These days we’re going through the book of Romans, especially considering the Gospel of God in Romans. In this book we can see a progressive revelation of God – seeing our God in at least 12 aspects related to us/His salvation/His plan.
The book of Romans shows us how fallen sinners under God’s condemnation can become sons of God and heirs of God who express God in a collective way as the Body of Christ, practically realized in the local churches.
In His full salvation, God is everything to us to carry out His heart’s intent – to have many sons who express Him and represent Him on the earth.
So here are the 12 aspects of God we can see in Romans:
- In Romans we see God in His creation (Rom. 1:19-20) – God is invisible, but His eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen in the creation;
- Romans unveils God in condemnation (Rom. 2) – after he was created, man fell and became sinful; this brought in God’s condemnation;
- In Romans we see God in redemption (Rom. 3) – God not only condemns us, but He also redeems us(the sinful man needs to be redeemed);
- In Romans God is revealed in justification (Rom. 3-4) – God is righteous, and Christ fulfilled all the righteous requirements of God for us sinners, now we are justified in Christ on the base of our believing in Christ’s redemption;
- Also, God is seen in reconciliation (Rom. 5) – we are not only sinners, but also enemies of God; based on Christ’s redemption, we are being reconciled to God to enjoy Him & joy in Him;
- Even more, God is realized by us in our identification with Christ (Rom. 6) – born into Adam, we were transferred into Christ, and identified with Him; God redeemed us/justified us/reconciled us to Himself to make us one with Him;
- In Romans we also see that we can experience God in sanctification (Rom. 6-8) – after we are reconciled & made one with Christ, we need to be continually sanctified(both positionally and dispositionally, in our very nature); after we are regenerated in our spirit, we need to be sanctified more in our soul;
- Also, God is enjoyed by us in glorification (Rom. 8) – He foreknew us, predestinated us, called us, He’s now sanctifying us, and eventually He will glorify our mortal body!
- Furthermore, we can see God in His love securing our destiny (Rom. 8:31-39) – His love makes sure that we will make it through all the process all the way to being glorified!
- In Romans we also see God in His selection (Rom. 9-11) – we didn’t select Him, He selected us, and His selection is our destiny(which is to enjoy God, have Him as our portion);
- God is glorified in the Body of Christ (Rom. 12) – God is in the Body, and He is glorified and manifested in a collective entity of regenerated human beings filled with His life!
- Finally, in Romans we see that God is expressed in the church life (Rom. 16) – yes, God is expressed in Christ’s Body, but locally He is manifested and expressed practically in the local churches. On the one hand, God is in our spirit, but on the other, He is in the local churches, where all the believers practically and actually live!
This is our God – always having a heart for man, so that He became a man, paid the highest price to rescue man, and now He is renewing and transforming man so that eventually He will glorify man and be glorified through man in the church life in every locality! Lord, accomplish Your purpose in us!
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