Romans 8:1-2
With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Greg and I have been blessed with the good fortune to live on a bluff with a panoramic view to the east and northeast… across the river valley – and on a good day, into the next county. So as the weather fronts pass through our area, we are sometimes treated to a stark - and literal - visual image of low-lying black clouds that are cleared away by strong winds. I have stood at the windows and watched a dark cloud band literally be blown farther and farther east until it disappeared over the horizon. When I read this passage, I immediately could picture this in my mind, and it gave me pause to consider my new life in Christ in this context.
If you backtrack to Romans 7 and read the last few verses, you see where Paul is wrestling with his human dilemma of wanting to be sinless and do what God desires…yet doing the opposite much of the time. The sinful mind and the Christian heart seem to be locked in some sort of battle. Paul says in Romans 7:21-23: “It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.” In verse 24, he says, “I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?” And in verse 25, we find the response…”The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.”
So in the first two verses of Romans 8, we are presented with the incredible compassion of God through Jesus Christ…so much love and empathy for us that he sacrificed Jesus and allowed Him to suffer “brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death” so that the “low-lying black cloud” of our sins could be blown away by the strong wind of Christ’s Holy Spirit! If you really stop and think of it… if you truly form that mental image of the black storm cloud being forcefully blown away and completely out of view…this is almost overwhelming. We are not truly capable of imagining a love such as this! And yet…this is what Jesus offers to each of us.
Now here’s the thing…we are not Jesus. We cannot possibly love like He does…nor are we as individuals capable of the powerful things that Christ accomplishes. But with His power and through His Holy Spirit, we are able to offer grace, mercy, forgiveness, compassion… and love…even when our sinful head says “That is the last thing you want to do!” So the question becomes…are you operating in the strong wind of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit? Or are you allowing the sinful rationale of the devil’s dark cloud to control you? Are you sharing the tremendous gift of compassion that Christ extends to you with others in your midst…and honoring your commitment and gratitude to Him in the process?
Many in your midst are operating under a dark cloud of some sort. If Christ found you worth the sacrifice…worth the “redeeming wind” of His love and compassion…don’t you think you should pay this forward to others in His name? Isn’t this a good day to stir up the breeze?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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