THE BEST IS YET TO COME
Romans 8:18-31
Throughout
the last three chapters, Paul has been developing his teaching concerning the
believer’s sanctification. He began in
the first several chapters showing man’s need for salvation and then moved to
describe the salvation God has provided.
This salvation was seen both in justification and in sanctification.
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1:1 |
1:17 |
2:1 |
2:17 |
3:21 |
6:1 |
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Introduction |
Man’s
Sinful Condition |
The
Salvation God has Provided |
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Pagan |
Religious |
Jew |
Justification |
Sanctification |
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We
have already noted the differences between justification
versus sanctification. They are both
workings of God on our behalf, but it is important to note that they are quite
different in several respects.
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Justification |
Sanctification |
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Justification
is a once and for all event. |
Sanctification
is an ongoing process. |
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Justification
is something that God does on your behalf - God does it FOR you |
Sanctification
is a work that God does IN you |
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Justification
declares you to be righteous on the basis of the righteousness of Christ
which is credited to you |
Sanctification
begins to develop a character of righteousness in your life |
Sanctification
begins to develop a character of righteousness in your life. The development of this character takes time
and effort and is accompanied by suffering.
That is the bad news. The good
news is that it is worth it.
SALVATION’S
WORTH
For
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18).
The
word “for” refers us back to verse 17 and the fact that we do suffer. Paul said that “we suffer with Him in
order that we may also be glorified with Him.” When we came to Christ in faith, we were
identified with Him. We became a part of
what He is.
Because
He is the Son of God, we are called children and sons of God. Because He is the heir of the Kingdom, we are
fellow heirs with Him. Because He has
eternal life, we also have eternal life.
Because He suffered, we are also called to suffer with Him. And because He was glorified, we will also
experience glory.
Paul
tells us something worthy of consideration.
The word “consider” is the same word which he used throughout chapter 4
to speak of our being reckoned as righteous. We said that it was an accounting term. And it still is. In that chapter we saw God’s reckoning. Now we see Paul’s reckoning. Paul takes two aspects of the Christian life
and he weighs them together to see which is the more valuable.
Imagine
a pair of scales. On the one side, we
place a feather and on the other side we place a large brick. Which is heavier? The brick has a much greater weight than the
feather. Just as the weight of a feather
is nothing when compared to the weight of a brick, so the weight of our present
sufferings are as nothing when compared to the glory which is to be revealed.
It
isn’t that suffering doesn’t hurt. It
isn’t that bad things don’t really happen.
It is merely that the good is so much better so as to make the suffering
and the bad things inconsequential by comparison.
SALVATION’S
SUFFERING
19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly
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 also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into
the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and
suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. (Romans 8:19-22).
This
section is presented in the form of a chiasm.
It is a parallel which contrasts creation as it now is with creation as
it one day will be.
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Creation anxiously waits
for the revealing of the sons of God (8:19) |
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Creation groans and suffers
the pains of childbirth until now (8:22) |
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↓ |
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↑ |
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Creation was subjected to
futility (8:20) |
→ |
Creation will be set free
from its slavery (8:21) |
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Man’s
sin affected more than just man. When
man fell into sin, creation fell. God
created the world and entrusted it into man’s keeping. Man was the federal head of everything on
planet earth. And his sin impacted
everything on this planet.
This
is important. Creation’s fall was not
due to a failure in creation. The world
was not created to be a bad place. It
became a bad place because of a curse that was placed upon the earth on account
of our sin.
Creation
became enslaved to futility. But with
that enslavement came a promise of eventual
liberation.
Creation
is pictured as a mother who is about to give birth. At the moment she is in labor. That isn’t a very comfortable time. There are pains. And there is groaning. And there is suffering. But that is okay, because something is on its
way which will make it worth all of the present pain. The thing that is on its way is described as the
revealing of the sons of God. The
word “revealing” is the Greek word apokalupsin. It is
the same word from which we derive our word “apocalypse.” It is a compound word made from the joining
of two Greek words:
a.
b. Kalupto
is to “hide” or “conceal.”
There
is coming an unveiling. There is
something hidden which will one day be revealed. Do you see what it is? It is US!
There
is coming a day when the Son of God shall return. But He is not the one mentioned here. What we read in verse 19 speaks of the SONS
of God - plural. Creation is poised like
an expectant mother awaiting our arrival.
1. The groaning of Creation is Universal. Verse 22 says that the “whole creation
groans.”
2. The groaning of creation is the result of man’s sin.
The world was entrusted into Adam’s keeping so that
his fall into sin also resulted in the world’s fall. It was as a direct result of his sin that the
ground was cursed. Adam was told in
Genesis 3...
17b Cursed
is the ground because of you;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both
thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you shall eat the plants of the field;
19 By the
sweat of your face
You shall eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were take;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:17b-19).
But that is not all.
Creation also suffers from the on-going sin of Adam. Pollution is a testimony to man’s sin having
an adverse effect upon creation.
3. Just as the fall of Creation took place through man, so also
the rebirth of Creation takes place through man. It was the One man,
Jesus, who redeemed Creation. And the
fulness of that redemption will be seen at the “revealing of the sons of
God.” (8:19).
SALVATION’S
PROMISE
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. (Romans 8:23).
We
saw in verse 22 that creation groans. Now
we see that we also groan within ourselves.
Creation is going through futility.
And we are, too (that is what Romans 7 was all about). The good news is that the day of redemption
is coming.
The
Jews had a Feast called the Feast of Firstfruits. It took place on the first day of the week
following the Passover. It was a happy
time - a time of promise. On this day, a
sheaf of fresh grain would be taken to the
It
is no accident that the resurrection of Jesus took place on the very day that
the Jews observed the Feast of Firstfruits. While they were waving a sheaf of grain in
front of the
But
that is not what Paul is talking about here.
Paul tells us that we have in our possession right now a firstfruits principle.
We have the Holy Spirit. And that
is the first part of what will one day come in fulness. If we only have the firstfruits,
then there is a lot more to come. We
have the Spirit of Christ. And one day
we shall share in the entire character of Christ.
SALVATION’S
HOPE
24 For in
hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for
what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we
do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Romans 8:24-25).
Paul
says we have been saved in hope. What is
hope? It is a confident expectation of
the future. In this, it is different
from faith.
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Faith |
Hope |
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Looks
to what exists now and relies upon it. |
Looks
forward in anticipation of what is to come. |
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Focus
on the present. |
Focus
on the future. |
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Based
upon the character of the object of our faith. |
Based
upon our faith in the promise of that object. |
Hope
looks to the future to obtain something that you do not now possess. And that means hope is always unseen. That isn’t always true with faith. Faith can be in that which is either seen or
unseen. Thomas saw and believed. We do not see and yet we believe. But hope does not see. Once it does see, then hope is not hope.
In
verse 20 we saw that creation was subjected to futility. Futility is knowing
that no matter how hard we try to reverse the downward process, our attempt is
doomed to failure. The opposite of
futility is HOPE.
SALVATION’S
INTERCESSION
In
the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray
as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings
too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of
the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of
God. (Romans 8:26-27).
We
have just spoken of that which we have not seen. Now Paul goes on to tell us of something else
which we have not seen. It is the
interceding ministry of the Holy Spirit on our behalf.
Do
you ever come to the place where you realize that your prayers are
inadequate? If you haven’t come to that
place, it is not that you are necessarily praying better, it is merely that you
don’t yet know that your prayers are inadequate. But that is okay. It is okay because the Holy Spirit is working
on your behalf. Where you are unable to
pray as you should, He prays on your behalf.
What
are these “groanings too deep for words”? I don’t know.
And even if I did know, I couldn’t tell you because they are too deep
for words!
This
passage is often interpreted to be the experience of the charismatics
commonly described as “tongues.” But I’m
not so sure that this is the case.
1. Paul is not speaking in the context of this passage about
worship or praise, but rather about suffering and groaning.
2. This passage says nothing about a heavenly prayer language,
but rather describes the Spirit speaking on our behalf. HE does the speaking instead of us.
We
saw in verse 22 that the CREATION groans.
In verse 23 we saw that WE groan within ourselves. And now in verse 26 it is the SPIRIT who
groans. There is a lot of groaning going
on in this chapter.
Is
that bad? No, it is good. Groaning is good if it produces in you a
hunger for righteousness. Groaning is good
if it reflects a desire for the unseen things of God. And groaning is good because God’s Spirit
groans with you. And there is no
communication gap between the Father and the Spirit.
SALVATION’S
PURPOSE
And
we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28).
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In verse 26 Paul says that we do not know how to
pray. But here is something that we DO
know. |
The
reason that we can know that groaning is good is because God causes ALL things
to work together for good. God is the orchestrator and controller of all that takes place in this
world. There is nothing that exists
outside of His control. And He is
completely able to cause all to work together in the manner in which He has
designed.
Notice
that Paul does NOT say that all things are good. He is not denying the presence of sin. He is not pretending that bad things do not
happen. But God is able to take even bad
things and use them in such a way that they turn out for the best on behalf of
His people.
This
is illustrated in the story of Joseph.
Joseph’s brothers were out to get him.
They devised a plan to hurt him.
To that end, they did some very bad things. They threw him into a pit and then they sold
him into slavery and then they made up a story of his death and sold their
father on it.
You
know the rest of the story. The Lord
elevated Joseph from a prison to become the second most powerful man in all of
“And
as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to
bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” (Genesis
50:20).
If
it had not been for Joseph, then the sons of Jacob would have starved in the
famine that swept that part of the world.
If Joseph had not been sold into
All
things are not good. God never said,
“Give thanks for all things.” He says, “Give
thanks IN all things.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
All
things are not good. Tragedy is
real. Jesus cried at a funeral. He screamed in agony on the cross. You will face real problems in this
life. And this verse does not minimize
that reality.
However,
there is another reality which is working in our behalf. God is working. He works in the good things and He works in
the bad things and the result of His working is good.
To
whom does this verse apply? For whom
does God cause all things to work together for good? The answer is given in two parts:
(1) To those who love God.
(2) To those who are called according to His
purpose.
This
is not two separate groups of people.
They are one and the same. Those
who love God ARE the same who are called according to his purpose.
Do
you ever wonder if you have been called according to God’s divine purpose? Do you ever wonder if you are one of His
chosen people? Here is an answer to that
question. It can be determined by
whether of not you love God.
SALVATION’S
ORDER
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to
become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn
among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and
these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also
glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for
us, who is against us? (Romans 8:29-31).
The reason that we know that God works all things
together for the good of His people is because He knows what He is doing and He
has known about it since the beginning. God’s saving you was not mere
happenstance. Your salvation was preplanned
by God before the foundation of the world.
1. The Extent of God’s Foreknowledge.
The foreknowledge of God is more than the mere fact
that God knows everything beforehand. It
includes that, but it also goes far beyond that. Neither does it merely say that God foreknows
ABOUT certain individuals. God’s
foreknowledge of His people means that He knows them in a relational sense.
When the Bible says that Adam knew his wife, it does
not mean that he knew Eve’s name and phone number and a few relevant facts
about her. It is an expression of
love. And the same is true of God. He knew you and loved you before you were
even born.
By the same token, Matthew 7:22-23 says that there
will be many who will stand before the Lord and He shall say, “I never KNEW
you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Those who God knew in this sense were predestined
to become conformed to the image of His Son. Why?
Why did God predestine you? The
reason might surprise you. Paul does not
say that it was because you were so good and pure and loveable. Indeed, the reason that he gives has nothing
to do with you. He says that the reason
God predestined you was so that Jesus would be the firstborn among
many brethren. The Father gave the
Son younger brothers so that He might have the honor of being the Older
Brother.
He has the birthright.
The inheritance is His. And the
result is that He holds the position of honor.
2. Predestined.
The word “predestine” simply means to “destine
beforehand.” The meaning of the Greek
word is essentially the same. There are
a lot of people who have problems with this.
They feel that it destroys free will.
And perhaps it does. But that is
too bad. The Scriptures speak explicitly
about God having predestined men. But
that is not all. Predestination does not
take place in a vacuum.
3. Called.
The fact of predestination does not take place apart
from the gospel. This is seen by the
fact that those whom God predestined were called. This is not only an outward call — although
all who were predestined WERE outwardly called.
This is also an inward call. It
is a call in which God’s Spirit regenerated those whom God had chosen. The result was that they came to Christ in
faith. And this brings us to our next
point.
4. Justified.
Justification did not take place at the cross. It took place when you believed. It came at that time of faith and when God
counted your faith as righteousness, imputing the very righteousness of Christ
to you.
5. Glorified.
With the mention of glory, we come full circle. This is how Paul started this passage. In verse 18 we read that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be
revealed to us.
Paul speaks of this glorification in the aorist tense
as though it were a completed action. It
is obvious from the context that it is not.
But he sees the progression as so certain that he describes it as having
already taken place. Our future glory is
a part of our present hope. Paul said
this back in Romans 5.
...and
we exult in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2b).
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