Groan For The Glory
(Romans 8:18-25)
I. Life in the Present Age
A. Suffering is the normal Christian experience
B. Our suffering should be viewed through the eyes of eternity
II. All Creation Is Groaning
A. All creation is in tune with God—it excitedly awaits the fulfillment of His plan
B. All creation groans over its present condition
1. Subject to frustration
2. Anticipates deliverance
3. Groans as in labor
III. All Christians Should Be Groaning
A. We have the “firstfruits” of the Spirit
B. The Spirit causes a longing for the fulfillment of God’s plan
1. Adoption as sons
2. Redemption of our bodies
C. The Spirit gives hope to wait patiently
IV. The Average Christian Experience
A. There is little or no groaning
B. Causes for this lack of groaning
1. Habitual sin
2. Unbelief
3. Complacency
4. Friendship with the world
C. If there is no inward groaning, then we should be concerned about our tuning
Introduction
One day, President Abraham Lincoln was riding in a coach with a colonel from Kentucky. The colonel took a bottle of whiskey out of his pocket. He offered Lincoln a drink. Lincoln said, “No thank you, Colonel. I never drink whiskey.” After a little while, the colonel took some cigars out of his pocket and offered one to Lincoln. Again Lincoln said, “No, thank you, Colonel.” Then Lincoln said, “I want to tell you a story.”
“One day, when I was about nine years old, my mother called me to her bed. She was very sick. She said, ‘Abe, the doctor tells me that I am not going to get well. I want you to be a good boy. I want you to promise me before I go that you will never use whiskey or tobacco as long as you live.’ I promised my mother that I never would, and up to this hour, I’ve kept this promise! Would you advise me to break that promise?”
The colonel put his hand on Lincoln’s shoulder and said, “Mr. Lincoln, I would not have you break that promise for the world! It is one of the best promises you ever made. I would give a thousand dollars today if I had made my mother a promise like that and had kept it like you have done. I would be a much better man than I am!” (Martin M. Hyzer, 15K-WS)
This morning I would like to draw your attention to a passage of scripture that deals with a much greater promise than the one that President Lincoln made to his mother—it is a promise from God. In fact, it “is one of the most glorious promises in all of Scripture. [Listen closely to this promise.] God is going to free all creation from struggling and suffering” (POSB-WS). While it stands as one of the most glorious promises in all of scripture, I contend that it is one that not many Christians truly long for its fulfillment.
“How can you say that Pastor?” you might ask. [Com-ments about being the Amen or Hallelujah “type” vs. the enthusiasm that would undoubtedly be displayed if I could legitimately tell you that you’ve just won $1 million. This promise from God has greater impact of you and all of creation than $1 million could ever have. And it is certainly more sure than the $1 million.] I also contend that our lack of longing for this promise to be fulfilled reveals our deep need for God’s reviving work in our lives.
Please open your Bibles with me to Romans 8:18-25 (p. 841).
Life in the Present Age
Paul begins this section by making a generalization concerning what life is like in the present age.
Suffering Is the Normal Christian Experience
He tells us that we should not be at all surprised when we experience suffering. Suffering is the normal Christian experience.
“The word ‘suffering’ means all the forms of suffering which the believer experiences throughout life…Very simply, suffering means the struggle waged by our spirits to overcome all that is experienced in this life, all that is involved in the flesh and the world…It is the weight and agony of fighting to overcome...sin and corruption; disease and pain; abuse and persecution; unregulated urges and desires; weaknesses and shortcomings; aging and loss; deterioration and decay” (POSB-WS).
Paul was well acquainted with suffering. He describes some of what he had endured in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27, Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
Suffering was not something that Paul merely dealt with on a philosophical level—it was a reality he lived with; it was something he accepted as a normal part of the Christian life in this world. The degree of suffering that Paul experienced was of such a degree that he told the believers in Ga-latia, “for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (6:17).
Our Suffering Should Be Viewed Through the Eyes of Eternity
Although suffering is the normal experience for every Christian, it should be viewed through the eyes of eternity rather than limiting our view to the current context.
Take a look with me at v. 17. [Read.] Did you notice the intimate connection between sharing in Christ’s sufferings and sharing in His glory? Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us that you can’t have one without the other: no suffering, no glory. Or to shed new light on a well known mantra: no pain, no gain.
“The genuine believer struggles against everything that keeps him from living abundantly and eternally. His sole passion is to bring everything under the control of Christ and to be conformed to the image of Christ” (POSB-WS)
The sufferings that we, as believers, experience ultimately have a refining purpose. “[They refine us] by forcing [us] to expand [our] trust in God more and more. Suffering drives [us] to cast [ourselves] more and more upon the care of God; therefore, [we move] closer and closer to that perfect trust and care in God” (POSB-WS).
Kent Hughes writes, “No matter what we have gone through, are presently going through, or will go through, the sum total is not worth comparing with the glory that awaits us. We can compare a thimble of water with the sea, but we cannot compare our sufferings with the coming glory” (PTW-WS). “Weighed in the scales of true and lasting values, the sufferings endured in this life are light indeed, compared with the splendor of the life to come—a life undisturbed by anything hostile or hurtful. Scripture does not tell us much of what that glory will be, but it assures us that it will be (EBC, vol. 10, pp. 93-94). God is going to free all creation from struggling and suffering.
[Paul’s point here is that our “present sufferings fade into insignificance when compared with the glory to be revealed in the future… [and this] glory is to be revealed ‘unto us’, that is to say, it is to reach unto us, is to be bestowed upon us, so that we become the actual partakers; it is not a glory of which we are to be mere spectators” (NICNT, Romans, pp. 300-301).]
All Creation Is Groaning
In v. 19, Paul moves from a general statement about life and how we should view it, to a description of how suffering has affected all creation. When he refers to creation, he is talking about the non-rational created order that we are acquainted with. He is not referring to spiritual beings or human beings in this context. Rather he is using a common literary device known as personification to talk about the experience of the created order in which we live.
All Creation Is in Tune with God—It Excitedly Awaits the Fulfillment of His Plan
I want to make a statement concerning what I believe to be true about the non-rational created order. I believe that all creation, as we are using it in this context, is in tune with God. It has never been, it currently is not, and it will not be at some future time at enmity with God. All creation is in sync with God. Because of the harmony that exists between God and His created order, all creation excitedly awaits the fulfillment of His plan. Or to use Paul’s words in v. 20, The creation waits in eager expectation.
In the original language, the word translated as eager expectation in the NIV means “to watch with the neck outstretched and the head erect. It is a persistent, unswerving expectation, an expectation that does not give up but keeps looking until the event happens” (POSB-WS). Most of the occurrences of this term “relate to the Christian’s attitude toward the Lord’s coming” (EBC, vol. 10, p. 94).
J.B. Phillips translates v. 19 this way, “The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.”
All Creation Groans over Its Present Condition
Creation’s eager expectation for the fulfillment of the purposes of God results in its groaning over its present condition. This groaning is described for us in vv. 20-22.
Subject to Frustration
We are told in v. 20 that creation was subjected to frustration. The word translated as frustration in the NIV literally means “vanity, futility, or aimlessness.” As John Murray points out in his commentary, “the ‘vanity’ to which creation was subjected would appear to refer to the lack of vitality which inhibits the order of nature and the frustration which the forces of nature meet with in achieving their proper ends” (NICNT, Romans, p. 303).
Paul’s expression, creation was subjected to frustration, is undoubtedly an allusion to the collateral damage that the earth suffered in connection with the fall of mankind as recorded in Genesis 3. Part of the penalty for the sin Adam and Eve committed was a universal curse upon the earth. God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field” (Genesis 3:17b-18).
Anticipates Deliverance
Although all creation is subject to frustration in the present age, this is not its final destiny. Paul informs us that creation’s subjection to frustration was done so in the context of guaranteed deliverance. He states in v. 20 that the one who subjected it did so in hope. The words in hope point to the greater reality that creation’s current aimlessness is such that it “was not consigned to this evil condition apart from God’s design of ultimate deliverance, and its present state, therefore, is not a finality” (NICNT, Romans, pp. 303-304).
All of creation anticipates deliverance. One commentator writes, “Since man and his world are interrelated, it means that the world will experience whatever man experiences. When man fell, his world was bound to fall with him. But this is the glorious news as well. When man is liberated from corruption, his world shall be liberated as well” (POSB-WS).
Groans as in Labor
In v. 22, Paul paints a very vivid image of what creation is presently going through. “The picture is that of a woman giving birth. Creation experiences ‘birth pangs’ under its struggle to survive” (POSB-WS). Paul says here that “the earth groans like a woman in labor. It wants desperately to be delivered” (PTW-WS).
Let me tell you about one of the lessons I’ve learned as a result of my marriage to Judy. Are you ready? “Childbirth is painful.” I was present in the delivery room when each of my children was born. I saw what my wife went through in order to present CJ and Stephanie to a world in eager expectation of their arrival. It was not a simple matter of getting the breathing technique right and a few pushes on the cue of the doctor. It was hard, painful work, which is probably why it is called “labor.”
I promised her after her ordeal with Stephanie was over that she would never have to go through that again—in reality, it may have been selfishly more for my benefit than for hers. But I also learned this, while it is true that child-birth is painful, that pain is “seemingly nothing” when compared to the glory of the child brought about as a result. That’s the impact that Paul is trying to communicate in v. 18: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
John Calvin writes, “the groaning of which [Paul] speaks will not be in vain and without effect; for it will at length bring forth a joyful and blessed fruit” (NICNT, Romans, p. 305).
Listen to this illustration from a commentator: “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?’ [Then he adds…] Creation will one day be delivered—and the difference between then and now is the difference between agony and ecstasy! Someday our groaning creation will come into ‘the glorious freedom of the children of God.’ Think what will happen when nature is free to produce as it was designed to produce, free from pestilence and danger. We are going to see that day!” (PTW-WS). Hallelujah!!!
All Christians Should Be Groaning
Paul now shifts his focus from the non-rational created order to those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. And he tells us it is not only true that all creation is groaning, but that all Christians should be groaning as well. The reason that all Christians should be groaning in like manner—and to an even greater degree than all the rest of creation—is because our “spiritual DNA” has been altered in such a way that groaning for the fulfillment of God’s purposes and plans is as natural as our groaning for food when we’re hungry.
We Have the “Firstfruits” of the Spirit
Some might ask, “How did this happen?” When we accepted God’s gift of eternal life though Jesus, He gave us His Holy Spirit. This is the great alteration or spiritual genetic engineering that has occurred in the life of every believer. The Holy Spirit comes to us, as Paul states, as the firstfruits.
What does firstfruits mean? Everett Harrison explains it this way: “We are to understand that the gift of the Spirit to the believer at the inception of Christian life is God’s pledge of the completion of the process of salvation” (EBC, vol. 10, pp. 94-95). It is the first work in the life of the believer, the initial empowering of God that catapults us into life in the Spirit.
The Spirit Causes a Longing for the Fulfillment of God’s Plan
It is the Spirit within us, then, that causes us to have a longing for the fulfillment of God’s plan. “The believer is stirred by the taste of the Spirit and of His first-fruits, stirred to groan for their perfection. He groans and aches to be delivered from the sufferings of this world and released into the glorious liberty of perfection with God” (POSB-WS).
Ray Stedman describes the work of the Spirit in the Christian’s life in this manner: “Our lives consist of groans. We groan because of the ravages that sin makes in our lives, and in the lives of those we love. Also we groan because we see possibilities that are not being captured and employed. And then we groan because we see gifted people who are wasting their lives, and we would love to see something else happening. It is recorded that, as he drew near the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus groaned in his spirit because he was so burdened by the ravages that sin had made in a believing family. He groaned, even though he knew he would soon raise Lazarus from the dead. So we groan in our spirits—we groan in disappointment, in bereavement, in sorrow. We groan physically in our pain and our limitation. Life consists of a great deal of groaning” (From Guilt to Glory, Volume 1, p. 241).
Adoptions as Sons
The groaning the Spirit causes to rise within our spirits is focused on our eagerly waiting for the fulfillment of our adoption as sons. When Paul speaks of our anticipation of being adopted as God’s children, he is not negating the present reality and experience of our adoption by God. Rather we should understand “that the term is used both of a present privilege and of a future bestowment and that the latter brings to the fullest realization the status and privilege enjoyed in this life as sons of God” (NICNT, Romans, p. 308). In other words, we are waiting eagerly for the consummation of what we currently hold in an imperfect state, as a trust or firstfruits, but will one day soon possess in its perfected form.
Redemption of Our Bodies
The fulfillment of our adoption as sons is further qualified as the redemption of our bodies. Murray writes, “the consummation of the redemptive process is waiting for the transformation by which the body of our humiliation will be conformed to the likeness of the body of Christ’s glory and it is for that consummation that the sons of God wait” (NICNT, Romans, p. 308). [Make comments about the perfection of our bodies]
The Spirit Gives Hope to Wait Patiently
Not only does the Holy Spirit within us cause us to long for the fulfillment of God’s ultimate plan, but He also gives us hope to wait patiently for its unveiling. “The salvation now in possession is incomplete, and this is reflected in the consciousness of the believer in expectancy of hope directed to the adoption, the redemption of the body” (NICNT, Romans, p. 309). The Holy Spirit gives us an unshakeable hope that one day soon, we will give up these “earth suits” and be given a body like that of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Average Christian Experience
Let’s move from the biblical ideal of how we ought to conduct our lives and take a good, hard look at the reality of the average Christian experience.
There Is Little or No Groaning
As I stated at the beginning of this message, I contend that this promise from God to free all creation from struggling and suffering is one that not many Christians exhibit any signs of truly longing for its fulfillment. There is very little or no groaning or eager expectation (persistent, unswerving expectation that does not give up but keeps looking until the event happens) taking place in the life of the average Christian. And when I make this observation, I am including myself as one who is guilty of not groaning for the release of all creation from the tyranny of sin’s destructive stranglehold. I, too, am in need of God’s quickening touch in my heart to get me in tune with His purposes and plans. I need to join Him in what He is doing and cry out for the realization of His kingdom and His will in the world: “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). I need the Refiner’s fire to burn in heart as much and more as anyone—I’m not pointing my finger at the faults of others without recognizing my own desperate need for a Savior. But my purpose in calling our attention to this pervasive delinquency in the Church is because we need to acknowledge it existence, confess and repent of this sin, and cry out to God to reignite His passion within us for the fulfillment of this promise.
Causes for this Lack of Groaning
I’m certain that there are numerous reasons why we are not moved to groaning in our inner being for the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring restoration to all creation, including our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. But for our purposes today, I would simply like to focus on four of the more prominent causes for this lack of groaning.
Habitual Sin
Habitual sin hinders the work of the Spirit in our lives. It breaks our fellowship with God. He feels far from us and His promises have no effect on our lives.
Unbelief
I believe that many Christians live their lives like the people in Ezekiel’s day. We read in chapter 12, The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by and every vision comes to nothing’?” (vv. 21-22). And again, just a few verses later, The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future’” (vv. 26-27).
Kent Hughes writes, “Belief in what the Scriptures say will change our lives. Some of us need to have our eyes lifted from the dirt toward the heavens” (PTW-WS).
[Expound upon the remainder of message as led by the Spirit]
Complacency
Self-satisfied, unconcerned, contented
May lead to apathy, smugness, indifference
Friendship with the World
We forget that this world is not our home. We are only IN the world, NOT OF it.
If There Is No Inward Groaning, then We Should Be Concerned About Our Tuning
Conclusion
[Challenge the congregation to prepare (homework) for the evening service by allowing God’s Spirit to stir their spirits]
Tonight we will gather to cry out for the fulfillment of God’s purposes: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven.” Fulfillment of God’s purposes in: our lives, our families, our church, our community, our neighbors’ lives, our co-workers lives, etc.
