Freedom in Christ

we're not just physical beings.

We have this thing called life in the Spirit.

And that, says Paul, is the most important thing.

To be in Christ, to be free in Christ,

means that our life is essentially life in the Holy Spirit.

Paul puts it,

you, however, are not in the realm of the flesh,

but are in the realm of the Spirit.

It is the Holy Spirit that gives us freedom,

that gives us identity.

In Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

I'm told that there's more references to the Holy Spirit

than in any other single chapter in the entire New Testament.

And in these few verses alone,

the Spirit is mentioned 16 times.

It's clearly a preoccupation for Paul.

So what does it look like then?

What does it mean in real, actual, practical terms

to be talking about living out that identity in Christ,

life in the Spirit,

and to be free therein?

Well, there's some things going to come up on the screen.

The first thing here is that

life in the Spirit gives us

a new possession.

Now, the Holy Spirit obviously is not a commodity.

It's not a thing we own.

It's not just a resort.

But when Paul says that the Holy Spirit is in us,

it means that there is a real sense

in which God's Spirit becomes something.

We are his possession and he is ours.

In verse 9 it says,

God's Spirit lives in you.

New possession.

Last summer was the Queen's Jubilee

and there were a lot of stories being put out there

from people, anecdotes,

people that had met the Queen.

You may have heard this particular story,

but it was my favourite one.

It was told by one of her former security guards

who was out walking in the estate,

in the Balmoral estate years ago.

And it was just him and the Queen

and they came across a couple of American walkers

who, it would seem, didn't recognise her.

But they were very friendly

and they struck up a conversation

and they said,

so do you live near here?

She said, apparently no, I live in London,

but I've got a little holiday home round the corner.

I said, oh, so have you been coming here for long?

She said, well yeah, since I was a little girl,

so over 80 years now.

And apparently,

they then said,

well if you've been coming here all this time,

you must have met the Queen.

And she was very fast,

she said, oh I haven't,

but he has lots of times.

Pointing to the security guard

who's recounting this story.

So they turned to him

and they said,

so what's she like?

And he said he worked with her for long enough

to be able to get away with this.

He said to them,

well she can be quite cantankerous sometimes,

but she's got a wonderful sense of humour.

And they still didn't cotton on.

They said,

we could just do anything

to have a photo taken

with someone who's met the Queen.

At which point,

one of them passed their phone to the Queen.

And said,

can you take a photo of us with this guy?

So she did,

and they kept straight faces

right the way through this.

But before the conversation ended,

they swapped places

and the Queen insisted

that they also take one

with her in it.

And then,

just as they went,

she said to her security guard,

I would give anything

to be a fly on the wall.

When they get home,

they're retelling this story,

and they're showing these photos

to their friends.

Being in the presence of royalty

and just not recognising it.

You can see where this is going.

When you become a Christian,

you become in Christ.

You have a new possession,

as I say,

not as a resource,

not as a commodity,

but the Holy Spirit of God,

the one who raised Jesus from the dead.

The Holy Spirit of the living God

is the one who you meet with.

And yet,

and yet we overlook that significance.

We don't recognise it.

We don't take it on board.

Perhaps it's a lifelong process

of coming to terms with that reality,

but that is the reality.

We meet simply not with royalty.

We meet with the living God.

And we have the living God

communing with us

in our everyday lives.

And we need to wake up

and smell the coffee

and recognise that reality.

Because when we see

that that is our possession,

that the Holy Spirit of God

is not simply around us

and beside us,

although he is all those things,

but is actually within us,

that's the game changer.

And Paul says,

everything else

has got to be worked out from there.

God's Spirit lives in you.

You have this extraordinary,

extraordinary possession

that my guess is most of the time

we simply don't take on board.

We don't recognise.

The second thing is

that, yes,

we have a new possession,

but it gives us a new position.

Paul says in this passage

that we become children of God.

Become adopted into God's family.

That's what this identity is,

to be in Christ.

Christ.

And you have a new freedom

because when you understand

your identity in those terms,

that you not only just

meet this God

that we need to recognise,

but actually we become

God's children,

it changes the way

we see things,

we see ourselves,

we see our interactions,

the way we see our identity.

Several years ago,

there was an experiment,

a rather unusual one,

that was carried out

by a psychologist.

They had ten people

in this sample,

in this experiment.

And they said,

they explained to these volunteers

that it was a social experiment

and with the help of,

the help of make-up,

they had some Hollywood

sort of make-up artists

as part of the experiment,

they put the volunteers

into ten cubicles

and they said,

what we're going to do

is we're going to paint

quite a noticeable scar

on your faces.

So there were about two hours

going through this,

putting the make-up on

and so each of the volunteers

was aware that this was

serious business,

this was going to look realistic

and then they showed them

what they looked like

in the mirror

and they said,

what we're going to do

is we're going to ask you

to go out

and just interact

with people for several hours,

go into as many shops,

cafes, restaurants,

whatever,

talk to as many people

and get on public transport

and just interact

and we just want you

to then come back

and we're going to interview you

because we want to know

how people interact with you

when they see

what you've got

on your faces.

We said,

just before we send you out

we just need to send you

back into the cubicles

and just do a little bit

of finishing touches

to the make-up.

At which point

what they didn't realise

was that

they actually removed

the scars from their faces.

So these volunteers

go out into the public situation

thinking that they've been made up

when in fact

they haven't at all.

They look exactly the same

as they always have done.

Do you know

when those ten people

came back afterwards

and were interviewed

without exception

they said that people

treated them so strangely.

People would either

look the other way,

would ignore them,

people cut them short,

they said it was just terrible.

the worst few hours

of their lives.

You see,

well that simple experiment

serves to illustrate

is the difference

that self-image makes.

When you have a picture

in your mind's eye

as to

what you are

it shapes

the way

that you perceive others

and you interact

with others.

in Christ

we have this new position

and it's a position

that defines

or should define

the way that we see

ourselves

and our relationships

and the way that we interact

with others.

When we see things

through that lens

it changes everything.

Our new position

is that

we are God's children

in Christ.

God's spirit

lives in us.

We have a new possession,

we have a new position.

The third thing

is we have

a new prospect.

Usually

when

you inherit something

when somebody else

dies

in

in these verses

from

Paul

Paul

we are told

that we inherit

something

when we die.

We are heirs

of God

he says

in verse 17

co-heirs

with Christ.

In other words

everything

that we see

in the risen Jesus

will be ours.

The kingdom

of God

in all its fullness

which is so much

bigger

and greater

than anything

else

that this world

has to offer

will be ours.

And whilst

it will only

fully be ours

in eternity

we get a glimpse

now.

Because that

identity

in Christ

starts now.

The Holy Spirit

is in us

now.

We are God's

children

now

and therefore

that prospect

of the future

begins now.

We're not there yet

and we won't

be there

until we get

there.

But we have

that new

prospect.

We are

heirs

of God's

kingdom.

And so

the fourth

the last one

that I want

to suggest

is that

what this

gives us

is a radically

new pursuit.

this is what

the journey

is all about.

Now it may

well be that

we listen to

some of these

things and we

think this

sounds great

I just long

wish I had

this sense of

the Holy Spirit

being in my life

as his possession.

I wish I had

that sense of

identity

that sense of

position

that sense of

a child of God

I wish I really

kind of took

that on board.

That sense of

the future

promise

I'd love all that

I'd love to think

all that yet I

struggle so much

I get it wrong

in my life

I don't sort of

live that out

I make mistakes

it's such a

struggle for me

to kind of

come to terms

with all this.

If you're feeling

any of that

then be reassured

this is why

Paul wrote

these words

because it's

a struggle.

That's why

these words

are here for us

in Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

to say that

life is a struggle

there is this

thing called

the flesh

and there's

everything that

distracts us

and pulls us

in the direction

of all the stuff

that is

effected

eventually

will come

to nothing

everything that

will die out

there's all of

those things

going on

but

but be

reassured

it's a

lifelong

pursuit

but we are

called

to make

this our

focus

to cast

our eyes

onto Jesus

to make

him the

focus

and him

the focus

alone

and sometimes

we'll get

that right

and sometimes

we'll get

that wrong

but he's

with us

he's there

for us

he's that

new possession

that's in us

he's that one

that gives us

that radically

new position

he holds out

that prospect

before us

and so we have

this new

lifelong pursuit

and it's never

too late

to start it

and it's never

too late

to restart it

apparently

I'd never come

across this

before

but apparently

there is a

proverb that

comes from

France originally

that says

the best

the best

starter

for any

meal

is hunger

if talking

about these

things

wets your

appetite

be encouraged

because that's

where he

meets us

and as we

come to pray

now

if perhaps

that sense

of hunger

after God's

Holy Spirit

is something

that resonates

with you

then that's

fantastic

but don't

beat yourself

up over it

see it as a

positive

and take

that hunger

for his

Holy Spirit

to that sense

of renewed

identity

in him

bring it

to him

and invite

his Holy Spirit

in

let's pray

together now

let's take a few

moments just to

be still

as we

reflect on

these things

and as we

bring our

lives before

him

knowing that

we

we have

a life

our

flesh

our lives

in the

flesh

our lives

here and

now

are mortal

lives

but knowing

that that is

not the

dominant

theme

Lord

we are

human beings

and we

come to you

as we are

because we

can come no

other way

and we

confess to

you all

about us

that is

broken

that is

distorted

that is

messed up

we bring

before you

our past

and indeed

our present

and things

that perhaps

bring us

a sense

of shame

but Lord

thank you

that your

view of us

is so much

more positive

than our

view of us

so Lord

as we say

to you

that we

are sorry

and we

confess

our wrongdoing

to you

thank you

that we

may know

that our

life

our identity

is life

in the

spirit

Holy Spirit

would you

breathe

would you

pour

into our

hearts

that renewed

sense

of freedom

that comes

only from

you

Lord

would you

shape in

us

that new

sense

of identity

that position

that we

are your

children

Lord

would you

focus us

in on

that hope

that promise

that prospect

that is

ours for

all eternity

and Lord

would you

in your

Holy Spirit

enable us

to pursue

these things

now and

in our

daily lives

so Lord

Holy Spirit

pour into

us now

let's just

wait upon

God as

we

wait upon

his Holy

Spirit

Holy Spirit

would you

pour out

yourself

upon us

and in

us

renew

a sense

of your

presence

now

as we

worship

you

thank you

Jesus

you

you

God yeah