The Romance of Romans-Part 110

Romans 15 cont'd

Even the most powerful man of all, Jesus Christ, didn't use his power to create for himself a pain-free and pleasure-filled earthly life. As scripture says, "I have personally identified with and embraced the rejection they have shown you O God." All the scriptures have been written to impart knowledge, patience and comfort to us so that we can live in hope- a confident expectation of a glorious future.

Comments:

Our friend, Steve Morrison of Healing for the Nations, opens one of the teaching sessions asking, "How many of you would like to have your sense of physical pain taken away"? Of course, after a bit of thought everyone realizes that our ability to feel pain is needed to keep us from greater harm or alert us to a condition that could be fatal. C. S. Lewis wrote that "pain is God speaking through a megaphone to a world that is not listening".

We are not easily reconciled to the fact that we will experience pain in this world...even profound pain...and everyone does, though we imagine that there are these "beautiful people" who do not. It isn't true, despite the images that the media and advertising industry throw our way. God's truth in scripture teaches us over and over that we will have our share of pain, but that he still is good and that he loves us more than we can imagine. He teaches us that there is meaning and purpose for the pains we experience as we live in a fallen world. Pain is productive, though it doesn't feel like it to us when we are going through it.

Somehow we need to grasp and internalize the reality of 2 Cor 4:17-18: "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen."

Notice the juxtapositions here: momentary...eternal; light...weight; affliction...glory. Then notice the word "produce". Finally notice that we become conscious of these very real connections of opposites only when we "look" at our situation from a particular perspective...looking with a set of eyes that sees into the invisible realm. This kind of sight is essential if we are going to move beyond being victims of life to being victors in life...without becoming obnoxiously triumphal! Pain is real. Pain is hard. Don't go looking for pain...it will find you on its own. But, pain itself is not our enemy.

I am convinced that displacing the inferior supreme goal of self-protection that gets lodged in our souls must be disrupted and displaced by the power of the Holy Spirit in order for us to be and progressively become our truest selves...the genuine persons that Jesus came to save and display to creation. This is a practical way to think of and apply our need for co-crucifixion and resurrection with Jesus. If we cooperate with this agenda of the heavenly Father for our lives, then we will be able to slough off our childish, sinful and non-integrous "strongholds" that we have patterned ourselves to hide behind. We will be able to forgive as we have been forgiven because we realize that another human being cannot thwart our goal of life...no matter what they have done or not done. (Larry Crabb expounds on this as it relates to marriage problems in his classic book, The Marriage Builder.) We will cast off our energy-draining false selves...all the lies and foolish inner vows; the overuse of our strengths; the silly ways we try to mimic others instead of being comfortable in our own skin.

As the Holy Spirit brings his timely and compassionate exposure of our childish ways of coping...especially through the Word of God and the people of God...the invisible walls (like a Star Trek force field) we've activated since our youth will gradually, and sometimes dramatically, dissolve. As we settle our controversy with our great and good Father in heaven regarding why he has given us such longings, allowed them to be thwarted, reinforced to us that only he can fully satisfy our desperate thirst, but that we will have to wait for their full satisfaction until a future time (though he strategically provides substantial tokens of the reality of this promise that makes living in sin a boring and unsatisfactory proposition)...new dimensions of our hearts will come alive to receive the Father's love, return this love back to him and then receive more of it again so that it can flow freely though us to other people of all kinds.

We will begin to "walk in love" and the guidance and faith we so often fret over to "get from God" will catch us up in its current. If we love, we know God and we do his highest will...it becomes naturally-supernatural.

Gal 5:5-7 "For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?"