Keeping The Right Perspective        Romans 8:1-4

Sermon by Pastor Dennis Gleason -- June 5, 2005

Keeping things in the right perspective is critical for us, as believers Jesus Christ.
Fore example, Jesus told us that he would “never leave us nor forsake us.” We can believe what Jesus said and live like He is always with us and providing for us.  Or we can live like we have to do it all on our own with out the help of his presence with us. The choice is ours and that depends on our perspective. The end result will be that we either walk by faith or by sight. And walking by faith works a whole lot better.

In Discipleship Journal, Don McCullough wrote: "John Killinger tells about the manager of a minor league baseball team who was so disgusted with his center fielder's performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself. The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun--until it bounced off his forehead. The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between is hands and smacked his eye. Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted. 'You idiot! You've got center field so messed up that even I can't do a thing with it!'
Don McCullough, Discipleship Journal.

That is some perspective. 

Consider if you will our text for today:  Romans 8:1-4
      1So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. 3The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
One way verse one of our text could be translated is this:  “No possible condemnation is there, therefore, for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
We have had as an unbroken theme as we have been making our way through the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans the fact that justification is by faith and faith alone. Justification comes when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord of our lives. His death on the cross was the payment of the penalty for our sin. When we accept his death as the sacrifice of God taking our sin and paying the penalty for it we are made just…just as if we had never sinned.

We want to make it clear that the Bible does not say that we are undeserving of death, which is the penalty for sin…the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord is how the Bible puts it. Every one of us is deserving of the judgment of God and the penalty of sin which is death…everlasting spiritual death…and all that separation from God forever means.
God simply says that the man or woman who believes in Jesus is declared to be perfect. That is God’s perspective as he looks upon us who have believed in Jesus.
Because of this fact, there is and there can never be any condemnation for those who believe in Jesus Christ and are counted among those who are in Christ Jesus.
God sees us as just and righteous, even when we are not. There are times when we have sinned and need to be cleansed of the results or effects of that sin. And God still sees us as if we are righteous and just…because of the blood of Jesus shed for us. 
* God will convict us when we are out of fellowship with Him because of our sin.
* He will point out our sin and what it has done to us and our relationship with himself and others.
* He will challenge us to deal with our sin and we may be uncomfortable until we do some thing about it.
* But he will never condemn us…Because our sin will always be seen through the blood of Jesus.
If you feel condemned…it is just a matter of perspective. The devil wants you to feel condemned. In fact he will make sure you feel condemned. He will heap blame and guilt upon us when we are not what we ought to be…or do what we shouldn’t do…or fail to do what we should. We will respond all too readily to his condemnation, because we know that we are guilty. We know that we have failed God and have not heeded his Word.
Our problem is one of perspective.
A young couple decided to start their own business. He was an engineer and she was an advertising copywriter. They wound up buying a small salmon cannery in Alaska. They soon discovered they had a problem. Customers opening a can of their salmon discovered that the fish was gray. Sales sagged. Investigation revealed that the problem was a result of the way they processed the fish. "This is a technical problem," said the wife, "and you're an engineer. You have to find a way to fix this." A month later, the husband announced that they would have to replace some machinery and make other changes. It was going to take at least 10 months to do the job and it was going to cost a lot of money. 
"We have to do something sooner than that," said the wife, "or we're going to go under." For the next two days she pondered the problem and came up with this solution: There was nothing wrong with the salmon--it tasted fine. The problem lay in its looks. So she changed the label on the can. In bold letters, right under the brand name, the labels thereafter announced, "The only salmon guaranteed not to turn pink in the can."  Bits and Pieces, June, 1990, p. 9-10.
What we have to do is to see things as they really are.
* We are forgiven.
* We have new life in Jesus Christ.
* We have Spirit of the living Christ dwelling within us. We are viewed as the children of God.
* We have to get hold of the fact that God himself at this very moment has no judgment against us whatsoever.
* We have at our disposal one of the greatest spiritual forces that can ever be set free in the life of a believer. There is right now no condemnation for you from God because of Jesus Christ in your life. We are free in Christ to be what God has always intended for you to be. Just be it! There is nothing to hold us back.
If God says there is nothing to condemn you, believe it. God’s perspective is the one that counts.  He knows the way things really are and what really matters. And he has told us that there is nothing at all anywhere to condemn us. So believe it.

In How Life Imitates the World Series, Dave Bosewell tells a story about Earl Weaver, former manager of the Baltimore Orioles. Sports fans will enjoy how he handled star Reggie Jackson.

Weaver had a rule that no one could steal a base unless given the steal sign. This upset Jackson because he felt he knew the pitchers and catchers well enough to judge who he could and could not steal off of. So one game he decided to steal without a sign.
He got a good jump off the pitcher and easily beat the throw to second base. As he shook the dirt off his uniform, Jackson smiled with delight, feeling he had vindicated his judgment to his manager.

Later Weaver took Jackson aside and explained why he hadn't given the steal sign. First, the next batter was Lee May, his best power hitter other than Jackson. When Jackson stole second, first base was left open, so the other team walked May intentionally, taking the bat out of his hands.

Second, the following batter hadn't been strong against that pitcher, so Weaver felt he had to send up a pinch hitter to try to drive in the men on base. That left Weaver without bench strength later in the game when he needed it.
The problem was, Jackson saw only his relationship to the pitcher and catcher. Weaver was watching the whole game.

We, too, see only so far, but God sees the bigger picture. When he sends us a signal, it's wise to obey, no matter what we may think WE know.  Marty Masten.

And of course, that applies to this matter of condemnation as well. We often only see the condemnation the devil dumps on us and we know ourselves quite well. We know the struggles we have with sin and we take on the load the devil dumps on us.

God sees the bigger picture and he wants us to know that there is nothing to this condemnation thing at all that should trouble us. He does not condemn us…and we shouldn’t let the devil to it to us either.

Why do we fall for it?  We fall for the lie of the devil because of the law of sin and death. The fact is that judgment and death follow sin. The devil knew that when he challenged the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden. He knew that when he lied to them and said, “You shall not surely die” after eating the forbidden fruit. The man and woman died spiritually in that instant. And people have been surrounded by death since then.

But there is another law that comes into play because of Jesus Christ and the fact that he died for our sin on the cross of Calvary. It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Let me illustrate it with the following example from the Old Testament (Exodus 14:21). The Israelites were leaving Egypt and the Egyptian Pharaoh was pursuing them. They came to the Red Sea. The law of Gravity was operating in full force keeping the water of Red Sea in the sea bed. But there was another law that began operating that overcame the law of gravity. It was the law of the blowing east wind. “The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided.” The law of gravity was pulling the waters down as before, but the miraculous power of the law of the east wind made the children of Israel free of the law of gravity which would have pulled the waters over them as it did upon the unregenerate Egyptian army.

The law of sin and death can only pull in only one direction…down. Sin can not ever be anything except sin and it is impossible that anyone who is in sin and death can ever have anything whatsoever of life until God intervenes. Then the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus blows its force against the law of sin and death. Although we are surrounded by death, we are freed from its pull and it becomes possible for us to live in triumph over sin.

We have been freed from the power of sin and death, because we have been made alive in Jesus Christ.

You are alive in Christ.
You are free from the law of sin and death.
You are seen by God as being righteous and just…just as if you had never sinned.
That is God’s perspective about you.
There is nothing to condemn you.

Because these things are all true…live like it.

You are free from all condemnation…don’t let the devil drag you down there again.

Having been reminded of this great truth:  “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”, what difference would it make in your life if you really lived like you believe it?

--Dennis Gleason