Our Everlasting Fountain of Youth
Romans 8:18-25
The fountain of youth has been told in stories since medieval times. The Fountain of Youth is a mythical spring that restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Many have gone on conquests to find this mythical spring of water, but all have failed. In 1565, a Spanish explorer named Pedro Menéndez de Avilés established the first Spanish settlement in America, or the New World. This settlement is now located in modern day St. Augustine, Florida. Menéndez was on a political gain, and, on his conquest, he claimed he had found the fountain of youth. Many settlers came from Spain and other areas to see the fountain of youth after hearing of its great stories. Now, even today, there is a park in St. Augustine in memory of this first settlement and fountain of youth.
In the olden days, every man and woman longed to find the fountain of youth, to live forever and to be eternally young. One of the facts of life is that we all are aging. The Bible tells us that in Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” In verse 11 it states, the one who has made everything appropriate in its time has also “set eternity in our hearts.” Mankind doesn’t want to die. Mankind doesn’t want to grow old – he wants to live forever. Men and women desire to have the perfect body and the perfect mind. We long to run and not get tired and to walk and not become weary. We do not like the thought of getting older and facing our own mortality even when the signs are all around us.
Billions of dollars are spent each year, in this country alone, for cosmetic surgery. The identity and self-worth of many people are significantly based on their outward appearance and perceived ability to always look youthful. They want to look younger and beautiful. They don’t want the works of time to affect their outward beauty. Like in the olden days, imagine how many people would try to flock to a mythical spring of water. People would pay billions of dollars for a taste of the water that can make you youthful again. But I am here to tell you that the “Real Fountain of Youth Exists.”
It is possible to live forever and be eternally young in a mortal body. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Bible tells “those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” Isaiah 40:31 – it is possible to never know sickness, pain, or death.
The Fountain of Youth is real and referred to in the Bible as God’s Holy Word. The Apostle Paul speaks of it in Romans 8:18-25. God’s Holy Word promises to fulfill every hope and desire God had in mind when he set eternity in our heart. Through this wonderful passage of Scripture, Paul reveals four truths concerning this fountain of youth, which God has already placed within our hearts. Firstly.
I. The Everlasting Fountain of Youth is More than any Suffering:
Paul says in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” This statement comes from a man who knew what it was like to suffer for Christ. Paul’s sufferings are also listed in 2 Corinthians 1:8. He told the churches at Corinth: “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.”
Yet in spite of his sufferings, Paul rejoiced. He considered suffering for Christ a gift: For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. (Philippians 1:29). Paul also considered suffering for Christ one of his three gains in life: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformable unto his death;” (Philippians 3:10). So, Paul cherished the fellowship of the Lord’s sufferings for he knew it was producing great gain in his Christian life.
God also gave Paul the spiritual insight to see that the great gain through suffering is a temporary glimpse of light compared to the eternal glory that awaits us in our Father’s kingdom. The future for a believer is more than a fountain of youth, it is a future inexpressible in words. Today people suffer through painful cosmetic surgery, brutal workouts, and starving diets to obtain youthful beauty and satisfaction. “Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Brothers and sisters, nothing is worthy to be compared to the glorious fountain of youth that has been crowned upon us through our servitude for the Lord.
In Christ, we are crowned to fully experience His glory forever through eternity. Now, without Christ, we could never participate in God's glory because of our sin. We are slaves to the corruption of sin in this mortal world. However, secondly.
II. The everlasting Fountain of Youth Frees us from Slavery:
Paul says (v19-22), 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. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”
Paul says all creation and mankind is subjected to the slavery of corruption. The rose that blooms in all its beauty, soon fades and its petals fall. All living creatures fall prey to the life of “survival of the fittest.” Everything has an appointed time to live and an appointed time to die. The Bible says about man, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).” The pictures of long ago captures us in our youth, but it cannot keep us looking the same, because this world is under the slavery of physical corruption.
Solomon vividly captures man’s physical decline to the slavery of corruption in Ecclesiastes 12:1-4. “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them: before the sun, the light, the moon and the stars are darkened (failing eyesight), and clouds return after the rain (aches and pains); in the day that the watchmen of house tremble (the legs grow weak), and mighty men stoop (lowered shoulders and back), the grinding ones stand idle because they are few (loss of teeth), and those who look through windows grow dim; and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughter of song will sing softly (loss of hearing).”
In contrast, can you imagine the flower that never fades, the family pet that never dies, or the athlete that never grows weak with age? How about furniture that never needs to be dusted, the car that never needs to be washed or the house that never needs to be painted? Is such an existence possible? A glimmer of this reality is seen in the Israelites' exodus to the promised land where the shoes of the Hebrews did not wear out for forty years. Paul refers to this miracle as not a sustaining of the old creation but a fulfillment of the new creation. Paul says creation will be freed from the slavery to physical corruption “into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (vs. 21).
Can you imagine the freedom of not battling the flesh? This is the fulfillment of John 8:36: “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” The life and the Spirit, which is put within us by faith, will live every day for eternity. What a glorious day for all creation! Thirdly.
III. The everlasting Fountain Youth Promises us a Glorified body:
But Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:50, “Now this I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit in-corruption.” Paul continues in verse 51 & 53: “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. For this corruptible must put on in-corruption and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Therefore, understand, an incorruptible, immortal, and glorified body awaits you and I and everyone that is in Christ. “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1).
Paul says, “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.” Paul refers to this in his letter to the Philippians: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21).” But for now and for our encouragement, Paul explains that “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4: 8-9, 14, 16).
From our mother’s womb, we are born with sin. Our earthly bodies are mortal and cannot inherit the kingdom of God. However, through His word and salvation, Christ has allowed our mortal bodies to be reborn and become a glorified body and a spirit. And through this new body, Christ places a fountain of living water and everlasting life. Fourthly & Finally.
IV. The everlasting Fountain of Youth Gives us Faith to Persevere:
Paul says in Romans 8:24-25, “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” The power of God’s glory and His Word to sustain us is evident throughout the Scriptures. It is a guarantee of our glorious future. Those who believe without seeing are blessed in the kingdom of God.
Hebrews 11:27 tells us that Moses “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” Through Moses’ acceptance of God, his spirit became new with the living word and living water of life. He persevered in faith through what was unseen to man.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18: “While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal: but the things which are not seen are eternal.” The Lord calls us to persevere for Him through faith. In our modern era, many people only choose to believe in what they can see. But God says, what can be seen is only temporary, but what is unseen will bring everlasting life and water. Everlasting youth and life. Faith is a journey and a spiritual revealing of the soul. God can be found in any place and in any time. In the midst of every desert place. In the midst of any vast field. In the depths of the oceans or on the tops of mountains. God is there. All we need to do is open our eyes and ears and take in the sights and sounds of the Living Water of the Lord.
Today, all of us seek our own “fountains of youth” in our own ways. Jesus tells us, we don’t need to go anywhere. The kingdom of God is right “at hand.” It’s in our midst.
Conclusion:
“Therefore, my beloved brethren be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Brothers and sisters in Christ, the fountain of youth is real if you are in Christ.
The real fountain of youth is the living word and water, which comes from our Savior Jesus Christ. This is the fountain of everlasting life, not in the temporary world, but in the everlasting kingdom of God. And through its waters, we reap the benefits of our sufferings and sacrifices for the Lord. Like the saints and apostles before us, our sufferings from servitude to our God will be blessed in our eternal life. Through His living waters, we are free from our slavery to sin and physical corruption. We all age and our bones grow weary, but through His living waters our life and spirit does not end with death and the pains of this life. We will be free of all pains, age, and corruption when we enter into the kingdom of God. Through His living water, our flesh is reborn, and we are promised a new, glorified body in His salvation. We are born again in the spirit and as children of God. Our flesh of this world may die, but our spirits, which drink from the waters of life, will live forevermore in His kingdom. And lastly, through His living waters, we are blessed with the faith to persevere and believe that which is unseen. For the Lord says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29)”. The world and blessing of this world is only temporary, but the blessing of His kingdom is everlasting.
Dear brothers and sisters, the fountain of youth and life is real. It has been given to us through Christ. There are many who desperately seek a mythical fountain, but we have found it within ourselves. But you must drink of its waters. You must reap the benefits which God has blessed you with. For only when you drink from the living word of God, will you live forever in the kingdom of God. Amen.
