The Intercession Of The Spirit For Us And Its Meaning: "Being Transformed Into The Image Of The Lord”

The Intercession of the Spirit for us and its meaning:

“Being transformed into the image of the Lord”

Romans 8:26-30

(What I really hope is you and I come to know more the Holy Spirit and to have a more intimate relationship with Him )

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

You and I know and believe that by grace we have been saved through our faith. Now we are under grace. But, we know that being under grace doesn’t mean we can live whatever we want. And also know that God justified us through His grace, but He also wants us to live a righteous life. Then the question is: how can we live a righteous life? Do we have to keep the law to live a righteous life? In fact, that is the question Paul is addressing in chapter 7 ) Paul’s answer is very simple but adamant.

7:4 “you died to the law”

7:6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Paul is saying: We died to the law; We have been released from the law; Now We serve in the new way of the Spirit. Paul's answer is clear: What sanctifies us is not by keeping the Law but by serving in the new way of the Spirit

Then in chapter 8, Paul lays out how or why “we serve in the new ways of the Holy Spirit.”

We serve in the new ways of the Spirit because the Spirit Leads us, He dwells in us, He gives us life (hope), He frees us from fear of condemnation, He testifies that we are children of God, He helps us to put to death the deeds of the body. Those are how or why “we live in the new ways of the Holy Spirit.” as explained in chapter 8.

Now, Paul tells us more reasons through today's scripture verses, Romans 8:26-30, why we serve in the new way of the Spirit?”

“The Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (v. 26)

We kind of know what groan means, so I looked up the dictionaries. They define Groan as a deep, long sound showing great pain or unhappiness or despair or grief; make a low creaking or moaning sound when pressure or weight is applied

1.(He prays for us because He loves us)

That means, the Spirit groans because He is in pain or despair or He is under pressure. Have you groaned recently? I know people with children sometimes groan. My wife and I don't have children, so a few people said to us, "It's much better without children." I don’t necessarily agree with them, but at the same time, it is true that people with children have to live under the burden, under pressure, thus they often feel pain and despair and groan.

But, groaning for children is an indication that the parents care for them and love them. Why does the Spirit groan for us? Because the Holy Spirit is under pressure, in pain or unhappiness or despair? Why does the Holy Spirit intercede for us through groans? Because He deeply cares for us and loves us.

But, though we talk all the time about the love of God and the love of Christ, we don’t talk about much the love of the Holy Spirit. But, as we consider all that He does - His leads us, His dwells in us, He corrects us, He encourages us, He assures us, He frees us from fear, He empowers us. In addition, He is the author of the Bible. That means we know God the Father and the Son of God only through Him. He is so eager to reveal who God is and who Christ is. He started the church; He dwells in the church and gives the gift for the church. He is the main reason why we are who we are as a church - we can’t help but acknowledge and believe He loves us. Indeed, the Spirit is much more involved in our lives than we think He is. In fact, He is the counselor and the helper and the comforter we can come to whenever we have a problem. He is another advocate like Jesus Himself. That’s why He intercedes for us with groaning because He loves us so much.