Monday, August 22, 2022

 

Monday, August 22, 2022


Psalm 118:1-18

2 Chronicles 32:9-23

Romans 14:13-23


For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.


A while ago we were reading through some pretty heavy Old Testament prophets. In their condemnation of sin, we were able to get a better idea of what sin is: sin is negative, it decays, it is the opposite of growth.


Here we see the inverse of sin. These three words Paul uses to describe the kingdom of God might be tempting to skim over, since we are so used to seeing them written and hearing them said. But let's look closely.


Paul did not just throw cliches out at his scribe to write down, but picked these words carefully. We can see the progression of the God's work in the inner life: first, we are made righteous with the righteousness of Christ. Because of the work of the God-man, we no longer need to try and lift ourselves up to a place of acceptance; rather, God looks at us the same way as God looks at Jesus: with perfect love. Because of this freedom from having to earn God's love, we are now at peace. Whenever we are in a dark moment, we remember the cross, and know that there lies the way out.


Finally, “joy in the Holy Spirit”. This has two parts. Firstly, because we are set free from decay and sin into growth and life, no matter what comes our way, the end result will always finally be joy. Secondly, Paul writes that this joy is “in” the Holy Spirit: we have already recognised that the righteousness and peace comes from being reconciled with God, and that God looks at us as if we were Jesus Himself. By celebrating joyfully in the Holy Spirit, we know for sure that this means we are in the relationship of the Trinity the same way the three members of the Godhead are. This is permanent, unbreakable love that we are held in. From this perspective, we can see our fellow Christians as fellow members of this loving relationship. Whatever struggles we have, we can confidently look to each other not as competitors for God's affection, but fellow lovers and friends that we support: the Trinity holds us all together.

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