THURSDAY

SCRIPTURE: Romans 8:1-11

Perhaps you have heard it said that the cross is a powerful statement of how God feels about sin. What kind of feelings does that kind of statement stir in you? What kind of feelings do you think it should stir? Certainly, it is true that God hates sin, perhaps much in the same way a physician hates disease and injury. It would be a strange thing indeed to think of a physician as someone who hates sick people because they are sick, or who insists that all sick people should be properly punished for becoming ill. So when we talk about the cross being a powerful statement of how God feels about sin, it is an even more powerful statement about how God feels about us. Jesus reveals how God feels about sin, and us, by going to the cross—not to be punished by an angry God who demands that sinners pay a price for sin, but to bear the fullness of the illness himself so that we can be free to find healing by a God who is heartbroken by the damage that sin has done. This is how God feels about sin: that it is too awful to leave on us to bear it alone, because it will literally kill us. And so God bears it for us, feels its full, cruel weight, and releases us from the hold it has on us. We are free from the guilt, condemnation, and ultimate impact, because Jesus not only died and so fully absorbed all that it could do, but also rose again! As a result of that, we can live knowing how God actually does regard us, as is proclaimed in our passage today, which opens with the words, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” While we are not yet symptomfree (and will not be until Jesus comes), and may suffer setbacks from time to time, we are on the path to healing and full recovery. The prognosis is sure as long as we don’t refuse treatment. That is incredibly good news! Not only because of our own assured recovery, but also because of the clarity it provides to how God has felt about us all along during the treatment process. As we continue to think about today’s passage, here are some additional things to ponder:

• How does Jesus coming to be with us and take the full impact of sin for us so that we can be free to heal motivate us in ways that simply trying to “be good enough” never could?

• How does this passage describe how living by the Spirit is so much richer than living focused on the flesh? How does this fit with the idea that we tend to become like what we focus on?

• To what extent do you live with the realization that there is no condemnation for you? When God looks at you, there is no hint of condemnation, just the love of a parent for their child, and a commitment to helping you become the best version of yourself that you can be.

• Take a few moments to compare this passage to John 5:21-24, where Jesus discusses how we can relate to the idea of judgment. How does what it says there fit with today’s passage?

As you reflect on today’s passages, what invitation do you sense God extending to you? Take a few moments to share with God in prayer what is on your heart.