Past, present, and future blessing

[Romans 8:1-2, 14-18]

Among the blessings that God has given to us Christians in Jesus Christ, I heard the word through our church retired pastor last Wednesday prayer meeting that the three blessings shown in Romans 8:1-2 and 14-18. The three blessings are past blessing, present blessing, and future blessing. I want to meditate on these three blessings again.

First, what is the past blessing? It is that there is now no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus.

Look at Romans 8:1 – “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The Scripture says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What does it mean? In order to understand this word, we need to know the meaning of the word “condemnation.” The original Greek word for the word, “κατάκριμα,” is a court term and refers to conviction. We are the people who were condemned for Adam's transgression in Genesis (Rom. 5:16, 18). In other words, because of Adam's disobedience, his sin was imputed to all mankind (v. 12). And because we were all born in sin and live with our sins, God, the Judge, condemned us all in the court of law. In the end, we had no choice but to die forever (v. 21). However, Jesus, the second or last Adam, came to this earth and obeyed God's will until the death of the cross, so that all of us who believe in Jesus can now be justified (v. 16). In other words, the righteousness of Jesus was imputed to us who believed in Jesus, and we became righteous in God's sight (v. 19). Therefore, you and I, who have become righteous by believing in Jesus, can never be condemned. Why is there no condemnation for us who believe in Jesus? Paul explains why in Romans 8:2 - “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” The specific reason why there is no condemnation for us who believe in Jesus is that you and I have been set free from the law of sin and death. In other words, even though before we believed in Jesus, as slaves of sin (6:17), we sinned against God by offering our members to impurity and lawlessness, and in the end we had no choice but to die, but now , after we believe in Jesus by God’s grace, we are no longer slaves of sin, but slaves of righteousness, not death, but eternal life. In other words, God the Holy Spirit, who has been living in us since we believed in Jesus, replaced the law that produced only sin and death with a new law. That new law is “the law of the Spirit of life” (8:2). The core of these two laws is that the law of sin and death is based on human merit, and the law of the Holy Spirit is based on grace. In other words, the Jews wanted to be justified by God through human merit by thoroughly keeping the law. We can also refer to this as the law of conduct. However, in Romans 3:27, Paul speaks of “a law of faith.” It means that we can be justified by God only through faith in Jesus Christ. This law of faith is the law of grace. The reason is because even faith is a gift of God's grace. And this law of faith is “the law of the Spirit” (8:2). The reason is because the Holy Spirit has made us accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior through hearing and understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a result, you and I have gained eternal life. This is the blessing we received in the past in Christ Jesus.

Second, what is the present blessing? It is that we are being led by the Spirit of God.

Look at Romans 8:14 – “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Those who are in Christ Jesus are those who have received eternal life. God's love has been poured out through the Holy Spirit within us who have received eternal life (5:5). Therefore, we no longer have to fear the spirit of bondage, but have received the spirit of adoption, so we can cry out to God, “Abba, Father” (8:15). The indwelling Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (v. 16). We are God's children and God's heirs (v. 17). Therefore, we are now being led by the Spirit of God (v. 14). Now the Holy Spirit is guiding us down the narrow path. Although all those who have received the fearful spirit of bondage have entered through the great gate that leads to destruction and are walking on the broad road, we, the children of God who have received the spirit of adoption, have entered through the narrow gate following the guidance of the Holy Spirit and are walking on the narrow path (Mt. 7:13, Lk. 13:24). The narrow path is the path Jesus walked. The narrow way is the way of the cross. The narrow way is the way of suffering. The Holy Spirit is now making us suffer with Jesus in order to be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:17). This is God's grace. Look at Philippians 1:29 – “For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” Those who have received the spirit of the fearful servant not only do not believe in Jesus, but also cannot believe in Him. Therefore, not only do they not suffer for Jesus' sake, but they cannot suffer. And they do not know that it is grace to suffer for Jesus' sake. However, those of us who have received eternal life in Christ Jesus not only know that believing in Jesus is God's total grace, but also that suffering for Jesus is God's great grace. Therefore, like Paul, we not only want to know that we are participating in the sufferings of Christ (Phil. 3:10), but also want to bear on our body the mark of Jesus (Gal. 6:17). Therefore, we suffer with the gospel according to the power of God (2 Tim.1:8). Also, we suffered and endured for doing good (1 Pet. 2:20). We suffer for the kingdom of God (2 Thess. 1:5). When we are suffering, we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Rom. 8:26). Therefore, the Holy Spirit enables us to endure our suffering (2 Cor. 1:6). Furthermore, the Holy Spirit enables us to rejoice in participating in the sufferings of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 4:13). This is the present blessing we are currently enjoying in Christ Jesus.

Third and last, what is the future blessing? It is the glory that will be revealed to us in the future.

Look at Romans 8:18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The present sufferings that apostle Paul is talking about here refers to the sufferings we must suffer together in order to be glorified with Christ as children of God and joint heirs with Christ (v. 17). Then, what suffering do we have to go through with Jesus? That is persecution (Mt. 5:10-12, Jn. 15:21, 2 Tim. 3:12). The persecution we suffer because of Jesus is the suffering that you and I must endure together with Jesus. For example, the persecution means that we are hated by the world (Jn. 15:18-21), that we are being insulted by the world because of Jesus (Mt. 5:11), and that people falsely say all kinds of evil against us because of Jesus (v. 11), etc. Why do you and I, the children of God, have to suffer these hardships? Why? Apostle John says: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you” (Jn. 15:19). In other words, the reason we have to suffer is because we do not belong to the world, but rather are chosen by God from the world. The reason we must suffer is because we are God's children. In other words, since we are God's children and co-heirs with Christ, we must suffer together in order to be glorified with Him (Rom 8:16-17). These present suffering is not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us (v. 18). Why is Paul writing a letter to the Roman saints like this? What is its purpose? John Calvin says: ‘Here the apostle is not comparing suffering and the worthiness of glory but comparing it with the size of glory (to appear), so as to lighten the weight of the cross and to make the hearts of the faithful saints persevere’ (Calvin). Therefore, when we suffer because of Jesus, we can lighten the weight of the cross by looking forward to the glory that will be revealed in the future. Then, what glory will be revealed to us in the future that cannot be compared with our present suffering? We can think of it in 2 ways:

The glory to be revealed to us in the future is to be set free from slavery to corruption.

Look at Romans 8:21 – “that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Paul writes a letter to the saints in Rome, exhorting them to persevere in the current suffering while talking about the anxious longing of the creation (v. 19). Here, “creation” refers to all things in the world, excluding humans. And Paul says that the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God. Why does the creation look forward to the revealing of the sons of God? The reason is that when God's children participate in God's glory, creation will also be set free from the slavery to corruption" (v. 21). This means that just as you and I, the children of God, will be completely liberated from sin and its effects when Jesus returns, all things (creatures) in the world will also be liberated from the slavery to corruption. Just as sin entered the world through the first Adam's disobedience and eventually all sinned and resulted in death (5:12), the creation was also cursed because of one man Adam’s transgression. Look at Gensis 3:17b-18a: “… Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; …” The creatures that were cursed because of the first Adam's sin, subjected to futility (v. 20), and all creation groaned and suffered the pains of childbirth together until now (v. 22). Among such groaning and suffering, there is something that creation eagerly awaits, and that is, on the day of Jesus' return, the Lord will make all things new (Rev. 21:5). No longer will all things be under the curse of the first Adam. Being freed from that curse, creation will no longer be enslaved to corruption. With this hope, the creation groans and endures and perseveres even in pain. This is by no means the hope of only the creatures (of all things in the world). When the Lord renews all things, not only the creation but also you and I, the children of God, will be freed from death, the result of sin, and will no longer be enslaved to death. Not only will we enjoy complete freedom from sin, but we will enjoy eternal freedom from the effects of sin, death. This is the freedom of the glory of the children of God (v. 21) that we, in part, now enjoy. Therefore, according to Paul's admonition, we must persevere in the present sufferings while looking forward to the glory that will appear in the future, which is incomparable to our present sufferings.

The glory to be revealed to us is the redemption of our body.

Look at Romans 8:23 – “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” It is not just all things in the world groaning and waiting for the return of Jesus. Even we ourselves groan inwardly because of our sins and wait for the return of Jesus. The reason is that when Jesus comes again, we will enjoy the glory of resurrection, which is the redemption of our body, that is, the adoption of complete liberation from sin. This is the glory that you and I, the children of God, will enjoy in the future. This is the glory of God (5:2). The glory of God that we hope for is that on the day of Jesus’ return, we will be suddenly transformed (1 Cor. 15:51), no longer dishonored (v. 43), no longer weak (v. 43), imperishable and immortality (v. 54) and our body will be conform with the body of His glory (Phil. 3:21). Apostle Peter refers to this as the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Our sure and joyful hope is to fully participate in the character of Jesus, who is God. God the Holy Spirit who already dwells in us is sanctifying us who are justified so that we may participate in the character of Jesus. Although we are not perfect now, on the day Jesus returns, we will fully participate in the character of the Lord. This is the future blessing we will enjoy in Christ Jesus.