Context, context, context

I try and tell everyone all the time that Scripture must be read in context if it is going to be fully understood and applied to our lives, even though sometimes it is entertaining to pick texts at random to make them say whatever you wish (I think that is actually a prerequisite to be a televangelist). So it is with a goofy grin I admit that one of the verses we’re going to look at today I had always taken out of context, or maybe more appropriately never fully understood until I took it in its context. So without Further ado…

Romans 8:26 Let’s be honest, everyone loves this verse, and why not, it is such a good verse, a comforting verse. But it is so much more than that, it is emblematic of God’s love and character that this verse appears at all! By the way, to get the whole gist you may need to read all of ch 8 or my previous posts first…but anyway. Things suck now because of sin. All creation is suffering (and we are a part of that creation) and longing for the day of rebirth when things will be remade the way that they were originally designed by God to be. So all we have left is hope, the Holy Spirit (hereafter referred to as The Holy Ghost, The Paraclyete, The Force, HS) who knows us better than we know ourselves and intercedes on our behalf to God. Of course it is a common problem not knowing what to pray, but how much more so when you realize that because of the fall we are so different from God that our best prayers fall so short of the perfectness that God has in mind. Then throw in the current suffering we are going through, and we don’t have the words or at times even the thought to speak to God. Think about it, if we don’t know how wonderful it is supposed to be, how do we know what to ask for? Things are so jacked up from how they should be that the HS has to pray for us with “groans words cannot express.” Wow. That’s pretty crazy…makes me understand better and better why the church used to close with the words, “Come Lord Jesus, Come.”
Romans 8:27 So God knows and loves us so well because He made us, that when things are like they are and we cannot communicate, the HS translates our hearts into God language and whisper it into is ear. That’s amazing, especially when you consider our state. So as we dwell in suffering (which we are loathe to do) we learn to rely heavily upon the HS more and more, and the end result is that our hearts and cries start becoming more closely aligns with God’s heart and will.
Romans 8:28 And because of that God takes all the suffering, groaning and complaining, and turns it into a highway that brings us right into His presence. What a verse! God is able to take our suffering, loss and hurt and can work them to be the tools by which we learn to completely rely on and dwell with Him through the HS. So our calling is not to pain and suffering free life, sin ruined any chance of that for everyone! And we allow it to continue to ruin us. No, our calling is to suffer through life now, relying completely on God to work things to draw us closer to Him, which was His plan all along if you think about it, to redeem humanity to be close to Him. But why does it have to be this way?
Romans 8:29-30 Because He had to make us like Jesus. If we want to live and get the glory (ie life not and eternally, relationship, joy) we too must suffer as Jesus did. God called us to die that we might live. Do you realize how jaw dropping this is? Through Jesus God chose us, He called us, restored us in relationship and gives us Jesus’ glory. So just like Jesus was forced to suffer now in this life before He sat beside the Father, so must we. Not as punishment (remember Jesus paid that on the cross) but as a natural result of living in a corrupt creation that is longing to be reborn. And our cries mingle in with all of creation for that rebirth…and God has called us to it, just not yet. So our suffering is not a penalty, but labor pains that make us cling to God desperately waiting for the day when we will all be completely renewed. No wonder it is so hard now, thank God this time will be short when compared to eternity, and thank God we have the HS to sustain us until that rebirth comes!