A. Farmer Joe decided his injuries from the accident were serious enough to take the trucking company that was responsible for the accident to court.
1. In court, the trucking company’s fancy lawyer was questioning farmer Joe: “Didn’t you say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine?,” questioned the lawyer.
2. Farmer Joe responded, “Well I’ll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Bessie into the...”
3. The lawyer interrupted him, “Joe, I didn’t ask for any details. Just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine!’ ”
4. Farmer Joe said, “Well, I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road...”
5. The lawyer interrupted again and said, “Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question.”
6. By this time the Judge was interested in Farmer Joe’s answer and said to the lawyer, “I’d like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule Bessie.”
7. Joe thanked the Judge and proceeded, “Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn’t want to move. However, I could hear ole Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans.
Shortly after the accident a Highway Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her he took out his gun and shot her, putting her out of her misery.
Then the Patrolman came across the road with his gun in his hand and looked at me. He said, ‘Your mule was moaning and groaning and so I had to shoot her. How are you feeling?’ So, judge, don’t you think you would have said you were fine, under those circumstances?”
B. In the section of Romans that we will explore today, Paul addresses the very real problem of suffering and pain.
1. Perhaps the simplest way to outline this section is to note the three “groans” that are discussed.
2. Paul talks about creation groaning, and he talks about believers groaning, and then he finishes up talking about the Holy Spirit groaning.
3. That’s a lot of groaning! But the good news is that all that groaning can turn into glory!
C. Let’s briefly put this section into the context and flow of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
1. Paul began this great second section of Romans back in chapter 5 by assuring believers of their sure hope for salvation in the face of God’s judgment.
2. Now Paul returns to where he started, setting before us the wonderful fact and solid basis for our hope as Christians.
3. The immediate launching point is chapter 8, verse 17, where Paul reminded us that we need to share in Christ’s sufferings if we expect to share in His glory.
4. That takes Paul into this section, verses 18 through 30 where he discusses the believer’s future glory.
5. This section begins with the glory that will be revealed in us (vs. 18), and ends with the notion of glory – “those he justified, he also glorified” (vs. 30).
D. In between those two bookends of “glory,” Paul makes two basic points.
1. Paul’s first point is that that future glory is the climax of God’s plan for both His people and for His creation, but that since we have not reached that climax, we must eagerly and patiently wait for it (vs. 18-25).
2. Paul’s second point is that God provides what we need in order to wait eagerly and patiently.
a. Specifically, God provides the Spirit to help us pray (vs. 26-27), God promises to oversee everything for our good according to His providential plan for us (vs. 28-30).
E. But in the midst of all of this and in the meantime, there is going to be suffering.
1. Paul does not try to hide the fact that believers will suffer.
2. Paul addressed that fact back in chapter 5:3-4: And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
3. We, Christians will inevitably share in the rejection and trials that Jesus himself experienced.
4. Faithful Christian living and teaching will always rub the world the wrong way at some point, and friction is inevitable.
F. But Paul’s powerful and wonderful point about suffering for Christ is that it will all be worth it.
1. In Romans 8:18, Paul declared: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.
2. It’s almost as though Paul was standing there holding a scale in his hand.
a. On one side of the scale he places all the suffering he has experienced, and for him it has been a lot: being beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, hungry, exhausted, maligned and ridiculed.
b. The scale immediately tips down on that side.
c. But then on the other side of the scale he places the glory he anticipates in the future, and immediately the scale tips all the way in the other direction.
d. There’s just no comparison between the sufferings and the rewards.
3. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he told them, “For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.” (2 Cor. 4:17)
G. So our future glory is certainly worth anything that we must endure here on earth, but we are not there yet.
1. We are headed for heaven, and know our reward is waiting for us there, but we are still here.
2. In the meantime, we live in this world and it is an imperfect place full of pain, suffering and death.
H. That reality prompted Paul to write the next few verses: 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. (Romans 8:19-22)
1. When God finished making His creation, it was a good creation, but today it is a groaning creation.
2. As you know, this all was the consequence of the fall of Adam and Eve.
3. Paul points out that the creation is groaning but it is not the fault of creation.
I. Let’s note two things from this section, the first being that the creation was subjected to frustration, or futility as the CSB renders it.
1. Ever since our ancient ancestors were evicted from Eden this has been a decidedly imperfect world.
2. Adam and Eve had a grand garden, for a while, but once sin entered the picture it sure sprouted weeds in a hurry!
3. Remember the aftermath of that first sin? Adam & Eve were cursed – the Serpent was cursed – but so was the ground (Genesis 3:14-15)!
4. Ever since then this world has been in “bondage to decay” - everything and everyone gets old, declines, dies.
5. Certainly there is a great deal of beauty in this world, but there are also tornados and earthquakes and pollution and birth defects and violence and hatred and diseases and death.
6. And if you sometimes get a deep, disquieting sense that things are out of joint, that this is not the way it's supposed to be, you're right!
J. But let’s notice the second thing: “the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.”
1. J.B. Phillips paraphrased this verse: “The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.”
2. Picture the old days when an anxious father-to-be, paced back and forth just outside the maternity ward, hour after hour, wondering why its taking so long, wondering if everything is ok...then suddenly the doctor appears at the door and asks, “Would you like to come into the room and hold your new daughter or son?”
3. That’s the picture presented in this verse: intense anxiety, pain, suffering, but followed by great rejoicing!
4. And years from now, it is the rejoicing we celebrate!
5. Kent Hughes wrote: “Many of us have pictures of our wives after they have delivered a child, and typically the baby is in their arms and mother is radiant. None of us have a picture of our wives in labor. We do not reach into our wallets saying, ‘Let me show you a picture of Margaret groaning in labor. Isn’t the agony terrific?’ ” (Kent Hughes, Romans, page 160).
6. In the same way, verse 22 tells us, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.”
K. Right now life is imperfect – it is hard – there is sorrow and suffering, disease and decay and death.
1. Unbelievers are disappointed by this world, it turns them bitter and resentful.
2. But we believers know a secret: for us our suffering is not a pointless pain!
3. It is like the “groaning” of a woman’s labor pains: one day it is going to bring great joy!
4. So we have this state of suspense in which even creation occupies an “in-between” condition, this intense expectation, anticipation: we are destined for glory, someday. but in the meantime. well, that’s the challenge: how do we make it in the meantime?
L. Paul takes us in that direction in the next few verses: 23 Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:23-25)
1. Paul declares that we believers groan in our eager anticipation.
2. We groan because we have the first fruits of the Spirit in us.
3. Why “firstfruits” Because firstfruits are a harbinger of the harvest to come!
a. There's nothing sweeter than the first tomatoes of the season - after eating those cardboard substitutes you get down at the supermarket.
b. Or how about the first sweet corn right out of the field or the first apples off the tree? So good!
4. And one of the best things about “firstfruits” is that they are a promise of more to come!
a. A whole glorious season of fresh fruits on the table!
M. The Holy Spirit is given to us as “firstfruits”: that first sweet taste of more to come!
1. How does He do that? Well, God can't eliminate all the bumps in the road during this life: we’re still going to suffer.
2. But God can give us HOPE!
3. As believers, we carry the great secret of future redemption in our bodies.
4. That's why Paul said in verse 18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.”
5. It is the Holy Spirit that puts a taste of heaven in our hearts, and gives us hope.
6. Back in chapter 5, Paul alluded to this work of the Holy Spirit: This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5)
7. As we learned last week, the Holy Spirit confirms that we are the adopted children of God – that is what we are, but as God’s children we yearn for possessing our full inheritance, when we will enjoy being in our heavenly home, in the presence of God, with our glorified bodies.
8. Our Christian hope is not a “hope so,” but a “know so” and is an anchor for our souls as we live in the turbulent waters of life on earth.
N. Paul continues in verses 26 and 27 to share the provisions God has for us to help us in our time on earth while we wait for the glories of heaven: 26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
1. The phrase “in the same way” connects Paul’s theme of “groaning”: creation groans (vs 22), Christians groan (vs 23), and “in the same way,” the Spirit groans (vs 26).
2. The Holy Spirit sustains us in our time of weakness which has to do with the limitations of our human condition.
3. One of our limitations is knowing what we ought to pray.
a. Our insight into God’s will is far short of perfect, and in so many situations we are puzzled to know what exactly to pray for.
4. Have you ever stood by the hospital bed of a loved one and didn't know what to pray?
a. To pray: “Lord, let them live” may be selfish, because it may only prolong their suffering.
b. To pray: “Lord, let them die” may be short-sighted, because they may be able to rally and recover.
5. There are so many occasions when circumstances are so perplexing that we will be at a loss to know just how to pray, but the great news is that “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans which words cannot express.”
6. These groanings of the Spirit are in perfect accord with God’s will.
7. How wonderful to know that our inability to pray as precisely as we would like is no hindrance to the working out of God’s perfect will in our lives.
8. How powerful is it that Jesus is in heaven interceding for us, and the Holy Spirit is here on earth, in our hearts, interceding for us? God is so good to us!!
O. As if that were not enough, Paul tells us that God is doing even more to help us as we suffer in this imperfect world we live in: 28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
1. We believers need not faint or falter in times of suffering and trial because we know that God is at work, that God has a perfect plan, and that God has two purposes in that plan: our good and His glory.
P. Christians in every generation have found inestimable comfort in the wonderful promise of Romans 8:28.
1. This is surely one of the greatest promises of God to His people anywhere in the Bible, but it is also one of the most misunderstood.
2. The most common misunderstandings come from the definition of “good” that a person employs.
a. Many times people define the word “good” from a narrow, materialistic, physical, or earthly perspective.
b. Someone might say, “Yes, you may have lost your job, but you can be sure of getting an even better one, because ‘all things are working together for good.’ ”
c. Or someone might say, “Don’t be upset about your fiancé breaking off your engagement, because God must have an even better life partner for you, because ‘all things are working together for good.’ ”
d. See how that interpretation of “good” is narrow, materialistic, physical, or earthly?
e. From God’s perspective, “good” may be defined in spiritual or eternal terms.
f. The ultimate good is God’s glory, and He is glorified when His children live like Christ and attain the glory He has destined them for.
3. As we have already learned back in Romans 5:3-4, God uses suffering to build Christian character in us, to conform us to Christ, and to prepare us for final glory.
a. What God promises us in Rom. 8:28, then, is not that every difficult experience will lead to something good in this life.
b. The “good” God may have in mind may involve the next life entirely.
c. God may take us out of a secure, well-paying job in order to shake us out of a materialistic lifestyle that does not honor biblical priorities, and we may never have as good a job again.
d. God may want to set us free from an engagement to be married because He want to use us in a ministry that would be difficult or impossible for a married person.
4. That’s not to say material, earthly blessings cannot be included in the “good” of Rom. 8:28.
a. God certainly delights to give His people good gifts in this life as well as in the next.
b. The point I am making is that we tend to apply the promise in a purely materialistic way.
c. This clearly fails to take into account the spiritual realm which is ultimately more important that the material.
5. What then does the promise of Romans 8:28 mean?
a. Essentially, it promises that nothing will touch our lives that is not under the control and direction of our loving heavenly Father.
b. And that everything we experience can be used by God for our good.
c. We will not always understand how the things we experience work for good, and we certainly will not always enjoy them, but we can know that God can and is using them for His beneficial purposes.
Q. Verses 29 and 30 give us the assurance that God has a plan and that His ultimate plan is for people to be conformed into the image of His Son.
1. There has been much debate over the years about the doctrines of salvation including the issues of election, predestination and eternal security, and some of those debates arise from verse 29 and 30.
2. We don’t have time to enter into that debate in this sermon, and we must not lose sight of Paul’s main point, which is to assure believers that God has a plan He is unfolding, and it is a plan that provides for our future glory.
3. Paul wants us to come away from the text not with theological questions, but with a renewed assurance that the God who began a good work in us will indeed bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6).
4. And whether a person’s beliefs about salvation are Calvinistic (God chooses who believes) or Arminian (We choose to believe), we all can agree that God has done all that is needed to secure our eternal glory.
5. No genuine believer need ever wonder whether he or she has “what it takes” to get to heaven, because none of us does, but that doesn’t matter in the end.
6. God Himself has provided everything we need through the justification that comes through the righteousness of Christ, and our job is to trust in that provision and to walk in the Spirit.
7. And as we have seen repeatedly in Romans 5-8, Paul carefully preserves a balance that maintains God’s gift to us and our need to appropriately respond to that gift.
8. Part of our appropriate response to God’s gift is to faithfully live in this world of groaning as we await our future glory.
9. And what we will learn in the next and final section of Romans 8 is that our suffering and nothing else can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Resources:
Romans, The NIV Application Commentary, by Douglas Moo
Romans, The Bible Exposition Commentary, by Warren Wiersbe
Living in the Meantime, Sermon by Dan Williams
From Groaning to Glory (Pts. 1 & 2), Sermon by Richard Strauss
