The Invention of Lying

I'm not the biggest fan of Ricky Gervais I'll be honest. Seems like every character he plays is the same, and his jokes never really tickle me. So I was not especially hopeful at the release of this film.

The film in question is set in a world where lies do not exist. Everything is truthful. Therefore, everything is depressive. No-one is happy as far as this viewer could make out. When the first lie is coined however, the luck turns. Down-on-his-luck Mark (Gervais) invents the first lie, and suddenly he is a success, at his job, with his money. Not his love life as of yet.

What I did not expect in the film comes around one hour in. As Mark sits at the bedside of his dying mother, to supposedly comfort her fears of nothing in the afterlife, he invents a place of paradise, where all live happily ever after.

The twist of this of course is that apart from Mark, lies do not exist, and so the world soon catches on to what Mark has said, and demand to know more. And therefore, in a scene that most obviously parodies a scene that keen-Bible readers will recognise, Gervais' character stands before a crowd, with 10 directives on two folded pizza boxes, and he tells the world of the 'Man in the Sky', who not only averts disasters, but also causes them, and it is he who decides who lives and dies, and to get into this paradise, you must avoid doing three acts of wrongdoing (which only extends to extremes such as murder and rape, swearing and things do not count). Do one or two and you are all right, do three, and you face eternal punishment.

A whole religion is built around this idea, and Gervais' lies make his character rich and famous. Lies apparently, are a recipe for success, while just the truth depresses people. The fabrication and speculation of joy is merely an antidote to the depressing nature of truth. That is what this film promotes.

All the way through viewing this film, I found the plot an intriguing insight into the dominant secular ideology of the world. Truth is bad, lies soften you up and give you a good time before the inevitable, ignorance is bliss, so they say.

I wonder what you make of this?

As the film went on, my mind recalled the words of Jesus, as recorded in John's gospel, chapter eight, verse thirty two: "...you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

This comes at the end of Jesus speaking to some believers and telling them that if they trust in His word (the Bible), they will know the truth, and that truth will set them free.

It's interesting, the idea that the truth just depresses people, and that things like the Bible are lies to make people feel better. When in fact, when we see the truth of what the Bible says about the world, that we are fallen people in need of God's help, and that He has provided that help in Jesus' death on the cross, and we need ti trust in that help to be set free, we are indeed set free. That's the truth, and it is far from depressing. Truth frees us, and it is the gospel that is the truth that will truly set us free...

A Call to Biblical Manhood

During one of our many lake district trips in first year, there was a small disney section of a local shop, where Jo bought me a small Peter Pan figurine. I found it this morning as I was leaving the house, and I remembered why Peter Pan was selected. Not because it is incidently my favourite Disney movie, no. It was because I was (and I guess still am to a certain extent) just a big kid, frequenting toy shops, buying many a toy gun, and yeah, just basically acting childish. We bought Peter Pan as he was like me, a boy who never grew up.
And that is the way people want men to be now isn't it? Sat at home, doing nothing. The lazy man, the childish man, that is the man that most people want to be. The more femanine man perhaps. I don't know about you, but when I walk into a clothes shop nowadays, I find it increasingly harder to distinguish which section belongs to which gender. Men's sections are full of tight-fitting t-shirts, skinny jeans, cardigans (or mandigans as some of my CU friends call them). Even mankinis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankini#Men.27s_bikini), guyliner and manscara now exist (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039275/Introducing-Guy-liner-Manscara--new-metrosexual-make-just-men.html). Such products once exclusive to women are now part of a meterosexual culture.
A meterosexual is a man, who is heterosexual, but is feminised in his dress sense and indeed make up sense, and that seems to be the role model of today: people such as Russel Brand are today's heros. The place of a masculine man is falling.
What does the Bible think of this? Have a think for a second, what does it mean to you to be a Biblical man? Well, I will tell you.
Read Ephesians 5: 25-33: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."

To be a Biblical man, we must lead, self-sacrificially, just as Christ did for the church. It is not a time to be lazy, put on our manscara and stay playing the playstation all day. We are to lead as Christ led. To work hard, to build up those around us, to pray and study God's Word and encourage others. It is a hard job to be a man.

What needs to change in your life to glorify God as a man?

Living and speaking for Jesus

Up until the beginning of last year, I never thought of myself as a competative person. The sad truth is, I so am.
At the White Cross weekly pub quiz last night, as usual, I was striving to get all right, got cross when corrected, sulked when we got answers wrong, and felt a bit light headed afterwards (maybe two pints was a bit much). All in front of someone I did not know, whilst wearing a CU t shirt.
I confess I am a very prideful person (just count the amount of I's so far...), it's something I struggle with a lot actually: hating being wrong, hating being corrected, hating the fact I have to type this...
It's annoying, and it's wrong, it is typical human behaviour, wanting to be God instead of letting God do it, and to top it all, doing it in a very, very visible way.
I hate to lose, especially at something I consider myself good at, and I like to be in control, not being told what to do. However, I am not perfect, I am not God, I have to surrender my pride, nail it to the cross with Christ, and follow my Lord.
It isn't easy, and ironically enough, it really bugs me when other people do what I do, being prideful, putting people down. I do it all the time, and I hate it when others do it to. I'm a hypocrite, then again, to a point, most of us are. We hardly practice what we preach.
At the prayer supper that Moorlands holds the first Sunday evening of the month (last sunday) we looked at 1 Peter 2:9-12, which reads:

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

The big challenge that this passage presents is that God has chosen us as His people by sending Jesus to die for us, so we may proclaim Jesus, and live for Jesus by abstaining from worldly things such as drunkeness, sexual immorality, which of course is going to cause conflict for us. We are to mark ourselves by our behaviour as Christians, so that the non-believer may see us, and glorify God when Jesus comes back.
Now that is hard, and I think we're often focusing on one thing or the other. We're either seeking oppertunities to tell the gospel, but in practice not living as Jesus has called us to by His own blood, or we are trying to live for God, but not actually doing it so people may see it, or not telling people why we are doing it.
You'll find at university that you will be surrounded by so many people, and all eyes will be on you. It's natural, everyone is out for themselves. Plus, if your known as a Christian, they will be watching you to fall.
That is why it is imperative to remember the challenge of this passage, as the slogan of UCCF (Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship-the support group for University and college CU's throughout Britain) says, how they want to encourage students to live and speak for Jesus during their time at university.
If the book I am writing ever gets done, that is my aim too. As we have seen and I will constantly tell you, I am rubbish at both living and speaking for Jesus. I am a hypocrite who needs one to preach, and two to practice what he preaches most of the time! However, because of Jesus, I am made worthy by His blood, His grace alone, and I want you all to know the importance of living and speaking for Jesus, especially during your time at university. With God's help and strength, by His grace, how can you live and speak for Jesus today? What needs to change?
That is your challenge from the Bible.

Parentals

I'm on my third bike today, courtesy of the parentals. It's got a wing mirror! HOW COOL IS THAT??

I was in sainsbury's just over a week ago. My unfortunate timing meant that I was in there on campus moving in day, so the place was full of new freshers and their parents, their food supply being catered for for what seemed like all of their degree.
For the majority, the scenarios were the same: surly looking fresher, protesting again and again that they can take care of themselves, they are at uni now, they want to be independent, away from the chiding of fussing parents. While the flustered mums and dads pile their trolleys, and I even caught one dad shout "We are stocking you up till Christmas!"
We all do it don't we. We get to uni, and we suddenly think we can take care of ourselves, buy our own food, cook it, budget, be what our parents have been for the past 18-19 years in the space of getting out of the car outside your new room for the first time.
To be fair, I am one of them, to this day I sigh at my fussing parents, I want my independence, I want to do things my own way. I am me.
Sound familiar?
Think about it, that is exactly what we have done with God. God has made us, fed us, clothed us, given His own life for us in Jesus Christ, and how have we responded? "I know best God, you don't. Let me do things my own way."
We do to our parents as we have done to God. The consequences for both are dire.
Listen: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)
This is not a redundant commandment. As God is our Father and deserves honour from us, so it should be with the parents who brought us up.
Again "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:1-4)
It's interesting isn't it? Paul notes in verse one that this is the first commandment with a promise. That promise is that it may go well with you. Now, I do not at any point claim expertise on the Bible, and to be honest, I do not have much of an idea of what it means. To speculate slightly, I think it could refer to the fact that our parents in general have been given wisdom to parent, so when they say they know best, they generally do.
To demonstrate, I was told to cook and eat well by my parents whilst at university. Let me tell you, I did not. My diet in first year? Two trips a day to Spar, to the hot food processed cabinet, and the confectionery section. Expensive and unhealthy. My parents knew best, and indeed, it would have gone well for me if I had eaten better.
That is one thought on the matter anyway.
What our reaction should be, in actuality, when our parents fuss, when they try to help you, is accept it, graciously, and honour them in their decisions. Another example of a somewhat extreme point is when Jo and I had to postpone our wedding thanks to the current job climate. Now, that was the sensible decision, but stubborn me did not want to take it, at all. In fact, the only way the decision was made was two-fold, one was that Jo didn't want to, and two, it was because her father did not want to give her away to me into a volatile situation. That swung it. I am not claiming that I was an obedient person, it took time. But the challenge of this command is to indeed honour your father and mother, even if they are not your own by blood in this case.
Of course, we do not want to say that our parents are perfect, not at all, they are sinful human beings too. Read verse 4 again "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
Some points of note: this passage is addressed to fathers because, as the rest of the sentence highlights, it is the job of the father to teach, to lead his wife and family as Christ led and taught the church, self-sacrificially. (FOR MORE ON THIS, PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 5:22-33 AND COME TO ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS.)
There is also a challenge to parents, to not exasperate their children, but teach them what the Bible says rather than hide behind the "I know best because I am your dad/mum" frame. This is the challenge I think to parents, to relinquish their authority over you. Biblically speaking, this ends the day the child marries, for as Genesis 2:24 states quite clearly "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Your challenge: to love and honour your parents by submitting to them, to acknowledging their help (because believe me, you will want to accept any freebie your parents give you while you are a penniless student!)
I know people who have lost their parents, and I confess before you that I am rubbish at honouring my parents, especially my non-Christian father. Do not think for one second that I have any moral high ground whatsoever. My parents are ace, they have supported me all the way through uni, and even more so now I am unemployed. There really is no excuse.

Read Ephesians 6:1-4 again, and then go and ring your parents.

Some thoughts on Romans 8

As a Christian I believe the following:

1. The world was created by God, and we were created to rule the world under God
2. We did not like God being in charge, so rebelled. We want to be God.
3. God's just response to our rebellion, also called sin, is to want to get rid of sin. He hates it. Therefore, the consequences of our rebellion is our death and judgement.
4. HOWEVER-while we were still sinners, God stepped into the world as Jesus. Jesus was perfect, yet He died on a cross, taking the punishment of our sin and rebellion upon Himself. This was God's rescue plan for us.
5. Jesus rose from the dead three days later, endorsing the fact He was God, and will come again to judge.
6. We owe our lives to Jesus, and we should therefore be looking for ways to glorify Him, accepting God as Lord of our lives, and living for Him by doing good works. These good works do not save us. God has saved us by His grace by sending Jesus. We do good works as a grateful outpouring.
7. All this is written in the Bible, which is the word of God given to us.

In light of all this, here is some thoughts on chapter eight of Paul's letter to the Romans:


Romans 8 (English Standard Version)
Romans 8
Life in the Spirit
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. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
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.
Heirs with Christ
12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Future Glory
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26Likewise 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. 27And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
God’s Everlasting Love
31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.










So, there’s obviously a lot to unpack!
Awesome grace (1-5)
One of the first things Paul says is that we have “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (verse 1). He is saying this as a continuation from chapter 7, which talks of being released from the law and of course, being saved through God’s grace: “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.” (Romans 7:4). What a great delight this is! That if we were justified by our works, we of course stand condemned. But God in His grace has justified us by His work, His grace in sending Jesus Christ to die for us. Paul reiterates this in verses 2-5 “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.”
So this is the background to this section I think, the fact that by God’s grace we are saved, not by what we do. If it was vice versa we would be scuppered wouldn’t we? We are saved by the grace of God alone. As Paul exclaims towards the end of chapter seven “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).
Awesome Spirit-living (verses 5-11)
We live in the world around us...and no, I’m not about to accept the prize for the most obvious statement of the year! The world we live in easily influences our behaviour. For the Christian, it can be all too easy to follow the crowd, live in the flesh as Paul puts it. Living for today, letting the worries of today, and even tomorrow take priority sometimes over what really matters. But what does Paul say here, have a look at verse seven “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”
Now this I think is mostly applied towards worldy thinking. Our minds quickly jump to pleasures; sex, drugs and rock and roll...whatever floats your boat really. I personally think (therefore may not be correct) that this can also be applied to worldly thinking in terms of ‘religious’ lifestyle, and also in terms of focusing too much on money and such things. Seeing as Paul has spent the last chapter on the subject of the law, and how it is grace NOT works that save us, I think there is room for this in Paul’s writing here.
For the mind of the Christian, these need to be denied, nailed to the cross with Christ, so we can pick up our own and follow Him. Be encouraged that you are saved by Christ’s blood, and deny those temptations to be worldy; “but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” as Paul says in verse six. Live for the God who has saved you, not for the worldy worries that surround you. In the world, not of the world. For as Paul says in verse nine, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Saved by grace, in the Spirit of God being regenerated and renewed, as promised back in Ezekiel 36:22-37 (Have a read of this, be encouraged how God has promised to change us and live with us as God, going back to the promises to Abraham in Genesis 12!)
In our passage here, in verses 10-11, there is great comfort to be seen. Our bodies are dead to sin, but made righteous in Christ. And that same Spirit of God, who raised Christ, that same spirit is at work in us: “he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
How amazing is that? Though our trails seem overbearing, God Himself by His Spirit, the very same Spirit who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead, having died to make undeserving sinners righteous, is at work in us, giving life to our mortal bodies. God is strengthening us for trials ahead. What an encouragement. What a God!

Awesome Father (verses 12-18)
So, as Paul has explained, and summarises here, we are indeed to live not to the flesh, for that leads to death. We are to put to death those deeds, by God’s Spirit. Again, we see it’s not by our strength, but by God’s Spirit. Take courage, God is most certainly in control, and indeed, has our best interests at heart? Why? Have a look at verse fourteen: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
We are sons, and indeed daughters of God. Thanks to God in Jesus, we are made righteous. Thanks to God in His Spirit, we are being changed, as we see in Ezekiel. Thanks to God, we are dead to sin, but made alive in Christ. We are co-heirs with Christ as children of God. Millions around the world who have placed their God-given trust in Jesus are sons and daughters of God. So are you. You, Joanne Marie Muckle-Jones, are part of this new Spiritual family in Christ. We have the Spirit of God Himself inside us, working in us, making us more like Christ, strengthening us for suffering, and there’s millions out there, brothers and sisters in Christ. How awesome is that?!
Have a gander at verses 15, 16 and 17: “15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” We can cry Abba, which is a word as intimate, if not more so, than ‘daddy’, to the God of the Universe! God’s Spirit testifies we are God’s children! So do not fall back into worldly fear, the way of the flesh, but be remembering that jaw dropping awesome grace of our God.

Awesome future (verse 18-26)

When thinking about what we are going through at the moment, it’s hard. I don’t need to remind you of that. Thinking of all this rubbish times we have, keep verses eighteen and nineteen in your mind. “18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”
Ok, so this is coming from Paul, a man having given up the stable security of a career, and a family to go out and preach the gospel. This is the same Paul who was beaten up, flogged, jailed, stoned, ship-wrecked, bitten by a snake and eventually beheaded for the gospel. Yet he can still write this passage. It really puts things in perspective doesn’t it? Though we may have the hardest times of our lives at the moment, and indeed, many more to come. Yet no matter how rubbish it gets, it’s still absolutely nothing in comparison with the glory that we will see; the glory of God in the New Creation. Just for a taste, have a read of Revelation 21 and 22! We are going to see God’s glory, as God’s child, because of God’s grace in the cross of Christ, and the sending of His Spirit on every believer, who only believes because God has given them that belief, having predestined them before they even existed! It’s utterly mind blowing and absolutely amazing!
The world awaits for this, knowing the state of sin and corruption. We as Christians, as Paul puts it “23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Life is going to be hard, whatever decision we end up making, we live in a fallen world yearning for Jesus to come back and all things be made new. We don’t know when that will happen, but praise God for that future, that we unworthy, but not worthless, thanks to Jesus, will one day see it, and indeed live in it, with God as God, pain and suffering forgotten, forever. And don’t let the fact that we cannot see it get you disheartened. Read verses 24 and 25 “24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
Awesome truth (verses 26-31)
Paul again in verse 26 returns to the awesome truth of God’s Spirit at work in us. We’ve seen we can do nothing ourselves, hence Jesus. What a comfort it is how we read of God at work in us continually: “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.”
We see God’s Spirit interceding for us in prayer, that intimate chat we have with our Father, who by His grace we call Him Father, and pray at all. And the Spirit turns our feeble prayers into:“groanings too deep for words.”
Again, how awesome is that?!
Verse 27: “And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” God searches our hearts, knows our hearts, having made our hearts. We are the saints, the Christian believer, saved by God, and by His grace the Spirit intercedes for us according to the God of the Universe! It doesn’t get any better than this!
Then we come to one of my favourite passages in the Bible. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). Now, we have seen how awesome God is: He has made us righteous, though we are rebels, by the blood of Christ Jesus on the cross, NOT by our sinful works. He has made us co-heirs with Christ, sons and daughters of God, with God’s Spirit in us, in order to live for Him, not for the flesh. He is changing us by His Spirit, until that day which we long for, the day He comes in glory, that by His grace we are allowed to see. We see in this verse that for the Christian, God makes all things work together for good, for those who have been called, according to His purpose.
What a comfort! The God of the Universe has called us, as we shall see later, and He makes everything work together for good for us. This is for His glory, and He lets us glorify Him as He works in our lives. God is ultimately sovereign, ultimately loving, ultimately just, ultimately merciful, and ultimately awesome! When we suffer, it is for God’s glory. What a comfort, that suffering is not meaningless, and that God is constantly at work in our lives, by His Spirit, for His glory, and therefore our good.
God calls us, says verses 29 and 30. We may often think, and are indeed encouraged to think that we are a totally insignificant, random aspect of a random series of events that are ultimately leading to absolutely nothing. Captain Jack Harkness sums up this frankly depressing ideology in Torchwood when he says, in response to being speculated too that the latest alien threat may in fact be the end of the world in Biblical terms: “You people just fail to see the randomness of creation.”
Well here we see something different don’t we? “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,” says verse 29. Though we may feel insignificant and random, we’re not as far as God is concerned. We’ve reflected on already the awesome grace of God in sending Jesus to die for us, to save us from sin and death. Here we see a shocking twist in the plot of this chapter. God has predestined us. He knew, before we even existed, that we would exist, and that Jesus would die for us. We are to be shaped into the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. We have seen we are co-heirs with Christ, with the Spirit of God at work in us, changing us. We who are unworthy, but not at all worthless. God chose for us to be saved by His grace before we were created. Still think you’re a random creation of nothing? Like Jesus before us, we are raised to life, our death crucified with Christ, our sins forgiven, co-heirs, brothers and sisters with Christ, the new Adam, firstborn among many brothers in the glory of His resurrection. Verse 30 highlights just how loved by God we are, and all of this is done in Christ on the cross. “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
Awesome Love (v31-39)
Verse 31 is a very-often quoted passage in scripture. Indeed it can be seen as an encouraging stand alone sentence, but, read it again, with everything we have seen so far in mind “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
What a love! God hand picking us out before Creation, coming down into human history as Jesus Christ, dying a horrific death, conquering death itself, saving us from our rebellion against God, using our trials, which are nothing compared to the glory we have the privilege of seeing, for His glory, placing His Spirit in us to work and change us, to mould us into the likeness of Christ, our Saviour and co-heir, choosing to work in us for our good because He has enabled us to love Him. All this, and so much more in mind then, NOW, as Paul asks, what can we say of these things? The natural and logical conclusion: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
This same God, who gave up His Son for us, also gives us graciously all things, says verse 32. We’re set. I can end right here, God has given to us Christ, our life, by His grace, along with all things. What all these things are I cannot list, but looking back over what this one chapter of this letter says so far the list is pretty extensive!
Because of God’s grace, who can bring a charge against us? Yes we do wrong, quite frequently. I can bring some pretty shocking things to mind. But I’m forgiven, Christ has died for me. I’m free from the law, saved by God’s grace, the blood of Christ, just as verse one says “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The same is true for you, selected by God long ago, saved by the blood of Christ, not your own merit, so you are free from death, enabling you to live for Him, and He being a work in your life for His glory, and therefore your good. This again is not by anything you have done, will do and can do, after all, as this chapter, and indeed the entire Bible says all the way through: “It is God who justifies.” (verse 34).
It is God who justifies, God who died in Christ, God who rose in Christ, and God who intercedes for us still says verse 34. It is God alone. We are but human sinners, washed by Christ. Be encouraged the next time you feel guilty. There is no condemnation. God graciously gives us all, including chance after chance, even at the last minute, to repent.
This love of God, this jaw-dropping, mind blowing, overwhelming awesome love of God, is of course, unconditional, it is permanent. As verse 35 says “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Shall it be trials, or suffering, as Paul goes on to say. We know already God is at work in our trials, for the sake of God we are being killed all day long, sheep to be slaughtered. We face many, many trials that feel as if they will break us, will they break us? Will they separate us from the love of God, who died for us, equips us every day for battle, saving us by His grace not our works, and works in us always for our good, having predestined and called us for this?
Read verse 37, and take a deep breath at this: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Wow. That’s my initial response. Wow.
The answer, joyously, is no. We cannot be separated from God’s love, let alone by trials we face. Paul has already said in verse 18 that he considers his present sufferings, and there were a lot of them, NOTHING, compared to the glory he would later see. And now, here we see that awesome truth. We are more than conquerors, more than overcomers. We smash down those trials. Not because we are good or have a special superpower to crush suffering into dust. No, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. We cannot deny the love of our God, our Abba in this passage, nor indeed in the whole Bible. This truth is affirmed, God sent Christ to die for us, and is at work in us now, by His powerful love and glorious grace, He works us in us, calls us to overcome. For how will we see His promises fullfill if we do not overcome? We do not overcome alone, we cannot. God takes us through it, though many times we just sit down and sulk. God takes us by the hand and drags us through, drags us through everything, so we may overcome and see the glories on the last day, which will knock the worst and indeed best times we have been through out of the park.
This is love, and this is truth. To recap. This passage is about the grace and merciful love that can come only from God Himself. This is God, He who deemed us worthy before we existed, He who stepped into history in Christ, to die for us, wash us clean by His blood, rise again the first-born of many-us, co-heirs sharing in the resurrection. He who set us free from ourselves and our failure to live for God, and therefore from the just condemnation of the law, He who puts His Spirit, His breath in us, to enable us to live for Him, making us more and more like Christ, interceding for us in prayer, He who takes us through any trial we face, and uses that trial for His glory, and our good, and therefore be always at work in our lives for our good, though we do not deserve it and do not see it as we ought to. This is awesome love and awesome truth from our awesome God, who permits us to call Him Abba, and too, finally, in verses 38 and 39 of this amazing passage, we see this love affirmed greater still. “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We have this love, and by God’s grace, it isn’t going anywhere.
Let me ask you a question, how can you now feel guilt or fear? For the love of God permanently holds you fast and strong forever. But you are human, you will feel guilt and fear. But never feel hopeless. As times are hard, as we face times of great trouble, remember the truths of this passage. As an application question:- How can you apply what you have learned today in your attitude towards suffering and trials?
One final thought to leave you with:-God is sovereign, He is in control, He died for us, and is at work in us, always for our good. This love He has shown since before you first opened your eyes has not stopped, nor will it ever, not ever.

Two songs come to mind, one is written around this passage, in conjunction with another great chapter, Romans chapter 5. The second song I came across while searching for the first one. Be encouraged, remember the truth of the gospel, the everlasting love of God, shown for us on the cross, our hope, our foundation.


There is a hope that burns within my heart;
that gives me strength for every passing day;
a glimpse of glory now revealed in meagre part;
yet drives all doubt away;
I stand in Christ, with sins forgiven; and Christ in me, the hope of heaven;
my highest calling and my deepest joy;
to make His will, my own;
There is a hope that lifts my weary head;
a consolation strong against despair;
and when the world has plunged me in it’s deepest pit;
I find the Saviour there;
through present sufferings, future’s fear;
He whispers “courage” in my ear;
for I am safe in everlasting arms;
and they will lead me home;
There is a hope that stands the test of time;
that lifts my eyes beyond the beckoning grave;
to see the matchless beauty of a day divine;
when I behold His face;
When sufferings cease, and sorrows die;
and every longing satisfied;
then joy unspeakable will flood my soul;
when I am truly home;

How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he has said
to all who for refuge to Jesus have fled.

In every condition - in sickness and health,
in poverty’s grip or abounding in wealth,
at home or abroad, on the land, on the sea -
as days may demand shall your strength ever be.
Since Jesus is with you, do not be afraid:
since he is your God, you need not be dismayed;
he’ll strengthen you, guard you, and help you to stand,
upheld by his righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters he calls you to go,
you will not be drowned in the rivers of woe;
for he will be with you in trouble, to bless
and work for your good through your deepest distress.

When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,
his grace all-sufficient shall be your supply;
the flames shall not harm you: his only design
your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

The soul that in Jesus has found its repose,
he will not, he cannot, desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,he’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

So how I came up with the name...

I'm not a very original person, but I am a reflective one. Those who know me know very well that I often regail with tales of my life on a rather frequent basis, and my fiancee Jo has begun reffering to it as 'story time with Aled'.

Hence the name of the blog.

P.S by the way, expect a lot of stories, a lot of looking at the Bible, oh, and I say 'good times' waaay too much!