Going Deeper - A Devotional on Romans 8

Who We Really Are

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
Romans 8:15–16 (NLT)

Who are you? If someone said, “tell me about yourself,” how would you answer? In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he has a lot to say about who we are. In chapter 8, he tells us about some very special promises. Verse 1 says there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” and verse 9, tells us we “are not in the flesh but in the Spirit” and empowered to live out that truth.

The reason we can be confident in these promises, though, isn’t about who we are. It’s all about who God is. In Romans 8:15–17, Paul writes that those of us who follow God, “have received the Spirit of adoption as sons and daughters, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” We can know that we belong to God, not because of a sort of spiritual transaction, but because he adopted us as his children.

Do you know God as Father? Maybe that word means something different to you, and it isn’t something good. In my home, my dad was not the same dad to my sisters as he was to me. I remember being woken up each day with a gentle back rub. My dad was always there, encouraging me.

But that’s not always who he had been. Growing up, he never experienced a healthy home. In 1981, he was arrested in the largest drug bust in Florida’s history. He met Christ in jail. That’s when his life forever changed. My dad lived out of his woundedness until he allowed Abba Father to heal those wounds. That’s the man I knew.

Knowing God as Abba Father means knowing that we are his children. But do we live as though we are children of the King of the Universe? It isn’t easy. Learning to live in that reality will take time. You might only have a tiny bit of belief that God is your good Abba Father. But when our tiny belief joins with the Spirit of God, it becomes a joyful confidence.

I love the way The Message paraphrases Romans 8:15-17: “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!”

Let’s learn to live life in stride with our Heavenly Father—our Abba Father—as his beloved sons and daughters in surrendered obedience, confidently expectant in the adventure he has in store for us!

PRAY
Lord, we come to you humbled by your love for us. Thank you for creating us with the ability to know you and to walk with you. Teach us to live surrendered to you, fully expectant for the incredible adventure!