Text- Romans 8:18-27
Title- The Benefits of New Life- Hope
Romans 8:18-27 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly 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 also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. 26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
What we have to look forward to…
I. Glorification- vs. 19-23
a. A completely new kind of existence.
II. Realization- vs. 24-25
a. We hope for what we can’t see yet
III. Communication- vs. 26-27
a. Close communion with God
This week I saw a survey of the top 10 favorite books. I thought I’d share that with you because I thought it was interesting. My question as I read through this list was, “Have the people in this study actually read these books?”
10. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger- A depressing book about teenage angst and rebellion, full of foul language, sexual references, and generally devoid of morality. But it has been a part of the required reading in a lot of English classes so it’s probably the only book that a lot of people could think of.
9. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand- This is a humanistic, existential philosophy book that presents a world view that is completely opposed to a biblical world view. Also the book is like 1200 pages long, I can’t image there are that many people who have actually read it. But it is supposedly one of the most influential, life changing books according to this study.
8. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown- This is the guy who wrote The DaVinci Code. This is another work of fiction, but it presents a world view that is very contradictory to scripture. My guess is that this book is only on the list because of the recent popularity of The DaVinci Code.
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee- Again, this makes the list because it’s required reading by just about every high schooler in the country. That and it’s a good book.
6. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown- Again a very unbiblical work of fiction.
5. The Stand by Stephen King- I went through a period early in hig school and college where I read all of Stephen Kings books; including this one. It’s also about 1000 pages long and scary.
4. Harry Potter- J.K. Rowling- Not surprising given the recent popularity of this book among children and adults alike.
- So far this list is looking pretty depressing.
3. Lord of The Rings- J.R.R. Tolkien- Finally, something that has at least some basic Christian themes.
2. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell- I know, when did they make that movie into a book?
1. Any guesses about number 1? That’s right the Bible. That’s encouraging, but I wonder if these people polled have actually read it, or if they just think it sounds good.
Even though the Bible is #1, just about every other book on that list is either worthless, or actually anti-Christian.
What are your favorite books? What are you reading? What are you putting in? I hope our list of favorites would look a lot different than this list, with the exception of number 1.
When I first came to Christ I have to admit that the main motivating factor was a fear of going to hell. I was saved by a hell-fire and brimstone type message. I believed that hell was real and I was pretty sure that I didn’t want to end up there.
When the preacher asked that question, “If you where to die today do you know where you would spend eternity?” I had to admit that I didn’t really know the answer. So I came forward and gave my life over to God.
Even though my primary reason for accepting Christ might have been from a fear of hell, I soon learned that there are a whole host of other blessings in the Christian life. I began to learn that being a follower of Christ wasn’t just about fire insurance, but about new life.
The more I grew the more I realized that salvation isn’t just about where we spend eternity, although that’s an important factor, it’s about a real relationship with God. I learned that there were some amazing benefits to this new life in Christ.
In chapter 8 of Romans Paul points our attention to some of these benefits of new life, both future and present. Last week we talked about how the Holy Spirit is a benefit of new life. The Spirit guides us, empowers us, gives us gifts, and sanctifies us.
This week we will talk about the hope that we now have as a part of our new life. We have a different outlook on life, a different set of priorities, and an internal hope that is transforming.
Follow along as I read Romans 8:18-27…
Hope is a state of mind that enables us as human beings to endure even the most difficult of circumstances. Where there is hope there is joy and willingness to persevere.
In college I read a book titled, “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. In the book the author recounts his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. He talks about the horrors they faced and how they managed to stay alive in the midst of some of the most inhuman conditions.
He recounts how some men who were strong, healthy, and physically should have been able to survive a lot longer would get to a point where they lost all hope. They focused on the past, and felt that they had nothing to look forward to. When that happened these strong men would soon give out physically and they would succumb to illness or insanity.
Others who were able to look forward and who held out hope fared much better. Hope in the future enabled them to bear up under the unimaginable strain of their circumstances.
Frankl Wrote, “A man who becomes conscience of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the ‘why’ for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any ‘how’.”
The passage we are studying today reminded me a lot of this book. We as believers know why we exist, it is to glorify God. And we hold out hope that we will be delivered from the suffering of this present time to a life of glory with God. That hope should enable us to bear up under any strain.
Paul says, 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Talk about having a heavenly minded perspective on things. Paul considered the suffering and the disappointment, and the heartache that this life brings as nothing when compared to the joy and peace and glory that we get to partake in in the next life.
Paul had an incredible hope in the future that sprang from his new life in Christ. Because we are saved and sealed we have a hope that is transforming and motivating. It enables us to move forward in life with great confidence.
I want to spend some time talking more about this hope that we now have. What exactly is it that we are hoping for? What are we looking forward to?
First of all, we hope for glorification. Glorification happens either at death or when Christ comes again. It is that point in time when we will be freed from this body of death, rescued from the sin nature, and reunited with God. The hope of glorification is the hope of heaven.
Look at 18-23…
We are waiting eagerly for that day when we will experience a whole new kind of existence. We are waiting eagerly for the work that has begun in us to be completed. We wait eagerly for God to finish His plan of redemption.
And it isn’t just us, but all of creation is waiting for that day of redemption. Ever since the first sin, creation has been cursed. It says that creation was subject to futility. It has been effected by sin.
The world that God created was good. It was a world filled with peace where humans and animals coexisted in an interdependent way. It was a world without natural disasters, no floods, famines, earthquakes, or hurricanes. It was a world that easily produced food. It was a world especially created for humans. God made it just for us.
But when Adam and Eve sinned, the world received a curse.
Genesis 3:17-19 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ’You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."
The very ground was cursed by God. Since that time God has been in the process of redeeming all of creating. We can look forward to that point in time when there will be a new heavens and a new earth. There will be a time when the curse will be completely reversed. There is a coming time when everything will be brought back into working order.
Creating is waiting and hoping for that time to come. But what has to happen first? Look at verse 19…. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
The creation is anxiously longing. This term is a vivid description. It means to crane out your neck and stand on your tiptoes looking ahead to what is to come.
This description reminded me of the wiener dog that Camille and I had in Seminary. When we would leave he would run to the back window, stretch up to reach the window sill, and then poke his nose out of the blinds to try and see us. He didn’t want us to leave and couldn’t wait until we came home.
Creation is anxiously waiting for the revealing of the sons of God. What does that mean? Well, first of all who are the sons of God? That’s right, we are. Last week Paul mentioned that we have a Spirit of adoption. We are now sons of God.
What does it mean that the sons of God will be revealed? Paul explains over in Col. 3:4…
Colossians 3:4 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Basically creation is waiting eagerly for the coming of Christ. Creation was subjected to futility when we sinned, and creation will be restored when we are restored.
But obviously it isn’t just the creation that groans for redemption, believers do to. All those who have tasted the first fruits of the Spirit, who have experienced what it is like to be freed from sin, eagerly anticipate that day when all sin will be done away with.
“23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”
This passage really makes so much more sense when we read it in the full context of Romans. Paul has just been talking about his disgust at how he still falls to the flesh even though his new heart desires to honor God. He has just described the battle between the sinful nature and the Spirit. We’ve been talking about that struggle between these two competing forces for the past couple of weeks.
Everyone who is a true believer faces that struggle. And we desperately long for the day that we will no longer battle the sin nature. Because we have the Spirit of life, we are disgusted and saddened by the spirit of death that is all around us. We groan and yearn for the day when we will be fully redeemed.
We know its coming because the Holy Spirit has already given us a glimpse of it. But we aren’t there yet. We have a deep-seeded hope for the day when we will be fully glorified.
Along with the hope of glorification is the hope of realization that comes when we finally enter God’s presence. Look at verses 24-25…
Here Paul defines and explains what he means by hope. I’ve said it before, but it is important to point out here that this biblical concept of hope is very different than our modern concept of hope.
Often when we use the word hope it is a kind of wishful thinking about something that may or may not actually happen. I hope I win the lottery, I hope I don’t lose all my hair, I hope I get that job, I hope we are having meatloaf for dinner. But this kind of wishful thinking isn’t the kind of hope that Paul is talking about.
Paul’s definition of hope is, “an eager expectation”. Hope for us is looking ahead to something that has already been guaranteed to happen. It is eagerly waiting for the day that it is finally realized.
This realm of hope is where we are right now as believers. God’s work of salvation and transformation has already begun in us, but we are not yet fully formed. We’ve gotten a small glimpse, but we haven’t really seen what is to come. We have simply believed the promise that it is indeed coming. And that faith in the promises of God is a key component in our salvation. That’s why Paul says that in hope we have been saved.
This hope we have is so important to our life right now. The enemy is at work to make us think that we are hopeless. The enemy works hard to make us unsure, confused, discouraged. The enemy wants us to believe that there really is no hope, or that our hope is based on what we do.
I don’t know if you are like me, but I love to have something fun to look forward to. I love to have a vacation, or a special event, or something on the calendar that I can be working towards. It just seems like the day to day work is so much easier when I know that it is bringing me one day closer to that special day. Right now I’m looking forward to going to pastor’s retreat. Next week I get to go up to Silver Spur and spend a few days relaxing.
Do you know what I mean? There’s just something about having something to look forward to that is energizing. That’s the kind of hope for the future that Paul wants to instill in us as believers.
Don’t let anything rob you of hope. We have the hope that we will one day see Jesus Christ face to face. We have the hope that all our questions will one day be answered. We have the hope of a new body.
Paul wants us to look forward to our day of redemption because it puts things into perspective. The day to day struggles that we face are nothing compared to what we have to look forward to.
So we hope for our final glorification where we will be free from the curse. And we hope for realization, or the day when we will enter God’s presence forever. Finally, we hold out hope for perfect communication with God. Right now we desperately long to commune with God, but there are limitations that hold us back. Fortunately the Holy Spirit acts as a translator between us and God. Look at verses 26-27…
This is such an amazing glimpse into how the Holy Spirit helps us communicate with God. Right now in this frail body, with the limitations of the sinful nature, and with a limited understand of the world around us we often don’t know how to pray like we should.
We don’t always know how to pray in a way that is consistent with God’s will. There are times when we simply can’t know God’s will for a particular situation, but we do the best we can, acknowledging that the Spirit helps fill in the gaps.
When I was in high school I had the privilege of going on a trip to France with the French Club at school. I took three years of French in high school (in retrospect I probably should have taken Spanish instead, but oh well). During that time I had the opportunity to go out exploring a little and talking to people. I found that the more I practiced, the better I got at actually talking to real live French people.
But I still was very limited in my vocabulary and in my understanding. I can remember one time we were all riding the metro and a guy turned to me and started talking very fast. I know that he was asking for directions to a particular stop, but I wasn’t completely sure which one or how to best answer him.
Fortunately for me my French teacher was close by. She listened to his question and steered him in the right direction. She was able to intercede and speak to him in a way that I couldn’t.
I this is kind of like what Paul is describing here. There are times when we can easily communicate with God. There are times when prayer is easy.
There are times when God’s will is clear. It’s always God’s will for me to confess my sin. It is always God’s will for me to study His word and obey His commands. It’s always God’s will for me to pray for others. Praying about those things should come natural.
There are times however, when it is difficult to know exactly what God’s will is in a particular situation that you are praying about. When you are praying for healing, sometimes it is God’s will that a person not be healed. When you are praying for personal guidance and direction, sometimes we aren’t even sure what we want, we simply want to obey God. These are the times when the Spirit intercedes for us. When the Spirit of God searches our hearts and speaks the things we don’t know how to speak.
The Holy Spirit acts as a translator, communicating to God when we reach the limitations of our abilities. But there will be a day when we will have a different kind of communion with God. We will be freed from the limitations of sin and short-sightedness and be able to communicate with God in a whole new way.
Boy, there sure is a lot of groaning going on in this passage isn’t there? Creation is groaning, we are groaning, even the Holy Spirit is groaning. It’s all in anticipation of the glory that is to come.
We have a hope as believers in Jesus Christ that others don’t have. We have alight in our eyes that others don’t have. We have future and a promise and a blessing waiting for us.
1 Peter 3:15 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
