Month: October 2026

Who has held the oceans in his hand – behold our God seated on his throne – come let us adore him.

”Yes I hold the oceans in my hand and count every grain of sand. Not only am I beyond and bigger than my creation, I am also able to be involved with the smallest nano-particle in the universe. Hard to conceive of? But that should be the starting point for every child of mine – because I have chosen to be your God and be involved in a relationship with you, demonstrating my great love by sending my Son to die for each one of you to rescue you from eternal separation and misery. So I invite you into a relationship with me where all you have to do is come and adore me and follow me. I want that.”

As we come to the end of this magnificent letter, Paul allows us to see some of his personal involvement in the lives of many people. This has not been a cold static directive, rather more like a kind of warm love letter from Paul. Please read Chapter 16 of Romans.

Most of the chapter is taken up with the personal greetings and a repeated warning against factionism. It comes to an end in the doxology from vs 25 which we will focus on. These 3 v summarise much of the main thread of Paul’s teaching.

We are reminded that the focus of Paul’s letter was the gospel. We see that in the first few verses of the letter but especially his statement in 1:16-17 where he categorically states that “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because……” We are reminded here that the gospel is all about Jesus Christ, in fact he is the gospel in person. But he did not just appear out of nowhere, the fact and the purpose of His come ing are revealed from way back at the beginning of God’s story, yet hidden and kept as a mystery until Jesus Himself reveals it in his ministry and mission. In fact the whole of the Old Testament is really about Jesus, hidden in so many ways, but there as a certain pointer to the course of God’s unfolding plan.

The gospel originates from God Himself and demonstrates His personal involvement and interest in all the nations of the world. This is a stark reminder that the Jews were just a stepping stone to the ultimate outreach to the world. Notice how Paul summarises the gospel in vs 26 – “to believe and obey.”. That rounds off the strange way he describes the gospel in 1:5b “the obedience that comes from faith”. James would have liked that. We call those who have responded to the faith ”believers”. But there is a great danger in describing Jesus’ followers simply as believers, because, as James says in his epistle,”even the demons believe that and shudder”. The only true proof of one being a real follower is that our belief is followed by action. That is following Christ actively in our whole lives.

That brings the whole epistle to a close. I hope it has been helpful in your understanding of the gospel and courage to share it with others. We will tackle a new book next week, probably the book of James, as I am going to be preaching through that for the next year or so. Thanks for faithfully sharing together as we follow this blog. Thanks for your prayers and may God bless you till next week.

”God of wonders, God of grace” – “you make everything beautiful in your time.”

”If my creation we’re only able to fully see the beauty the harmony and the productivity of everything I’ve made, I am sure that they would be overcome with awe. But most important is the motive I have had in producing this creation, which is my love, and I want every being to experience that. That is the best I can give and the beauty of my creation is just a way of me expressing this huge love I have for it all, for you all. So pray that the eyes of your heart may be opened so that you can know this love to a greater and greater degree.”

As we get to the end of this most illuminating and important epistle, we meet a little of the author personally as he reveals his motives and desires. Read Romans 15:23 -33. This section gives us some insight into why Paul wrote such a detailed description of the gospel, which has become probably the most complete one in all His writings.

Paul, writing to a group of believers that he had never met, expresses his intention to visit them. However it seems that he had a wider motive, which was to to go on to Spain to take the gospel there after visiting Rome. It is generally agreed that the completeness of the description of the gospel was a sort of CV that Paul was using to introduce himself to the Roman Christians, with the ultimate aim of getting them to support and help him take the gospel further afield starting in Spain.

If we read Acts 21 – 23, we can see that his desire to get to Rome was fulfilled in a rather roundabout was, involving several years of imprisonment and an appeal to the authorities based on his Roman citizenship. It is clear from vv 30 – 33 that he expected opposition and even death. Notice how important it is to him that the recipients should pray for him and his mission. It is a humbling yet encouraging thought that we can participate in these types of outreach by getting on our knees to pray and which makes us partners in any such gospel work.

As I stand back and seek to hear Jesus in this passage, it is apparent that God is souvereign in everything, in some of the most amazing ways on a continuous basis. Paul never reached Spain but this letter has been the basis on which much of our understanding of the Christian faith rests. So the gospel has reached millions and millions of people over time, not just a few Spaniards. Paul’s plans to reach Rome were ultimately fulfilled, where he met Jesus after his imprisonment. Despite and perhaps through it, his great suffering and perseverance has given us a large part of the New Testament text. God was and is working all the time with the ultimate aim of His glory and ours.

I am also reminded how precious the gospel is and how important it is for each of us to be ready at all times, to give and answer for the hope we have, which will be shining through, if you are walking intimately with Jesus.

May you keep experiencing Jesus’ love, for which I pray for each of you. Till next week then.

Christ my sure and steady Anchor.

”An anchor Is intended to hold the ship secure when currents, winds and waves and even storms threaten the ship. You may feel at times that you are in the middle of such a storm, the wind and waves buffeting you, but within that, because of Jesus‘s death on the cross He is and will always be your sure and steady Anchor. While He calls you to fix your eyes on Him it is actually He that holds you fast when the current comes to rip you away. Your life, your hope, your future is securely held in and by that Anchor. So look up – all of you who read this – and see Christ holding you and surrender to him in faith.”

Please read Romans 15:13-22. Paul, having taken a strong line in addressing the Jews, seems to realise that he may have offended them and so in this section he seeks to soften the effect of his words to them by explaining the primacy he sees in his call to minister to the Gentiles.

But first there is vs13 which acts like a link. In itself the message is universal, to all of us Christians and actually deserves a close scrutiny and meditation. We all need the joy and peace which comes from the full reminder and assurance of our hope. This is guaranteed through the power of the Holy Spirit. That is how important it is. Do you have that joy and peace which comes from the hope God has promised? Pray for it and pray for others to experience it.

Now notice the theme if the next section. Paul is convinced of his calling to minister to the Gentiles. It is generally regarded that, although he was a Jew through and through, his ministry was primarily to the Gentiles, wherever he went.

What did that ministry look like? Refining it down to three verses; vs 16 b the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, vs 20 it has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known. And a reminder of what he said in the introduction to the letter where he declared the gospel as simply obedience to God, vs 17 b leading the Gentiles to obey God.

I suppose for some of us we may have a specific sense of calling to preach the gospel in a specific place, I believe with my whole heart that the gospel is so precious that we all have the responsibility and the joy of sharing something of it to those we meet. The gospel is Christ and just a word here or there about Him can also be used by God to be life-changing.

So I ask our dear Lord to renew our fervour to share the mighty gospel in whichever way He leads us to. May He bless you all in this, this coming week.