“AND THE WILL OF GOD?”

            Epistle: Romans 8:1–4 ¹There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

            Law is a good thing, without law we would be ruled through bedlam and chaos.  Some might think that if we did not have law we would have complete freedom.  The problem with that thought is answered in our history.  The many civilizations that did not have God’s law, and were indeed bred from chaos still had a form of law.  Each tribal leader throughout our history led through their personal desires.  Now that could be bad or it could be good depending on the tribal leader.  A lot of times life in these chaos ruled times existed somewhere between good and bad, a lot of times it was bad, and sometimes it was very bad.  The strange thing about being ruled by chaos and desires was that it was never completely good.  Even for the tribal leader who ruled by their desires it was never good because there was always another leader in wait for the time they could murder the one in charge and take over the tribe for themselves.  You see, there was always law because God wrote it on our hearts and minds.

            Jeremiah 31:33 ³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

            Hebrews 8:10  ¹⁰  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord:  I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts,  and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

            Hebrews 10:16  ¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord:  I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”

            When God is speaking of the flesh He is speaking of not only the sins that involve the flesh He is also speaking of any and all sinful desires.  Sins of the flesh is another way of saying sins of selfish desires.  There are many things in life that we desire and sometimes they might not appear to us as sin.  We can take something that would normally not be sin and turn it to sin through our sinful desires.  Drinking alcohol is not a sin but drinking too much alcohol is.  Being rich is not a sin, but the obsession of being rich is.  Eating is not a sin but when it turns to gluttony then it becomes sin.  Having knowledge is not a sin but thinking we could be equal to God because we have the knowledge of all good and evil is sin.  Having flesh is not sin, and partaking of God’s design of sensuality with your husband or wife is not a sin but taking our sensuality out of what God has designed is sin.  Being God’s creation is not a sin, but going against the design of God’s creation is. 

            Genesis 1:27 ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

            Isaiah 40:7 ⁷The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.

            Matthew 19:4 ⁴He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

            Ephesians 2:10 ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

            God’s law was made to raise us up to be His people, so therefore the law is good for Jew, Greek, and all nations under the sun.  But we are nothing more than children in that our desires take over our thoughts and we rebel against God’s law.  Now here is the problem, without discerning the consequences of our actions we rebel through mindlessness not considering whether or not what we are about to do is against God’s will for us. We are prisoners of our desires, captive to our flesh, and incarcerated by our sin.

            Epistle: Romans 8:9–11 ⁹You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

            Although the body is dead because of sin, we are also reborn of the Spirit through Christ Jesus our appointed Savior from God.  We have the law which helps curtail our sinful nature though not good enough to give us entry into eternal life.  God gives us grace and mercy through His only begotten Son who fulfills the law because we can’t. 

            Now fulfilling the law is really two parts.  The first part of fulfilling the law was to give what the law demands of all sinners and that is the punishment of eternal death.  Christ through His love for the Father and for us chose to suffer this death and defeated Satan and this death forever and ever.

            Revelation 12:7-11 Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

            The second part of fulfilling the law is that the law was designed to be followed perfectly and therefore gives all of God’s children eternal life.  But the children cannot follow the law perfectly.  So it is that Christ came and took upon Himself the sins of the world forgiving us our sin that all believers in Christ could have eternal life.

            God through Christ did what the law, weakened by our flesh/desire, could not do.  The law could not complete and fulfill the will of our God.  And, what is the will of God?  His great and awesome will is to give us the gifts of grace, mercy, forgiveness and everlasting love, life and relationship with Him.  Amen.