Author: missionspaul

Let me tell you about my week last week. But first …

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life inChrist Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

The saddest part of my week last week was sitting down with a preacher and his wife as he confessed to being a serial adulterer. His marriage was dying, his ministry had died, his credibility, testimony and trust had died and his children’s relationship with him was dying and would die as they grew up to realise their father was not the man they thought he was.

I sat in the place of death, it stank, it was depressing, it was the wages of sin.

The best part of my week last week was hearing once again of one of my churches that in the last 18 months has grown from zero to 30 people on a Sunday. I was told of a young couple who had just committed their lives to Christ and were being baptised (this church has had more baptisms in the last 18 months than it had for a decade!) and opening their home for a small life group to be held there. As I listened my heart was encouraged listening to the gift of God and the eternal life being experienced in that place right now.

Because God did we do.

Oh! to be like Thee, oh! to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Can you imagine Christians experiencing this? Can you imagine a different global Church than the one we see now?

Can you imagine a Church that does not grieve the Holy Spirit set in the context of how we treat one another?

Can you imagine a Church that copies God and loves like He loved us at the cross?

Can you imagine a Church which pleases the Lord?

Can you imagine a Church that truly knows the will of the Lord rather than what benefits it?

Can you imagine a Church filled with the Spirit?

Can you imagine this for you?

Two years ago as we entered into the lockdown I wrote this prayer for the Church. It is still my prayer as we are emerging out of this season.

We want to move not drift.

We want to step into purpose not be stuck in the default.

Renew us for radical mission.

Reform us to unlock the possibility.

We commit to the pathway of the gospel.

We commit to carry the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We come down from the victorious mountain to the valley of compassion.

And as we do we ask for the renewal of the 5-fold ministries so that the lives of men and women, young and old, are equipped and the body of Christ is built.

We are in times of:-

Clarity so open our eyes

Urgency so open our doors

Flexibility so open our stubborn hearts

Opportunity so open our understanding

This is YOUR time

This is HARVEST time

This is the SPIRIT time

This is OUR time.

We are ready to change

We are ready for a new Kingdom positioning

We are ready for the advance

You call our name and we say YES to your call.

Amen.

My desire is for that prayer to be answered; for the formation of Christ to be seen and known in our lives and for the Churches to emerge transformed from this lockdown season.

It was Paul’s desire:

^“I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6 v 19-23)

What are we pursuing? How are we offering ourselves?

I know a Church which is sadly losing members weekly. They are resigning and walking away from their friends and ministries because the Church no longer provides for their needs. They might have good reasons to feel this way but their actions are not justified.

We need to stop pursuing through manipulation our personal gain and benefit.

We need to stop promoting ourselves as being the most important.

It is hard to be a slave of righteousness when I am the centre of attraction.

If being a slave to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness is in other words living a life where I am focused on Me. Then being a slave of righteousness is when I am focused on Him.

What would it look like if every decision a Christian made was not for their gain but for Jesus Christ and other people? Why can’t we resign gain to the place of being freely blessed, a grace favour, rather than something we have grabbed, desperately manipulated for or made a prophetic grab at? We could and if we did then perhaps we would see holiness and eternal life.

Be careful today is April 1^st! The world celebrates April Fool’s day. No one knows why though they speculate, however, many will try to play tricks, pranks and jokes on one another today. Even on broadcasts such as in 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees. Not everything you see and hear today is accurate so be careful!

But let me tell you what is true, accurate and as relevant today as the first day it happened.

Jesus Christ has set you free. There is an eternal declaration in heaven and hell, written in the blood of Jesus Christ that says, “The sinner is officially free.”

When was it made? At the empty tomb.

How was it made? At the cross of Jesus Christ.

God has declared the believing sinner righteous in Christ on the basis of the finished work on the cross.

It isn’t a process it is an act on a given day.

God does not make us righteous He declares we are.

You are free.

From every power of sin, the flesh, the world and anything the devil will throw at you.

You are free from every addiction.

You are free from every fear.

You are free from all guilt and shame.

You are free from your past.

You are free in the present.

You are free tomorrow.

Whether you feel this or not it does not matter. It is a binding contract, an act of God, it is true, sustaining and finished.

Now let’s read our next verses:

“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6 v 16-18)

Obedience is so important. But it doesn’t flow towards freedom it flows from freedom. It flows from what God did and has given. “Thanks be to God …” We “…used to be…” trapped, enslaved into a life of sin but we are not there anymore. Our allegiance was “claimed” and we live our life for Him from Him who has done it all.

Just before I wrote this blog this morning I was asking an African Church Planter where they lived because I was sending them a gift for the work. He told me where he was at that time but didn’t understand that I was wanting to know his home address linked to his Mobile Money account. Where he was and where he lived were different and it impeded him receiving the gift. Where you are and where you live can be different. Where you spend most of your time and where your home is can be different.

My address is not under the rule of the Law of God which only reminds me I am a sinner. My address is His grace, His unmerited favour. That’s where my home is. But the question is where do I live?

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6 v 12-14)

If my home is His grace why would I choose to live under the law?

Every day, I bring my mind, my words, my heart, my actions and indeed every part of me, as an offering to Him. For there are times when I find myself in a place/position where the surroundings are difficult. There are times when looking ahead to the weeks and months fills me with gloom. I wonder if I can get through those times that lie ahead. But what I have is today. Whatever takes place today I remind myself of my home address, the place where I truly live and I offer myself to my master, my Lord again knowing that I will need to do it again tomorrow and the day after.

God to enfold me,
God to surround me,
God in my speaking,
God in my thinking.

God in my sleeping,
God in my waking,
God in my watching,
God in my hoping.

God in my life,
God in my lips,
God in my soul,
God in my heart.

God in my sufficing,
God in my slumber,
God in mine ever-living soul,
God in mine eternity.

(Ancient Celtic oral traditions – Carmina Gadelica)

We have learnt how to accommodate fears and sins, addictions and anxiety because these things have a deceiving comfort by focusing on ourselves rather than living our lives in freedom which causes us to think of other people’s problems.
We have left Egypt but Egypt hasn’t left us. We decided to let go of things but things would not let go of us.
We are told we are free so why do we still feel chained to the past, to our fears, to our feelings?
How do we break free from this cycle?

“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6 v 8-11)

Every day I need to continually take what I know of the work of Christ and apply it to my life. This is the meaning of the word ‘count’ which is in the present tense. I must daily claim what Christ has done, for me and by doing so sin no longer characterises me but Christ’s work does.

There are times when we are more aware of our sin than our Saviour.
For vast periods of our lives we have been more aware of what is wrong with our lives than what is right.
Do you know? Do you truly know the impact of the cross?

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” (Romans 6 v 1-7)

In the previous section of this letter (chapter 5) Paul has told us how God has secured our salvation from His judgment in the future. But this is not suggesting all we do now is wait for that day to come. Paul rather moves into the impact of our relationship to God in the present.

Is it true we can live free? YES!

In using the illustration of baptism Paul is showing us the identification change that took place when we first started to follow Jesus.

“…don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

We were dipped into the same scene of the cross. There was blood, a slaughter, our crucifixion, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him…”

Crucial to our understanding is this: sin and death was not overpowering Jesus on the cross, Jesus was overpowering sin and death.

The blood of Jesus overpowered all fear.

The blood of Jesus justified us.

The blood of Jesus redeems from the hand of Satan.

The blood of Jesus totally forgives.

The blood of Jesus gives access to God.

That’s the scene: the overcoming of all fear, justification, redemption, forgiveness, access, freedom.

That’s the scene we were dipped into.

We then went where Jesus went. “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death…” We were dead.

Therefore, His resurrection then becomes our resurrection. His new life becomes ours. His power becomes our power.

Do we really know this?!

One of the privileges of my life has been to journey with church members and friends through their terminal illness into their death. They died as I will because that is what happens to us. We are in ADAM (it means man). Because we are human beings descended from the first genes of humanity we will all die. That’s an accepted fact.

But the privileges of my life that I refer to is seeing these church members and friends not die because they are in Adam but be made alive in Christ. They go through their death into Life because they are in Christ and were made new men and women, a new humanity.

The difference between dying in Adam and dying in Christ could not be more opposite.

This is the Gospel message. And when we are despairing of this life the most it is our greatest comfort.

The Apostle Paul is moving in his letter to expand more about the connections between the first ADAM/MAN and a second ADAM/MAN, Jesus Christ.

“Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5 v 18-21)

Adam committed a trespass by disobedience in the Garden.

Christ committed a righteous act by obedience (on the cross).

The result of Adam’s sin was that many were made sinners and were condemned.

The result of Christ’s righteous act is that many will be made righteous and be justified.

Why is this important to us?

When Adam/MAN disobeyed the law in the Garden that was every man taking that forbidden fruit. That was you. That was me.

BUT when Christ came as a man/ADAM and was placed on that cross that was also you and me. I have been crucified with Christ and raised 3 days later a new man in Christ.

This is the Gospel!

It is now over a month since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. However, it isn’t Russia as a nation who are being blamed but it is one man, Putin.

From one man has come such traumatic pain that it is hard to put into words what we are seeing and hearing.

I use this as a present-day illustration to show the damage a human being can make.

The Apostle Paul is using a historical and much greater illustration, that of one man/Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden, comparing this influence with that of one man/Jesus Christ:

“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Romans 5 v 15-17)

If so much damage came from the sin of one man/Adam then think of how much more impact and influence into the lives of people God has had through another man: Jesus Christ!

Sometimes we cannot help but dwell on the sin of the world and the destruction it brings. But “can you imagine the breath-taking recovery life makes, absolute life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?” (The Message) Let’s dwell on those words and know that God’s best met man’s worst in one man, Jesus Christ!

A question we have asked before and we get asked still today. What happens in terms of God’s judgment to those who have never heard the gospel? Paul is answering a similar question about those before the Law of Moses. I find it a difficult read in terms of its grammar but here it is:

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.” (Romans 5 v 12-14)

So if there is no Law then there can be no sin? So those before Moses, were they sinners? Yes says Paul.

He takes us back to the beginning. The Hebrew reader when hearing the name Adam is actually hearing “man” or “human being” because that is its meaning. It is helpful to them for from the first story of sin they see all have sinned, man died because of their sin, just as much as Adam the first man did.

The law that they broke before the Law (of Moses) was the eating from the tree of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.

The Law of Moses brought clarity to the extent and separation that sin brings from God. The Law was God stepping in to say look what man is doing, look how far short man has fallen and the resulting death and separation. The Law created an opportunity for change but it pointed to the change-maker. As did Paul dropping in the thought of Christ who Adam was a pattern of.

How would Christians live differently if they had complete assurance of their future? That there was no doubt whatsoever. God had already made up His mind about them and it was good news. Perhaps they would not feel the pressure to perform? Maybe their lives would be more peaceful and loving because of this knowledge that God had totally accepted them?

This is what the Apostle Paul is trying to deal with. He is writing about the hope that we have for our future state. He has said we can be sure because of the outpouring of the Spirit in our lives and the cross of Christ all demonstrating God’s love. But there’s more:

“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5 v 9-11)

Look what God has done for you? He has declared you innocent/justified and has removed the barrier between you and Him/reconciled you.

If God can do the hard work of bringing His enemies into relationship with Him through the cross of Christ then surely He can do the easier task of bringing us home. Paul is convinced, we will be saved! We was saved (I was saved in 1974!), we are being saved (our daily life) and we will be saved at our death.

Let’s boast about this.