Just because you know Jesus doesn’t mean everything’s always good

By Dean Collins

Just because you know Jesus doesn’t mean everything in your life always feels good or is good. That’s not what Paul said in Romans 8:28.

God takes all the hard things and the sad things and the broken things and brings good to us even when we have experienced devastation and disappointment in life. God redeems moments, experiences, pain, scarcity, even death itself. But like Jesus, we do experience brokenness, suffering, and pain because of the fall of man.

Jesus dealt with loss, felt the pain of the impoverished, and experienced the sojourner’s life while he lived on earth. And we will as well until the return of Jesus. We have been redeemed, yet we have not yet experienced our glorified and fully redeemed state. That happens in the first breath on the other side.

Spirit, not flesh

If we back up to Paul’s teachings earlier in Romans 8 we see that while we live here and have confessed our belief and confidence in the work of Christ on the cross, we no longer live for ourselves and for things simply human. Now, according to Paul, we live with and by the mind of the Spirit of God. And we all know this difference. We know, though we often ignore, what is of the flesh compared to what is of the Spirit. And one indication of living in the flesh is hostility. Here are Paul’s exact words:

“For 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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 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. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. “

So have you noticed any hostility in the world lately? It’s always been there, but it exerts itself when believers make decisions and base relationships in the flesh instead of by the Spirit of God. This plays itself out in many arenas, not limited to but including race relationships, sexuality, justice issues, and yes, even in the church. And we see this hostility inside our government and between governments or nations.

Living by or in the flesh will always lead to hostility. Not because there aren’t nice people who have love for truth and for people, but rather because God has established that the flesh simply can’t live morally consistent lives. We are all flawed and broken at the core. And try as we might to live in the boundaries of the law, eventually we slip.

Free, but bound

Imagine if we as believers became fully awakened to the Spirit of God. What if every decision and every relationship was led and embraced by who we are in Christ? We who live by the Spirit would suddenly see our brothers with another skin color altogether differently . We would worship together, invest together, do life together, work for peace together, and would therefore know that since we are both adopted by the same Father, we have the same family and same inheritance. We are bound by the same name.

Paul acknowledged our weakness. He said we don’t even know how to pray as we ought. And one expression of this is the moaning we sometimes sense in our spirit or see in another person. But the Holy Spirit sees and hears our complaining, clumsy prayers and translates them for our Father in Heaven. The result is that God takes our brokenness and somehow works it for good. And we are living in a moment in society where we need this transformation to accelerate.

Conquerors, not condemned

Romans also tells us God knew all of this before and even chose you and me in advance to live justified, glorified lives. And if God justified, who can condemn? There is so much hostility in our human systems that the result is a lot of condemnation. But as people who belong to Jesus and live by the Spirit, we suffer no condemnation in God’s view and our own spiritual reality.

The world that operates by the flesh experiences hostility and condemnation, but none of it separates us from the ever-present and glorious love of God! In fact we are given a new perspective. We are not living as the condemned; we are living by faith as the conquerors. Actually, Paul says we are more than conquerors because of the love of Christ. No good things or bad things that happen around us or even to us can separate us from the love of God. No present pressure or future problem can separate us from God. No matter how high we feel on a good day or low we feel on a bad day. No bad economy, no viruses, no pandemic, no political party, no president, not even death can ever separate us from the amazing and ever-flowing love of God.

So take a deep breath, say a prayer, know that the Spirit of God is in you, and walk confidently in it today !

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:1-11, 16-17, 26-35, 37-39‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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