Romans 8:12-17, “The Big Inheritance”
INTRODUCTION
This is an important Sunday—not that all Sunday aren’t important. For the church, this is Trinity Sunday—a celebration of the mystery of the Trinity and that God has revealed himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is also the Sunday when three young men of Desert Streams will affirm their baptism.
As these young men take another step on their journey with Christ, I think that it is valuable to reflect with them on the Trinity and the nature of the Christian life.
INDEBTED
One of the key Christian words is “redeemed.” The word means to by back—to pay a ransom, or to purchase from slavery. Only Jesus has paid a price for us. He has bought us from sin and death—not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.
The world has not done anything for us. It has not paid a ransom for us. In fact the world usually expects us to pay the price for its riches and glittery offerings.
In a sense, we are in debt to Jesus. He saved our lives, and we owe our lives to him. Paul picks up on this image when he talks about the fact that we are not debtors to the flesh to live according to the flesh, but to live by the Spirit.
INHERITANCE
Jesus, though his death and resurrection has open up to us a unique relationship with God. We become children of God, and members of God’s family. As children, we are heirs of God’s riches.
• Love: Love is not naturally occurring in the universe. It is a characteristic of God and it is a gift God passes on to his children.
• Relationship: The persons of the Trinity live in relationship with each other. This relationship is a characteristic of God that God gives to his children. He wants them to experience the same close relationship that the Trinity has with itself.
• Ministry: Jesus became incarnate so that all of humankind could experience God’s love and grace. As the body of Christ and people of God, we carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ. We live so that others may experience God’s love and grace in and through us.
CHILDREN OF GOD
We are not slaves of God. We do not serve God because we fear God’s wrath. We serve God, instead, because we are overwhelmed by God’s love.
We are able to call God “Daddy,” the meaning of the word, “Abba.” No other religion talks about such a close, personal relationship with the God of all creation, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
We live our lives in light of our relationship with God. As we serve, we do so as children of God—people who walk in the presence of God.
CONCLUSION
A fantastic, abundant life is ours because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. We live in the reality of this life as we live as children of God.
Amen
