Love works | New series!

Before I launch into my first blog series, I wanted to tell you about it. A while ago I wrote the entire chapter of Romans 8 to music so I and my family could memorize it. We did, and for several of us, it changed every

thing. Personally I think this is the single most important and wonderful chapter of the Bible - which is why I wanted to start the first Desire Line blog series with it.

Romans 8 is full of good news. God loves you so much that there's nothing that could separate you from his love. And that love works.

God's love works on your behalf. He's dealt with your sin by the power of that love, and he's embracing you as his beloved child, a little brother or sister of Jesus with the full rights of an heir of heaven. And your inheritance? Well, wealthy people often pass on their estate, their home and property, to their children, and God's the same. The inheritance he is preparing for you is a home, a new creation free from sin and death, where you will live with him forever, not as an angel or anything that floats, but as a human being, your truest self, in a body that never dies. Even the creation beneath your feet is waiting in expectation of this resurrection, because it will mean liberation from death for the earth, too!

Writing that feels almost silly, because God's good news can just sound too good to be true. But it is true, and really, if you're honest, isn't that what you'd ask for if you could wish for anything? Life in a perfect world with God in a body free of sin and death? Yes, please.

And God's love actually works. We have this as our guarantee: Jesus Christ has already taken the first step, to prove this is reality. He has risen from the dead, fully human, fully physical, and fully eternal. This is the core of our faith, and if you believe this, the rest is all within the realm of possibility. Likelihood. Even guarantee.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:11)

In this series, we'll take one or two verses of this rich chapter at a time, and try to savor every single drop of God's grace in it. Subscribe to my blog if you haven't already, to keep up with the posts, which will come twice a week. Each post will also include a simple, easy way to claim each verse as your own, to internalize it and begin to live in the light of its reality.

At some point I'll also share the song I wrote, so you can meditate and memorize this life-changing chapter for yourself.

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