Believer’s have “New Hope”
New Hope for Christians
New Hope for Creation
NCBC, 5/16/04, Romans 8:18-25
We live in a land in which many of our inhabitants feel “hopeless”. Amazing with all the prosperity that is seen all around our “Great Land”, yet Alaska leads our country in alcoholism, teen pregnancy, and suicides showing the true “hopelessness” felt by these beloved people of God.
How do we show them hope?
One way one man brought “hope” in a place that there was little or none…
From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. "Stay in school," he admonished, "and I’ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you." At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, "I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling." Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school. Parade Magazine.
You see, the “hope” you and I bring is even more important than the hope brought by Mr. Land. The “hope” we bring comes with eternal life. It is something that sees us through the sometimes difficult and hurtful times that come into all or our lives.
Today we will look at the “New Hope” that we receive in accordance with “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit [Rom. 8:1]. Remember this is to those of us who walk after the Spirit, not after the flesh…
New Hope for Christians
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us [Rom. 8:18].
Paul feels that none of the suffering we go through in this present time…
What are you suffering from today???
Praise be to God, if you have trust fully in Jesus Christ, those woes which you go through today cannot even begin to compare to the glories which you and I will be presented with in Eternity with Jesus Christ.
This is interesting in the setting of our country today, all the creature comforts at our availability…yet this does not change the “truth” of God’s word…”this will not compare”.
This also tells us that as Christians, we cannot escape sufferings…it is a reality of this sin stained world…know this yet know also that in glory you will received a great reward.
“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:4).
“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Ephes. 1:18).
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body [Rom. 8:23].
Nature groans, and occasionally so do we.
If you think that accepting Christ has done away with our every groan, think again.
We go through trials and tribulations with more confidence than most yet we do groan.
Even our Lord and Savior groans while being beaten and HE groaned as the nails pierced HIS innocent hands.
Know this and do not be “devastated” when the trials come.
Some would have you to believe we live in a “Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy” world so when the trials and tribulations come that we are told will come, many fall away.
No…that is not the right answer, Christ wishes us to fall on HIM, and HE will give us joy, contentment and growth in our every situation.
No God’s word plainly tells us that we groan within these bodies. As I approach forty something there are mornings and days that I groan.
You might say that I shouldn’t groan! Well, it is scriptural to groan. Paul says, "For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven" (2Cor. 5:2). Also the psalmist wrote, "I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears" (Ps. 6:6).
“It is sown a natural body: it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44).
“And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor. 15:49).
Remember, Our Lord Jesus did some weeping and groaning also for to accomplish the “Glory of God”. I feel Jesus was a joyful person and knew fully what the suffering would bring, there were times when HE wept. Know then that in these bodies we groan and will groan until we stand in the presence of God.
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? [Rom. 8:24].
God tells us through Paul that it is with this expectation or confidence that we are "saved by hope".
This speaks also of the complete work of Christ for us on the Cross and our faith in Him. But that is not all. There is a hope that we cannot yet see, a blessed hope of our redeemed body coming up in the future.
If we seek Christ and HIS ways we need to be on our knees often—in intense prayer.
“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually” (1 Chron. 16:11).
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7).
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it [Rom. 8:25].
You see, faith, hope, and love are the vital parts of the believer’s life.
We would not need hope if we could realize all things now.
Someday hope will pass away. We must remember to put forth the gospel so that all who are apart from “true hope” might realize the only “hope” is in and through Christ Jesus Our Lord.
Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. Romans 4:18
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:2
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Col. 1:27
Do you possess this hope today…Do you show this hope to those around you?
In fact, both faith and hope will pass away in the glory which shall be revealed in us. Only love abides.
New Hope for Creation
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God [Rom. 8:19].
The earnest expectation of the ktisis, ktis’-is; or original formation: creation, watching with outstretched head (head erect), is waiting (sighing) for the revelation of the sons of God.
Do you see the world waiting for the sunrise of evolution’s prizes. No because they know in their hearts that it will never come true.
However, creation is waiting "for the manifestation of the sons of God." Creation is like a veiled statue today.
“Cursed is the earth for thy sake” (Genesis 3:17).
“The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away [for] the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth” (Isaiah 24:4-6).
“How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein?” (Jeremiah 12:4).
When the sons of God put off this earthly flesh and come into our new bodies, creation also will be unveiled. What a glorious day that will be!
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope [Rom. 8:20].
"For the creation was subjected to mataiotes, mat-ah-yot’-ace; inutility; transientness; or moral depravity because of sin in this world. This says that our world is in a process of "failure, decay, it is perishing."
"Not willingly" means not of its own will, but because of HIM who subjected it on the basis of hope. King Solomon, who was quite a pessimist, by the way, wrote: "All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again" (Eccl. 1:7).
There is a weary round of repetition. On a family trip how often will your child ask “Are we there yet.” There little lives have already grown weary of the drive, the monotony that some of us choose to see instead of the beauty and change that is around us.
The rivers run into the sea, and the Lord has quite a hydraulic pump that pumps the water right out of the ocean, and with His good transportation system, the wind moves the clouds across the dry land, and here comes the rain again. It fills the rivers, and the rivers run into the sea. There is a monotony about nature; you see it on every hand. Nature is waiting for the promised manifestation, the unveiling.
"Creation was subjected to vanity" because God made it that way. The curse of sin came upon man in Adam’s disobedience, but the physical world also came under the curse. Remember that God said to Adam, "Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread . . ." (Gen. 3:18-19).
I enjoy all of God’s creation and in every place I have ever been there are thorns. They were in Louisiana, they were in the Philippines, they were in South Carolin, Mississippi and Kansas, they are here also on the Devil’s Clubs. It’s good to remember “Even in what we deem paradise there are thorns.” There is a curse on creation until...
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away” (Rev. 21:1)
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God [Rom. 8:21].
Man has a dying body. As someone has said, "The moment He gives us life, He begins to take it away from us." And there is death and decay yonder in nature. Go out in the beautiful forest, and there you see a tree lying dead, corrupt, rotting. That’s nature. And you catch the stench of the decaying bodies of dead animals.
Yet God promises to deliver us and creation from this into the glorious liberty that we the children of God will come into…Praise be to God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now [Rom. 8:22].
God is in heaven all right, but all is not right with the world. The Word of God is more realistic: "How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate" (Joel 1:18).
Some have called our attention to the fact that nature sings in a minor key. The wind blowing through the pine trees on a mountainside and the breaking of the surf on some lonely shore -- both emit the same sob. The music of trees has been recorded, and it is doleful. The startled cry of some frightened animal or bird pierces the night air and chills the blood. Surely nature bears audible testimony to the accuracy of Scipture. Godet quotes Schelling in this connection, "Nature, with its melancholy chorus, resembles a bride who, at the very moment when she is fully attired for the marriage, saw the bridegroom die. She still stands with her fresh crown and in her bridal dress but her eyes are full of tears."
It is accurate to say that "nature is groaning." For the “New Hope” that God offers to us all.
Have you accepted this “New Hope” into your life today?
We can come to this place of “New Hope” only after we truly come to Jesus. How?
First, we must admit to God that we are sinners. The bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.
So if we recognize that we are sinners God calls us to repentance for “While we were yet sinners God sent HIS only begotten son to die for all who believe and call on Jesus’ name.”
Is God is leading you to do this today?
Do you want to come to a place of “Hope” and acceptance that will allow you to follow up, get up, look up and allow God to lift you up? Then get up here and ask and it shall be given unto you.
We would love to pray with you today, to help you become one with Christ, so that you may begin to walk in the “New Hope” that God seeks for you in life.
Then you can begin to daily work out your sure salvation in the ways that God leads.
If you have any prayer needs or concerns we would love to pray for you. We will continue to lift up the leaders of the United States and all of the allies that are aligned against the nations of terror. We will also lift up our men and women in uniform and those loved ones while they are out doing the will of God.
Closing Prayer.
Bruce P. Landry
Nome Community Baptist Church
Ranger1401@hotmail.com
