         |
|
Hope and Help Romans 8:18-27 |
September 12, 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum |
I got to visit one of my favorite people last week. Milford Carroll, for those of you who don't know him, is one of the many seasoned citizens in the Petaluma Valley Family who is an absolute delight. He's a great storyteller, he's got a wonderful sense of humor and simply cannot contain the joy that is in him and I love it when some of it spills out onto me. And it does every time I'm around him. And he's also a man of understated wisdom.
Over the past few months Milford has endured a number of significant health related challenges, the most recent being a mild stroke. So, I stopped by to see how he was doing. He greeted me with a smile, led me to a comfy chair and then began to tell me about his recent trials and traumas. And I listened. In fact, that's just about all I did. I listened and nodded as Milford's tale covered topics far and wide. I think my only contribution to the conversation was the occasional, "Uh-huh," or "hmmm."
After 30 minutes or so had passed Milford suddenly paused mid-sentence, looked at me and said, "I tell you what, Tom. I wouldn't want your job for anything in the world, 'cuz you gotta sit there and listen to people like me all the time."
When I finally stopped laughing, Milford said, "Ah, Tom, I'll tell you the truth. I've had a good life. God has been so good to me over these 85 years that I'm not about to complain about anything that happens to me in whatever time I've got left."
Folks, file that one under the category of perspective. Is life hard? You bet it is. But life is also good. And so is God. So don't let the hard times steal your gratitude for the good times. It's all about perspective.
And so, too, is the next stage of our journey through this amazing book called Romans. The middle section of chapter 8 is all about perspective.
--The kind of perspective that can empower us to struggle through the toughest challenges in life without growing bitter, angry or harsh.
--The kind of perspective that enables us to endure the worst of circumstances without losing our faith in God or our hope for the future.
The kind of perspective that grows from the confident assurance that life is hard, but God is good…and He has a plan…and He's still in control.
Background
Now, if you were with us last week you'll remember that the first section of chapter 8 told us that those who are "in Christ" -- that is, those who are joined by faith with Christ -- get to share some of Christ's experiences. We learned that…
--If you are "in Christ" you are set free from the law of sin and death.
--If you are "in Christ" you become a child of God.
--If you are "in Christ" you begin to experience eternal life right now.
And the final verse we looked at, verse 17, says that if we are "in Christ" we will also, "share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." We will share in the same kinds of "sufferings" that Christ experience. So, what kind of "sufferings" were those?
Well, in addition to the "sufferings" that Jesus endured at the hands of His enemies, He was also subject to the whole catalogue of "sufferings" that afflict the rest of humanity. So, if Jesus had to suffer like this, we would be foolish to imagine that by joining ourselves to Him we would somehow be exempt from suffering. So, the bottom line is this: being a Christian doesn't exempt you from human suffering. In fact, you can count on it.
So, with that rather dour pronouncement hanging over us from verse 17, we move on to the following verses to find a series of assurances that give us the kind of perspective that can empower us to move through our times of hardship and suffering without losing hope.
Let's begin with verse 18 where Paul writes, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."
Let me give you the Marcum paraphrase of that verse. "I've thought this over very carefully and now that I've weighed all of the evidence this is my conclusion -- whatever amount of suffering we may go through in this tiny period of time that we call 'life' absolutely pales in comparison to the beauty, the riches and the limitless wonders that God has waiting for us to enjoy throughout eternity when we finally get to heaven."
So, the proper perspective for facing life's hardships begins to take shape with this 1st ASSURANCE -- life's hardships are temporary, but the glories of heaven last forever.
Paul made the very same point in 2 Corinthians 4:17 writing, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."
So, are the hardships of life real? Absolutely. Life can be cruel, cold and heartbreaking. But soon it will be over. And the moment it is those who are "in Christ" will, for all of eternity, be blown away by the magnitude of the blessings that God has waiting for them.
Now, let's move on to verse 19 to see a second assurance. Paul writes, "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed."
Remember that back in verse 14 Paul told us that, "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." And then in verse 16 he reaffirmed his point by saying that, "we are God's children." The point is that every Christian…everyone who is "in Christ" …is already a child of God. Right here. Right now. So, when Paul talks here in verse 19 about waiting, "for the sons of God to be revealed," he's not suggesting that we aren't already God's children, rather, his point is that we've still got a very long way to go before God completes the work that He's started in us.
The sad truth is that even though we are already God's children, all too often we don't act like it or look like it. And that's why, even though we are already God's children, we sometimes find ourselves crying out as Paul did in 7:21, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
"Father, I'm so tired of disappointing you. I'm so tired of doing things that make me look like anything other than one of Your children. Father, my repeated failures are breaking my heart, even as I know they must break Yours."
Then, in the midst of our pain we hear this 2nd ASSURANCE to help us keep the proper perspective -- one day God will finish the work He's started in you and the beauty of God's work in you will be so glorious that everyone will know that you are a child of God. No one will ever doubt it again.
And to help us understand the world of difference between what we look like today and what we will ultimately look like when God completes His work in us, Paul envisions all of creation eagerly anticipating our transformation. Phillips translates verse 19 like this, "The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own."
So, folks, here's the point: you may look at yourself from time to time and think, "I sure don't look much like a child of God." But if you're listening carefully you'll notice that God is right there with you whispering, "But don't get discouraged, because you haven't seen the finished product yet."
Now, moving on to verses 20-22 Paul writes, "For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
The new idea that Paul introduces here is that we are not alone in our sufferings. Creation itself, he says, is suffering right along with us. Creation is frustrated. Creation is in "bondage to decay." Creation is "groaning." So, even as you and I inevitably face all manner of frustration and futility because our physical bodies just don't work as good as they used to, creation experiences similar degrees of frustration and futility because its not working as good as it used to.
So, the question we have to ask is, "How did that happen?" When God created the world it was a paradise. It was not only beautiful, but it also functioned flawlessly. So something changed and verse 20 holds the key to identifying that change as it tells us that, "creation was subjected to frustration…by the will of the one who subjected it…" In other words, the frustration creation is experiencing is not the result of a flaw in its design; it's the result of God's divine judgment.
Paul is reminding us that Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden had drastic consequences not only for Adam, but also for all of creation. Genesis 3:17-19 says that in response to Adam's sin, God spoke this judgment, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Look again at the beginning of verse 17: "Cursed is the ground because of you." Here's the point -- Adam's sin brought God's judgment on creation and the result is that the forces of nature don't function as productively or harmoniously as God had originally planned. But, folks, as bleak as that picture may appear, it nonetheless offers us a 3rd ASSURANCE that can help us maintain a proper perspective in the midst of our hardships. And this is the assurance -- oftentimes, the suffering that we endure in life is in no way related to anything that we have done ourselves, but is simply the result of living in a fallen world. So, don't automatically assume that every painful experience you encounter is something that you brought on yourself. There's no need to magnify your pain by assuming guilt for something that is not your fault.
And if we look at this picture closer still, we'll find a 4th ASSURANCE woven into these same verses, namely, that -- the present condition of the world does not represent God's final plan for the world. Verse 22 says that creations' painful "groaning," is not the groaning that precedes death but, rather, the "groaning" that precedes birth. And that means that while the pain is real, it's also infused with hope.
Verses 20-21 make the same point saying, "…creation was subjected to frustration…in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." Even as God has not yet put His finishing touch on us, He's also not yet put His finishing touch on the rest of creation. Which, once again, assures us that the present condition of the world does not represent God's final plan for the world.
God gave the Apostle John a glimpse of His final plan for His creation in a vision and this is what he said about it in Revelation 21, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them… He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'"
So, folks, when you put it all together this is what it means -- when God finishes His work in us and we come into the fullness of our glory, God will also put His final creative touch on the rest of creation and it will be changed in such a way that it will be the perfect environment for the children of God to freely and fully experience the glory of God. Nothing in the world will distract our celebration of God. Everything in the world will magnify our delight in God. So, we join with creation and endure the pain of this world "in hope" of a better world to come.
Now, as we come to verses 23-25 we see that the groaning continues, but this time it's not creation that's groaning, but us. Beginning in verse 23 we read, "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."
Here's our 5th ASSURANCE -- the joy that we are currently experiencing as God's children today absolutely pales when compared to the unending waves of joy that will wash over us for all eternity when we finally get to heaven. God's Spirit in us today has made it possible for us to experience a small measure of what God has waiting for us in heaven. That's the idea behind that word, "firstfruits." God's Spirit in us today is a kind of first installment of what God has prepared for us in heaven. And what we've already experienced through His Spirit -- joy, peace, power, freedom and so forth -- is so awesome, that we "groan" in eager expectation of "the redemption of our bodies." That day when God will free us from the limitations of the slowly decaying bodies we currently occupy and give us brand new glorified bodies, perfectly suited for an eternity of joy in the presence of God. We "groan" in eager expectation of that day.
And that brings us to verses 26-27 where we encounter one final groan. This time it's the groaning of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."
One of the most amazing gifts that God has given us is the gift of prayer in times of struggle. The confident knowledge that every concern we voice will be immediately heard by our Heavenly Father who loves us unreservedly.
But, folks, sometimes the wound is so deep…the pain is so severe…the circumstance we are facing is so overwhelming…even though we know we're free to pray, we don't know how we should pray. And so, our loving Father who has anticipated and provided for all our needs gives us this 6th ASSURANCE -- on those occasions when we simply do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit will intercede for us, reveal the cry of our heart to our Father and do so in a way that is in perfect accord with the will of God. In the midst of our weakness and uncertainty the Holy Spirit articulates perfectly the thoughts, concerns and desires that we are unable to express.
Folks, the future that is waiting for those who are "in Christ" is one of joy upon joy, wonder upon wonder and glory upon glory. So, today, we ask God for patience, perspective and hope, knowing that one day this life will be over. And for those "in Christ," that's when the very best part of life begins.
The old hymn said it well.
When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day.
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.
When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
© Copyright 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum