Life’s Big Questions: How Will Things Get Better?
How Will Things Get Better? (Romans 5:12-21)
The Christmas season is often a festive and busy time for most. Amidst the hustle and bustle, however, we may still be struggling with issues of life and wonder if there is lasting joy and hope. In this, the third of a series of messages on Life’s Big Questions, it seeks to address how the Bible speaks honestly about our struggles and also offers true hope and joy. This is why Christians can celebrate Christmas.
Hear from Pastor Jeremy Lee, Grace Baptist Church (GBC) as he addressed the topic on the fundamental issue faced by humanity through the ages which resulted in life that is so hard on earth and yet there is a reason for hope. The big idea: Jesus’ gift of righteousness cancels sin and gift of eternal life triumphed over death.
We are One Body
Romans 12:5, NIV: “so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
Paul in most of Romans 12 explains that the worship of our God is to become living sacrifices with Romans 12:3-8 detailing our responsibility as a living sacrifice. As the body of Christ, the church and everyone in it has a part to play. Our individual gifts are to work together to achieve glory to Christ.
As the church, Christ’s body on earth we are often spread across many different places with vastly different jobs, but together we are one unified “being,” a single entity with a single purpose.
In addition to this, we are to remember that we form ONE body. No one is left out, and everyone has a responsibility and should be wholly accountable to each other.
Things will work out
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28, ESV
On the surface, Romans 8:28 seems a simple verse to understand. Love God, and things will work out well for you. However, this is not the case as “good” does not translate to our human and earthly understanding of the word. When we think “good” we understand it as going well or comfortable. The following verse, Romans 8:29, elaborates “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
“Good” here means that we will draw closer to parity with the image of Jesus the more we love God and obey him. Our takeaway is that love and obedience to God may not materialise goodness in the way we imagine, but instead draw us ever closer to him.
Book Review: Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes
Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission
Review: Wu, Jackson. 2019. Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic Press.
Eastern culture is a high context culture. What this usually means is that Eastern culture is very relational and communal, often described by the honor-shame framework. Within this framework, people in the East interacts with one another through the context of ‘face’ which is reciprocal and debt relationships within a power structure of hierarchy, loyalty, sacrifice, ascribed and achieved honor, and shame. This is often contrasted to the Western guilt-innocence framework. Jackson Wu (not his real name), a Westerner who have lived two decades in East Asia, examined Paul’s message and mission in Romans through the Eastern honor-shame framework. Jackson seek to find “[h]ow did Paul’s theology serve the purpose of his mission within an honor-shame context?” (p.3).
Rejoicing Amidst Challenges
Romans 12:12 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (ESV)
In a mere 11 words, Paul gives three instructions to the Romans in the midst of challenges that they face in their walk with Christ. Romans 12 marks a shift for Paul as he moves from the doctrines he espouses in the first eleven chapters to practical outcomes of those principles.
EAST Library Catalogue
EAST Populi
National Library Board eResources
The Digital Theological Library
