I STILL BELIEVE: YOU ARE FAITHFUL (2)
A. Romans 8:22-25 (READ)
ILLUSTRATION:
Have you ever sat through an important meeting or job interview and then all of a sudden, your STOMACH violently GROWLS and GROANS? Anyone?
I don’t think there ever has been a STUDY done on this, but if there was, I think it would show that more times than not the embarrassing sounds of HUNGER PANGS come at the most INCONVENIENT times.
Like when your BOSS has just asked for everyone’s THOUGHTS in a meeting, or when your FRIEND is trying to pour out her HEART to you, or when the ROOM has grown QUIET and the tone is extremely SERIOUS . . . your STOMACH decides to let everyone know that you are HUNGRY and it WAITS for no one.
And when it happens no amount of SQUIRMING, COUGHING, TALKING LOUDER, or any other improvised DISTRACTION will divert everyone’s ATTENTION from the GROWLING and GROANING that is coming from your GUT.
B. “GROAN” is a word that Paul uses twice in these verses, and will use it a third time in reference to the
Holy Spirit that we’ll study next week. (The word speaks of a “deep sigh, distress or grief”.)
1. The way that Paul uses the word “groan” in our text today, is an indicator of our FAITH in the One
who CREATED us and a descriptor of the FAITHFULNESS of God.
a. When our STOMACH growls and groans, it serves as a SIGNAL.
COMMENT:
It is our BODY’S way of ALERTING us to the fact that something is OFF. Something DOESN’T MAKE SENSE, and that the only way to FIX it is by something OUTSIDE of OURSELVES.
b. The same is TRUE with us when it comes to SUFFERING.
COMMENT:
When SUFFERING comes, our BODY recognizes that God didn’t DESIGN a WORLD for
SUFFERING.
When your HEART DROPS at the report of BAD NEWS, when you LOSE your APPETITE in the midst of SICKNESS and SUFFERING, when your EMOTIONS OVERWHELM you at the LOSS of a LOVED ONE, it is our BODY’S way of telling us that something is OFF.
2. Have you ever thought about your GROANING, your GRIEVING, your HEARTACHE, your BODILY RESPONSE to SUFFERING as being a WAY by which your TRUST in the FAITHFULNESS of God
GROWS?
a. Not only does our GROANING serves as a SIGNAL that something isn’t the way that God intended, but it can serve as an act of SURRENDER knowing that only someone outside of ourselves can FIX what is BROKEN—and that someone is GOD.
b. Acknowledging the SUFFERING of the WORLD can actually be the way we foster greater FAITH that God truly is “working all things for our good”—that God is moving in the DIRECTION of REDEMPTION and RESTORATION.
C. We are in week two of the series: “I STILL BELIEVE”.
1. The question we are discussing throughout this SERIES is how we allow our CIRCUMSTANCES to
shape our BELIEFS about God—either we TRUST Him or we DON’T.
a. There are those who allow their “present sufferings” (that we talked about last week) to actually
draw them closer to God as they seek His STRENGTH to get them through the DIFFICULTY.
b. But then there are those who allow their SUFFERINGS to cause them to WALK AWAY from God
as they BLAME Him for the DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES that they are going through.
ILLUSTRATION:
We saw that in the life of Jeremy and Melissa Camp in the movie “I STILL BELIEVE” and, more importantly, in REAL LIFE where Melissa’s CANCER strengthened her FAITH in God while her STRUGGLE with CANCER and ultimate DEATH led Jeremy to question his FAITH.
2. But ultimately it was Jeremy’s GROANING over the LOSS of his WIFE that led him to write these
LYRICS to his hit song: “I STILL BELIEVE.”
I STILL BELIEVE IN YOUR FAITHFULNESS.
I STILL BELIEVE IN YOUR TRUTH.
I STILL BELIEVE IN YOUR HOLY WORD.
EVEN WHEN I DON’T SEE, I STILL BELIEVE.
C. Paul talks about two EXPRESSIONS of GROANING that point to the FAITHFULNESS of God.
MESSAGE:
I. GROANING OF CREATION- v. 22
A. The GROANING of “the whole creation” can’t be overlooked because Paul is saying that all of God’s
CREATION is AWARE of its FALLEN STATE—that it is DECAYING.
1. The “GROANING OF CREATION” tells me that God did not DESIGN it this way.
COMMENT:
We can look around us and see SIGNS that the WORLD is DECAYING. EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANOS, HURRICANES, TORNADOS, TSUNAMIS—are all INDICATORS of a DECAYING WORLD.
2. But then some people ask, “Well, if God is so GOOD and so GREAT, then why didn’t He just
create a PERFECT world?”
a. He did, and man MESSED it up.
b. When the UNIVERSE was first created, the Lord declared it to be “very good”- Genesis 1:31.
It’s the only time in Scripture where we find God calling something “very good.”
COMMENT:
The earth itself was PARADISE filled with luscious plants and trees that yielded beautiful flowers and delicious fruits. Adam and Eve were living as husband and wife in PERFECT HARMONY and LOVE. It was PERFECT in every way.
3. But then all that CHANGED when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and SIN entered the world.
a. And a consequence of their SIN was the “cursing of the ground”- Genesis 3:17-18.
b. And now the WHOLE creation GROANS waiting for God to turn things around- Rom. 8:19-21 (READ & COMMENT). (Creation groans waiting for the redemption of God’s children— You and Me—to be fully glorified with Christ when He returns for His Bride—the church.)
B. Did you notice that Paul described the GROANING of CREATION as “the pains of childbirth”?
1. Now, I’m sure that many of you moms GROANED as you were giving birth to your children.
ILLUSTRATION:
I can certainly remember the PAIN that Brenda went through when she gave birth to Carissa, our middle child. Both Shonda and Steven were C-section babies, but Carissa was a month PREMATURE and the doctor decided that Brenda should DELIVER her NATURALLY. She GROANED and WRITHED in PAIN during that process, even with whatever MEDICATION, if
any, that they GAVE her.
a. IMAGINE giving BIRTH in the FIRST CENTURY without an EPIDURAL or anything to
EASE the PAIN?
COMMENT:
When Paul’s letter was delivered to the ROMAN CHURCH and read ALOUD to the congregation for the first time, don’t you know that the MOTHERS in that church GROANED again as they heard the words, “pains of childbirth”? “Ohhhh, you better believe it, brother. Preach it, preach it!”
Frankly, I believe the reason that God chose WOMEN to give BIRTH and not MEN, is because we’re WIMPS when it comes to PAIN. (YOU WIVES KNOW.)
b. By the way, “Eve’s punishment for DISOBEYING God in the garden was increased PAIN in childbirth”- Genesis 3:16. (Another consequence of SIN that entered the world.)
2. However, regardless of the PAIN, when that BABY is BORN an indescribable JOY takes over.
COMMENT:
That MOM doesn’t even think about the PAIN she went through as she holds her tiny BABY
close to her CHEST.
In fact, that MOMENT is so precious that most MOTHERS go through it again and again—despite the PAIN, despite the GROANING.
C. The GROANING of CREATION reveals the FAITHFULNESS of God.
1. As a MOTHER goes through the “pains of childbirth” waiting for the glorious moment when
her BABY is BORN, so does CREATION groan waiting for “Christ to LIBERATE it from the
bondage of DECAY it was subjected to because of the SIN of MANKIND”.
a. Peter reminds us that “when Christ comes in JUDGMENT this world and everything therein
will be completely destroyed along with ungodly men”- 2 Peter 3:7, 10.
b. But at that same time, Christ will make everything NEW- Revelation 21:1-5 (READ & COMMENT)
2. I personally believe that whatever God intended this EARTH to be when He first created it for Adam
and Eve before SIN entered the WORLD, is what HEAVEN will be.
a. We’re not going to be some little FAT ANGEL sitting on a CLOUD.
b. Whatever the Garden of Eden was for Adam and Eve is what HEAVEN will be for us except there will be no more TEMPTATION or SIN, for “Satan will be completely DEFEATED and cast into HELL for all eternity that God created for him and his angels”- Revelation 20:10.
3. And our LOVED ONES whom have gone before us will be there WAITING for us, which brings me to the second EXPRESSION of GROANING.
II. OUR INWARD GROANING- vv. 23-25
A. Paul said that “we ourselves GROAN inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons (God’s
children), the redemption of our bodies.”
1. If you have given your life to Christ, you are a CHILD of God. However, we have not yet received
our INHERITANCE that has been PROMISED to us as God’s adopted children.
a. We all want to go to HEAVEN (am I right?), but do we actually GROAN for HEAVEN?
b. Paul said the same thing to the Corinthian church- “…we groan, longing to be clothed with our
heavenly dwelling”- 2 Corinthians 5:2.
COMMENT:
Frankly, most of us get so caught up in our DAILY LIVING that we usually don’t give much thought to Heaven. Again, we all want to go to Heaven, but it’s just not on our MIND every day. We’re thinking about CARING for our families, GOING to work, PAYING the bills, and so on.
And you’d think that the OLDER you get the MORE you would think about HEAVEN—after all its just DOWN the ROAD. But honestly, HEAVEN just didn’t occupy my MIND . . . that is until my SON DIED.
I think about what HEAVEN is LIKE for him. What he’s DOING. What CONVERSATIONS that he and Jesus have had. Steven, if a lot like us, may not have thought a lot about HEAVEN while he was ALIVE, but he wouldn’t EXCHANGE it for ANYTHING in this FALLEN WORLD.
2. Whether we realize it or not, our BODY and SOUL GROAN for our HEAVENLY home.
a. That ANXIOUSNESS you get when something is just not right . . . that FEELING of DISSATISFACTION you have that can’t seem to be fulfilled with the THINGS and PEOPLE around you . . . that VOID you experience when the THINGS and PEOPLE you LOVE are taken away, are all signs of GROANING for something BIGGER and BETTER that this WORLD cannot PROVIDE.
b. If our HOPE is only in this WORLD, we will LOSE everything as we come to the END of our
LIVES.
ILLUSTRATION:
Bertrand Russell was a British MATHEMATICIAN and PHILOSOPHER who DIED in 1970. As an outspoken ATHEIST, he wrote a book entitled: Why I Am Not a Christian.
Although he had many ACCOLADES and won many AWARDS for his WORK, including the NOBEL PRIZE in LITERATURE, when he was 81-years-old, and his HEALTH was DETERIORATING, he was interviewed by a British broadcasting station and the INTERVIEWER asked him, “Now that you’re coming to the end of your life, what do you have to hang onto when death is so close?”
Russell responded in a very HONEST, and yet, a very HOPELESS way when he said, “I have nothing to hold onto but grim, unyielding despair.”
COMMENT:
Russell didn’t realize it, but that “grim, unyielding despair” was his BODY and SOUL GROANING for a HEAVENLY HOME that he didn’t even BELIEVE exists.
B. HEAVEN is REAL, and it is reserved for those who are REDEEMED.
1. The word “REDEEM” or “REDEMPTION” simply means to “BUY BACK”.
a. “When SIN entered the WORLD through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, God promised to send His Son, born of a woman, to DEFEAT Satan and REDEEM mankind”- Genesis 3:15.
b. Jesus told His disciples that “…He came to give His life as a ransom for many”- Matt. 20:28b.
COMMENT:
And the RANSOM PRICE He paid to REDEEM us—to BUY US BACK, was His precious BLOOD that He shed on the CROSS.
2. God is FAITHFUL, and He kept His promise because of His LOVE for His greatest creation—You
and Me and the entire WORLD.
a. Romans 8:32- “God did not spare His own Son, but GAVE HIM UP for us all…”
b. That’s LOVE, isn’t it?
COMMENT:
Although I lost my SON, I did not GIVE HIM UP—Covid took him. And if I could have done anything to STOP IT, I would have and tried to do so. But our FAITHFUL Father in Heaven freely GAVE UP His Son to REDEEM us from our SINS.
c. Romans 5:8- “…God demonstrates His own LOVE for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
CONCLUSION:
A. God’s REDEMPTION is not in the absence of SUFFERING, but in the MIDST of it.
1. That’s what God does.
a. He takes all things, if we let him, and does a REDEEMING work in them.
b. Even during times of LOSS and GRIEF that we’ll talk about next week.
2. Whatever you are going through today—“your present sufferings”, I PRAY that you would begin to OPEN your eyes to BELIEVE that even in the midst of your DIFFICULT SITUATION, God is
FAITHFUL.
a. I PRAY that you and I have FRESH EYES to see the GROANING of our BODY and SOUL as a
sign of a NEED for God rather than the ABSENCE of God.
b. I PRAY that we would TRUST that God is even now, right where we are, REDEEMING the DARKEST SPACES of our life that seem EMPTY, BROKEN, and DEAD.
B. GOD IS FAITHFUL!!!
HAVE YOU FOUND GOD TO BE FAITHFUL IN TIMES OF SUFFERING?
