bring us to our knees in prayer! We, Your sheep, cry out to You on behalf of our shepherds, that You would cause them to stand strong and true; that You would cause them to speak out Your truth, ALL of Your truth, and no truth but Your Truth. We pray that You would bring them to a place of fresh boldness, a willingness to stand up in the face of all ungodliness and declare Your rule. Nations will rise, and nations will fall, but You are forever. Yes, we pray for godly leadership for this country. Yes, we will vote for godly leaders in this country. But, God, in the end, it doesn't matter that we're free, if we're spreading poison with that freedom. I pray that You would cleanse the pulpit of Your Church, that You would cleanse the heart of Your people, that we might live.
God will not heal our land through the work of a sick Church.
