Session 3: INWARD
11 August 2020
Romans 8:1-11 – Life in the Spirit (ESV)
The passage speaks of the great inward transforming power of the gospel and the Holy Spirit’s work in a believer’s life. It also emphasizes that it is first God that does the work, which then enables us to work.
This transformation is possible only when we are rooted in the gospel, drawing strength and power from Him
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
We must make a conscious decision to accept the offer of salvation before our soul can truly be free. Let Jesus Christ come into our lives to break our bondage of sin and set us free.
When I meditated on Romans 8:1-11, verses 4, 5, 6 stuck to my mind. I had the image of my heart filled by the Spirit. Also, I walked the way of the LORD by the power of the Spirit. It will reach life and peace according to the Spirit. My heart filled with joy; the colourful happiness of my heart was flying to heaven.
The painting shows a hill and ocean and I’m imagining inhaling a breath of fresh air. From verse 11 – when God loves and breathes in you (and he does as surely as he did in Jesus) you are delivered from that dead life.
Spirit of God = רוּחַ rúaħ ; Which means breath, spirit.
I was inspired to draw myself with my arms wide open and up, praising the Lord for the freedom I have in Him. The blue outlines my physical being as a human, while the magenta and sparks of gold represent the Holy Spirit.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Cor. 3:17
(马太福音 Matthew 6:22)
眼睛就是身上的灯，你的眼睛若瞭亮，全身就光明。
The light of the body is the eye. If therefore the eye is bright, the whole body will be full of light.
(民数记 Numbers 13:33)
我们在那里看见亚衲族人，就是伟人，他们是伟人的后裔，据我们看自己就如蚱蜢一样，据他们看我们也是如此。
And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, who come of the giants. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
For the background of my painting, I have used blue to signify revelation, green for healing and yellow ochre for dust of the ground. When the Holy Spirit is transforming the person, the eyes of a person drawn on the hands has light.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, the whole body should then be full of light. I have used purple and yellow signifying authority and joy when I draw the eyes on whole body. On the other hand, the heart and words from the mouth are drawn as heart-shaped to signify that it should be filled with love. The little girl is drawn to look like she is standing in the wind of the Holy Spirit. There is also a grasshopper in the dust on the ground. That represents that when the Holy Spirit is in us, there is no fear.
Romans 8:1-11 – Life in the Spirit (ESV)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.