Romans eight is considered to be one of the greatest chapters ever written. You will see that it's filled with 39 powerful, profound verses. And over the next several weeks, I wanna take you on a journey. And on this journey, you're gonna hear some very real and raw stories. But here's my desire. I want you to take your brokenness and I want you to bring it to God.
And I want the word of God to heal the places of your lives that are still wounded. I want God to restore the broken pieces. I want to take us through God's word from a place of brokenness to a place of belonging. And it's interesting what Paul does right out of the gate. As he gives extraordinary hope to the ordinary sinner, I want you to take a listen to Romans chapter eight verse one. Join us!
Is there purpose in your pain?
Have you ever thought your life is beyond repair or wondered if God could use your brokenness for good? We all tend to look and search for purpose in our pain and suffering. Depression, anxiety, hurting relationships, and unmet expectations can cause us to question God. In this study, Noe Garcia takes participants on a journey through Romans 8, which many scholars believe is the greatest chapter in the Bible. Noe shares his life story and experiences of abuse, depression, and overwhelming hopelessness. He reveals how God redeemed, repaired, and restored him. Through Romans 8, he'll help you understand Christ's transformative power to repurpose hurt and brokenness for your good and His glory.
Romans eight is considered to be one of the greatest chapters ever written. You will see that it's filled with 39 powerful, profound verses. And over the next several weeks, I wanna take you on a journey. And on this journey, you're gonna hear some very real and raw stories. But here's my desire. I want you to take your brokenness and I want you to bring it to God.
And I want the word of God to heal the places of your lives that are still wounded. I want God to restore the broken pieces. I wanna take us through God's word from a place of brokenness to a place of belonging. And it's interesting what Paul does right out of the. As he gives extraordinary hope to the ordinary sinner, I want you to take a listen to Romans chapter eight verse one.
He says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ. What a liberating verse right out of the gates. This word condemnation is a legal term. It means that you are sentenced to punishment. So what Paul is saying that for the c. You are no longer condemned. Christ has stood in on your behalf and taken the punishment.
This is great news. And you know what Paul does? You know what's interesting is that he uses this phrase right out of Romans chapter seven and Romans chapter seven, Paul admits that he has a wrestle with flesh. You can almost hear it in the tone. He is saying, who is gonna save me from this wretched? What a wretched man that I am.
You almost sense that this wrestle with sin and this wrestle with his flesh has taken him to a place of shame and guilt. Now, here's the thing. Although Paul understands that we can no longer be condemned, the truth is that sometimes our sin makes us feel this shame and this condemnation, maybe spiritually, maybe emotionally, and maybe mentally.
So, Paul is trying to break us. But the truth is we still live in our flesh, don't we? And so we still experience this shame that comes with sin. It happened all the way in the garden with Genesis chapter two. Genesis chapter two says that the man and woman were both naked and not ashamed. This word naked means more than just being nude or more than nudity.
It means that they were completely exposed before God. They had nothing to. Mentally, physically, emotionally, they had extreme confidence before God and they weren't ashamed. And then something happens in Genesis three when sin enters. You now see Adam and Eve. Scripture says they are hiding from God. They go from Genesis chapter two, from being completely naked to Genesis chapter three in their sin being ashamed and hiding from God.
Do you know what they. They take fig leaps and they try to cover themselves and they wait to hide from God. They're, they're shameful and they're hiding themselves. And then God comes on the scene, and here's a great thing. While they are hiding from God, God isn't hiding from them. But no doubt they are feeling the weight of their sin.
They are feeling the shame of their sin. You ever. I'm not talking about the kind of sin, uh, or shame that you feel from binge watching on Netflix or overeating or, or thinking things you shouldn't think. I'm talking about the kind of shame that paralyzes you, the kind of shame that overtakes you. The kind of shame that has you running when no one is chasing the kind of shame that has you hiding when no one is looking.
You know, this kind of shame paralyzes us. It ties us to our past. It keeps us stuck in the present and blinds us to the future. I've been there plenty of times in my life. Let me just tell you, shame has no mercy for its victims. It makes you feel like God can't forgive the deepest and ugliest parts of your life.
It makes you think that your sin is too great to be loved and forgiven by. But that's not true. See, there's a way to break shame's power. There's a way to be set free. Psalm 32 shows us that way. David comes before the Lord in full confession. And here's what he says. He says that when he hid and covered his sin, you know what happens?
He said that he felt God's hand. Upon him. He says that he felt like his body and bones were wasting away. He says that his strength was dried up as the heat of the summer. Do you know what he is saying? He was miserable and he was trying his best to hide, but he couldn't take it anymore. You know what he does?
He says this in verse five, then I acknowledge my inequity to you. He says, I. My sins and my transgressions to the Lord. He no longer covered it. Then he says this, and the Lord covered and forgave the iniquity of his sin. Let's pause here. Let me just show us what's going on. You have David dealing with this deep, dark sin who is trying to hide and he's trying to cover it, and what happens?
Well, he says this. I can't take it anymore. I'm tired of. I'm tired of feeling this shame. I don't wanna deal with this anymore. I want to be free and I'm not free. So what does he do? He says, I acknowledge that's the very first thing. So Christian, you wanna break free from that sin the deepest, ugliest thing in your life that's condemning you, that's reminding you, that's accusing you.
You wanna break free the first. Acknowledge that thing. Take ownership. What is it? What is that very thing? You need to acknowledge that you have done that You are trying so hard to hide. Second, confess it, man. Confess it all. Confess it all to the Lord. God, here it is. Here is everything I have to give you.
Here's the ugliest parts of my. Here's the things that I'm so embarrassed about. Here are the things that have been keeping me stuck in the past. God, here is my shame. Here is everything. Confess everything you have to God. And you know what happens after you acknowledge it and you confess it, shame loses its power cuz David says this, then you forgave.
Of all my inequity, he forgave him of everything. Do you know what happens when you know you are forgiven? You walk in complete freedom. Yes, you messed up. Yes, you're not proud, but yes, you are free from that shame and you don't have to hide anymore. You know what I love about Genesis chapter three? While they are hiding from God, God is not hiding from.
In fact, in their attempt to hide and cover their shame, they get fig leaves. But you know what? Man's attempt is never enough. You know what God does? God takes an animal, kills an animal, takes the animal skin, and covers them with animal skin. Many scholars believe that that may have been a lamb that he covers them with.
What a great picture man's attempt is never. So Christ the perfect Lamb, has gone on the cross and has covered what we can't cover for ourselves. So come out from hiding. Don't be ashamed. The blood of Christ has covered it all, and there is no condemnation for the believer. You know, my son at an early age, he was very active.
In fact, he still is. I'll never forget I came home. And my wife said, get ready, be prepared for what you're about to see. And as I walked in, there were markers all over the walls. There were markers all over the windows. The kid went crazy and marked up the entire house. And so at this time, he's about three years old, and I, I called for his name.
I say, Balin, where are you buddy? Daddy's home. And he doesn't come out. Typically when I get home, he runs towards me and he embraces me, and he's so excited to. This time he was hiding. He went to his room and he closed the door. Cause I was home and he was terrified. And I said, Balin daddy's home buddy.
And he slowly walks out with his head down, just you can see he was covered in shame. And I said, buddy, come here. What's going on? And he looks down, he can't even look at me in the eye, you know, that's what shame does. And he looks up and said, buddy, look at me in the eyes, what's going on? And he has his hand behind his back and he says, and I say, buddy, what happened to these walls?
And he says, nothing. I said, buddy, did you mark up the walls today? And he says, no. I said, buddy, either you or mom marked up the walls who marked them up. And he said, I don't know. I said, son, did you mark up the walls? And he stayed very quietly. And I said, son, let me see your hands. Let me see your hands, son.
He brought out his hands and he showed me his hands and his hands were covered in marker. You know what that said to me? Guilty. The evidence is all over your dirty hands. And he was terrified to show he was shaking. Here are my dirty hands, but you know what I did? I took his hands. I kissed him and said, son, I love you.
I love you, son. Don't do that again, buddy. I love you and I. You know what God does when we try to cover and hide our sin from him and we're walking in shame and can't even look at him? Do you know what God does when we, when we show him our dirty hands filled with shame, he covers them. He forgives us and he embraces us.
So brother and sister in Christ come out from hiding cuz we have a God who wants to. And embrace us.