This past weekend I have attended a range of church services that spanned baptism to first communion to memorial service. How quickly life, here, passes. And we seem to move so fast from infant through childhood through adult years to complete the journey. But it occurred to me that the child aspect is one we really never fully escape. We begin there, as a child and grow up to celebrate having our own children. And then we are very occupied with raising those "generation next" people. When they are grown and launched we await grandchildren and so enjoy returning to play with them as children once again. But, in the Lord, we remain children, always, of our Lord. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans, chapter 8, verse 14: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." When we are born again through the germination of faith in our hearts to receive Jesus as Lord we become those children of God. As verse 15 says "you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children." The passage goes on to explain that God places His Spirit within ours to resonate with our own spirit that we now belong to him and it becomes totally natural to call him Father. As children of God there are two interesting consequences that Paul discusses: (1) we are heirs of God's glory and (2) we are sharers of his suffering.
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Before we can fully inherit the glory that lies ahead, even beyond our death to future events, there is a time when we walk through days that can be very challenging and even foreboding. But it is here, as children, that we learn that God walks every step with us. Verse 31 sums up this passage: "What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" Now there is a good lesson for children to learn!
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blessings,
Rob Smith
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