Paul tells us the law of the Spirit has set us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. This is the light shining out of darkness to which Paul refers in the above passage. It is the agape love we discussed from John 21 sometime ago. After a breakfast on the beach with some of the disciples, the resurrected Jesus takes a walk with Peter, the apostle John following close behind. This short dialogue in John 21 is very revealing about agape love. The Greek word Jesus uses for love is very different from the Greek word Peter uses responding to Jesus in this short dialogue.

“God incarnate” is an amazing truth. We may read this phrase and simply understand the concept of God in flesh without grasping the Divine provisions. It’s about the treasure we now possess in these jars of clay revealing the surpassing power of life and circumstances are belonging to God and not to us! It is not just about God, it is about you and me, it’s about we human people being in Christ Jesus participating in His divine fellowship, participating in His glory and holiness … before we get to heaven!

We gave limited context to “The Way” in our last GraceNotes referring to the group of Jesus believers who were originally worshiping inside the Jewish faith. These Jewish believers knew God’s Old Testament ways and expected Jesus to be the Messiah, the King of Israel. This was their Hope!

The Body of Christ is the unique group of believers who accept Jesus as both a person as well as the Son of God. This is what is biblically described as the “new covenant,” separated from Old Testament Jewish believers who understand God under the law of the Old Testament. These “born-again” believers, after the resurrection of Jesus, were originally seen as part of the Jewish faith but eventually were separated and became identified by people who believed in “the way.”

It has been over a year since we breached Jesus’ words in Mark 9:49. This mystery of Godliness reveals within us the continuing purging of our sinful clay bodies with God’s righteous decree that “everyone will be salted with fire.” This is our Lord’s way of taking us deeper and deeper into His grace and agape love! We are justified by faith and disciplined by His grace because, for one thing, we are being prepared for an eternal weight of glory!!!

We just completed a discussion on Romans 8 where Paul discloses identity and the character of a person who is “Born-Again.” What does it mean to be Born-Again? Well, one of many meanings is receiving a spiritual “power of discernment.”

The agape love of Christ pervades the entire scripture both Old Testament and New. “The love of Christ” is indispensable not only to divine doctrine and our faith, not only to Romans 8, but to us personally. We are in Christ Jesus; He is our very essence; we are rooted in Jesus’ love. The grace of the Holy Spirit is even now equipping us in His agape love, so that, we may glorify the Father through His Son Jesus.

Paul completed his Romans doctrinal statement on justification by faith with verse 30! He lays out how we have obtained access into God’s grace, in which we now stand, by faith, with admittance into His very own glory. We are to consider ourselves dead to sin, alive in Jesus Himself, because sin has no more dominion over us. We are in the Spirit and not in the flesh because Christ Jesus, in fact, dwells in us. He predestined us; He called us; He justified us; He glorified us!

Each time we sit down to consider Romans 8 we are whisked into God’s agape love. The Holy Spirit is revealing God’s own challenge for our Faith to flourish in Him.

The Holy Spirit carries us into the core, where we sense the pith of our Father God reaching down into our created dust to share Himself through the image of His resurrected Son, Jesus … into us! Forming together, both flesh and blood, into which He has beathed, not just life, but His own Life a second time; it is His glory exciting our palate. Taste and see!

We have slowed down our walk through this section of scripture. Many things disclosed in scripture are not obvious on a first read. Our Holy Spirit ministers and reveals mysteries into our heart when we are disposed to agape love Him and seek His heart.

A case in point is verse 28 which is also tied to the beginning of verse 29 with “For those whom he foreknew.” Obviously, those whom He foreknew are related to the “all things” that work together for good for these are the very ones he foreknew; they are included in God’s own purpose and is part of the “mystery” of His will.

The Arizona sky this evening was heavily dotted with light clouds reflecting a western sunset of colors, mostly orange. It is one of the things Arizona provides in addition to a summer heat! It was a glorious sight, reminding one that God’s plan and purpose is current and in effect; He is in charge; you and I are His sons and daughters! This is exactly what our scripture is telling us; His purpose is established; it is in effect and on schedule! We are “the firstborn of many brothers” and our sunset is a reminder!

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for saints according to the will of God.

For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed into us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed into us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth even to now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

As we move into this section, we must connect with what proceeds because “For” establishes this connection “for” us. We are dealing with the change in our identity from fleshly mortality into Spiritual eternality of our righteous life in Jesus, who loved me and “gave himself for me.” Since we have been “born-again,” we now are in the Spirit, sons of God with an intimate relationship with our Abba! Father! Amen?

How amazing is this! This scripture is totally different than what we might think we would read in God’s Word! And it does mean exactly what it says!

The fact is, we are not in the flesh! A believer has the literal Spirit of Jesus living within his own person and is no longer ruled by a fallen human nature! We have been made alive by the living presence of our resurrected Jesus and released from the power of flesh. We are no longer in the flesh, but rather, we are in Christ Jesus. Paul continues to repeat this message because it is so crucial to our Spiritual understanding and because our human experience contradicts God’s declared truth. We are redeemed; we are God’s purchased possession!