“Bright Hope for Tomorrow”
(Romans 8:18-27)
Series: Not Guilty!
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
First Baptist Henderson, KY
(8-9-09) (AM)
- Take God’s Word and open to Romans, chapter 8.
We’re continuing our study, verse-by-verse, through the book of Romans and we’re at chapter number 8. In chapters 5-8, Paul stresses the assurance of salvation; that we can know that we are saved by God completely and entirely. It lasts forever. And so chapter 8 begins with those wonderful words, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” We are forever free before God.
And we left off in verse 17 where Paul was talking about our being adopted children of God, sharing in the inheritance of the heavenly Father. And then he makes this statement about our being joint heirs with Christ, sharing in His suffering that we might be glorified together with Him.
That statement in verse 17 reveals that Paul has a pastor’s heart. He is not some academic theologian removed from the sufferings and hurts of his hearers. Paul is not interested in teaching about justification, sanctification, and glorification just so his hearers can be “wowed” by his great learning. No. Paul loves his people and he’s well aware of the suffering through which they are going or will soon go. And so this statement about suffering in verse 17 helps us understand the context for what he’s going to say now in verses 18-27 and I think you’re going to find it to be some very encouraging teaching.
- Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits 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 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
- Pray.
Introduction:
I’ve been pretty fired up about preaching these verses today! When I studied the text this week I kept thinking of the line from the hymn, “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.” The Christian life is a life of incredible encouragement in the face of difficulty and suffering. The non-Christian cannot share in this encouragement and Paul has been illustrating the differences between the Christian and the non-Christian in recent chapters. There’s just so much encouragement here in chapter 8! So I just want to go ahead and just dig into this text and talk about the encouragement of the Christian. There are three things that make all the difference for the Christian. First:
I. Eternal Perspective makes all the Difference (18-23)
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Paul is saying here that the Christian’s eternal perspective makes all the difference. Christians do not live for this present world. We are in this world but we are always looking forward. Paul writes of the “sufferings of this present time.” He is writing about the sufferings of this present age, this present world. And the sufferings he has in mind here have to do primarily with our suffering for being a Christian, Christian persecution. At the same time, however, this teaching applies to all matters of trials and difficulties in which the Christian finds himself or herself every day.
Look at it again, dear Christian: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time—this present age—are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Do you hear what Paul is saying? Whatever you are facing now, whatever persecutions you are facing for being a Christian, whatever job promotion you miss because of your faith, whatever “friend” you lose for being a Christian, whatever trial, whatever difficulty you encounter, none of these is worthy to be compared with the glory which shall come, which “shall be revealed in us.”
When Paul writes of the “glory which shall be revealed in us,” he is talking about the future, eternal state of glorification, that wonderful time at the end of the ages, when Christ returns and reigns upon His throne in the new heavens and new earth. He is talking about the final state.
And this verse is a bit like what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18:
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
We Christians have an eternal perspective on our trials and difficulties. We are not living with this present age in mind. We are living with the future age in mind. How many suffer? How many even this past week have lost loved ones or otherwise are facing battles and difficulties? How can a Christian be encouraged in the midst of such suffering and loss? Paul says, “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,” revealed in “us,” in us Christians. Verse 19:
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
Paul is saying that all of creation, inanimate creation, grass, plants, trees, rocks, hills, mountains, streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans are all “in earnest expectation” waiting for this future state of glorification. All creation is waiting for “the revealing of the sons of God.” That phrase, “the revealing of the sons of God,” refers to that final state of glorification when we adopted sons, adopted children of God, will receive the final installment of our inheritance. It is a looking forward to that blissful state of glorification when there is no more sin and we shall share in the glory of heaven.
What is remarkable here is the Paul says that creation is eagerly awaiting this final, eternal state. The phrase, “earnest expectation” along with “eagerly waits,” pictures the “craning of the neck” to look for what is coming. It’s like when you’re sitting in the upper cheap seats of a stadium trying to see what’s happening on the field. The Phillips Translation has, “The whole creation is on tiptoe.” All creation cranes the neck, looking ahead, eagerly awaiting the blissful state of glorification. Why? Because all creation was subject to the fall. Remember what happened in Genesis 3? Sin entered into the world and even the ground of the earth was subject to the curse. Paul explains in verse 20:
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Paul reminds us that when Adam sinned, all of creation was subjected to the curse. God “subjected it,” He responded to Adam’s sin of disobedience by subjecting all of creation to Adam’s transgression, but God subjected it “in hope.” That is, the creation will one day be fixed again. It will, verse 21, “be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” That is, all creation will be free just as the children of God are free.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
The whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs awaiting the time when it will be delivered into freedom. All creation suffers like a woman in labor. The reason we have earthquakes and mudslides, ice storms and hurricanes, tornadoes and tsunamis is because all creation is subject to Adam’s curse. Every natural disaster is evidence of the groaning of creation, looking forward to, eagerly awaiting the coming of the Lord, when even inanimate creation is delivered from the bondage of corruption. Do you realize when you enjoy the beauty of a sunset that you are looking at a sunset in its fallen state? Imagine how it looked before! Those of you who have been blessed to see the beauty and grandeur of the Grand Canyon out west, again, imagine seeing it before the fall! Creation groans. But we Christians groan, too. Verse 23:
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
We, too, look forward to the coming of that final state when our justification—our being declared righteous by God, having been saved from the penalty of sin—turns into glorification, our being saved from the presence of sin.
We “who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,” that is, we who have received the first installment of our inheritance. Paul said back in verse 9 that Christians have the Spirit of God within them. The non-Christian does not have this first installment of blessing, but Christians do. So, verse 23 again, we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves “groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”
Paul says we Christians, along with all creation, we crane our necks looking forward to that final state of glorification. We “stand on tiptoes,” looking to the future, living with an eternal perspective. We do not love this present age. We long for the future age to come. We are looking forward to that time when we receive the fullest manifestation of our adoption.
Yes, we are now saved, now adopted by our Heavenly Father, but so long as we remain in this present age we do not share in the fullest measure of our adoption. We look forward to the time when our bodies are completely redeemed. Right now, we live in a body that breaks down. I’m thinking of people even now who are bedridden, cancer racking their bodies, or others who face tremendous mental challenges. The Christian will one day receive a glorified body like the Lord received at His resurrection, a body that is no longer subject to age and corruption.
We Christians look forward to a better day! The non-Christian will not receive a glorified body and live forever with our Lord. How do non-Christians get through difficulties and trials and tribulations? Do not our hearts break for them and long for them to know something of the blessed eternal state reserved for Christians?
The eternal state of the non-Christian is an eternity of separation from a loving and forgiving God. Such is the fate that awaits the person who rejects Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Have you laughed to scorn those who now follow Christ? Do you know what the Bible says about your future? Only the Christian enjoys a blissful, heavenly state of perfection. All others remain separated from God in a place called hell, separated forever from the God they spurned.
Eternal perspective makes all the difference. Secondly:
II. Enduring Patience makes all the Difference (24-25)
That is, we must continue to look forward, enduring patiently these present difficulties. Paul uses this word in verses 24 and 25, the word “hope.” We have noted before that biblical hope, hope as defined in the New Testament, is not a “wishing of something to be true.” It is, rather, the absolute, rock-solid guarantee that a thing is true. The word hope is used in the sense of our looking forward to the absolute, guaranteed arrival of this state of glorification. It absolutely is coming. We look forward to it. That is hope. Verse 24:
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
Paul says first, “we were saved in this hope.” That is, we Christians were saved knowing that our salvation will one day culminate in glorification. We were saved in this hope. It is coming. There is no doubt. We look forward to that day. We live by faith, knowing that the day will come. Paul reminds Christians “hope that is seen is not hope.” That is a reminder, as he puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “we walk by faith and not by sight.”
We do not yet see this final state of glorification, but we are looking for it, craning the neck, standing on tiptoe, looking to the future. Verse 25:
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
That word perseverance there is better translated, “enduring patience.” As we look forward to that final state, that wonderful final state of glorification, we do so patiently. We endure present difficulties by God’s grace, eagerly waiting for the future state with perseverance.
You see, Christian, eternal perspective and enduring patience makes all the difference. There is a sense, then, that when bad things happen we Christians are not surprised. We have a healthy understanding of the doctrine of sin and the fall. We know that natural disasters come and tragedy befalls human beings and that this world is not all there is. We do not live for this world only. We live for that which is to come. We patiently endure trials and difficulties, knowing that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Farther along we’ll know all about it.
Farther along we’ll understand why.
Cheer up, my brother, look to the future.
We’ll understand it, all by and by.
III. Earnest Prayer makes all the Difference (26-27)
I love verses 26-27! These verses encourage the Christian with respect to prayer. We read earlier that all creation groans. Then we read that the Christian groans. Now we read that the Holy Spirit groans. In context, these two verses refer to how the Holy Spirit helps us when we are going through trials and difficulties and we’re needing help from God. What does the Christian do? Read how the Holy Spirit within him, helps him. Verse 26:
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
“We do not know what we should pray for as we ought.” There are times we just don’t know how to pray. We’re not sure what is the will of God. Do I pray for this or for this? What am I to do?
Like the 911 operator, the Bible says, “Stay on the line. Help is on the way!” The Bible says there in verse 26, “The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.” So we are praying and the Holy Spirit within us prays for us. How awesome is that?! We are praying and the Holy Spirit is praying right along there with us. The Spirit Himself “makes intercessions for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.” That phrase is probably better translated, “the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with words groans cannot express.”
There are times when we just don’t know how to pray and the Spirit groans within us. Sometimes we hear these groans of the Spirit in our own groans as we pray. We are so moved, so grieved, so dependent upon God that all we can do is pray silently or groan within our being. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit within us is doing this in us and through us.
What is so encouraging here is that the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers. Paul will go on and say later in verse 34 that we have another Helper who prays for us and that is the Lord Jesus Christ “who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Christ prays for us and the Holy Spirit prays for us! Now watch what is particularly encouraging here in verse 27:
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Verse 27 teaches that the Heavenly Father, “He who searches the hearts,” knows what the mind of the Spirit is. God the Father reads the mind of God the Spirit. He knows the mind of the Spirit. How? “Because He (the Spirit) makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Get this now! The Holy Spirit makes intercession for you, saint, Christian. The Holy Spirit prays for you when you don’t know how to pray. The Spirit within you groans to the Father. You are groaning, too, but it is the Spirit groaning within you. He’s praying for you when you don’t know how to pray. And God the Father reads the mind of the Spirit. He understands exactly what the Spirit is praying because the Spirit always prays in accordance to the will of God.
Now what this means, dear Christian, is that, so long as you desire God’s will be done, you can never go wrong in your prayer! Why? Because when you don’t know God’s will, you are praying, and you don’t know what to say, so the Spirit says it for you and God reads the mind of the Spirit and God’s perfect will is done.
I have encountered this when I didn’t know whether to pray for a person’s healing. Contrary to the teaching of so-called “faith healers” of today, it is not always God’s will for a person to be healed of sickness. It may be that God is calling a Christian home to heaven. So frequently when I am at the bedside of a dear saint, all I can do is bow my head and pray, perhaps silently, or sometimes in general words, but I know that the Holy Spirit is interceding within me, praying for me, talking to the Heavenly Father about the condition of this poor soul for whom I am praying. And the Bible says in verse 27 that God’s will will be done. Praise God!
And there are times when you wonder about this job or that job, or this relationship or that relationship, this house or that house, should I go to this school or that school. You just pray, and trust the Holy Spirit to intercede, to pray for you, and the Bible says you cannot go wrong. God’s will will be done in your life. How liberating! How freeing! Thanks be to God for that encouragement!
- Stand for prayer.
What makes the difference for the Christian? Eternal perspective makes all the difference. Enduring patience makes all the difference. Earnest prayer makes all the difference. These are encouragements to the Christian. The non-Christian has no such hope. Turn to Christ…
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