“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
Romans 8:18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.18.NLT
The writer of Romans focuses on the significant contrast between the sinful nature and life in Christ with the Holy Spirit. There is a far brighter future with Christ.
Reflection
Consider a few of these statements from Romans 8:
- “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
- The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.
- So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
- Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
- So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
- For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
- But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
- And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.
- And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
Romans 8:1-11 NLT
To live in the sinful nature is to suffer. It is a common suffering that all humanity shares.
To live filled with the Holy Spirit of Christ is a life of freedom. We are released from the burden and bondage of our sinful nature through the complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
For those who follow Christ, we live in a common freedom that is growing—all who follow share in this together.
Encouragement
The future is bright with Christ. We are invited to face the challenge of life between the realities of now and a better future with hope and faith:
- “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse.
- But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
- And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.
- We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)”
Romans 8:19-25 NLT
Between now and a better future, one thing is always true on this journey: There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can separate us from the love of Christ.
Prayer
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for giving us a brighter future that is beyond what we can see or hope for.
Thank you that between here and there you are with us.
We pray in confident declaration words recorded in Romans 8: “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:31, 38-39 NLT
In your name, Jesus, I pray,
Amen
-Ed McDowell