Father, in the name of Jesus, above
all we thank You and praise You for all of Your blessings toward us. Chief among
them, we praise You for the Lord Jesus Christ. You have blessed us in Him with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places. And we are grateful to think Your thoughts after You as we
study from this great chapter of the Scriptures and sit in wonder afresh at the scope
and sufficiency of Your saving work on our behalf in Christ. We thank You for all
that we have learned and encountered and pray Your continued favor on our study of Your word for
the remainder of the day, in Jesus' name. Amen. Romans chapter 8. Permit me to begin reading at verse number 18. "For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is
to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of
God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected
it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain
the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been
groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 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. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is
seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we
wait for it with patience." The Word of God. Future hope. Future hope. The theme
of this section is stated upfront. Verse 18 says, "For I consider
that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the
glory that is to be revealed to us." There is bad news and good news
here at the top of the text. The bad news that the text begins with is the
fact that suffering is real. Suffering is real. I'm a boxing fan, and this morning
I was remembering April 22nd, 1994, when Michael Moorer defeated Evander Holyfield
for the heavyweight championship of the world. I think it is one of the memorable fights
for me because Moorer was a southpaw as I am, and it was the first time a southpaw had won the
heavyweight championship. He won it by a decision, but as journalists do after the fight
instead of talking about this historic win, they wanted to ask him about the second round
in which he was knocked down by Holyfield and it looked like he may not get up to continue the
fight. They asked him, "What were you thinking when you found yourself on the mat in the
second round?" His answer is fantastic. He said, "I was thinking what everyone
thinks. How did I get down here?" And you may be winning the fight of life,
but life has a way of throwing punches that you don't see coming. And you can find
yourself on the mat. Suffering is real. Job 5 verse 7 says, "Man is born
toward trouble like sparks fly upward." Job 14 verse 1 says that "Man that is
born of a woman is just of a few days and those days are filled with
trouble." Suffering is real, not just is real, but the language here speaks of
sufferings. There are various kinds of suffering. There will be different types of suffering.
There will be extended times of suffering that we will face in this life. And faith in Christ
does not exempt us from suffering in life. God only had one child who lived on earth without
sin. His name was Jesus. God has no children who live on earth without suffering and that
includes Jesus. The inevitable reality of the human experience is that there will be
times of suffering and the believer is not exempt. In fact, Romans 8 verses
16 and 17, as we've already seen 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." Glory is coming. That in fact is the
point of our text before us now, but suffering is the pathway to
glory. Suffering is real. The good news is that though suffering is real
it is limited. It is in the language of verse 18, "The sufferings of this present time," or as the
saints would sing in my daddy's church where I was nurtured in the faith simply, "I'm
so glad trouble won't last always." Suffering is real, but it is just for the
present time. Trouble will not last always. This suffering, however, and this...the tension of the
text here is that Paul here does not just present to us the termination of sufferings; he presents
to us the transformation of our sufferings. Our sufferings of this present time will not just result in their end at some point,
but present suffering will lead to future glory. And the tension is that Paul lays the two
here right up front alongside one another; present suffering and future glory.
Present suffering and future glory. And as he lays them aside one of another,
he declares that "The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to
the glory that will be revealed to us." This does not minimize suffering. It doesn't
downplay suffering. It is not meant to reflect a casual attitude toward the very real
and painful and overwhelming sufferings of life. But Paul here looks beyond the facts. He speaks beyond the fact of
suffering in the life of the believer. He would have us to consider what the focus of
the believer should be in the midst of that. If in the midst of it, all you
see is what you are going through, then it will seem overwhelming. But there is
a vision beyond this the believer lives with, and no matter how great the sufferings
are presently, glory is coming. And that glory is incomparable. "The sufferings
of this present time are not worthy of being compared to the glory that shall be revealed
in us." This is the believer's future hope. In simple terms, the best is yet to come. Paul fleshes this out in verses 19 through 25
with a word about the creation's future hope, verses 19 through 22, and then the
Christian's future hope, verses 23 through 25. Consider first the creation's future hope. In verses 19 through 22, Paul makes three
statements about the creation's future hope. He first says in verse 19, "Creation waits." Verse 19 following up the big statement
of verse 18 says, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the
revealing of the sons of God." Creation here is a reference
to the sub-human created world. And Paul here in poetic imagery personifies the
created order and pictures the creation itself leaning forward with neck outstretched
and eyes lifted up in great expectation of the glory with the
revealing of the sons of God. He says creation is waiting
with eager expectation. Emphatic language, where here creation
is personified looking forward to what is to come because of the finished work of
Christ. He says "The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of
God." In dramatic language here, Paul presents creation consumed with the redemptive work of
God on the behalf of those who believe in Christ. The answer to the world's problem is not
found in any answer the world can provide. It is found in Christ. The experts in the
created world don't know it, but the world does. The creation is waiting with eager expectation
for the revealing of the sons of God. Creation waits. And then in verse 20 and
21, Paul says creation hopes. He says, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not
willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set
free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." There is again tension as Paul draws contrast. He
says there is current, verse 20, current futility. Verse 21, there is coming liberty, that the
world currently is subjected to futility, emptiness and meaninglessness, worthlessness.
It fails to accomplish its intended purpose. The creation has been subjected to futility,
big ideas here. Paul is saying that the present created order of the world
around us is not how it was meant to be. And contrary to the experts all around us who, as we heard last night, whose
minds are not set on the Spirit, Paul says that the creation has been
subjected to futility, the order of the world around us is not as it should be,
and he is clear it is not getting better. In fact, there is nothing we can do to fix
what is wrong with the world around us. We cannot because we sinners are the problem. "The creation was subjected
to futility not willingly," Paul says, "but because of Him who subjected it."
He who subjected it is God. And in a real sense, this twentieth verse is Paul's commentary
on Genesis chapter 3 verses 17 through 19. The fall of mankind into sin
has had global implications. And the created order of the world around us,
Paul says, has been subjected to futility by God. It is not as things should be. It is not getting
better and there is nothing we can do to fix it. But at the end of verse 20 going into verse 21, he moves from the current
futility to the coming liberty. He who subjected it to futility did so
in the hope "that creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain
the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Yes friends, things are not as they should
be, but praise God the best is yet to come. The futility of the created order will not have
the last word. Creation itself will be set free. Paul uses this language we saw last night in verse
2 in reference to the ministry of the Spirit in the life of the believer. He says, "For the law
of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." In verse 21,
he says that creation itself will also be set free from its bondage to corruption and it will obtain
the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Creation waits, creation hopes, creation groans. Verse 22, "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the
pains of childbirth until now." This is a poetic and profound
explanation of the chaos and disorder of the created world around us.
He says creation is groaning. Creation is groaning. As I
am asked, as pastors are, for some answers to big things
that happen in the world around us, I am prone to go back to this
verse. "Creation is groaning." "Creation is groaning," Paul says,
"in the pains of childbirth." Hallelujah! These are birth
pains, not death pains. There is coming a new heaven and a new
earth. The present futility will give way and its corruption will be transformed into the
freedom of the glory of the children of God. And at the present time, the creation is
groaning in the pains of childbirth, groaning. What a remarkable description! My wife was pregnant with our second child. She was a month or so away from due date,
but one Sunday night pain just overtook her. Pain just overtook her. I
rushed her to the hospital. The doctor could not figure out what
was going on. And I never will forget, as if I was not standing there, the
doctor said to associates around him, "We need to get this baby out while we still
can." And everything just happened so fast as my wife was enduring so much pain that night. But then, as I held her hand as she screamed and cried and wept, Natalie was born.
And the nurses handed her to me. And I cut the cord, and I'm experiencing
these moments with my wife. And my wife, who had just been screaming in
pain says, "How does she look?" And all of the pain of the process had been
forgotten that fast in the birth of the new life. Things are not the way they should be and things
are not getting better and there is nothing we can do to fix it, but the best is yet to come.
And even though currently the creation groans, it groans in the pains of
childbirth. The best is yet to come. And so, there is the creation's
future hope. But then verses 23 through 25 present to us the Christian's future hope. Paul has stated this theme in verse
18, and there is a sense in which he digresses in verses 19 through 20 using creation as a platform to affirm
the truth of future hope that he will declare for the believer. And now he gets
back to his main subject. And we see again the tension in verses 23 through 25 of
present suffering and future glory. In verse 23, Paul says the Christian groans, but then he says the Christian
hopes, verses 24 and 25. In verse 23, he says the Christian groans, "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." Hallelujah! Not just creation, but we groan. What
we? He describes the believer here as those who have the firstfruits of the
Spirit. This is agricultural language. The farmer would work his field and plant
his seed and cultivate the crop. And the first of the harvest that would come would
be laid aside as firstfruits. It would be presented as an offering to God, but
it was also a form of advertisement. If you think this is good, just wait. The best is
yet to come. The Holy Spirit is the firstfruits given to the believer, not in any way indicating
or suggesting that we will get more of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 verse 9 is clear that to
be a Christian is to have the Holy Spirit. If not, you don't belong to
Christ. The moment you are saved, God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your
heart immediately, completely, and permanently. He is the firstfruits in the sense however
that He points us to what is yet to come. Verse 5, Romans 5. This is why we
have a hope that doesn't disappoint us because whatever suffering and
trial and hardship we face, the love of God is poured into our hearts
by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, we who have the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit,
who bears witness to us that we are the children of God and heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ and that glory is coming. We, Paul says, groan. I think this is poetic
language Paul uses, previously "creation" and will use later of the Spirit's intercessory ministry,
but there is a sense in which we literally groan. Life will make you cry. Life will make
you groan. Life will make you weep. But there is a spiritual reality here. The
believer groans in a real sense, as mentioned in the previous verse, with the sense of this
"pains of childbirth." The believer groans. If I may, a year ago my family went to
Los Angeles for my wife's uncle's funeral. And on the way from the funeral, my wife's side
of the family is pretty small as her sister and uncle passed and now is left is an aunt. And
on the way from the funeral, aunty said, "Well, the Lord has been kind enough to me to let me
hang around to bury my sister, now to bury my brother." And she said, "He doesn't have to
do anything else for me. I'm finished now." And we assured her, "Well, we will trust in
the Lord. He's going to give us many more years with you." She says, "I'm not sure about
that." And she says, "And I don't want that." She says, "I just went through
all of that chemotherapy but I didn't do that for me because I want
to go to be with Jesus. I did that for y'all. And if the cancer comes back, I'm not going
through that again." The cancer has come back. And that matter-of-fact talk from last year
ain't just talk. She meant what she said. And preparing to be here these past few
weeks, discussing this verse with my wife and family has been comfort to us because
while we are grieving, she is groaning. She is groaning, wearied of the sickness and of
the pain and of the suffering. She is groaning, and her hope is as Paul mentions it here.
She is waiting eagerly for "adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." The finished
work of Christ provides salvation, but not just salvation for the soul. It is the salvation
for the body, the redemption of the body. Philippians chapter 3, verses 20 and
21: "Our citizenship is in heaven, in which we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who will transform our mortal bodies and make them like His own glorious body, with the power with which He is able
to subdue all things unto Himself." As a boy preacher, I would serve alongside
my father in funerals, a lot of funerals. Actually, to be technical, I didn't get to serve
in the funeral. I'd serve before the funeral and after the funeral. It was my father's
custom to lead the remains and the family down the main aisle in the processional to start
the service. And his custom every time was to read Psalm 90 as he led the family in. And at
some point, he would let me stand beside him and read. He never explained that to
me. I didn't understand it till later, but he would make me walk with him and read
Psalm 90. One day, walking alongside him I flipped over and started reading Psalm 23.
And midway down the aisle, he said, "No son, go to Psalm 90," the prayer of Moses, as he led
a long death march for the children of Israel. Then at the cemetery, he never let me do
anything in the service, but at the cemetery he would hand me his little Star Book for
Ministers and let me read the recital. And I didn't want to do that. I wanted
to do something in the service. But it would be later that I would understand that that may be the most important
part of a Christian funeral. It's what makes the Christian funeral a
Christian funeral in so many ways, to stand in the midst of all of these
announcements around us that declare death has won and announce, "In as much as
it has pleased Almighty God to take out of this world the soul of our
deceased brother, our deceased sister, we hereby commit his body to
the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." That's all people
remember. And they sometimes check out after that. But that ain't the best part. After the "ashes
to ashes and dust to dust," the committal says, "But we do so looking for the blessed hope and
the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ; at whose second coming in
glorious majesty, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead; and the corruptible
bodies of them who sleep shall be changed, and made like unto His own glorious body, with which
He is able to subdue all things unto Himself." Yes, the Christian groans,
but yet the Christian hopes. Verse 24 says, "For in this hope, we are saved."
We, of course, are not saved by hope. Ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9 says, "By grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so
that no one may boast." But we are saved in hope that our redemption is not just
the past penalty of sin being paid but the future glory of bodies fit for eternity. The perspective of Christian
hope is presented in verse 24. The nature of Christian hope is stated
in a statement and in a question. We hope for what we have not
seen. And this is not merely wishing. This is expectation. It's
assurance. 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 8 and 9, Peter says, "Though we have not seen Him, we
love Him, and though we do not see Him now, we believe in Him and we are filled with
joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining the outcome of our
faith, the salvation of our souls." There is in verse 24 the perspective of Christian hope, but then in verse 25 finally
there's the patience of Christian hope. If we hope for what we do not
see, we wait for it in patience. "Has thou not known, has thou not heard that the Lord is the everlasting God, the
Creator of the ends of the earth? And He never faints nor gets weary. There is
no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint, and to those
who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and
young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint." I don't know what they'll do in my funeral. I won't be there, so I don't have a big
thought about it. But I do say to Crystal, "I hope...somebody needs to sing, 'When
waves of affliction sweep over the soul. In the midst of all of those suffering someone
needs to sing, 'It is well with my soul.' And don't cherry-pick, sing it all." That's what I
tell her. "Don't just sing the opening verse. Sing 'Lord haste the day when faith becomes sight.
And the sky be rolled back like a scroll. The trumpet shall sound, and the Lord shall
descend. And even then, it is well with my soul.'" Father, in the name of Jesus, I want to
specifically pray for those under the sound of my voice who find themselves in a
season of suffering who hear this message not as theoretical ideas but as the living
experience that they presently face. Would You help them to look beyond the obvious
with assurance that You are the God who causes all things to work together for the good of those
who love You and are the called according to Your purpose? And would You help us all to live with
the great hope that is ours in Jesus Christ, that in the midst of all that is happening
in the world around us and all that we face as we follow Christ, the best is
yet to come? In Jesus' name. Amen.
