As Christ also Received Us to the Glory of God – Romans 15:1-7

 I didn’t get very original for the title to our last message. All that I did was to point to verse 7 – “Wherefore Receive Ye one Another.” As we have said, although all of Romans is practical, this is the more practical section. Sure there will always be small differences between church members, but they should not keep us from behaving like true Christians towards one another. Since Christ has received us, we ought to receive one another. We ought to love one another, help carry one another’s burdens and even bear with their infirmities. We ought to enjoy one another’s fellowship despite our non-sin-based differences, and yet we should strive to help each other out of our various misconceptions where they could ultimately hinder the Lord’s glory. This is practical stuff.

Of course, the great illustration and example of this principle is seen in the Lord Jesus Himself. And this brings me to my send message, and one with an equally unoriginal title: “As Christ also Received us to the Glory of God.” Recognizing and acknowledging that there is a great gulf stretched between us and Christ – realizing that the Lord Jesus is the God-man – divine as well as man – completely without sin. And knowing how human, weak and fallible we are, because we are humanity still in its sin, we may strive to imitate the Saviour, but we are doomed to fall short of the perfect example. I don’t say that to discourage you, or because I am a pessimist, but rather because I am a realist. The fact remains that over and over again, Paul tells us to set our sights upon our perfect Saviour. “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.” “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

This morning, I would like to take Paul’s statement in Romans 15 one quarter of an inch beyond its context. I won’t try to make it mean something which Paul didn’t believe, or what he wouldn’t teach elsewhere. But I do want to take it farther than Paul intended in this particular verse. All that he was saying is that the Lord Jesus is our example. What he didn’t express were the details of that example.

For example, HOW did Christ receive us?John 6 is one of the pinnacle chapters of the Word of God, resplendent with fantastic history and doctrine. It begins with Christ Jesus’ feeding of 5,000 hungry people. For some this was nothing more than a free meal with the hopes of many more to come. For the unbelievers this was an incidental bolstering of man’s natural desire for a welfare society. But for others, this was a small step toward saving faith in Christ. They could see that this Jesus was more than a mere man. “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.” But the Lord didn’t immediately take advantage of either of these groups. He sent His disciples into the fishing boat that had brought them to that side of the Sea of Galilee, but He found a secluded spot where He could be alone with the Father. Then later that night he walked through a storm up to the disciple’s boat – still in the midst of the lake. The next day, many of the previous day’s crowd found Him again, pressing him for more miracles. That gave Christ the opportunity for some really important instruction. For example, He called Himself “the bread of life,” and did some teaching about that, eventually stating unequivocally, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life.” “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” In the midst of this discussion, our Lord and Saviour made this tremendous statement: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”

That God the Father gave a certain group of people to Christ to save is something which most of humanity hates to consider. It goes against the grain of our wicked, self-centered hearts. But Christ Jesus came into this world to do the will of the Father – verse 37. What was that will? To receive from Him a group of people – a segment of humanity. And what was the Saviour supposed to do with these people? He was to give to them the bread of life, saving their souls, and keeping them for the Lord for ever. “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The eating of the Son of Man is not done through the mouth, but through the heart – by faith. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Despite the command to believe on Christ, and despite the spiritual logic of all which Jesus said, most people are like those who were fed by the Lord that day but who couldn’t see anything but free food. They may see that there is good moral instruction in Christ. They may see that where the Lord is followed, in contrast to following those who corrupt His teachings, there is a stability of society and the blessing of God. Many of the world look at Jesus and sees a cross between Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa. But they do not see the Creator, the Son of God, or the Lord and Saviour. And they flatly refuse to ever hear that God the Father gave to Christ His chosen people to save.

In the blessed prayer, graciously recorded for us in John 17, the Lord Jesus casually talks with the Father about these people who were given to him. “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” Christ is the King of kings, and the sovereign ruler over all world – including every wicked soul in that world. And He will judge every soul as well, for the Father hath given all judgment unto the Son. But He gives eternal life only to those whom the Father has given to him for that special purpose – “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” Then He went on, as we listen in to this private conversation between Father and Son. “I have MANIFESTED THY NAME unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.” “I have GIVEN UNTO THEM THE WORDS which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.” “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”

How has the Saviour received the saints and members of the church in Rome? He received them from the Father as people elected unto salvation. He received them graciously – they were certainly no more worthy of being received than anyone else. And they were also permanently received. “This is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing.” “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Father, “As thou hast given (me) power over all flesh, (I) give eternal life to as many as thou hast given (me).”

How does the Saviour receive these people? As we said last week, He does so, bearing their infirmities and their sins. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” He receives them as the Good Samaritan received the nearly dead man laying at the side of the road. He bathes us, clothes us, treats our sin-caused wounds, and strengthens us. He receives the repenting believing sinner with love – as friends. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” And don’t forget what Jesus discussed with the Father in John 17 – “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.” “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.”

I cannot say that Paul is telling us we must receive one another in same way in which we have been received. In all but a couple ways, we are incapable of receiving others as we have been received by Christ. All that Paul is saying is – you saints have been received, and therefore you should receive others.

The second part of Paul’s statement is that we have been received TO THE GLORY OF GOD.I think that the word translated “to” in Romans 15:7 must give the Lord a smile. Some people cannot make themselves believe that God has a sense of humor, but I disagree. For example, there may be a thousand species of animals which put a smile on God’s face when He created them. The platypus is an egg-laying mammal with a duck bill and webbed feet. It’s a collection of body parts left over from a dozen other kinds of unrelated animals. It has to make God smile as the evolutionists stumble all over themselves trying to explain it. Among a thousand others, there is the miraculous, but hilarious, giraffe. And when it comes to the Word of God, the Lord may have been toying with us when He used the word “eis”. Here is a word which is used nearly 2,000 times in the New Testament and is translated in almost opposite directions. Its most common translation is “into” (573), but surprisingly it’s also translated “against” (26). It is translated “to,” “unto,” “toward” and “into,” but it’s also translated “for.” The difference in meaning between “to” and “for” can be seen in this verse. It is quite possible that the Lord smiles as He hears that some experts demand that “eis” says “Christ received us INTO the Glory of God,” while others say that “Christ received us FOR God’s glory.” I’m not going to demand either one, because both are equally true.

I know that this is an old, well-used theme, but if “eis” means “for” then we need to mention it once again. God is glorified in each and every soul whom He saves. That’s because His grace is magnified and put in the spotlight when sinners are rescued from themselves. If I was offered $1,000 to run a 100 meter race against Usain Bolt of Jamaica, the man who won the last Olympics in that event, I might consider doing it. It’s not that I’m greedy, but $1,000 is real money. That is, I would consider running, if I was to be paid whether or not I won. Because although I am reasonably sure that I could run 100 meters without falling down, I know that I could not do it in very good time. I suppose that the only reason why anyone would be foolish enough to make me that offer, is because it would make that other runner look very, very good. On the other hand, if I was given a great trainer, bionic legs, some approved drugs and time to prepare… if God would somehow make this terribly slow runner, faster than the Olympic champion… if I ran that race and actually beat Mr. Bolt, the Olympic champion, it would make the Lord and my trainer look very, very good.

Perhaps the illustration is poor, but when God takes a wretched sinner – a hell-condemned sinner – and saves Him, making him righteous, it magnifies God tremendously. It is not just or right that any sinner should escape the death penalty which is proscribed against him. It is not natural that any mortal creature, like us, should escape death and to live eternally with the Lord. If even one, single child of Adam was saved by the grace of God, it would be to the glory of the Lord. So every soul that Christ has received has been saved to the glory of God. To the praise of the glory of his grace … he hath made us accepted in the beloved – Ephesians 1. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

A brief and unscientific survey concluded that most of my commentaries suggest that the word “eis” in this verse should be understood in the sense of “unto” or “into” – not in the sense of “for,” “Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us INTO the glory of God.” Some false prophets try to sell their gospel by teaching that salvation means EARTHLY prosperity. Some suggest that when we believe on Jesus, we will be given PHYSICAL healing and good health. It wasn’t true for Paul, Stephen, Timothy or a thousand others, but still they preach it. Others try to tell their followers that faith in Christ will make them wealthy. That wasn’t even true of the Lord Jesus, let alone the Apostles. No, even though with salvation comes a Comforter and Companion who makes life worth living… And even though the Lord has promised us peace which passes all earthly understanding… Even though we have the promises of God to meet our every need – as He deems our needs…. We have been saved not so much for this world, but for the next.

A moment ago, I gave you verses from Ephesians 1, which teach us that God is glorified in our salvation. The same chapter goes on to suggest that WE are glorified as well. “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ…” The ultimate conclusion of salvation is that we shall see our Saviour, and we shall in some ways be like Him. The children of God shall all be glorified with Christ – Romans 8:17. He shall “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” – Philippians 3:21. Not only will we appear with Christ in the glorious place, but He will glorify us to be much like Himself. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Now, let’s remember that Paul was not, at this point, teaching us about God’s glory or about Heaven. He is merely saying that we must receive others as we have been received to glory. You could say that we are supposed to BE like and BEHAVE like our Saviour. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

Why is it that so many people who claim to be children of God are not more Christ-like? Isn’t because the grace of the Lord hasn’t claimed them? How can I know that I am one of those given by the Father to the Saviour? How may you know that you are a child of God? The answer is quite clear. Repent of your sin before God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As we humbly and scripturally take Christ as our Saviour, we have proof that Christ has taken us to Himself.