“Bigger than You Think”
Romans 1:16-17; 8:18-25
October 14, 2018
Romans isn’t just about saving my soul, it’s about making me whole and how we play a part in making the world whole as well.
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”
-Romans 1:16
Salvation is bigger than we think.
Creation
Godlessness and Wickedness
God Gave Them Over
God Reveals Hope
The Coming of Jesus
The King Is in Place
God’s Patience
Jesus Revealed and Returns
Judgment and Destruction
Re-Creation and Renewal
Believers go to be with Jesus when they die.
“We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
-2 Corinthians 5:8
“I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”
-Philippians 1:23-24
“Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’”
-Luke 23:43
They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’”
-Revelation 6:10
What happens in the end is bigger than going to Heaven when we die.
“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”
-2 Peter 3:13
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
-Revelation 11:15
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
-Genesis 12:3
It’s not just us who are saved, but creation.
Romans 8:18-25
Salvation is about God making all things new.
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”
-2 Peter 3:10
“By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
-2 Peter 3:6-7
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
-1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
-Revelation 21:1-3
Those things we do now, during the time of God’s patience, in some way carry over into the new heaven and new earth.
