Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
We are continuing our study in the book of Romans, and we are going through chapter eight. I find Romans chapter eight one of the most exciting and encouraging chapters in all of Paul's epistles. Looking back to the beginning of the chapter, we move from the hopeless condition of man apart from the redemption of Christ to the glorious words that should bring every believer a swell of praise within them.
There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
From here, Paul continues to distinguish the believer’s life. Rather than walking according to our flesh and our fleshly desires and responding to the world around us through our flesh, we are now guided by the Spirit of God.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5)
And that's an important distinction. As we looked deeper into Galatians chapter 5 we see that distinction in a list of those who live according to the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit. The reason why we make the conscious effort to live according to the Spirit is because it is the Spirit of God that dwells within us.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:11)
Last week, Keith did an excellent job bringing all this together by underscoring that we live differently and the Spirit of Christ dwells within us because we are no longer heirs of death, but we are heirs of God through Jesus Christ. However, with that inheritance comes enmity. Because as heirs of the living God, we have made enemies of the god of this world and the systems of this world. Therefore, the spiritual victory we enjoy means we also share in the suffering of our king. But, our temporary and momentary light afflictions mean nothing compared to the glory we will share with our Lord.
And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:17)
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17–18)
And this brings us to our study for tonight. We continue in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit works through us and then us. Regarding the topic of the Holy Spirit, it seems like He is dishonored more than any other person in the Trinity. And I must pause here and give some commentary. Because there is a lot of confusion, especially in the church today, about what the Holy Spirit does. And this has brought to wide abuses within churches. To the point that any kind of manifestation, be it of the flesh or some other spirit, is attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit. I think this is it
“The Charismatic movement sort of leads the parade on abusing the Holy Spirit, grieving the Holy Spirit, insulting the Holy Spirit, even blaspheming the Holy Spirit. And it just seems to be unbridled, relentless abuse that is heaped upon the Holy Spirit. As I said very early on in the series, the unpardonable sin that Jesus addressed in the gospel of Matthew [22:32] was attributing to Satan the works of the Holy Spirit. And I think there is a reverse of that sin today, and that is attributing to the Holy Spirit the works of Satan.” (MacArthur).
The very essence of the work of the Holy Spirit is to direct us to a closer relationship with Christ. This is what the 8th chapter of Romans is all about. It is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and the life of the believer that leads us to a more fruitful and closer walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not for charismatic manifestations, it is not for display, it is not for signs and wonders, and it is not to make Him some sort of genie in the bottle that gets you whatever you want. He is our helper for us to live a victorious life while we remain in these sinful bodies living in a creation full of sin. We could say that the two works of the Holy Spirit are sanctification and security. And that brings us to our text tonight:
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing 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 will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:18–30)
There are several words in our study the night that seemed to stand out more than others. One of those words is “groaning.” There’s a lot of groaning in this passage. Creation is groaning in this passage in verse 19. In verse 23, that we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan. In verse 26, we have the groaning of the Holy Spirit. This indicates that the creation and us and the Holy Spirit are going through certain agonies until the final realization of glory.
That’s the whole point of this passage. The Holy Spirit lives within us as a down payment on our future glory, and the Holy Spirit is the one who carries us to that future glory. That’s His ministry. There is no greater gift that God could ever give us than salvation, and salvation is something that is guaranteed. If it were left to us, on our own, we would wreck our very salvation. For we have even no means to maintain our salvation which is why we are given the Holy Spirit. Now, let's look here at the groaning of creation.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)
This is about a groaning of anticipation and the unfulfillment of the coming of the Kingdom. This is suffering, waiting for God's promises to be fully fulfilled. There is an age to come, and that age will relinquish all suffering, decay, and sin, including the effects of sin upon creation. The age to come will be an eternal time of righteousness, purity, holiness, virtue, and glory, absent of all sin, death, decay, and disease. Not only for man but for all of creation.
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. (Isaiah 65:17)
Now, what is Paul talking about referring to creation? Exactly what part of creation is groaning? Well, angels are created, but they are not groaning. The holy angels are already living in the glory of God, around the throne of God. They are not subject to the sinful corruption of creation. The demons aren't groaning because, for them, there is no liberation. Also, Paul does not talk about believers because there is a distinction made in the Bible between creation and believers. Nor would Paul be talking about unbelievers because unbelievers love their corruption and their sin.
That leaves us with the created universe. Paul is personifying the earth, the heavens, the universe, and all that is in it. He's not speaking allegorically. We see how the world is literally groaning: earthquakes, storms, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, celestial events, wars, pollution, and all kinds of degradation of what creation is supposed to be like.
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; (Isaiah 35:1)
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12)
“Eagerly awaiting” in verse 23 is a Greek verb that literally means to “watch away from the head” or to stretch your neck on your tiptoes to look into the future. It is the expectancy of something yet to come, almost stretching out your hands to reach and grab a hold of something awaiting you. What is it that we and all of creation are awaiting? It is the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
The creation will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)
This is not just something that we are looking forward to in our lives; all of creation is looking for liberation from the bondage of sin. To think about this deeply is an amazing statement. We are joining with all of creation, both animate and inanimate, to get the first glimpse of what the fullness of God's glory will be here on earth.
And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)
When Adam and Eve sinned, the corruption of sin came on them—all of them. That corruption was infectious, so no human being nor even creation could escape its curse. It was like living in the midst of the Black Plague during the Middle Ages.
“The plague was not only in the people, but the plague dominated their environment. The plague was not only in the man lying in the bed in the house, dying; the plague was everywhere in the house. It was not only everywhere in the house, it was everywhere in the street, and it was everywhere in the city, and it was everywhere in the countryside, and there was no escape because the environment was under the corruption.” (MacArthur)
Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. (Isaiah 24:6)
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, “He will not see our latter end.” (Jeremiah 12:4)
Waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:12–13)
This is what all of creation is groaning for; this is what the believer is groaning. And it is an event that is as Paul says in verse 21 is groanings like as if childbirth. A pain and longing that is increasing with intensity and frequency. But think about childbirth also and the fact that the pain brings about a positive result. The pain is negative, but the result of what happens as a result of all of this pain is something beautiful and miraculous. This is the kind of pain that we are feeling and all of creation is feeling today. Remember the parable of the fig tree?
This is one of many places “Kingdom Now Theology” goes so far away from Scripture. One of many ways Kingdom thou theology goes away from the truth of scripture. We are not living now in the Kingdom of God. We are awaiting the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is not up to us to bring about that Kingdom. It is not up to us to create the Kingdom here on earth in such a way that Jesus will finally say it is good enough for him to come down here on earth and establish himself as king. We are groaning and waiting for the king to come and establish his Kingdom to do away with everything here on earth that is sinful and corrupt and bring about the fullness of the glory of God.
And all of this, we live in a tremendous conundrum, don't wait? Because we know what is supposed to be for God, but we battle with the reality of the flesh. Now, verse 23 says that we already have the first fruits of the Holy Spirit. But the first fruits point to something in the future. It is like the down payment or the first installment. The firstfruits was a little bit of crop that the farmer pulled at the early part of the harvest. But we are still waiting for the full bloom. The Holy Spirit for us is the firstfruits of the glory that we will receive one day as Kingdom citizens.
To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
The question is, how do we stay strong in this? How do we live our lives as sojourners in the land that we are living in right now? The creation of today is as we await the creation that is yet to come. How do we live in a world full of sin as we await a world that is devoid of all sin? Look at verses 26-30
Likewise, the Spirit helps us with our weaknesses. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:26–30)
Just as creation is groaning, so is the believer, and the Holy Spirit within the believer is groaning. The beautiful picture of this is that God knows our weaknesses. God knows our failures. And God and his omniscient glory can take all of our weaknesses and our failures and, instead of using them against us, use them as something that brings about glory to him and helps us. And in the midst of all of that, we have the Holy Spirit of God groaning within us and groaning on our behalf. Think about this: the Holy Spirit himself is interceding for you right now for your benefit.
This is such a great passage of scripture. Instead of trying to squeeze all this into the few minutes we have left, we will examine it more closely next week.
