Groaning for Glory in Hope June 25, 2017 Romans 8:18-27 Matt Rawlings

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1 1 Groaning for Glory in Hope June 25, 2017 Romans 8:18-27 Matt Rawlings Romans 8:18-27 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. [Pray] Why are these verses here? Why has Paul written them after talking about all of the glorious truths he has shown us in Romans 8? He s written that there is no condemnation for the believer who is in Christ Jesus. We have been given the Holy Spirit, who gives us life and assures us that we are God s children. We ve been adopted and made heirs fellow heirs with Christ. But look at verses 16-17, it says, The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. The path to being glorified with Christ is our suffering. When you hear that, you may think, ugh is it really worth it? Some who claim to believe in Jesus say no when they encounter suffering and walk away. How will you answer the question of whether suffering with Jesus now is worth it or not? Paul s answer is a clear and resounding yes or maybe even an are you kidding me!? is it worth it? His answer is, it is that this life of suffering is not even worthy of comparing with our future glory. They are not even in the same league. Main Idea: Although there is suffering now, our certain hope of glory is greater. A few years ago, one of my nephews was living in rural, North Georgia and working hard but not making a lot of money. When he heard about the opportunity to move up to Williston, North Dakota, to work on an oil rig and to start out making 3 times more than he was at the time for manual labor, he took the job and moved there. The reason the pay was so high, was not only that there was an oil boom and oil prices were high back then, but the working conditions were horrible, the hours were extremely long and the job itself was very dangerous. The temperatures in that area of North Dakota frequently dropped down to 30 below zero and the job was working 1

2 2 outside. The worker fatality rate is three times the national average. The job is very physically strenuous and the conditions in the towns around the area are rough. But he was willing to do the job because of the very real likelihood of making over $200,000 a year with overtime, as he moved up and stuck with it. After just a couple years, he did move up because his goal was to start a family and save up money for a house and move back down south. Some young 20 somethings give up once they experience the working conditions. But my nephew was willing to keep doing the job because he had a plan and he was motivated. He endured the hardship and suffering in the cold winter because he knew it would pay off if he endured. He had hope for better things and the certainty of a paycheck. That hope certainty kept him going and now, he s back in Georgia, married with a little boy and hopefully more on the way. If you go into a situation expecting it to be hard but you plan for it being hard, then it is a much different experience than going into a situation that you thought would be easy and then being surprised that it was quite challenging. Expectations and hope make a big difference. But a certainty of knowledge makes an even bigger difference. If you are guaranteed a certain outcome, you will be able to better endure challenges and difficulties, if you know that the outcome is secure. That is precisely what Paul is telling us he is saying that although there is suffering now, our certain hope of glory is greater. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. When Paul says he considers the sufferings of this present time in effect Paul is saying, when I weigh the sufferings of this present time when I calculate and think about the cost of the suffering that is endured in this life, it isn t worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us. Notice that he doesn t say that the suffering of this present time are insignificant. He doesn t say that the sufferings of life are not difficult nor that they are easy. No. Paul doesn t shrug off suffering or act like its no big deal. Paul already has personally suffered significantly by this point in his life too. In 2 Corinthians, which was likely written within a year of when he wrote Romans, he wrote a little about his sufferings and his own weaknesses. 2 Corinthians 11:23-30 I am talking like a madman- with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Now, think for a moment about what Paul is saying in Romans. All of us who follow in the footsteps of our suffering Savior will indeed suffer ourselves in some way. The sufferings of this present time can take many forms some are more easily seen than others, but all Christians 2

3 3 will suffer with Jesus. But, although there is suffering now, our certain hope of glory is greater. Look in verses 19-22, the first truth we see there is that 1. Creation groans, but in hope of our glory (verses 19-22) There is suffering even in the created order but it is a suffering that looks forward to our glory. Look in verse 19, he writes, For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. I like how the NASB puts it more literally, when it says, For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. All of creation has been effected by the sin of mankind. Now, all of creation is longing, earnestly expecting, eagerly awaiting the time when the sons of God will be finally and fully revealed. This phrase eager waiting is one of the themes and it is mentioned three times in this passage, in 8:19, 8:23 and 8:35. In verse 19 we see that the created order waits eagerly. In verse 23, we see that we who have been born again wait eagerly for our bodies to be redeemed. And in verse 25, with perseverance, we wait eagerly, anticipating our hope that is to come. Think about this verse for a second though the glory that will be revealed to us and in us, is so great, that creation is eagerly waiting for the revealing of the sons of God. Even creation anticipates the greatness of our future glory, that will far outweigh the present sufferings. Now, the reason why creation itself earnestly and eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God is that the creation was subjected to futility: 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope. We don t have to look far to see the futility in the world around us. Everything that exists struggles to stay alive and yet everything dies. Every new thing that sprouts or every creature born, no matter what odds it overcomes and no matter how strong the plant or creature may grow, will one day die. There is a futility that we see in creation not is all as it should be. Everything decays and breaks down. In fact mankind has described what seems to be a law, because is has been proven and never been disproven, in what is called the Second Law of Thermodynamics, that explains the loss of heat energy in an engine. Essentially, this law states that the total entropy of an isolated system will only increase in time. Physicist Lord Kelvin summarizes it by saying that, All natural systems degenerate when left to themselves. Creation has been subjected to futility. When the word for subjected here was used in a military sense, it meant "to arrange in a military fashion under the command of a leader". In non-military use, it was "a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden" Thayer and Smith Greek Lexicon. The created order wasn t willingly submitting itself or ordering itself to futility. But it was subjected to the curse, because of the sin of mankind. Tthe world, created for humanity and service of it, was drawn into Adam s ruin; the blessings given to him (fertility of the soil, fecundity of trees, brilliance of stars, friendliness of animals, limitation of insects), were all lost, because Eve gave Adam (=humanity) to eat of the forbidden fruit through Adam come not only sin and death, (5:12-14), but bondage to decay and the slavery of corruption, which affect all material creation, even apart from humanity (8:19-23) Joseph Fitzmeyer 3

4 4 But when God subjected creation to the curse, He did so in hope knowing that the curse is not forever. God subjected all of creation to futility in hope, as verse 21 explains: 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. The hope that Paul speaks of here is not the kind of hope I have when I hope it doesn t rain on our vacation for the next 10 days. I have no control over the rain and I really don t know whether it will rain or not I hope it won t but the outcome is not certain. That isn t the kind of hope that Paul is writing about here. The word hope implies a joyful or a confident expectation of something. But in God s case and in Paul s case, this confident expectation is based on something sure. One day, all of creation will be freed from being enslaved to decay and be free. Just as earlier, in Romans 8:2 Paul wrote that For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death, one day all of the created order itself will be set free from its bondage or slavery to decay or corruption. Look at what Paul writes in verse 22. He says, right now, looking around, you can see that creation is groaning we know this is the case: 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. All of Creation groans together and it is like the travails of a woman in labor. Wat a vivid illustration that is. In childbirth, there are pains. There are growing pains, as a woman s body morphs and bones soften and organs are displaced. There is upheaval, and in a long childbirth there is pain and anguish. Often, there are tears and clinched teeth waves of pain as hormones surge and muscles contract involuntarily. Creation groans and there are waves of pain and anguish, contractions and expansions including the earth heaving and storms raging. Creation groans in hope of our glory. But you know what, we groan too. 2. We groan, but in hope of our glory (verses 23-25) 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Look at verse 23, we ourselves groan, even those who have been given the firstfruits of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the down-payment of the glory of God that is yet to be fully revealed to us. So that now, those who have been given the Spirit of God and made sons of God, we groan, because we know we were made for more. We groan because the Spirit affirms that we have been adopted by God, but we know that we are not yet fully made like Him. We groan because the spirit is the first-fruits, the engagement ring, so-to-speak, assuring us that our marriage is coming soon. One day our bodies will be redeemed. So for now, we groan or sigh inwardly. You can relate can t you? How many of you have ever experienced this groaning, this sighing, that longs for the world and our bodies to be fully redeemed? Not only is creation groaning, we are groaning, even though we ve been saved by God s grace all is not yet as it should be. In fact, as Paul has walked us through in the previous chapters, a lot of our groaning and awaiting the final redemption is due to our own struggle with sin. I know that there are many times when I 4

5 5 groan and just want to be fully and finally delivered from this body of sin and death. How about you? As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:2, we are waiting and longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. Don t you long to be clothed with our heavenly bodies and to be delivered from all suffering physically, mentally, emotionally and relationally? We ve been given the Holy Spirit as a sign and a seal for the day of redemption and that is what we look forward to isn t it? As Paul writes in verse 24, that is the whole reason why we were saved to begin with: For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? In the hope of our adoption as sons, in the hope of our ultimate redemption, we repented and believed in Jesus Christ and that is what we are trusting in still isn t it? Now, if somehow weather forecasters could predict the weather with 100% accuracy, because they knew the future, then I wouldn t need to hope for good weather on vacation. Today, lots of people invest in certain companies or stocks, because they hope the stock will grow in value and they hope they will make money but they don t know for sure it is a hope that they don t see the outcome of yet when they invest. If I could go back in time to just before December 12, 1980 and invest in Apple s IPO, every stock purchased back then, would be worth 31,590% more today. If you had invested $1,000 in Bitcoin 6 years ago, you d have over a million dollars today. The problem now, is that no one knows where either Apple stock or Bitcoin s value will go in the future it is risky. The hope we have been saved in is a certain hope though, even though we can t see it. If we could go back in a time machine, we could have a certain hope in where our investments would lead. If we were to somehow go back in time and tell our best friend the future of a stock, they could have a certain hope (at least hypothetically, because of how small our understanding of time is). But God, the Creator of all, knows the future clearly. He has proven Himself faithful again and again throughout Scriptures and across thousands of years of history with millions of people. God is faithful and His Word can be trusted, so we have a certain hope. We were saved in the hope of redemption and that full redemption time is coming. That is our hope not only that we ve been saved from our sins and God s wrath but that we will be completely redeemed and fully delivered from sin and all of its effects. From our perspective though, we can t see the time of our own final redemption so we do not yet see the fulfillment of our hope. But as Paul encouraged in his letter to the church that we call 2 Corinthians, he said, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. So, for now, as verse 25 says, for now, although we don t see what we hope for we wait for it with patience: 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. We hope with an eager, yet patient waiting. As one author put it, this hope is a strenuous holding on to hope a hope that does not let go of God s promises, despite suffering, but actively holds onto the hope in which we were saved. 5

6 6 Creation is groaning in hope of our glory and we are groaning in hope of our glory. But even in the midst of suffering, no matter what kind of suffering we experience, whether the suffering of sin, or sickness or physical or mental or emotional or relational suffering, we have hope that the future glory we will receive far outweighs what we may endure now. Now, sometimes, in our waiting with hope we have a hard time waiting with patience. But the good news, in the midst of the groaning of creation and our own groaning, is that we are not left alone. The truth we have, is that we have a certain hope of glory that is greater than suffering, because 3. The Spirit groans for our hope until we re glorified 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. The Holy Spirit of God, which we have already been given if we have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, helps us in our weakness. We know we are weak, but fellow believer, do you know He is strong? The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. It is not distant help it is active and personal help with the full weight of our weakness. [Illustration of carrying a heavy table with Gideon I lift it all but I let him grab the end and carry a little weight.] There is no better helper that we could have, then the Holy Spirit of God the same One who helped Jesus in His time on the earth. What an excellent promise this is when we are struggling to wait for our hope patiently. I know that I am weak and sometimes I forget that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. How about you? Well, one of the ways that the Holy Spirit helps us is through His intercession for us, especially when we don t know how to pray. Look at the second half of verse 26, it says, For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Have you ever felt like that like you don t even know what to pray for as you ought? Sometimes, I am so weak that I don t even feel like I can pray or if I do that I even know what to pray for exactly. With my mom, the day before she died, as she laid on her bed groaning, she couldn t even pray. But the Holy Spirit prayed for my mom with groanings to deep for words. Sometimes this life and all the different kinds of suffering we encounter, is so challenging that we are at a loss for how to pray and one day we may not be able to pray. Even when we do think we know what we need to pray for, at times, we really don t know what to pray for as we ought our own selfish desires and sin get in the way of our prayers sometimes. We know we should pray but we don t know what God s will is exactly at times. But we don t need to worry we can wait through suffering with an eager, expectant hope, knowing that not only will one day we be redeemed, but knowing that here and now, while we walk through the shadow of death, the Holy Spirit is actively interceding for you. Now, notice it says that He prays for us with groanings. Did you catch that creation groans and we groan but we can t change what we groan about ourselves really. In contrast, the Holy Spirit helps us by interceding for us, with groanings. But you see, His groanings are not like ours when the Holy Spirit groans, He gets things done He helps us in our weakness. In fact, Paul 6

7 7 assures us that the Holy Spirit s groanings aren t because He is exasperated and doesn t know what to do or can t do anything. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit knows exactly what to pray for. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. God, who searches our hearts and knows our innermost thoughts and desires even better than we do, He knows the mind of the Spirit, because it is God s own Spirit. What is reassuring in this, is that when we don t know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit who knows both us and God the Father s will perfectly, prays for us according to God s will. Talk about a perfect prayer! The Holy Spirit knows us, He helps us and He prays for us, based on perfect knowledge of God s will. You never have to wonder whether or not the Holy Spirit will help you or whether or not He is helping you perfectly. He helps you perfectly, even when you don t know what to pray for or when you pray for the wrong things. It's good to know that the Holy Spirit knows my heart, He knows my sins, He knows my temptations, He knows my problems, He knows my longings and He knows exactly what I need. He knows how to pray to help me and enable me to overcome every area of my weakness and sins too. Take heart, even when you are confused and weak, the Holy Spirit is interceding for you perfectly. Now, we don t have time to look at verses this week, but in a couple weeks, we will come back to them. In the meanwhile, we can take comfort knowing that the perfect will that Holy Spirit is praying to bring about in us, is God s purpose as verse 28 tells us. And God s purpose is to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ, as verse 29 says. And you can be certain that if you ve been called, you ve been predestined and if you ve been called, you ve been justified and if you ve been justified He already considers you as completely glorified completely like His Son as verse 30 reveals. Your future glorification with Jesus Christ so that you are like Jesus in His glory is so certain, by the Holy Spirit s enabling, that God considers it already done it is just a matter of time. So, don t lose heart, don t lose perspective and don t give up. It is worth it by far. Main Idea: Although there is suffering now, our certain hope of glory is greater. In fact, it is so great, when our suffering and our glory are put on either side of one of those old fashioned scales it is not even worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us and in us. Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted Redeeming Grace Church. This transcribed message has been lightly edited and formatted for the Website. No attempt has been made, however, to alter the basic extemporaneous delivery style, or to produce a grammatically accurate, publication-ready manuscript conforming to an established style template. 7