July 17, 2024 -- Romans 8:15 -- The desperate soul crying out

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by Whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Romans 8:15 ESV

In this passage, the somewhat simple-sounding verb “cry” is in the original language a heart-rending call out for help. It can be translated as a groaning for help. When Peter was walking on the sea and he took his eyes off Jesus and started considering the wind, he started sinking. In desperation he cried out “Lord, save me” (Matthew14:30). Same verb as in Romans 8—a wild-with-fear calling out. When Jesus was on the road to Jericho, a blind man, learning from the crowd around him that Jesus was passing by, “cried out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me’! And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’”(Luke 18:38,39). It is the second “he cried out all the more” which is the same verb as Romans 8:15. It is an intense crying out. It is a soul-broken-without-any-other-place of refuge cry. It is the deep, low, crying-groan. God, help me.

It is the Spirit of God Who leads the person crying out to call out to God the Father and to do so on the basis of Jesus’ work. When a man is drowning, or a woman is in great despair, it is possible such a person will curse God and die. His dire circumstances lead him to curse the very God he always professed he didn't believe in. There are many examples of those who, facing suffering, fears, hardships or the consequences of their own actions, call out and curse God. However, one gripped by the Spirit, touched at the lowest, most helpless state, will cry out to God. It is the Spirit Who stirs the heart to cry out to God when there is no other helper, when hope seems lost. It is the Spirit Who may, for the first time in that person's life, bring the light of Jesus Christ by Whom the all help is available. It may be a Christian of long-years knowing God's faithfulness, when he is at the very end of himself, cries out with a depth of fervour and longing he'd never known before. Yes, it is the same Spirit Who gives the strength of soul to cry out with gut-wrenching groans in that greatest moment of need, appealing to the God Who hears. Thereby reaching a new richness of security in His relationship with God. The God Who is exactly what He's always promised, Immanuel--God with us.

This is not for weaklings. This is not the cry of a failure. It is the cry of one induced by the Spirit to find the greatest, most true Helper. The awareness to call on God the Father, beyond any man's natural impulse, is stirred up in one’s very soul because the Spirit is present. When one’s weakness and helplessness is most evident and he is least likely to call out for help, perhaps thinking he is unworthy, it is the Spirit Who enables that soul to cry to God and find in Him the One Source of help in all the universe Who can supply his need.

God hears your gut-wrenching cry. He does so on the basis of Jesus’ accomplished work. He does so because it is His electing love by which He freely gives His Spirit to those who are at the very end of themselves, when all other hope is gone. He proves Himself good. he shows Himself utterly faithful. All this lovingkindness of God hinges on His greatest demonstration of His love, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The Spirit will assure you when you are strong, you belong to Jesus. Most beautifully, with such tenderness and compassion, when you don’t even have it in you to call out to Jesus, the Spirit of adoption, will lead you to cry out. That call of last resort will find its anchor in Jesus Who brings you to the Father, in Whose arms you’ll find all fears driven away.

Hear my cry, O God!
From the ends of the earth, when I feel farthest away, my parched throat barely able to whisper, I call out. My heart is overwhelmed. Spirit of God, lead me to the Rock of Help, to Him Who is my only Refuge. Thank You, Faithful Father, for every time in the past You rescued me. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your throne of mercy, where the overwhelmed, the drowning, the helpless and the penitent find all help. Thank You, Spirit of God, You, Who rescue the souls of men. Amen.

https://youtu.be/fK6sYVQCqhs?si=cXYlyu5XH9IKcNYj “Wonderful, Merciful, Savior”

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