God's Grace for Each One of Us – April 28, 2013

Shepherd Timothy Mayers

Romans 8:18-27; KV: John 3:16

I have question for you before we start, "What is suffering/trial for you?"

I. Suffering and trials

Usually, when faced with sufferings/trials, and I share this from my personal experience, our first reaction is, "Why are these things happening to me?" So I ask you, is this the right question that we should be asking God? My shepherd frequently rebukes when I have struggles because I am the type of person that if I can still defend and justify the situation, I will do so. Going back, let me tell you, this is the not the right question that we should be asking God. Instead, would it not be better to ask Him, "What can I learn from this event of my life?"

And so I ask you this same question, “What do we learn from the trials that we are experiencing right now?” Trials expose our weakness, without trials we will never know our own lack, whether it be maturity or in growth. Trials expose who we are. I always say, "Be joyful always", and yet once I experienced trials, I became very emotional and sad, and these my friends is my true, sinful self. Trails reveal you're true colors.

Another question, "Do you think that trials or sufferings are own choice?" It says  in Rom 8:20, it is not. Who here wants to suffer willingly? But it is a consequence of the sin that our first parents committed in the garden. It is not our choice to suffer in our life, but God allowed this to happen. We are all sinners, no one here is sinless, so is it not a given that as we are sinners, the consequence of sin which is death, pain, and suffering we will experience as well? Sinless. It is a state of being without sin, which no in this world can attain. But Jesus Christ is. A great contrast to everyone here who are sinful to the core. Our bondage to sin leads us to suffer, to encounter trials. And with this, I asked myself last night, while I was reading, how then can I redeem myself before God?

II. Redemption

     How can we be free from our bondage to sin? Sin starts small and it grows bigger, and you think you can do things on your own, and Satan tempts you to come to his side, and you start sinning more and more and more until you become so lost and so deep into sin. Don't say God is tempting me, because God does not tempt. Many Christians, they have a different meaning for Romans 8:28, but it is clear, God works for the good of those who love Him and who seek Him in their lives.

In Acts 4:12, salvation is found in no one else, no one here can save themselves, no one here can save their co-Igniters, no one here can save Peter (chuckles), no here can save others, but we can be a bridge between the Father in heaven, and the people of this world. But then, how can you be a bridge for them if you do not know God personally in your life? Let us personally seek Him first and know Him intimately so that we can effectively preach Christ crucified and lead them to God's way.

It also says in the bible that man cannot save himself even with his good deeds. Romans 8:23-25 tells us about hope. We hope for a lot of things, each one of us is here now in this service because we are hoping for something. And so let me ask you, "Where is your hope?" It is not about the faith you have right now, because faith is like an antenna, it can easily break. But what is important is your object of faith. Don’t think that you can save yourself, only God can. In Hebrews 11:1, what we hope for and why we're here should be because of Christ alone, the only one who can redeem us from the wages of sin. That's why Jesus went here from heaven, a great God who did not have sufferings, left His comfort zone, and offered himself as a sacrifice to redeem us from our bondage to sin. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, God is telling each one of us that He and His grace is all we need to redeem us from the bondage of sin. Let us persevere in all the struggles that we have right now and remain steadfast to Him.

How then should we respond to the grace that He has given us?

III. Restoration

     In Romans 8:27, the Spirit is there to help us. I ask again, what should be our response? According to Acts 3:19, it should that be of repentance. Repent before God and turn to Him. The Holy Spirit comes from God, and it bears fruit to those it dwells in. What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit  Galatians 5:22-23 states it clearly. We must repent, believe, and pray for the Holy Spirit to bear fruit in us. The key verse of our passage today is John 3:16. For God, who is creator, so loved the world, us, His creation, even though we have sinned and fall short of His glory, still gave His one and only son as His means of redemption for us, that whoever believes in Him shall have restoration and eternal life. This is a sentence that sums up the bible, the gospel, and our lives as Christians. We cannot save our self by our own deeds, nor can other sinners save us. For we are all sinners and our Isaiah says that even our good deeds are filthy rags before God. God who is the creator, and man who a sinner is disciplined by God through these trials in our life. It is important that we repent, and seek God and His glory in our life. He wants us to come back to him, that's why we experience these things. We can also see that God gives us trials so that we seek Him and that His glory may be shown to us.