HOPE IN A GROANING WORLD—Romans 8:14-27
On the World Frustration Index, what do you think the current level is?
Actually, the World Frustration Index is fictional; I made it up. But if there were such a thing, what level would we be at?
***For 2020: Pretty high! We have been stuck inside for weeks, wondering when this COVID-19 thing will end, if ever, and what the next pandemic might be. We get entirely too much news, and most of it is frustrating: racism and prejudice on one side, and identity politics and anarchy on the other. Opinions are polarized, and even Christians can’t talk to each other in a civil way. Social problems keep increasing, and their seem to be no answers for drugs and gangs, crime and mass incarceration, struggling schools and the breakdown of marriage and family. The list goes on, but I think I’ll quit now...**
***Alternately, preacher, update this: Political polarization, and feeling powerless to have any impact for change. Economic hopelessness for so many people, with no easy solutions. Social problems: drugs and crime, and illusive solutions to mass incarceration and social decay. Cultural breakdowns: lax moral and ethical standards, marriage, and loss of respect for authority. Religious freedom being challenged (China, Iran…) Inequality: persistent racism, struggling schools, and oppression of the poor in the world. Global warming, natural disasters—and powerless to fix things**
Frustration seems to be part of life, and it can be overwhelming at times. What gets us through it? HOPE: a belief in something better. A belief in a better future, that spills over into the present.
Where do we find hope? Paul talks about that in Romans 8:18-27. (Read that or Romans 8:14-27.)
WHAT SOLID BASIS DO WE HAVE FOR HOPE?
-GOD PROMISES TO REDEEM CREATION.
It will not always be like this! As verse 21 says, “The creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”
Well, that sounds great, but if God plans to redeem the creation someday, why not do it immediately?
Paul hints at the answer, when he says, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 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 freedom and glory of the children of God.”
“The creation waits for the children of God…” The redemption of creation—its liberation from bondage to decay—is inevitably linked with the redemption of God’s children, in freedom and glory.
Why? A redeemed creation is not a suitable home for unredeemed people.
Think about it: How could the world be free of frustration, if it were filled with human-caused frustration: economic inequality, greed, global warming (maybe), war, or bullying? So much frustration is human-caused.
Well then, what about frustrations that are not human-caused? There are natural disasters, like pandemics, hurricanes, or earthquakes. There are troubles from natural causes: cancer, drought, disease and death.
Paul says something quite puzzling in verse 19: “the creation was subjected to frustration…by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope…” Who subjected the creation to frustration? Was it God, or another power? I don’t think Paul settles that question, but he implies that if God allows frustration in the physical world, the PURPOSE of it is “in hope that all of creation, including God’s children, will be redeemed and brought in to “the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
Frustration has a purpose in our world.
***A man once told me that he didn’t need God in his life. He said his life was good; he had a good business, a decent marriage and family, and lots of friends. I didn’t know what to say, because I had been with him when the hospital pulled the plug on his dying 10-year-old daughter, and when his family retreated to a hotel room to drown their sorrows in beer. I could see stress in him, and even more in his family. I wanted to say, “Is this as good as it gets?”**
Frustration with life can be a healthy, if it gives us a “holy discontent,” and a vision for something better.
As C.S. Lewis said in his essay, The Weight of Glory, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Frustration with the world as it is makes us long for a new home—a new creation—a glorious creation liberated from decay, where we are free to be all God intends us to be. Frustration can be healthy. Imperfect love makes us long for perfect love. Fragile financial security drives us to trust God for true security. Crime and injustice help us desire better righteousness and justice.
Frail bodies remind us that God has something better for us, as Paul reminds us in verse 23, “we wait eagerly for…the redemption of our bodies.”
God’s plan and promises give us hope of a redeemed creation.
-GOD ADOPTS US AS HIS CHILDREN.
Romans 8:23 “Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
The NIV 2011 usually translates male terms, like “son,” as male and female, to reflect the intent of the authors in terms of today’s culture. Here, however, the translators kept “sonship,” because the word was a technical term to describe the rights and privileges of a male heir. God gives us rights and privileges, as if we were his legal heirs! How did we get that status? God’s adopted us.
Some people say, “We are all God’s children,” since God created all of humanity in his image. Paul has something else in mind, however. In Romans 8:14-17, he says, “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
As spiritual children of God, we share in the rights and privileges of God’s one and only original Son, Jesus Christ! We are not like slaves, fearful of being cut off, but children, secure in the love of a parent. We have the right to call God “Father,” even “Abba,” a more familiar way of referring to God in the Aramaic language. (Paul inserted the Aramaic word, because it was so remarkable that Jesus used that word to speak to God.) We will share in the glory of Jesus Christ, while of course he is above all things in heaven and earth.
Maybe you noticed something puzzling, however. In verses 14-17, Paul says we ARE God’s children, but in verse 23, he says “We WAIT eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” Is it present or future?
***My niece adopted a baby girl from foreign country. I don’t know the legal details, but I think the adoption papers were signed before she could leave the country. The legal adoption was completed when the papers were signed, but the goal of the adoption was not met until she could take her baby home as her own dear child.**
God adopted us as his children when we accepted Jesus and “received the Spirit of sonship.” (Romans 8:15) Based on that, we are “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:17) Still, we wait eagerly to receive the full rights and privileges granted to us, when we arrive “home,” to enjoy “our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:23)
We can have hope, because God has a plan and purpose for us, he has adopted us as his own, and…
-THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US A TASTE OF OUR GLORIOUS FUTURE WITH GOD.
Verse 23 says that, “We have the firstfruits of the Spirit,” even while we groan and eagerly wait for full redemption of our own bodies, and all of creation.
When our redemption is complete, we will have perfect fellowship with God. We will be secure in our relationship as his adopted children. We will trust and obey him fully, and our minds and bodies will be totally aligned with his will for us.
We aren’t there yet! The Holy Spirit in us gives us a taste of that, however. Verse 14 says we are “led by the Spirit,” verse 15 says the Spirit of sonship allows us to call God our Father, and verse 16 says that the Spirit “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
One of the most practical ways for us to get a taste of a redeemed relationship with God is through prayer. Paul says something quite remarkable about prayer in Romans 8:26-27, “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 through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
When we get to heaven, we won’t need help in our prayers. In fact, we might not need to pray, at least, not in words! God promised in Isaiah 65:24, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”
In this life, prayer is how we communicate with God. Prayer is simple; just talk and listen. But prayer can also be hard.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wonder whether God hears me, and I struggle to understand his answers. Our faith is weak, and our communication is weak. We don’t know what to pray for, especially when we are frustrated. How do we pray about our fears or failures? How do we pray about emotions and thoughts we don’t even understand ourselves? How do we pray about difficult relationships? How do we pray about the state of the world?
Paul says in verse 26, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness…the Spirit intercedes for us with groans that cannot be expressed.” I love that, not just because the Spirit helps us, but because the Holy Spirit feels our pain, and “groans for us.”
The word for “groaning” is repeated 3 times in today’s text. In verse 22, Paul says, “the whole creation has been groaning.” In verse 23, Paul says, “we groan inwardly as we wait…” Now, Paul says the Holy Spirit “groans,” expressing to God our frustrations, our requests, our hopes, and our deepest need for his grace.
Paul goes on to say that the Spirit “intercedes” for us. He intercedes for us, as Christ intercedes for us (See verse 34), so that we can be forgiven of our sins and accepted as God’s children. He intercedes for us as well to bring our requests to the Father, seeking what we ask for, if it is “in accordance with God’s will.”
When we pray in the Spirit, we don’t have to worry about finding the right words, or not saying something stupid; the Spirit translates, as much for us as for God! Our anger, our frustration, even our bitterness—it gets channeled in the right direction. Our requests, even those that are foolish or self-centered—are formed to conform with God’s will. Our faith, weak though it is, is enough to bring us before the throne of God.
God, through his Spirit, knows our hearts, shares our groaning, and enfolds us into his perfect plan and purpose for all things.
How do we deal with frustration in the world? How do we handle frustration with people, frustration with all of humanity, frustration with circumstances? How do we face our frustration with ourselves?
Hope. Hope is built upon a future that is already breaking through in the present. Hope is bringing the life of the future into the present, as we live in God’s kingdom now.
Hope is built on God’s plan of redemption, our identity as God’s children, and the “firstfruits of the Spirit.”
