Romans 8:18-25 "Present Sufferings, Future Glory"

0:59Fire gives you light and heat. You use it to cook, keeps animals away. And if you build a good fire, if you get a few drops of rain, even if you get a pretty steady drizzle, that fire is not going to go out. But if it starts pouring, you've got a problem. I think there are some similarities there with the Christian life. You may know that after Jesus rose from the dead, he was walking on a particular road, and he Appeared to a couple of his disciples.

1:32As they were reflecting on the fact afterward that it was Jesus, the risen Jesus, who was walking with them, they said, Didn't our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road? Didn't our hearts burn within us? See, we often talk about faith as a fire inside of our hearts. I think it's a great illustration. But, friends, the suffering that we experience in this life is like that rain that can come at a campsite.

2:05You get a little bit of suffering, a few drops of water, if you will, and your fire is probably fine, but you go through a lot of suffering, and it threatens to snuff it out. You think about what our brothers and sisters around the world are going through. All of the suffering that they're enduring. The war in Ukraine, war in Gaza, terrorism in Europe, lack of food, water, shelter, clothing, basic necessities, human trafficking and abuse, and on top of that, the persecution that they suffer for their faith in Jesus.

2:51And think about us, even those who live in America, the suffering that we endure. It may not be the same kinds of suffering, but it's. Nonetheless, economic insecurity, food insecurity, chronic illness, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, mockery for your faith at work or in the classroom. May not be the same suffering that's experienced by believers around the world, but it is suffering nonetheless. And friends, that suffering threatens to snuff out hope, to extinguish the fire of faith in our hearts, to leave us questioning God, wondering whether he can be trusted, wondering if following Christ is really worth it, wondering if our faith is futile.

3:48Perhaps you've had those thoughts before. You might have even had some of those thoughts this past week. What effect has the suffering that you've experienced had on you, on your faith? Well, friends, the good news is that believers in Jesus Christ are people of hope. And we are people of hope not because we're positive, glass half full, Ted Lasso kind of people, but because Jesus lived and died and rose again. That is why we are people of hope. All of our hope rests on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. All of it.

4:37If Jesus did not rise, then our suffering is pointless. It is meaningless. But if Jesus rose and we believe he did, then no suffering is pointless. No suffering is meaningless. Friends, we believe that Jesus rose, and we believe that he rose because we believe the eyewitnesses who saw him and testified to his resurrection and ultimately laid down their lives telling other people that Jesus rose from the dead. Look at what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15.

5:16Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

6:00Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. Friends, Jesus is alive. And since Jesus is alive, no matter how much we suffer in this world, we have a hope that cannot be snuffed out. Our hope is that Jesus, who rose from the dead, is going to raise us from the dead and make all things new. So, in our passage this morning, Romans 8:18 through 25, we're going to learn this.

6:40Our future glory fills us with hope in our present sufferings. Our future glory fills us with hope in our present sufferings. So, let's look now at the text in verse 18. You can see here that Paul draws our attention to the sufferings of this present time. Well, everyone and everything suffers in this world. Jesus himself said, in this world, you will have trouble. And boy, he was right. Paul doesn't specify what suffering he's referring to. Is it big or small?

7:22Is it lifelong or is it temporary? Is it spiritual or physical? It doesn't really matter. We all suffer. Everyone suffers. And suffering leads to groaning. Groaning is our natural response to pain. We groan because we want deliverance. We want to be rescued from that pain. And both creation and Christians are groaning. We are groaning for glory. First, creation groans for glory. Look at verse 19. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

8:11For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in the 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. Friends, why does creation groan? Because of our sin. Look at Genesis chapter 3. God said to Adam, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you are taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

9:28Because of Adam's sin, God cursed his own creation, his creation that he looked upon and pronounced very good. Now, because of our sin, it brings forth thorns and thistles, hurricanes and tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, flood and drought. Stars die and they become black holes that vacuum up everything around them. Animals don't live in peace with each other. They hunt each other down and tear each other apart. They are terrified of each other. They are terrified of us, and we are terrified of them.

10:24Wherever you go on earth, it is uncomfortable. You burn to death, or you freeze to death, or it is San Diego. But you can't live there either, because they will tax you to death. But the Lord delivers his chosen from Egypt, does he not? Creation is groaning. If you look at the verse 20 there, he says, for the creation was subjected to futility. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, that's the same word that Solomon uses in Ecclesiastes for meaningless vanity.

11:18We've gotten a picture of that over the past few weeks, haven't we? These beautiful wildflowers springing up all along the roads, and then overnight they're gone. Futile, meaningless. Verse 21. The creation itself is in bondage to corruption. Everything is wearing out. The earth is wearing out. The ozone layer is wearing out. The sun is wearing out. It was not supposed to be like this. God created earth and all things to be beautiful and fruitful, to work in a certain way. But it doesn't because of our sin. Now, does that seem odd that creation was subjected to futility because of our sin?

12:13Now, remember, we are part of creation. We are the pinnacle of creation, but we are part of creation. But, friends, people and the world are inseparably linked. So, when we live as God intended, the earth prospers. When we don't live as God intended, the earth suffers. You don't have to be an environmentalist to see that and agree with that. Because of sin, God subjected creation to futility. And so, creation groans for glory. But also, Christians groan for glory. Look at verse 23.

13:01And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Why do Christians groan? Because of our sin. Due to our sin, work. Is not only rewarding, it is backbreaking and burdensome. Childbirth is not only joyful, it is painful and perilous. Relationships are not only life-giving, they are disappointing and discouraging at times. On top of those things, we groan because of Satan, our adversary who seeks to steal and kill and destroy. We groan because the world hates us and persecutes us for our faith in Jesus. Our flesh is at war with the sinful nature. The sinful nature rather is at war with the Spirit who lives inside of us, who indwells us. Our bodies get sick and they wear out. Death is coming for us and for those that we love. Christians groan because our sin has had a terrible effect on the world, and we know that we, human beings, are to blame. We see and we feel the effects of our sin daily.

14:44But friends, Christians don't just groan because of our sin. In verse 23, we see that we groan why because we have the first fruits of the Spirit. Now, in an agricultural society, the first fruits of the Spirit of the Spirit Fruits were the very first fruits that came before the harvest. And so you could pick those and you could bite into them and you could see what the harvest was going to be like. In a cash society, we might call it a down payment or a deposit or a guarantee. Look on the screen at 2 Corinthians. Paul says, And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us and who has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

15:40God's Spirit is the down payment, he is the deposit. He is the guarantee, the first fruits of what we are going to receive. Why does the Spirit make us groan? Well, it's because after our conversion, we have tasted the freedom, the joy, the goodness of the abundant life, a life that is free from the enslaving power of sin, a life of purpose, living to love God and other people, a life that is not focused on this world alone, but on the world that is to come. You get a taste of that and you long for more.

16:28It's like Fig Newton. You eat a fig Newton and you want to eat the whole sleeve. So you do. I have heard that people do that. Christians have tasted the first fruits of the Spirit. We have seen and felt and experienced what life is going to be like when we are finally glorified and we groan for that day. Brothers and sisters, isn't this true? Have you groaned because of the effects of your sin? Every time that you see them and you feel them?

17:14Have you groaned as you think about the joy and the goodness of the abundant life, but you can never quite have it in full? Oh, we groan. Creation groans because of our sin. Christians, we groan because of our sin and because we have the first fruits of the Spirit. But here is the good news: Christ's resurrection guarantees glory for both creation and for Christians. Christ's resurrection guarantees glory for both creation and for Christians. Now, I want you to see Paul's arguments, kind of the flow of his logic here in this passage. Look on the screen. Here's how he's going to argue. Creation will be glorified because Christians will be glorified. Christians will be glorified because Jesus has been glorified. So Christ's resurrection guarantees glory for both creation and for Christians.

18:22Now, I want you to remember: God's people and God's world are inseparably linked together. We sinned, and the creation was cursed. We will be glorified, and the creation will be glorified along with us. In verse 19, it says that creation is waiting with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. Why? Verse 20, because it has been subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. What a strange thing to read. Have you heard that as it's been read this morning? Because of him who subjected it in hope, God subjected his own creation to futility. But Paul says he did it in hope.

19:15We don't think about God hoping for stuff. Why would God need to hope for anything? Well, I think the confusion comes because when we use the word hope, we mean wish. So, a couple of days ago, I had hoped that the Mavericks were going to win their play-in game and make the playoffs. But it was just a wish because we traded Luca for a three-day-old donut for reasons no one can understand or explain. Dallas fans are permanently without hope.

19:57But, friends, we are not Dallas fans, are we? Not today, brother. In Scripture, the word hope doesn't mean wish, it means confident expectation. Hope in the Bible means confident expectation. So, when Paul says that God subjected the creation to futility in hope that it would be set free from its bondage, God was not saying, I hope this works out. I'm wishing upon a star this works out. No, he is saying that he subjected it to futility with the confident expectation that he was going to set it free from its bondage to corruption. Look at the promise that God makes through Isaiah the prophet. He says, All these years ago, for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

20:58Look at the apostles. John, what he writes when he sees the fulfillment of this promise in his vision in Revelation 21. John says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

22:01Friends, when God subjected his creation to futility, he did it in hope, with the confident expectation that he would recreate the heavens and the earth, where righteousness would dwell, where all of the sad things would come untrue, and they wouldn't even be remembered anymore. So creation is groaning, but it is groaning in the pains of childbirth, as Paul says. There because it is suffering now, but something new and beautiful is coming. Creation will be glorified, but it can't be glorified until Christians are glorified. That's what Paul said in verse 19. Creation is eagerly waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. Look again at verse 23.

22:58And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Now, remember, back in verse 15 that we covered last week, Paul already said that we have received now when we believed in Jesus, we have received the Spirit of adoption as sons. But what he's saying is we've received what? The deposit, the guarantee, the down payment, the first fruits of the Spirit. That is what we've already received. So we are like a child who has been promised adoption.

23:46All of the paperwork has been completed. The court date has been set. And the child is waiting with eager expectation for that court date to arrive. He can have full confidence because he trusts the parents who have made this promise. His hope is not a wish, it is a confident expectation. And friends, we have that same confident expectation. Look at what Jesus said in John chapter 11. He's talking to Martha, whose brother has died. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

24:41Friends, that is Jesus' promise. We believe in him, and we will live forever, for eternity, even if we die before he returns, because he's going to raise us. He's going to give us new, perfect bodies. Verse 24 says, For in this hope we were saved. Our hope is that we will be adopted fully and finally as God's children with all of the rights of the firstborn son, and our bodies will be redeemed. We will be resurrected. But how can we have that confidence?

25:22I mean, it sounds like a wish, doesn't it? Isn't that what non-Christians often say about Christianity? It's a fairy tale. Well, friends, Christianity would be a fairy tale if it weren't for the resurrection of Christ. That is the very thing that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. Take a look. He says, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Look at those words, most to be pitied. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christianity is still a good thing if it's actually false. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christianity is still a good way to live your life if all Jesus was was a teacher. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the law is helpful for you to become a slightly more moral person if Jesus was not raised from the dead. It never says that. Here's what it does say. Look at the next verse on the screen. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

27:00But each in his own order. Christ, the first fruits. Look at that word. Then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. O friends, both creation and Christians are groaning because of our sin. But creation will be glorified because Christians will be glorified. And Christians will be glorified because Jesus has been glorified. And so Christ's resurrection guarantees glory for Christians and creation. Everything hangs on the resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus is not alive, Christianity is not worth one more second of your time. Not one more penny of your income. Not one more ounce of your energy.

27:59But if Jesus is alive, and we believe that he is, Christianity is worth everything. Everything. That is our hope. Our confident expectation is that Jesus lived a sinless and miraculous life. That he laid down his life in our place for our sins, and that he rose from the dead. Our hope, our confident expectation is that Jesus. Jesus is going to come back, and that when he comes back, as he promised he would, we will receive our full adoption as sons, our new resurrection bodies that will never get sick, never wear out, never die for all of eternity. But, friends, you cannot see hope.

28:51That's what Paul says in verse 24: hope that is seen is not hope. You don't hope for things that you already see. You don't hope for things that you already have. And so, Christians, we wait. We wait with an eager patience and a patient eagerness for Jesus to return. God is not indifferent to your suffering, he hears your groaning. But in the face of our present suffering, we must focus on our future glory, the hope of our adoption and the redemption of our bodies. Jesus died, Jesus rose, and Jesus is coming back for us, believers. Praise God. Praise God.

29:43But we have to be patient because Jesus has very good reasons for not coming back yet. Look on the screen at 2 Peter. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the power of the past. The Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

30:25Why hasn't Jesus returned? Why does it seem that he's taking so long? It is because God is patient with us. He does not want anyone to perish. He doesn't want anyone to suffer eternal punishment in hell. He wants everyone to repent, to turn from their sins, to turn from trusting in self, in morality, in man-made religion, in your best attempts to be a better person than you are. He wants you to turn from all of those things to his Son, Jesus Christ, in faith. So, friend, if you haven't done that, if you have not turned from your sin and turned to Christ in faith, understand that God is being patient with you because he does not want you to perish. He wants you to repent, to turn from your sin, and to receive the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord through faith.

31:30Oh, my friend, God sees your suffering. He sees your suffering. He hears your groaning, and he is moved by it. He is so moved by it that he sent his only son, Jesus, to suffer in your place. The Christian God is the only one who understands suffering because he himself suffered in our place and for our sins. That is a Savior that you can turn to with confident expectation. That is a Savior that you can love. That is a Savior that you can give your life to. His suffering was not for nothing. It secured forgiveness and eternal life for all who believe.

32:22And friends, your suffering is not for nothing. God allows it so that in your groaning, you will turn to Jesus Christ in faith. So on this Easter Sunday, do that. Turn to Christ in faith and receive him this morning. Let's pray. Father, we believe that you hear our groanings. You hear the groaning of creation, and you hear our groaning as well. We long for the day that your Son Jesus returns to make everything right, everything new.

33:39We have hope, we have confident expectation because of the resurrection of your Son Jesus from the dead. Father, I pray for every man, every woman, every child who is already trusting in Jesus. Would you fill our hearts with fresh faith this morning? Fresh faith in the Savior who loved us and gave himself up for us. Would you help us to believe that you are good and that you do good even in our suffering? I pray for those who are suffering this morning.

34:30I pray that you would meet them and that they would know and believe that when they cry out to you, when they groan because of their suffering, they are groaning and crying out to a God who understands suffering, the only God who understands suffering. I pray that they would be comforted by the fact that the wounded and killed and risen Savior hears them. And Father, I pray that today would be the day that many men, many women, many children who are in this room and who are in buildings all across our city, all across our country, and all across the world who are celebrating Easter today, I pray that men, women, and children would put their faith in Christ today.

35:24I pray that those who have been putting it off for weeks or months or even years would put their faith in Christ today. I pray that those who believe that they are too far, too sinful, too broken, would put their faith in Christ today. I pray that those who are hopeless would put their faith in Christ today. Oh, Spirit, we pray that you would move and that you would give new life and new birth, make people new creations.

35:56We can't do that. Only you can do that. Thank you, Jesus, for coming, for living, for dying, and for rising from the dead. You are our great hope, our confident expectation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.