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Romans 7 has proclaimed an important truth which is summarized in Romans 8:2. You have been set free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. The glorious words of hope are proclaimed in Romans 8:1. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” But the message of “no condemnation” and being set free from the law of sin and death does not stop there. We have not been set free to return to the works of the flesh. We have not received the decree of “no condemnation” so that we would go on doing things that God condemns. Paul is going to direct us to the hope of the changed life. Paul is going to direct us to the new life, the good life, that is in Christ Jesus. Please open your copies of God’s word to Romans 8:4. We concluded our last lesson at this verse. But this is a transition verse, concluding the prior paragraph and opening a new paragraph that Romans 8 explores. Paul proclaims in Romans 8:4 that God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Paul is introducing an important direction for us. The righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled in us. We have been set free to obey the Lord who has freed us and proclaimed no condemnation over our lives. But how can we do what the Lord has asked us to do? Romans 8 shows us what the good life is Christ looks like and how we can do it…
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Job 42 might be the most confusing part of the book. You will notice that Job 42:10 reveals that the Lord restored the fortunes of Job and the Lord gave him twice as much as he had before. What are we supposed to make of this ending? Is the message that, after your trials, everything you lost will be restored to you? Is the message that once Job repented, then he was restored again? What is this ending communicating and how does it fit with the message of book about suffering and how God runs the world?
The Lord will now bring the trial to a close. The Lord tells Eliphaz that his anger burns against him and against his two friends. Please note that Elihu is excluded from this condemnation. But notice what the condemnation is. These three friends have not spoken what is right about the Lord. So what were the three friends saying about God? It seemed like everything they were saying was about Job. But what they were saying wrong about God was that God inflicted suffering on Job to punish him for his sins. The book has been very clear that this is not what God is doing nor how he runs the world…
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