Fallen. Redeemed. Called.
As the leader of my home and a person of influence at work I find it difficult to lead at times. I wonder, is it worth it? The short answer; yes, it is worth it. As believers, we are called to do everything with excellence. We are to do our jobs at the best of our ability. We are to love and cherish every moment with our family. I find that too often I forget that I am loved by a Holy God that placed me in my positions of influence both at home and at work. I think to not feel overwhelmed by leading others through difficult situations we must first look at why it is so difficult.
Sin and rebellion run deep in the core of our being. It is a generational curse that was inherited to us from Adam and Eve, the first man and woman. We are spiritually dead and in need of help. We cannot do it on our own; we know this because we have tried and failed day after day. Paul in his letter to the Romans reminds us of the sin debt that we all have in the natural world, the remedy for the curse which is justification through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and the identity of new life we find in Him, the relationships we have with each other, and the culture in which we find ourselves.
The Natural World
The curse began with Adam yet all humanity shares in the sinful nature of the world. We have chosen to seek after things that please ourselves and figuratively shake our fists at God and say “I’m going to do it my way.” We are a hopeless people in a disastrous mess. As we read in Romans, humanity has chosen to worship created things instead of the God who created all things (Romans 1:25). Humanity has given themselves over to sinful and rebellious behaviors left to their own devices deserving death ( Romans 1:32). The Romans were known in the ancient world for conquering other civilizations and making them assimilate to Roman laws and practices. When they conquered these civilizations they took their gods and placed them in Roman temples. Today, we still give into the desires of our hearts just like the audience of Rome that Paul is writing to. Paul, being a Roman citizen knew the culture and pressures of society in regards to practicing in sin and idol worship. Our hearts are “idol factories” that need to be reconciled to the Righteous God. We need to experience what the Puritan, Thomas Chalmers, called “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection;” that affection being Jesus Christ.
Human Identity
As we continue to read in Romans, Paul communicates that all humans fall into certain categories: Saved or Unsaved, Jew or Gentile. He argues that all humanity has become trapped in a spiral sin of selfishness and have distorted “good things” and have made them into “god things.” We know from the Book of Exodus, that God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai for God’s chosen people, the Israelites. God did not show this Law to anyone else at this point. Paul says that even though the Law was not given to the Gentiles, they are still condemned to die. The gravity of the issue is that whether Jew or Gentile we all fall short of the glory of God ( Romans 3:23). Paul seems to elude that the Jews have taken the Torah, which is a good thing and added many laws to prevent them from sinning against God. In doing so, they actually became more guiltily, because they made the Law even more impossible to keep. Enter Jesus. The resolution to the problem of sin, is in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul tells his readers that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and that He (Jesus) did not come to contradict the Torah, but to fulfill it. The only way to escape eternal death and separation from God is justification through Jesus who offers Himself as the offering for substitutionary atonement. Our identity should be found in Christ, and our defense and anthem should be “Jesus in my place.”
Human Relationships
The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that there is “nothing new under the sun” (1:9). Every sin we see committed in scripture is also committed today. We are prone to wander and isolate ourselves because of the desire to be comfortable in our circumstance. Relationships are difficult because it takes intentionality to speak to someone else. It takes time to invest in another person. God created us to live in community. By example, God, Creator of the universe desires to have a relationship with us. We see from Genesis to Revelation that He is pursuing us. If God is pursuing us, in our helpless state, why is it difficult for us to love others? In the book of Matthew, Jesus states the commandments could be narrowed down to two commands, “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and love your neighbor as yourself” (22:37,39). We see throughout scripture that God’s purpose was to always have a multiethnic family. We see the Gospel of Jesus spreading to every nation, tribe and tongue. One day-we will be unified, but until that day we pray for unity (Romans 3).
Culture
Our culture is deeply confused. Adam and all humanity after him have chosen sin (Romans 5:12). Paul tells us there is hope for us all. Jesus is the “New Adam,” and offers us the choice to continue to live for ourselves or choose to live a new life empowered by the Holy Spirit. In his letter, Paul is writing to those that are being oppressed by the ruler Caesar. Caesar has declared himself to be the god and savior to his kingdom and placed a statue of himself in the Roman temple to be worshiped. Similarly, we see that in our own society. As mentioned before, our hearts are “idol factories” and when we put something or someone in the “God-Shaped” hole in our hearts we lose sight of the beauty that is Christ. God is working to renew His creation where His love gets the last beautiful word.
If we look at the book of Romans chapters 1-8 with a magnifying glass, we see time and time again, where Israel failed – Jesus succeeded. We see God’s great mission to “Rescue, Redeem and Restore” the entire universe that has been lost due to sin. We see that our natural world is cursed and is groaning for redemption. We find that our identity should be found in Christ and not in things that do not satisfy our souls groaning for a Savior. Paul reminds us of the relationship that God desires with all humanity and that we too should seek community and be unified together in Christ. Lastly, our culture has always been at war with reconciliation and fleeing after the desires of created versus Creator. There is hope, Jesus condemned our sin onto His flesh so through death on the cross. We are heirs with Christ, we too will be glorified by our Father in heaven (Romans 8:16).
Every trial, every situation and decision you face either builds upon or takes away from your character. God is building you into the leader He wants you to be. When you seek Him you do not labor in vain. Pray that God will remind you of His goodness and that your identity can be found in Him. Press On.
