18. The Gospel Core: Set Forth

In Romans 8:14-15, a significant shift takes place in Paul’s thinking and in the words flowing onto the page. Paul is convinced that he has explained fully our union with Christ and the truths of our Redemption that establish our present unbroken relationship with God through Jesus. His final word on that whole contention coming against union with Christ has become piercing and very personal to me, for I know what he means. – You have not received a spirit of slavery again into fear, but you have received the Spirit of placement as sons.

That fear is NOT the fear of God, which is pure and devoted. It is the fear that is hostile to God, hating Him. A spirit of slavery into fear is just the best way to describe that spirit that rules over all Nicene Christian thinking.

A Complete Transition. Yet in equal measure, out from my knowing of that Spirit that came upon me when I was nineteen, I can think of no better words than, the Spirit placing me out from God as His son.

Paul’s transition is now complete. Through the remainder of Romans he assumes that we KNOW that we live only inside of Christ. Then, Colossians through Philippians, and especially Ephesians, are written only out from the assumption that we live without the false “good versus evil.” Romans 8:17 is the conclusion of Paul’s Gospel of our union with Christ. Yet it also transitions us for what comes next. You see, union with Christ is only the first part of God’s Salvation. The unveiling of Jesus Christ is what union is all about. God made us to be part of the Lord Jesus Christ so that He could reveal Himself as Love through us to all creation.

A Foreshadowing. I realize now that in Romans 5:1-5, Paul has already given a preview of what is about to come. In fact, yes, Romans 8:14-39 is an expansion of those earlier verses. It begins with living in full agreement with God, then passing through travail and the proving of Christ, to become the Love of God released as Rivers of Spirit.

And those are the three parts of the reproduction of life, the conception, the gestation, and the birthing. It is the three Feasts, Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. We are presently in travail for the sake of the Church, and we press forward to the joy of LIFE birthed into the world, to the gathering of all into Christ Jesus. According to Jesus in John 14, He will show Himself to His Church before the final unveiling to all creation.

Our Season of Opportunity. • (Chapter 8) 18 For I reckon, I speak, I place to my account, that the sufferings of this present season of opportunity are not comparable towards the glory now ready and certain to be unveiled into us.

We know from verse 17, the union of suffering and glory, of our humanity and God, that “not comparable towards” does not mean “in opposition to,” or even “separate from.” The prepositions are the key, pros and eis, that is, towards and into. The picture is reaching towards and coming through. We could say it this way, “We have this Treasure, all of God in power, inside earthen vessels, our present suffering, that the GLORY coming through might be of God and not of us.” This is the meaning of “unveiling,” that is, the Apocalypse!

To BREAK the Gospel! What just happened? What is the “great shock” of Romans 8:18? And why do Christians NOT know what God just did? Every single line in Romans is coming through great URGENCY inside of Paul, built carefully upon the line before and moving with great purpose into the line coming after. God cannot bring “symmorphosed with the image of His Son” into our knowing unless He has fully turned us around, unless the Atonement has become ABSOLUTE for us.

Burning inside Paul’s heart, the “verse” that gives meaning to everything about to come, the “verse” that turns us around, that gives us the meaning of Romans 8:18, comes next, the set of verses that has been ELIMINATED from all polite Christian thought. – The HERESY verse!

What Comes Next. Now, having made my point, I must drop away immediately from hyperbole, for our Gospel Comments must read as if Paul’s Gospel is the only thing everyone has known.

The Ninth Ruling Verse of the Bible comes next, Refuge and Outlook. Inside of all that is God, we look out, and we see all creation groaning in the ignorance of God. And we KNOW that God has made us for this Purpose, that His Spirit has directed everything we have ever known or experienced that we might give ourselves to the Father for His Desire. Think of every second of your life from conception, every part of your humanity, every experience you have ever known. Romans 8:17-18 tells us what God means for our lives when His Spirit placed us out from Himself as His sons.

Turned Around. What does your life mean? The spirit of slavery to fear taught you that God was far away and that you must try to connect with this implacable God by various means, so that you can get the “magic” of God working for you, however you defined “heavenly superiority.”

Now that you are turned around upon the Mercy Seat, you know that nothing the spirit of slavery to fear ever taught you about yourself was true. You possess all that is God; you can lose nothing that is you. As you give yourself utterly to the Father, here upon Mercy, you now KNOW that every second of your life, everything you have experienced, every particulate of your humanity is ONE THING ONLY – the Intercession of God through you.

GIVE Your Sufferings to God! We define Romans 8:18 out from verse 17 and into verses 19-22, after which Paul goes on to explain the real meaning of the Spirit of Intercession inside of you. When you GIVE your sufferings to God, every single moment, every single piece of awfulness, His GLORY comes now through you into creation. You set creation free! We are in the midst of the GREAT Travail.

Kingdom: Jesus shares with us all of our suffering, for it is also His. In the same way, Jesus shares with us His glory, for it is also ours. As we endure suffering, giving it all to the Father for His sake, we become the passageway through which God makes Himself known to all as Love (see Romans 5:4-5). We are able to place all our difficulty into God in this way because we KNOW that the Atonement is Complete.

The Ninth Ruling Verse – Refuge & Outlook. • 19 For the eager anticipation of the creation awaits intently for the unveiling of the sons of God, [the removal of the cover that hides]. • 20 For the creation was made subject to purposelessness, not willingly, but through being subjected based on the hope 21 that creation itself will also be made free from the slavery of decay into the freedom of the glory of the children birthed out from God. • 22 Indeed, we are aware that the entire creation groans together and travails together until now. • 23 Not only that, but even we personally, possessing the firstfruit of the Spirit, we also groan inside our own persons, eagerly expecting the placement and setting forth as sons, that is, the redemption of our body.

– At least for this study, I will include verse 23 in the Ninth Ruling Verse.

A Personal Intercession. This is just the next part of Paul’s Gospel, already part of what it means that we are now sons of God led by the Spirit. We have not known that we are the sons unveiled for one reason only. We have not known because we refused to believe that God is telling us the Truth. The “cover” was unbelief. Yet Paul’s layout of the Gospel has shown us that from Jesus’ Resurrection on, we have never been separated from God.

In complete contrast, every moment of our lives, every grief and shame, every pain and hopelessness, has been only God sharing Himself with us, His travail together with us for the sake of all, and especially for those with whom we interacted, including this one causing so much pain. God has always been inside of us reconciling the world to Himself. Yet this has just become something very personal.

Expanded and Personal. For the eager anticipation of the creation awaits intently for the unveiling of the sons of God, when the cover of unbelief is removed from all eyes to see what has been the only thing True. For the creation was made subject to purposelessness, not because God wanted it that way, but based on the hope that creation itself will also be made free from the slavery of decay into the freedom of the glory of the children birthed out from God. Indeed, we are aware that the entire creation groans together and travails together until now. Not only that, but even we personally, possessing the firstfruit of the Spirit, we also groan inside our own persons, eagerly expecting the placement and setting forth as sons, proven as Jesus was, in the redemption of our body.

Christ Made Personal: I am God’s intercession in my world; I set creation free.

Reality versus Perception. Let me name four things that are very REAL, (1) the God in whom we dwell, (2) Jesus sharing all with us, (3) all the people in our lives and every interaction with another, and (4) ourselves, in every moment from conception until now. Here is one thing that is NOT real – what our perception of everything has been. In fact human perception of reality is far more than UN-real, it is insane. Most Christian perception of reality is the wrong tree.

Two things have taken me from one mind to the other, in how I perceive everything that is real, (1) this FLOW of Gospel Word, as it began for me on August 6, 2006, but especially now, and (2) utter trust in the Jesus who carries me. Our perception of all reality must be metamorphosed – the renewing of our minds, inside of the Tree of Life.

Where the Gospel Core Belongs. Okay. I have many chapters written on the Ninth Ruling Verse, yet I have never written out from true understanding. The things said in those chapters are true, and they lead us here. The problem is that I am seeing everything brand new. This is the first time I have placed Romans 8:18-30, the Gospel Core, where it belongs, in the Flow of Gospel Word.

A “gospel” without the Ninth Ruling Verse at its heart, Refuge and Outlook, God inside of us reconciling the world to Himself, is no gospel at all. The Gospel allows us to call, if we wish to, every moment of our lives from conception, as God’s Heart in ours, for the sake of this one with whom we interacted and for the sake of all. All I can do is see where “brand new” might take us.

Life and Covenant. Life: Our lives began with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ out from the dead. Receiving Jesus is when we came to know that LIFE was already True. No disconnection from God has ever been our reality. God has always shared Life with us.

Covenant: Just as God sent Jesus into the world, so He has sent us, with the same relationship with Himself and for the same purpose. Our purpose is to be the Travail of God in the midst of creation for the sake of each and for the sake of all. God has set us out from Himself as sons, entirely free from sin.

Speak Christ: The Spirit inside of us crying, “My Daddy, the Father,” means that we now call every moment of our lives to be God with us for the sake of others. Our speaking of Christ made personal as us is our response to a creation groaning in travail, longing to know the God they once cast off.

Symmorphosed and Filled! Ruling Verse 1: Romans 8:28 takes the vast scope of the Ninth Ruling Verse, setting creation free, and expresses it all in just a few words, yet placing the entirety of our lives into God’s purpose from the beginning. And verse 30 means that we have always been sons set forth, we have always, in every moment of our lives, been the suffering of Christ for the sake of others. This is what it means to be symmorphosed with Jesus.

Ruling Verse 2: Christ lives in our hearts, we are rooted and grounded inside of Love, we are filled with all the fulness of God, for this purpose, that we might set creation free into the glorious liberty in which we already dwell. As we give every moment of our lives to the Father, regardless, calling all of our difficulty by His goodness, so the power coming through us is of God, for it is Christ Jesus unveiled as His Church.

Our Refuge Is God’s Assault Weapon. The thing that made the difference for me is that in completing the Flow of Gospel Word from Romans 1:1 to 8:17, I was impacted overwhelmingly by God’s forceful REMOVAL from us of all sin, of any disconnection from God, inside the Cross long time ago. We have known NOTHING of that removal, for every moment of our lives has been God with us for the sake of all creation, even inside of groaning, even inside our mistakes and our shame. We have perceived our lives so wrongly.

In the Norman conquest of England, the Normans built castles, not for defense, but as offensive weapons against the local Saxons. In the same way, Salvation is not a “defense” for us, but rather, God’s offensive position inside of a rebellious creation, bringing all into submission to Jesus.

Defining the Rule. It is only now that I can define the Rule for Refuge and Outlook.

Defining the Rule: We are inside of God in all, kept from all evil, yes, but God has turned us around as in the Day of Atonement. We now perceive all things as God sees them and not by outward appearance. We look upon all creation and we perceive that the hatred of God is a smokescreen, for all created things are right now groaning, even travailing, for True Liberty. We are that Liberty, this Glorious Salvation in which we live, knowing our Father sharing life with us. God has set us forth as sons from Himself that we might be His Love towards all. God has removed unbelief from our own eyes that we might know that He speaks the Truth. Creation itself awaits that moment when they can see Love as well.

From Rivers to Intimacy. Ruling Verse 3: Even though God has placed us into this world as sons out from Him, we remain entirely inside of God. It is the Spirit that flows forth from us as rivers setting creation free, for where the Spirit is, there is Liberty.

Ruling Verse 4: We are well able to bind the darkness; we are well able to cast the accuser of our brethren out from the heavens of the Church. We are able to be that swift passage into all the Life of Christ for all who believe into Jesus, for Jesus gives all of Himself to us.

Ruling Verse 5: Even as the cover is removed from the eyes of all to see Jesus as He is revealed through us, His Body, even as all that opposes God vanishes from this world, even as Rivers flow forth from us, setting all free, still we rest inside of Jesus, in full and personal union, and in sweet intimacy – forever.

From Boldness to Love. Ruling Verse 6: God is our refuge; we dwell only inside of Him. Though He places us out from Himself into our world, we never depart from Him. In all that we need, we apprehend all that is God, with no consciousness of sins, knowing that every part of our humanity in this world is CLEAN!

Ruling Verse 7: As sons birthed out from God, we go forward into every next moment CONFIDENT that God shares all with us, and that His Love is made known in every place.

Ruling Verse 8: Inside of God, we apprehend all that is Love poured out for us, for we know the giving of Jesus for us and for Father. Yet God has turned us around, that we also might Love as Jesus loves, setting forth our souls for our brethren. It is the Church whom God Loves first, for creation itself cannot know the Father except through the Church.

The Rock and the Fire. Ruling Verse 9: The unveiling of the sons of God, setting creation free, is the immediate next Truth of Paul’s Gospel after he has established our absolute Atonement. We dwell only inside of God our Rock and we look out now, seeing as God sees, sending forth the Spirit, the normal Christian life.

Ruling Verse 10: Just as Jesus is inside of the Father, so we are inside of Jesus inside of the Father, in all boldness. Now, Jesus gives all of Himself to us, in all His abilities, that God might be known as Love inside of creation. Just as God sent Jesus into us that we might know Him, so now God sends us out from Himself in the same way, so that we might be His knowledge to all creation. Our first task is to place the Lord Jesus Christ upon His Church in our seeing, casting down all accusation as we do. We are sent to light the Church on Fire.

The Kingdom as Father Made Known. Kingdom: Being set forth as sons out from God is Kingdom. Salvation come now is God through us into our world. God gave us all authority, yet reserved all power for His Spirit. As we give our authority to the Father, that our every moment be His purpose shared with us, so the Spirit causes us to be the very Heart of the Father bringing Glorious Liberty to all.

The Form for God through Jesus: The Church, which is His body, the fulness of Christ who fills all inside of all (Ephesians 1:23). We together become the dwelling place of God, His form made visible to all, only as we allow God to turn us around, seated now together inside of Jesus upon the Mercy Seat, the authority of heaven. The cover is removed from our own eyes first, that we might see Jesus in one another’s faces. Only then can the world SEE the Love that is God.

The Flow of Gospel Word. I have, in fact, gone back and forth over whether verses 18 and 23 should be included in the Ninth Ruling Verse. For simplicity’s sake, I have kept it as verses 19-22, and I will probably continue to do so. Yet it is now clear that the Ninth Ruling Verse is actually Romans 8:14-27 (or even 8:9-39).

Yet Paul repeats all of that in condensed (and expanded) form in Romans 8:28; whereas 8:30 shows us that it all has been the only thing True concerning us right from the start, making Romans 8:29 a billion times bigger than we have known. For the sake of human thinking, we need the basic definitions provided by twelve ruling verses that are limited in scope. Yet we now see clearly that they find their full meaning only inside the overall Flow of Gospel Word, through all the verses coming before them and following after.

The Spirit Brings Us in Line. • 26 …the Spirit also joins as help together with our weakness, that is, personally seizes hold of our need as our help; for we are not aware of the things that are necessary for us to pray, but the Spirit personally brings us in line with Father for the sake of others [], with inexpressible groanings.

This is the actual relationship between the Devoted Spirit and the weakness of our humanity, our flesh as God designed it. Now, the Greek word is huperentugchanó, found only this one time, that is, in this extended form. The root is tugchanó, which is “hitting the mark,” the opposite of “missing the mark,” which is typically translated “sin.” This root follows two prefixes, hyper and inside of. Hyper means surpassing all as well as “for the sake of others.” Most translate the word as “makes intercession,” which we have not understood.

Being Made Intercession. I translated “hitting the mark for the sake of others” with these words, “personally brings us in line with Father for the sake of others.” “To hit the mark” means to share with the Father in His glory, which is a creation set free. Only when we understand our travail with the Spirit in this way can we then use the words “Becoming Intercession” as God means Intercession. This is the most important work of the Spirit inside of us.

Ruling Verse 9: As we live now turned around inside of God, we know the Spirit in union with our human weakness, that we might travail by the Spirit as Intercession for the sake of our brothers and sisters inside of Christ. We don’t need to know what is needed, for the Spirit is the Father’s Desire in us.

The Mercy Seat. • 27 Even more than that, the One [Jesus as Word] who is actively searching hearts to know present needs, is aware of the heart-gut thinking of the Spirit, because, according to all that is God, He joins us together with God – inside complete and absolute connection [the Mercy Seat] – for the sake of those who are devoted [the Church].

Again, the key Greek word is entugchanó, “inside of hitting the mark of God’s glory,” which most translate as “to intercede,” but that I translated as [Jesus] joins us together with God – inside complete and absolute connection [the Mercy Seat]. (Jesus and Spirit are always together.) Yes, all of that out from one Greek word filled with meaning. Verses 26-27 are the description of what God means by having turned us around upon the Mercy Seat.

The Travail of God. Ruling Verse 9: Jesus knows the needs in the heart of a brother or a sister. We ourselves have no need to know any specifics. Yet the Jesus who shares their agony with them, imparts that same knowing in the Spirit weeping inside of us. This is how we are God’s Mercy Seat for one another; this is how Jesus resolves all and restores all through us.
 
The Spirit placed in me the desire to write on “Becoming Intercession.” The Spirit has brought me in line with the Father that I might know what such a thing means. You see, our lives have only been inside of Jesus’ resurrection, for our death happened long before we were born. That means that our entire lives have been one thing only, the intercession of Spirit, the travail of God, God through us into our world.

Comprehending Paul’s Gospel. I have now written enough of the next two lessons that I understand Paul’s purpose through the entire remainder of the letter to the Romans. I have now realized that Romans 8:31 to 39 is a continuation of our task as believers, a continuation of Ruling Verse 9. Our task, if you will receive it, is to bring to God WHAT He WANTS, that is, a Glorious Church, His dwelling place.

Romans 8:28-30 is the beating Hheart of this task that Jesus and we share together, the Covenant. The remainder of Romans, then, is the one issue of – who will do this for God? Thus I can assert inside of full knowing that any “gospel” that leaves out Romans 8:19-21 is NO gospel at all. It is impossible to comprehend Paul’s Gospel without our True ministry, Refuge and Outlook, setting creation free, at its core.

Reading for Next Time. Okay, trying to have just one lesson for the Gospel Core became just too long. I also needed more space to introduce the Ruling Verse, which itself is getting bigger and bigger. Yet I still want to complete 19. “The Gospel Core: Symmorphosed” and most of 20. “Who Are the Called?” before tackling 21. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” which I still hope to present in the next Zoom meeting, with God’s energeoing might granted to me.

So, basically, read the rest of Romans, Chapters 9-16, in the JSV to gain the larger picture. As you read Chapters 9-11, however, understand this. Paul’s next question is WHO! Who are those who are brethren with Jesus, born of the same womb. It’s Chapters 9-12, the Church.

Let’s Pray Together. “God, our Father, You have saved us out from great evil, out from the “Christian” unbelief that we have lived separated from You. And You have saved us into great Purpose, that Your Love might become tangible through us inside Your Church.

“Father, we have believed and now know that our Life began the very moment You raised Jesus out from the dead, carrying us inside Himself into You. Father, we have believed and now know that You have always shouted everywhere inside Yourself that we have never been separated from You. We have believed and now know that our entire lives have been You inside of us reconciling the world to Yourself.

“Father, the idea of being “without sin” means little to us, but being utterly connected with You, sharing Life together, means everything. Here inside of You, we give You every present moment of our lives that You might call it Your own, and in so doing, we know that every moment of our suffering from conception to now is also swept into Your Glory inside of us. God, our Father, we ARE, and have always been, Your Intercession for the sake of Your people, for all who believe into Jesus in all heaven and earth.

“Inside of the name of Jesus, for we are just like Him inside of You, oh God, we ask You to remove the cover of unbelief from the eyes of our brethren that they might SEE Your Love poured out into them, that they might KNOW the unveiling of Jesus Christ through them into their world. Father, You have already answered us in Power!”