Month: June 2025

Morning Musing: Romans 8:23

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“Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

As a pastor, I’ve done a lot of funerals. Now, by virtue of pastoring churches with a number of young families that aren’t mostly gray-haired, aging congregations, I haven’t done as many as some guys who have been in ministry as long as I have, but I’ve done my fair share. There is a kind of groaning that comes with age. Some of it is, of course, physical and audible. But a bigger part is existential. We know we are slowly dying (or perhaps quickly dying depending on circumstances), and we long for relief from it. Not the relief of death, but something entirely more substantial than that. We long for restoration. Well, this is part of the Gospel’s good news. Let’s explore it some today.

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Morning Musing: Hebrews 10:13

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“These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

It’s hard to work at one thing for a long time. It’s especially hard to do that nowadays when our attention spans have been shortened so much by television and smart phones and a digital media culture that gives preference to the quick glance over long engagement. It’s almost impossibly hard to do when we don’t ever see the end result of our efforts. Achieving that sort of thing takes vision; powerful vision. I’ve just finally finished watching the latest Star Wars property on Disney+. The second and final season of Andor is all about having just such a vision. Let’s talk about why you should watch it.

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Morning Musing: Romans 8:19-22

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“For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Things in this world are not the way they should be. That’s something every religion acknowledges in one way or another. It’s not just that we’re broken, though. The problem extends to the whole world. Creation itself is broken. Creation itself needs to be restored and set right again. Believe it or not, this is part of the Gospel. Let’s take a look here as Paul explains that creation is looking forward to our redemption as much as we are.

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Morning Musing: Romans 8:18

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“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I don’t get sore throats anymore. Not often anyway. And on the rare occasion that I do get one, it’s typically not very bad, and it hardly phases me. This wasn’t always the case. I used to get them fairly frequently. I still remember suffering a bout of mono in high school which featured what was quite literally the worst sore throat of my life. None had been that bad before, and none since have come close to it. Part of the reason none have been that bad since is because that one gave me perspective. Perspective is a powerful thing in the midst of a hard season because it allows us to see beyond the immediate to something bigger than that. One of the blessings of the Gospel is the gift of perspective. Let’s take a look at one of the ways that can be particularly helpful.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 8:14-17

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“For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba,  Father!’ The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

In his magnum opus, Knowing God, author and theologian, J.I. Packer, argues that adoption is the single most important lens through which we should understand the New Testament. It is the theme that lies at the heart of everything else we find there. Without that idea, none of the rest of it makes the kind of sense it should. And in making this argument, he points most emphatically to this passage. God loves us so much that He wants us to be a part of His family. Let’s explore what Paul introduces to us here and why it is so critically important to understand.

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