Romans 8

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."  Romans 8:1-4


This morning in Sunday school, a guy named Joe taught on Romans 8.  It helps that this is one of my favorite chapters - one of the best in the whole Bible I would say, but his teaching was really great too.  Just to think that because we are covered by the righteousness of Christ, we have no condemnation of our sins.  We don't have to live in guilt or sin!  We still will sin of course but we are no longer enslaved to unrighteousness.  Joe told us about a serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, who became a Christian after brutally killing almost 20 men.  Now what is your initial reaction to hearing that someone so sinful, who murdered 20 people, can be accepted by Christ just like everyone else?  Some people think it isn't fair, but in all honesty, are we really any different than Jeffrey Dahmer?  We have the same hatred and desires in our sinful hearts, but Christ still loves us and accepts us.  We should rejoice in the fact that someone so lost was found by Christ, because I'm sure all of heaven was rejoicing on that day Jeffrey became a Christian.  But also, it is so scandalously amazing that our God offers a way for murderers, liars, and sinners to be freed and live in eternal life!  Some of us have heard that Christ died for our sins so much that it has lost its shock!  We have become desensitized to the scandal of the cross and the gift that our Savior so freely gave to us that he took on our trash and dirt and traded it for his purity and perfection!  Our God gave his only Son 'in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering' for us!  That is cool to think about too, he is fully man but not with sinful flesh like us.  Jesus Christ is the second Adam and where Adam failed the test, Christ passed and freely gave it to us!  Joe said that Adam lived in perfection at the beginning of the world, he didn't need anything, he wasn't lonely or cold or hungry and he failed.  But Christ went into the wilderness for 40 days, he was hungry and cold and hot and utterly alone, and he was tempted, but he passed!!  And Jesus' life was just a passing of every test, but not for himself, for us!!  It just amazes me so that we have such an awesome and powerful God and I am so eternally grateful to be clothed in His robe of righteousness!