The Benefits of Being Christians
A Five Part Sermon Series From Romans 8
Part III: "A Hope Worth A Wait"
By Dave Redick
Someone has rightly said, "A misty morning doesn't necessarily signify a cloudy day." While that may be true in other aspects of life from time to time, it is always true in the context of the Christian faith. When circumstances bring us a grey, "misty" day of suffering, there is still bright sunshine in store for us, and that is our hope. The word "hope" appears six times in this passage, so there is little doubt that is the main thing Paul had in mind.
On a balmy October afternoon in 1982, Badger Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, was packed. More than 60,000 die-hard University of Wisconsin supporters were watching their football team take on the Michigan State Spartans. It soon became obvious that MSU had the better team. What seemed odd, though, as the score became increasingly lopsided, were the bursts of applause and shouts of joy from the Wisconsin fans. How could they cheer when their team was losing? It turns out that seventy miles away the Milwaukee Brewers were beating the St. Louis Cardinals in game three of the 1982 World Series. Many of the fans in the stands were listening to portable radios and responding to something other than their immediate circumstances.
In a way, that describes an important dimension to our coping with problems in the Christian life. Though we may get down when problems and suffering come, our minds (if they are fixed on what God says they should be) are on something else. They are tuned to another channel.
Something like that idea is probably what Paul had in mind when he wrote Romans 8:18-25, our text this morning. Will you join me in that passage?
(Read 8:18-25)
This message is part three of a series we're taking from Romans 8. The series is called "The Benefits of Being Christians." Let me show you where we've been so far.
As to benefits so far, we've seen that Christians have: --- (1) No Condemnation (2) An Indwelling Companion . In this message, we add (3) A Hope That Is Worth A Wait.
Someone has rightly said, "A misty morning doesn't necessarily signify a cloudy day." While that may be true in other aspects of life from time to time, it is always true in the context of the Christian faith. When circumstances bring us a grey, "misty" day of suffering, there is still bright sunshine in store for us, and that is our hope. The word "hope" appears six times in this passage, so there is little doubt that is the main thing Paul had in mind.
His premise, based on this hope, is in verse 18.
(Read v. 18)
It is as though Paul was looking out into a gloomy, misty morning and saying "I don't get discouraged when I look up at these grey skies because I know that when this mist of suffering lifts, we're going to have a sunny day that is beyond any comparison!"
That word "revealed" there in verse 18 where it says "the glory that is to be revealed to us" is one that means "to take away the cover." Paul's confident hope was that, in the future, the grey "cloud cover" of suffering would burn off and reveal a day of blazing glory.
One author used a little different imagery to describe Paul's point. He pictured a balance scale with "sufferings" on one side and the "glory that is to be revealed to us" on the other. The scale, of course, is tipped ridiculously lopsided in favor of the glory that is to be revealed.
Either way you might choose to look at it (misty morning or balance scale), the comparison is obvious. Whatever sufferings we might go through in this life, though they are difficult, are going to fade into insignificance when God pulls the covers off what He has planned for His people.
(Read v. 19)
Those words "anxious longing" translate one word in Greek which carries the idea of a watching with the head erect and outstretched. It's like waiting for your best friend whom you haven't seen in five years to arrive on the bus. You keep going to the window and stretching your neck to see if it is coming yet.
Paul personifies the creation as waiting eagerly for the revealing of the children of God. Personification is a common form of figurative language that we use from time to time. We say, "The sun smiled on us today" or "the clouds wept" or "the river sang." That's all personification. Here "the creation waits eagerly."
Why would the created universe be anxiously looking forward to (figuratively speaking, of course) that future day when the children of God are revealed? The answer to that brings me to the first aspect of our "hope that is worth a wait" that I want you to see.
I. The Context of the Hope.
Back in the early ‘70s when I was converted to Christ, there was a popular bumper sticker that said, "Christ is the Answer." Do some of you remember that? Do you also remember the sequel that some smart aleck came up with? "Christ is the Answer, What is the Question?" I'm sure the author of that bumper sticker thought he was being cute, but the phrase did betray a real problem: Many people today don't understand the context of the Christian hope. We offer Christ as the solution to a problem that they don't realize they have! We say, "You need to be saved" and they say "Saved from what?" Most people have no concept anymore of holy God who expects behavior that matches His standards. Neither do they conceive that they will someday be judged for violating those standards. More about this in a little bit.
My question again was, "Why would the created universe be anxiously looking forward to that future day when the children of God are revealed?" Verse 20 holds the answer.
(Read v. 20)
You see, a long time ago, back in the Garden of Eden, when man ate that forbidden fruit and, as a result, brought death into the world, something also happened to the created universe, both living and non-living parts of it. Paul says here that it was "subjected to futility." Remember, God originally put man into a perfect place. There was no pain, no sickness, no calamity, no sorrow. But when man sinned, all that changed. The creation was fundamentally altered. I think the clearest statement of that in Genesis is in 3:17 where God cursed the ground. It is my opinion that more than the ground was included in that curse. From that point on, life became difficult for man. The most obvious things were mentioned: death, pain in the woman's childbirth and thorns and thistles to resist the man's efforts to grow his crops. I highly suspect that also included in the curse were floods and earthquakes and lightning strikes - all kinds of natural disasters. Things that had formerly been eternally stable decayed and broke down and rotted and died.
To further verify what I am saying here, read the next verse in our Romans passage. Speaking again of the time when the children of God are revealed, Paul says,
(Read v. 21a)
That word "corruption" is related to a root word meaning "to shrivel or wither, to spoil or ruin." The breakdown of all the natural processes in nature around us - which so often translates into tragedy for us - is included in the meaning of this "slavery to corruption," I think.
Often ministers and Bible students are asked why God allows innocent people to suffer because of natural disasters and such. The simplest answer is that these things are a part of the curse that man invoked when he brought sin into the world. Because of it, Paul says here, the creation was subjected to futility and corruption.
Interestingly, the first book of the Bible records the pronouncement of the curse and the last book of the Bible, describing a time after the great judgement, records the removal of it. I've already referred to the first book, the passage being Genesis 3:17: "Cursed is the ground because of you..." In the last book of the Bible, you go to that long description of the new heavens and the new earth in Revelation 21 and 22, and you find these words in Revelation 22:3 - "And there shall no longer be any curse..." That corresponds beautifully with Paul's words in verse 21 of our text: "the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption..."
John put it this way in Revelation 21:4:
"and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
What is the context of the Christian hope? It is that someday, the same day when God calls an end to time as we know it and eternity begins for the people of God, all of the sickness and sorrow and suffering that are so much a part of this life will be over. It will be ended! It will be no more! Halleluia! What a hope! I think even unbelievers can relate to the need for that!
Well, what then is our current status in this whole thing? What has happened so far that might indicate progress toward the fulfillment of this hope? We need to look next at
II. The Current Condition of the Hope.
We've already seen a portion of the current condition, where verse 19 says that the creation is eagerly waiting to be made free from the corruption.
But here is more.
(Read v. 22)
The imagery is of a woman in the travail of childbirth, struggling to deliver. You women tell us men that there is no greater pain and I believe you, if for no other reason than that I wouldn't want to find out for myself! The idea here is one of the whole creation gathered together in the delivery room (remember, this is personification), locked in the pain of this approaching birth. "Push! Push! Push! Oh it hurts! Push!"
But it isn't just the elements of the creation in that delivery room. We (meaning Christians) are there too.
(Read. v. 23)
You see, Christians are not exempt from the suffering that came into the world when Adam sinned. We are not strangers to tragedy and calamity. We are no strangers to decline and decay. That's why we look forward so eagerly to the time of our adoption as sons. Paul says here that will correspond with "the redemption of our body."
Those of you who are middle aged or more - you know about this first hand. Do you have a few more aches and pains than you had a year ago? Do you expect some more in the coming years? You'd better, because your body is also a part of the original curse. That's why, in spite of your best efforts at watching your diet and working out from time to time, you will ultimately lose the battle. Paul says here, "we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body."
So what is the current condition of the hope? Well, we are presently still under the curse. We're feeling the aches and pains of it all. But we're looking forward to something better. It's a misty, grey morning, but we are living each minute expecting the clouds to burn off and reveal a gloriously beautiful day! In short, we have a great hope!
Folks, all of Christianity is founded on this hope. This is the issue. This is what it is all about. I know that in many churches today people are hearing messages on how to find success and how to have a happy life and how to manage your affairs and how to deal with "felt needs." I have no problem with some of that. You've heard it in my sermons, too. But where is the hope this passage talks about in our messages? When is it that we point people to the day this glory is to be revealed? Is it very high on anybody's list of needs? Is anyone even concerned about the day of redemption anymore? Does anyone care about the life to come?
Perhaps it is because, for a little while, some of us have been spared momentarily from some suffering. In this country we're fat and lazy. We're not longing for heaven because we have it too well here on earth. I have a sanctified hunch that we may be seeing that come to a close in the future, but regardless, I think we need to take notice and ask ourselves where our focus is. Maybe, instead of searching for the latest supposed "answer" from the pop psychology community, we need to focus more on the real thing God has in mind for His people!
Finally, we need to deal with
III. The Culmination of the Hope.
When all of this comes together, what is it going to be like? Well, there is much we could say from many passages of Scripture. Of course we are limiting ourselves primarily to this passage, so let's pick out the things that Paul mentions.
Firstly, in verse 18, he speaks of "the glory that is to be revealed to us." Folks, I believe that on that day God is going to show us things so great, so marvelous, that we'll wonder how they could be possible. It will be so great that we'll look back at our desperate clinging to this life and wonder why we fought it and why we occasionally doubted.
Secondly, in verse 19 he speaks of "the revealing of the sons of God." I mentioned earlier that the word "revealing" implies the removing of a cover. Do you remember a few years ago when the car makers would create a lot of hype about the revealing of their new product lines? They would place a cover over their flagship model in the showroom, and then, after all kinds of fanfare and promotion, on that appointed day, the cover would be whipped off and everyone would strain to get their first glimpse of the new car? On the day we're referring to, it won't be Fords and Chevies and Lincolns that are the object of everybody's attention. It will be us! We, who are currently scorned and not appreciated, will be the object of everyone's amazement and envy!
Thirdly, Paul says that "the creation...will be set free from its slavery to corruption."
Now some Christians think that this present world will be totally annihilated and it will be a completely different place when this all happens. Others (and I think this makes a bit more sense with the Scriptures) believe that, yes, indeed things will be destroyed, but the present earth will be in some way made over or, said another way, restored to something like its original state.
I don't care which view you hold. I just want you to think about something. You see, I don't buy the Hollywood picture of us, as disembodied spirits, sitting on a cloud somewhere, strumming spiritual harps. That isn't a Biblical picture at all. I picture a new heaven and a new earth that, in all the good ways, resembles this one, only it is a thousand times better! After all, it will have been set free from corruption!
Fourthly, there will be at the time of the culmination of our hope what verse 23 refers to as "our adoption as sons." That is yet in the future. Yes, I know that we are already a part of God's family, but Paul speaks here of our "eagerly awaiting our adoption as sons." He is referring to something yet to come.
Perhaps it is like what might happen in the context of an adoption today. The prospective parents have come by, met us, announced their plans, signed all the papers, promised to return for us, then left to go home and get the house ready. But one day very soon, they'll drive up to the front of the orphanage and there, in front of everyone watching, will put us into the car and take us home with them. We will be theirs and they will be ours. I think that is what God is going to do with us.
Conclusion
In his book Dare to Believe, Dan Baumann illustrates the unique experience of knowing that something is ours, yet longing to enjoy it more fully. He explained that at Christmas time he would always do a lot of snooping, trying to find the gift-wrapped presents and figure out what was in them. One year he discovered a package with his name on it that was easy to identify. There was no way to disguise the golf clubs inside. Baumann then made this observation: "When Mom wasn't around, I would go and feel the package, shake it, and pretend that I was on the golf course. The point is, I was already enjoying the pleasures of a future event; namely, the unwrapping. It had my name on it. I knew what it was. But only Christmas would reveal it in its fullness."
Paul says here, "For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."
It will all happen on that day. Are you ready for it? Will you be a participant or will you watch as others receive what you have scorned? Are these promises yours?
Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.
Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.
All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.