Today’s chapter is Romans 5

Tom writes:

It is a glorious present experience. It has a robust expectation for increase. It is the Now and Not Yet of the kingdom. To reap this glorious experience and to be utterly confident in its robust hope we need to grasp that Christians differ from other humans. We are a whole new humanity. Do you think of yourself that way? In the same way that normal human experience follows the pattern of their forefather (Adam), Christian experience will follow the pattern of our forefather (Jesus). The same shalom that shimmered on Jesus shimmers on you and me. An unshakable conviction that we are deeply beloved overflows and nourishes our lives. Paul describes this present experience as super-abundant grace or “reigning in life”. This language nods back to the promise to Abraham that we saw in chapter 4. Our new humanity stands as people already inheriting all the blessings God promised to his people. And yet Paul constantly heralds a coming day when the Jesus people will come into its inheritance.

Even greater abundance, even more soul exploding beauty and goodness will come to us on that day. We are overcome with joy right now but our joy will increase even more when the Life of Eternity dawns and the whole of creation comes of age. And so two things are our friends right now. The first is Holy Spirit who has already been given to us. We access our glorious experience through fellowship with a present friend. Let’s increasingly engage with the one who has already engaged with us; Holy Spirit. Our second friend is suffering, which is probably a bit of a surprise. Suffering strengthens our hope. Next time you suffer, remember this; every piece of present pain points to your future. Pain is your body’s alarm system to alert you to things Not Yet being as they will be. And it is an alarm that Jesus has answered. Jesus went to the cross to answer our pain. Jesus’ atonement won God’s victory over everything that has caused us pain or could cause us pain. We can enjoy the glory of that victory right now by befriending Holy Spirit. All the while intentionally reminding ourselves of our our robust expectation that pain-free days and even better things are yet to come.

Question for reflection

What does it mean to be the child of Jesus rather than of the race of Adam?

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Romans 5 - Tuesday 30th April