{Friends of Radius} The Romance of Romans-Part 102

[Michael]

The Romance of Romans-Part 102
Romans Chapter 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:

What stands out to me in this little paragraph of Romans 15 is how
vital it is for us to continually possess hope in our lives. Paul says
here that the aim of all the Scriptures, and our Father's primary
intent on providing them for us, is that we might "have hope". In
Colossians 1-5a the apostle states, "We give thanks to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we
heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the
saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.... The
implication here is that hope is the fountainhead of both faith and
love...the three virtues of a life lived in the Spirit that receive
special attention throughout the New Testament writings. Paul seems to
say that if we possess this hope, then both faith and love will
naturally and obviously spring forth from it.

Hope is always about our expectations of the future. And...our
expectation of the future continually affects our convictions,
perspectives, attitudes, decisions, emotions, actions and reactions in
the present. Can you personally identify with this connection? Having
a Christ-centered hope is about having a genuine, under-girding and
confident optimism about our lives in the future...a kind of life that
is truly inexpressibly..FULL...of love, beauty, peace, harmony,
understanding, purpose, satisfaction, joy and well-being. No more
tears (as in ripping); no more tears (as in what flows from our eyes).
This life will be lived in the very presence and fully displayed power
of God with his entire eternal family in a renewed heavens and earth
in which the tension between the invisible and visible aspects of
God's magnificent creation will be forever relaxed.

The circumstances of our lives in the future very often stand in stark
and harsh contrast to the circumstances of our lives in this fallen
age. The circumstances of Jesus' earthly life are an example for us to
look to regarding what we will encounter as we follow him in our
earthly life. He experienced rejection and injustice in this
world...though, paradoxically, he also walked in the joy of his
Father's approval...and we also will have our share of the same. Yet,
the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures will supply for us the knowledge,
patience and comfort we will need to not give up on this life or the
people in our world...and especially...our unshakable belief in the
goodness of God. Hope informs us that there is redemptive divine
purpose for and profound meaning to all of our sufferings and sorrows.
We foresee...by the power of hope...that it will be worth it all.

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