I can't believe this is our last night on our last verse of the Romans Road. I feel that I have shortchanged this week's verse due to the Easter holiday and the associated traveling. But tonight, back at home, I am compelled to linger on it a bit and let the complete message of this verse sink in and become embedded in my heart.
Can we feel Paul's compelling exhortation to us to offer our earthly bodies in acts of sacrifice for God's glory? Paul certainly had done this at the time of the writing of this letter to the Romans and would continue to do so...up to the very moment of his death at the hands of his executioners.
I'm reminded of Paul's recital of how he had suffered in his devotion to the message of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28, "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches."
I have no doubt that when Paul's life finally ended with his beheading by the Romans under Nero's rule, that he had absolutely no regret in the way in which he had lived his life, because he knew that what he had endured in no way compared to what God had prepared for him in eternity. Paul had such conviction of his future in the "then", that nothing would stand in his way of doing whatever was asked of him in the "now."
Sometimes we tell ourselves that given the big choices ("Deny Christ or die!"), we would certainly stand firm..but as reminded in an online conversation of just this evening, it is often the smaller, everyday choices where we opt to withhold our sacrifice. I really think that is more of what Paul is talking about in our verse that we're focusing on this week. For it is in these daily sacrifices that we show our continual worship of our Lord.
It is in the sacrifice of doing what our inner selfishness is driving us away from, that we show that we have accepted a Master other than self.
It is in the sacrifice of esteeming others as more important than ourselves that we show that we have adopted the attitude described in Philippians 2:1-5, "Are you cheerful because you belong to Christ? Does his love comfort you? Is the Holy Spirit your companion? Has Christ been gentle and loving toward you? Then make my joy complete by agreeing with each other. Have the same love. Be one in spirit and purpose. Don't do anything only to get ahead. Don't do it because you are proud. Instead, be free of pride. Think of others as better than yourselves. None of you should look out just for your own good. You should also look out for the good of others."
Living lives of such self-sacrifice is the way in which we truly show our worship of our merciful and loving God. It is an entirely opposite lifestyle of the worldly. It is the way God sets His people apart.
So we have completed our travel down the Romans Road...are you confident in your ability to travel down it with a companion who doesn't know the way?
Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 5:8 - "But God proves His own love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 10:9 - "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Romans 12:1 - "Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship."
It's a road of truth and a road of redemption. And a road to be followed the rest of our lives. We don't just make a quick stop on this road, and then travel the rest of our lives down our own predetermined routes. No, the Romans Road is a road that once we start down, we must follow to its final destination...our eternal home. And we can have full assurance, just as Paul did, that whatever the road brings in this life, the destination will be fully worth the trip!
Can we feel Paul's compelling exhortation to us to offer our earthly bodies in acts of sacrifice for God's glory? Paul certainly had done this at the time of the writing of this letter to the Romans and would continue to do so...up to the very moment of his death at the hands of his executioners.
I'm reminded of Paul's recital of how he had suffered in his devotion to the message of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28, "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches."
I have no doubt that when Paul's life finally ended with his beheading by the Romans under Nero's rule, that he had absolutely no regret in the way in which he had lived his life, because he knew that what he had endured in no way compared to what God had prepared for him in eternity. Paul had such conviction of his future in the "then", that nothing would stand in his way of doing whatever was asked of him in the "now."
Sometimes we tell ourselves that given the big choices ("Deny Christ or die!"), we would certainly stand firm..but as reminded in an online conversation of just this evening, it is often the smaller, everyday choices where we opt to withhold our sacrifice. I really think that is more of what Paul is talking about in our verse that we're focusing on this week. For it is in these daily sacrifices that we show our continual worship of our Lord.
It is in the sacrifice of doing what our inner selfishness is driving us away from, that we show that we have accepted a Master other than self.
It is in the sacrifice of esteeming others as more important than ourselves that we show that we have adopted the attitude described in Philippians 2:1-5, "Are you cheerful because you belong to Christ? Does his love comfort you? Is the Holy Spirit your companion? Has Christ been gentle and loving toward you? Then make my joy complete by agreeing with each other. Have the same love. Be one in spirit and purpose. Don't do anything only to get ahead. Don't do it because you are proud. Instead, be free of pride. Think of others as better than yourselves. None of you should look out just for your own good. You should also look out for the good of others."
Living lives of such self-sacrifice is the way in which we truly show our worship of our merciful and loving God. It is an entirely opposite lifestyle of the worldly. It is the way God sets His people apart.
So we have completed our travel down the Romans Road...are you confident in your ability to travel down it with a companion who doesn't know the way?
Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 5:8 - "But God proves His own love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 10:9 - "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Romans 12:1 - "Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship."
It's a road of truth and a road of redemption. And a road to be followed the rest of our lives. We don't just make a quick stop on this road, and then travel the rest of our lives down our own predetermined routes. No, the Romans Road is a road that once we start down, we must follow to its final destination...our eternal home. And we can have full assurance, just as Paul did, that whatever the road brings in this life, the destination will be fully worth the trip!
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has known what God has prepared for those who love him."
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