For several weeks now, I have been pondering a particular passage and subject regarding missions. God has shown me much from Romans 8 and I am very excited about sharing it with others. Romans 8 contains some familiar verses, but I think we would all greatly benefit a fresh study of the entire passage. I believe a proper appreciation for the context and message of Romans 8 is absolutely critical to the subject of missions…even the subject of any ministry or just plain life!

I would like to consider what really is the core content of missions. In such consideration, several passages come to mind (Isaiah’s here am I passage, the other great commission texts, etc.). Let’s come at it from a little different angle. In fact, let’s come to the subject of missions by looking at it’s core content. What is missions all about? What is ministry in general all about? What really is life all about?

Now, we could say that the answer to all of these questions could be the glory of God, just Jesus Himself, or the worship of our God. While all of these answers really would adequately answer our questions, allow your mind to focus on the core content behind these things. Thought in this way, the core content of missions, ministry, and life really is the Gospel. The text of Romans 8 brings us front and center to a glorious exposition and proclamation of this glorious Gospel!

Paul writes to the Roman church familiarizing himself, his ministry, and his calling to these scattered house churches. He lays the foundation for this precious Gospel by using the first few chapters to explain mankind’s desperate condition in sin…hopeless on our own! He then begins in chapter 5 to introduce the Gospel as God’s plan for salvation through faith for all humanity; past, present, and future. Even Abraham and the OT generations were saved through faith in Jehovah. Paul also compares the all-encompassing work of Adam (to sin) to that of Christ (to redemption). Chapter 6 further builds on the Gospel’s call to freedom over sin’s enslaving power. Chapter 7 relates to the continuing struggle over the flesh and sin even after salvation, but directs the reader toward great hope in the freeing power of the Gospel!

We then come to Romans 8, an incredible passage upholding and declaring the sufficiency of the Gospel of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!

The truths of Romans 8 boldly declare the sufficiency of the Gospel and should be our motive for living and ministry! It is for these reasons that I believe the sufficient Gospel (as expounded in Romans 8 as well as other texts) is the core content of missions. Now that may sound like a “duh!” statement, but hear me out. I’m not just saying that missions is about the Gospel. I’m trying to get us to go deeper here; deeper into the glorious truths of the Gospel. A proper understanding and fresh appreciation of the glorious sufficient Gospel must be the core motive for life, ministry, and missions. Do you get yet? I trust you will as you read on and study the awesome truths of Romans 8!

Let’s dive in and catch a glimpse of the Gospel’s sufficiency through four glorious truths!

1. The sufficiency of the Gospel viewed in comparison to the OT law and any form of legalism. (8:1-13)
This truth is awesome! Our salvation depends completely on God’s work, not us! Paul explains that human efforts to live completely holy lives end in utter failure. The law stood as a neon sign pointing to this depravity. In fact, any sort of law or legalistic set of rules cannot make us holy because we will inevitably continue failing. This is one of the glorious truths of the Gospel; that it is a work that has totally been complete by God Himself! Our sovereign God calls and we respond-glorious! The Gospel is glorious and should propel our desire to love our God through life, ministry, and missions!

2. The sufficiency of the Gospel viewed through the glorious truths of adoption and inheritance. (8:14-17)
Adoption in our world is such a great thing, because it points to the glorious truth of salvific adoption! How awesome is this truth! Think about it. Our Creator God is holy and Ruler of all things. We, on the other hand are rebels, alienated from our Creator in sin. God in His great grace and mercy, freely extends His way of salvation to us. Christ substitutes His righteous life, death, and conquering resurrection to our account. Our Creator God adopts us into His family. He credits Christ’s righteousness to our account! Furthermore, Paul writes about the great inheritance we have in Christ. As adopted children of God, we now are joint heirs with Christ for a glorious eternity in heaven! The Gospel is glorious and should propel our desire to love our God through life, ministry, and missions!

3. The sufficiency of the Gospel viewed through it’s purifying affect in the lives of the redeemed. (8:18-30)
This third truth is really cool as well! You may recognize verse 28 where Paul says that all things work together for good in the lives of God’s own. Well, verse 28 is beautiful set in its proper context! Notice in the preceding verses (26-27), Paul refers to God’s will and the Spirit’s work of interceding for believers. You see, our great God is so sovereign that He has a perfect plan that implements all things for His good intentions in our lives. As believers, we share in the Gospel’s saving power, in it’s adoption, and in it’s inheritance. But, we also share in the Gospel’s glorious intentions and fruit in live after our salvation. God’s intent is to make us more like Christ, eventually fully glorifying us in heaven with Him. In this light, you can understand Paul’s statements regarding the creation’s eager longing for this full redemption. This life-long redemption (or sanctification) is wrought through God’s gracious, refining work on our lives. When viewed properly, every single thing that happens in life, occurs for God’s gracious sanctifying intent on our lives. Our God loves us so much! He is worthy of our praise! The Gospel is glorious and should propel our desire to love our God through life, ministry, and missions!

4. The sufficiency of the Gospel viewed through the passionate response of the redeemed. (8:31-39)
Well, if you’ve been really following the progression of Romans 8 at this point, the remaining verses don’t need much commenting! Can you see the glorious truths of the Gospel? We are totally deprave, alienated from our God. Nothing we can do can repair our sin’s gap of separation. God in His infinite grace adopted us and gave us a glorious inheritance. It is now throughout our life that our God continues His gracious refining purposes as He works all things for our good. The Gospel is sufficient! The Gospel is glorious! At this point in Romans 8, Paul can do nothing but respond in passionate worship of our awesome God! Read 31-39 and relish along with Paul in God’s glorious Gospel! Oh, do you see it? The Gospel is glorious and should propel our desire to love our God through life, ministry, and missions!

Wrapping up:
You see, it is as we relish in our great God and the awesome Gospel that we really understand the glorious redemption we share! This glorious understanding will then be the best and really only appropriate motive to life, ministry, and missions! I trust this has made sense. It is my prayer that God would wet your appetite for a fresh study of His Word relating to the Gospel. Spend some time working through Romans 8 or the entire book. Ask God to give you a fresh understanding and appreciation for this awesome Gospel that, I pray, we all share! Allow your appreciation of the Gospel to evidence in your life (as Paul evidenced through the glorious praise of 31-39) through worship, submission, and service. As we personally continue our preparation for missions service in Alaska, it is my conviction that the best motive and core content of missions is a Romans 8 understanding, appreciation, and passionate response to the Gospel.

In His Grace and all for His Glory,
Derek

God is continually increasing my appreciation and passion for reading books related to Theology and other Christian related topics. I was thinking about this one day and decided to begin including some of my book recommendations on our ministry website. You will now find a “current reading” section on the bottom right of our site with a list of recommended Christian resources. I will also strive to provide occasional reviews on especially good books. Additionally, there are included Amazon links on each book picture. It is my prayer that God can use this to encourage you to read solid materials for your Christian walk! Follow the link below to view thegapstander Christian resource recommendations:

http://thegapstander.com/alaska/book-recommendations

Download a couple of handouts that we have used in our deputation teaching ministry. We count ourselves privileged to represent our great God and His ministry in Alaska! It is truly a humbling privilege to stand before God’s people and teach/preach His Word! If interested, I would pray these handouts would further help you and your study!

Equipping the Call Handout

This the handout relating to God’s progressive preparation for each of our callings in life. There are many examples throughout Scripture of believers whom experienced God’s long-term progressive preparation for their particular task in life. God has uniquely fashioned each one of us for His express purposes. May we all truly seek to honor our God in the life He has laid before us!

Confidence  in the Church Handout

This is the handout related to the Acts 1:8 passage. The opening of Acts is such an encouraging passage; one that should give us the utmost confidence, motivation, and excitement about the church and our involvement in it!

Gap Stander Cards

Download and print our gap stander cards for your convenience. We live in a modern technological era that is accustomed to all things video. These cards leave a simple message inviting the reader to check out an important video message online. The user will then be directed through a series of videos explaining mankind’s sin gap problem and the universal need for Jesus (our ultimate Gap Stander).

Well, it is Good Friday and Easter weekend yet once again. As I reflect on this day that we remember Jesus’ crucifixion, my mind is drawn to thoughts about the cross. Colossians 1:19-20, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, (20) and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” The cross brings a way of peace with our Creator God!

Colossians 2:13-14, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, (14) by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Did you catch that? All of our sin debts, separating us from our Creator God, were nailed to the cross! Divinity in the flesh bore God’s just wrath against our sin on that cross! Wow! Picture all of your sins literally being nailed to the cross as God’s righteous anger consumes His Son and the Son’s pure blood literally cleanses our filthy rags of wretchedness!

Philippians 2:8-11, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (9) Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, (10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Our great sovereign God’s plan for redemption centered on the cross. All of history points to that pinnacle weekend in history when the God-man, the very essence of righteousness, willingly offered His life as mankind’s substitute for God’s wrath. I really appreciate the study notes on verse 8 from the ESV Study Bible: “Crucifixion was not simply a convenient way of executing prisoners. It was the ultimate indignity, a public statement by Rome that the crucified one was beyond contempt. The excruciating physical pain was magnified by the degradation and humiliation. No other form of death, no matter how prolonged or physically agonizing, could match crucifixion as an absolute destruction of the person… It was the ultimate counterpoint to the divine majesty of the preexistent Christ, and thus was the ultimate expression of Christ’s obedience to the Father.” Christ’s subjection to the Father’s will in identifying with humanity went far past a mere adherence to human form, but extended past identification to agonizing sacrifice to the highest degree. He lived a sinless life for us! He endured the mockery for us! He willingly allowed His life to be taken on the cross! Most staggering above all is that our Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be separated from the Father as He literally bore the wrath of the sins of all history!

May we respond to the glorious truths of Easter along with Paul in resounding worship, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?’
35 ‘Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?’
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)

Living in the Shadow of His Cross,
Derek

Mahalo (thank you in Hawaiian) to all who prayed for our round of deputation meetings in Hawaii! A few months back God orchestrated a trip to the Hawaiian islands. I had always joked about missionaries having deputation meetings there until one day when I decided to make some calls. As the weeks unfolded, the month long trip came together. Have you ever been led somewhere by God and experienced an unusual orchestration of events? If that makes any sense, this was our experience in Hawaii. I’m serious; it was really like God Himself was opening doors, providing needs, and putting us in contact with just the right people! So as I attempt to give an update of our trip, I’d like to give a few snapshots of our God’s blessings.

*Free air mileage travel
*Local aviation Christian contact for inter-island flights
*Church on Kaua’i where the pastor’s wife is from the same area in S. Missouri as my mom’s side of family
*Church on Kaua’i where the message God led me to preach fit right into their current series
*Church contact on Kaua’i had a Christian family who has a beautiful vacation rental. They enjoy having missionaries stay in it & it just so happened to be available while we were there! Praise the Lord!
*Great meetings (Anahola Baptist and Kaua’i Baptist Temple) on Kaua’i and we look forward to remaining in contact
*Church on Oahu (Lanakila Baptist) also very helpful and we look forward to remaining in contact as well
*God provided a place to stay on Oahu @ a S. Baptist camp. The director grew up in the same area of Missouri as my dad’s side of the family! Crazy stuff! Anyway, he then was a pastor in Alaska for 25 years. Also there was a work team there that week from Soldotna (near one of supporting churches). Turns out we know some of the same people! It was awesome to make contact with some additional churches on Alaska’s road system!

*We also met up with friends from high school on Oahu as well as two other great church contacts on the island!
*It was also on Oahu that God provided a rather nice $11 per day rental car (jet black, brand new Dodge Charger).
*The final stretch of our trip took us to the big island of Hawai’i. Again through a church, God provided another beautiful vacation home! The church & Christian home owners even stocked it with some basic food items! What a blessing!
*We then travelled north on the island for another Sunday meeting on Hawai’i. The pastor here @ Aloha Baptist was in the military in Alaska previously. One of our supporting pastors from Alaska has been here before. There is also a former MAF missionary pilot here, so that was some good discussion. The church put us up here for the night. The people here were also extremely generous and hospitable!

*Our last meeting in Hawaii brought us to Grace Baptist of Hilo. The church was very helpful in helping us with housing and fellowshipping with them throughout the weekend. The pastor’s family is related to some Chicago area contacts of ours. We really enjoyed the time with the joyful believers here in Hilo and it was a great way to end our round of deputation meetings in Hawaii!
*Finally, lodging for the last night back on Oahu (before our flight home) was provided through one of the Oahu contacts from the previous week. Maili Bible Church graciously put us up for the night in their prophet’s chamber. We enjoyed briefly seeing this ministry and discussing ours with the pastor!
*God met our needs through the very generous giving of each church! We truly look forward to remaining in contact with each church as we continue on for service in Alaska!

I hope you can see God’s orchestrating hand amidst all of these snapshots! I think there are probably many times when God orchestrates our lives and we often just miss it. Obviously God is always sovereignly in control, but there are sometimes when He allows to actually see it more visually. I would encourage you to ponder His great sovereign reign in your own life and then praise Him for it!

So thank you for praying for us and our ministry! Please continue to pray that God will now give us the right long-term partners from the Hawaii trip! From here, we have a quick 1-week break over Easter at home, before heading to the West coast for another month of meetings in Oregon, possibly Washington, and then Montana.

In His Grace,
- Derek