Joint heirs with Christ: A Meditation on Romans 8

In our reading for this week, St. Paul continues his teaching about what the life of a Christian should look like.  He has made his foundational arguments about how all the world stands before the Law of God, convicted; and how He has sent His Son to die for the sins of all, that all might live by His grace through faith in the Everlasting Gospel.  He has shown us how all the faithful are at the same time sinner and saint, justified before God in Christ Jesus according to our new nature given to us through Baptism, and yet wrestling with our old sinful nature that prefers the ways of death and the devil.  It is into this struggle we each face, that St. Paul now speaks.

As Christians, we are born from above—born again—by the power of the Holy Spirit working through Christ’s Word, giving us the faith to repent and believe the Gospel.  This new life we possess is a gift given freely, and something we didn’t earn or deserve.  But it is life.  It is active, moving, and working.  We didn’t inherit an idea from God, but rather, we inherited eternal life.  We are a new creation, each and every one of us, raised up to walk in a life that reflects Jesus.

And this life has consequences.  Our Lord Jesus Christ was hated in this world, attacked by the political and religious authorities, and murdered without just cause.  He was innocent, and yet convicted; He was gentle, and yet beaten; He was kind, and yet mocked; He was a healer, and yet broken; He was a prophet, and yet lied about; He was the Son of God, and yet treated as a son of the devil.  Through all the suffering and death He bore for us and our salvation, He never yielded to sin or evil.  In all His journey, from the Manger to the Cross, He was perfect and holy, as His Father in Heaven is perfect and holy.  By His Holy Cross and Passion, having conquered death, the devil, and the grave, He rose victorious with all authority in heaven and earth given to Him.  His Name is the only Name given under heaven whereby all must be saved, and in His Name are His disciples sent to preach His Good News of salvation.  He is the Suffering Servant, the King of Kings, and our Saving Lord.

Together with Jesus, having been baptized into His life, death, and resurrection, St. Paul teaches us that we are joint heirs with Jesus of all that the Father has given Him.  We are heirs of eternal life, of forgiveness of sins, of all the blessings of heaven, and of the New Heavens and the New Earth that shall be brought forth at Jesus’ Second Coming.  We have received the promise of God, sealed in the Blood of His Only Son, that by grace through faith in Him, even though we die in this world, we shall live in Him forever.  We are joint heirs with Christ of all that He has earned, and given freely to His people.

But of course, we don’t always act like heirs of heaven.  In our sinful flesh, we are often fearful and weak.  We are terrified by the prospects of bad things happening to us, to our families, and our possessions.  We become selfish and self centered, thinking we must protect ourselves and guard our things.  We doubt God’s good and gracious gifts, preferring to chase the empty promises of lust and decadence, greed and malice.  Our sinful nature that clings so close to us, struggles day and night to lead us in the devil’s footsteps, and to forget the new life we have been given in Christ… to forget that we are heirs of heaven, rather than hell.

What is the remedy for sinner-saints such as us?  The same old, simple Means of Grace He used to give us life in the first place, continue to give us life every day.  His Word comes to us preaching His Gospel of Salvation, and subduing our sinful flesh by the rigors of the Law.  His Word comes to us in the forgiveness of sins, and in the bread and the wine of the Supper.  His Word comes to us through the works of mercy He accomplishes through the hands, feet, and lips of our brothers and sisters in faith.  His Word comes and renews the waters of our baptism, showering upon us His grace upon grace, every day of our lives.  Surely we shall struggle in this world against sin, death, and the devil, but what we are given in Jesus has already conquered them all.  We are heirs not only of Jesus life, but of His victory.

And this is the victorious life of the saints, living by grace through faith in Jesus, despite the struggles and sufferings of each day.  When we fall to temptation, we fall down also in faith and repentance, as the Gospel of Jesus sends us anew the forgiveness we need before the holy Law of God.  We are heirs of heaven, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, to live in the eternal life of Jesus.  In this world we will have struggles, but Jesus has already overcome the world.  And into the world He has sent us, alive in Him, to reflect His Gospel to the whole creation.  The struggles of the world, and of our own sinful flesh, shall all cease one day, and by the eyes of faith we can see not only the world before us, but the world yet to come.  Alive in His life, we can see Him and His victory over all the powers of darkness, and the Day that is yet to come which shall never end.

We are victors.  We are heirs of heaven.  We are destined for glory far greater than our frail fleshly eyes can see.  But we are all these things because of Jesus our Saving Lord, who gives them to us freely by His grace through faith in Him.  Be of good cheer, dear Christian, and of stout heart—for you are beloved of the Father for the sake of the Son, and given His Holy Spirit so that you may live both now and forever, forgiven and free.  Behold, He has made all things new—even you.  Go forth in the power of His Everlasting Gospel, in His Everlasting Life.  Amen.