Father God, through Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, has given the church enablement to fully understand Romans 8:12-17, so the church, members of Christ’s body, can fully experience this lifestyle, 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body (flesh), you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (“Father, You really are my Father”) 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
If we could be legal heirs of the king of a vast empire, and entitled to all he possessed, we would feel very blessed and well provided for; and we really are God’s heirs and joint heirs of King Jesus, the resurrected Christ, which means, as Christians, we have the honored privilege of being legal members of Christ’s body, the worldwide church, because if it were not for us, Christ would not be, for Christ is the Head and all Christians who make up His body; thus, the Head and body make the Person of Christ—Christianity; thus, we are greatly blessed and provided for.
For this reason, Christians, members of Christ’s body, the church, are humble, for we know how blessed, loved, and cared for we are by our Creator-King-Owner-Provider-Protector.
And since we know who we are in the Godhead, we hurt for those whose god is wicked, and if they ask for his help, their god, Satan, the devil, only has the ability to steal, kill, and destroy, as Jesus says in John 10:10, for they are his slaves to do his will, even though the Godhead controls his every move, as we read in 1 Kings 22:1-40, 2 Chronicles 18:1-34, Job 1:6-22, and 2:1-10.
Every detail about Satan, the devil, the great dragon, the serpent of old, the accuser of our brethren (Revelation 12:7-12), is minutely controlled by the Godhead, and only allowed to attack humanity when we sin and God wants us to repent of our sin, call on Him for forgiveness, and come to Him in humble submission, for we cannot bear any more of what God commands Satan to do to us, yet some simply refuse to turn to God, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, and choose death rather than repent and obey God—but this is God giving them the privilege to choose whom they will obey, His honest truth or Satan’s deceptive lies.
If we, as Christians, members of Christ’s body, the worldwide church, the legal heirs of our Creator-King, would only realize who we are, and how we are sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, blessed with every spiritual blessing, as Ephesians 1:3-6 and 2:1-9 say; then we would know and exuberantly rejoice when we suffer according to Romans 8:16-17, 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (This is suffering with grateful praise because we belong to Christ Jesus.)
We know our temporary suffering is nothing compared to Christ’s glory in us, to perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle us, as says Romans 8:18 and 1 Peter 5:5-11, for it takes “suffering awhile during trusting God”, to receive His awesomely amazing blessings.
When we daily choose to experience the Godhead who “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:3-4), we know we are greatly blessed, highly favored, and loved with all the love Father God is (1 John 4:7-8; Ephesians 3:14-21).
Nothing compares with our being in the very center of Father God’s love, and all we can do in God, who is enormously, incomparable love, is cry uncontrollable, knowing if we die this will continue throughout eternity; thus, in that brief time, we experience what heaven is like; and although we have never physically been to heaven, yet heaven is now in us, and suffering is well worth it—in fact anything we face on this earth is nothing compared to experiencing the love of God, both here and throughout eternity.
All this is promised in Ephesians 3:14-21, and can be experienced, by steadfast faith.
Jim Nabors
