Book of Romans - Ch. 8, Vs. 20-26 (02/27/2000)

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Go to the book of Hosea, chapter 6, verse 6. Do you have it,

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Greg, or don't read it yet? Hosea 6 .6,

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read it to us. Now, since you've read it, explain it.

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Well, since it's brand new to you.

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He's saying that the important thing is the relationship with him, knowing

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God. The knowledge of God means knowing God. Very honorable.

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Now, go to Acts 17 .11. Debbie, read that to us.

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Back up to where it tells us who they were. And the brethren immediately sent away

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Paul and Silas by night to Berea. In the book of Romans, please, the 8th chapter and the 20th verse, and let me back up to the 19th verse.

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For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

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Where it says creature, it is creation. So the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.

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Somehow, David, some of my notes got in another transcription somewhere, so I want someone to find in the

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Old Testament, in the book of Genesis, and as it would be toward the beginning of it, it was at this time that they began to call upon the name of the

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Lord. That's at the very last verse of, I don't know, it might be somewhere before chapter 6,

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I think. And also, someone else look for, okay, 426.

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Now look for, when the sons of God came into the, when the sons of God saw the women of, 6 -2.

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And what was the other one? 426. Alright, the reason for that is in the 19th verse it says, it closes with the words of the sons of God.

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Now I wanted to help you understand something today, way back in Genesis. Genesis 420, who has that open?

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Everybody? Well, whatever you told me.

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26. Russell, read that. Alright, that little postscript at the bottom, men began to call upon the name of the

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Lord. Now, that is the beginning of the separation of Christians from non -Christians.

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It doesn't mean that that's the beginning of their existence. It means that the people were now beginning to congregate together to worship

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God. Okay, to call themselves by the name of the

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Lord. Now go over to 6 -2 in Genesis. David, read to us.

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Now it goes on to talk about giants and about mighty men and so forth.

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And there's been so much taught incorrectly about this.

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First of all, many, many preachers will or do believe that the sons of God here are talking about angels.

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But that's not true. If they are sons of God, they would not have committed such a thing.

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So, the sons of God, what does it mean? Well, we saw back in the 4th chapter where they begin to call themselves by the name of the

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Lord. And in the 6th chapter, then we see where the sons of God.

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These are human beings. The word for sons here is

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Bane, B -A -N -E. And it means the progenitor of a family, father of children.

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So what was taking place was that these that called themselves by the name of the

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Lord are looking at the unsaved and picking out beautiful women to marry.

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It was not angels. Angels do not experience any sexual activity.

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I know angels can inhabit people, but this is not the case.

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And those that misinterpret it base their belief upon a scripture in the

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New Testament, my other notes have it, where the angels that did not keep their first habitation.

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Well, the first habitation was in heaven, and those that did not keep it are those that chose to go with Lucifer when he rebelled.

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And all of that wrestle has nothing to do with Genesis 6 -2, where the sons of God married the daughters of men.

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6 -2 is talking about the followers of God marrying the unfollowers of God.

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Now, we come to Romans 8 -20, where our lesson starts. Romans 8 -20.

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For the creature, which means creation now, was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope.

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Alright, the creation. I want you this morning to begin to think in terms of creation, of what we call inanimate objects.

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But we're told in the scripture, Debbie, that these inanimate objects are groaning.

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That sounds very foreign to us, doesn't it? That a rock or a tree or something would groan, but the scripture says they do.

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Why do you suppose they do? Because they've been searching all over the place.

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Alright. Now, the creation was made, which is passive, past tense, by some other being, was made subject to vanity.

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David, what's vanity? Well, I think in this place, it means something.

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There's not a word to use there. Just what does the word mean?

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Well, a vain person is a... Did somebody get him a cup of coffee? Yeah, somebody helped him. You sit right behind him in the dictionary and you can help me out.

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Well, Greg, you help him out. All is vanity, in fact, so is experience. Vanity usually means empty or useless.

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Alright. Empty or useless. First of all, maybe we need to take some exercise.

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You're all supposed to be awake by the time you get here. Alright. The creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly.

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Dennis, not willingly means what? It was not the choice of this creation.

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Doesn't it seem strange, Russell, that the creation seems to have had a will?

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Not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope.

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Who is the him? Roger, be very careful.

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Who was it that subjected the creation to this unwilling curse?

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I think it was

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Adam. Without God. But it was he who, as God the

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Father had allowed him to do that, who was going to occur. Well, Roger, remind me to speak to you after class.

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Seriously. Seriously. Did Adam pronounce the curse upon the creation?

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Who did? The Lord himself. Now, what would have happened?

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Let's play the what -if game. Where's Diane? We're going to play the what -if game now for a minute.

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Do you remember what I told you yesterday? What if man in his fallen state had been left in a perfect environment?

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Which is what it was before the curse was put upon the creation. Bill, what do you think?

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Well, that was the reason. They could stay in that environment. There'd be no reason to change or to want to move away from it the way they already were.

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Alright. Anyone else? So you think fallen man would have corrupted it some way.

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Russell, what do you think? Well, man would have had nothing to push him to change from his fallen state.

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In other words, if man had fallen and been in a perfect environment, he would have no reason to grow or to subject himself to God or anything like that.

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Alright. Let's go back to Genesis 3, 17 or someplace right there, where the

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Lord's talking to Adam and tells him about this curse on the creation. David, when you find it, read it.

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And then to Adam he said, Now, where is this?

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That's Genesis 3, 17. Okay. As you read that, do you notice the little words,

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Why are they put in there? To see exactly what

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God meant. Exactly. So, he's saying, it'd be best for you if the entire creation is cursed.

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Wouldn't it have been terrible for fallen man to be left in a perfect environment?

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It was nothing to do. So, the creation today, which is living under a curse, was put that way for the benefit of man.

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That means that man is going to have to work.

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In fact, he tells him in the next sentence or two, By the sweat of thy brow, it's actually by the sweat of the bridge of your nose, you will work all of your life.

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Next time, next summer when you're out working, and you tie a bandana around your forehead to keep the sweat from running down, work until the bridge of your nose begins to sweat.

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And you'll see just how hard it really, really is. Now, ever since that has been pronounced,

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Debbie, man has been doing his best to eliminate it.

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To do away with work. How many can remember when there was six days labor in the business world, instead of five?

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At first it went to five and a half, and then six, and some places now it's four.

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Some places less than that. So, man forever has tried to eliminate work, when,

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Greg, it's necessary. It's absolutely necessary. We're made in such a way that we're supposed to work.

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We have a head, a mind, two arms, two legs. Can I know where?

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Yes. I need to sleep. Russell? I got a job today. I'm in France. I have to manage for a 35 -hour work week.

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Where was this? France. France? I have to manage for a 35 -hour work week. Well, they're usually way ahead of us.

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Yeah. Well, it'll keep on until all man has to do is sit around and he'll grow one great big finger because he'll just have to push buttons.

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It'll probably get to where he just has to think. All right. Verse 21.

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Do you understand that it was the Lord that had subjected the creation to this and not

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Adam? Verse 21. Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

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So the creation itself shall also be delivered. What's going to happen to it?

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Parents, what's going to happen to this old creation? Well, will it just utterly be wiped out totally?

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Over. Okay. I think where it says the very elements will burn, the word element is sticky on, and we get our word atom from the same thing.

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So I really think it'll melt down to Genesis 1 -1 where there were no atoms.

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Now, the creation itself shall be delivered.

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It will get a new body, Roger, just like we did. So that begs the next question.

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I know the Scripture tells us that the Lord came to redeem that which was lost.

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What was it that was lost? God's world.

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What comes to your mind first when you read that? He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

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Don't ever let anybody read it, that which is lost, because that's a totally different picture.

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He came to seek and to save that which was lost. So? We always think about His people that were lost.

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And if you're not that far along, you think about people. But does it mean just His people?

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It's the whole creation. What? God's stuff. It's the whole creation.

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He came to redeem that which belongs to God. Everything that belongs to God.

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Now, what is there here that does not belong to God, Roger? That is an existence in creation.

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That does not belong to God. Yes. Did not come from God. Those are not

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His own. Okay. The sin that's in this world, which includes

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Satan and his people, did not originate with God. Now, we know Lucifer did.

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But that was the highest archangel. And he rebelled. And he took a third of the angels.

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How many was that, Debbie? Five. All right.

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So, I want you to get it fixed in your mind today that our Lord came to seek and to save that which was lost.

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That's the whole creation that belongs to God. So, we'll get a new body.

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The creation will get a new body. And we'll, the same as live, just as.

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And this is what it appears to be. This is not what it was. But it appears that when the creation was made and Adam and Eve were put in it, it was a utopia.

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Everything was absolutely perfect. Well, he is going to go back to the same thing.

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Not because he was forced to, because you cannot force God, but that's what he intended from the beginning, was to have a people that would live with him forever, that would bring glory to him.

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That's what he's going to have. Why is Satan here with his group? God sovereignly willing to be so.

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Well, that's a safe answer. And it's true. He is using them as a tool.

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He's using Satan as a tool. And Satan's seed to conform us into the image of Christ through suffering.

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How in the world does it do that? I don't want to suffer. That's just the fact we exist in the world.

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That's why they say to you, they bring about trial, tribulation, and things that throw us closer to God.

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George? It's all for the purpose of showing mercy. Well, that's the safe answer.

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To make us be overcomers. All right. If it were not for trials...

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No, you're all right. You're all right. If it were not for the evil in the world, we would amount to nothing.

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We, too, are under a curse. The world's under a curse. If it had not been the wisdom of God to bring into the world...

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See, sin did not come in the world against God's will. Understand that. But God's not the author of sin.

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So, if it were not for the evil influence in the world, we just would not amount to a thing.

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I watch my wife every year move all her movable flowers to the front porch.

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It's a protected area, both in temperature and wind and everything.

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And they usually do real well. But Clarence, the next spring, when it comes time to move them out, she doesn't take them all out at once.

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She brought them all in at once. Or had somebody do it. She used to be me, but not anymore.

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John Karpiak now has replaced me. But when she moves them out, it's just one at a time, very carefully.

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Why? How many horticultures are there here?

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Weak, because they were hampered. They're weak. They look good, but they're weak.

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They haven't been buffeted by the wind. So she trims them way back, puts them on a table in the garage as she works on them, and then maybe a few days or a week later she'll begin to move them outside.

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Same way with us. We need to be buffeted. We need to be blown about.

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We need to develop strength. And if it was not for the evil influence of the world, we would not develop any strength.

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And it is, as David said, an instrument that God is using to make us fit to live with him forever.

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So sin is something we run from, or should. Trouble and heartache we want to get rid of, but we can't.

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So whatever comes, know that it was sent by God and that you can handle it, or it would not have come.

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Therefore we're supposed to, and we cannot work our way around it, we have to work our way through it.

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And with the presence of the Holy Spirit, we know we can do it. We know it better after we've done it.

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I want us to get to where we know it before we even start into it. Here's Joe, a good example of that.

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Joe, at the end of his trial, he went into the trial saying, you know, we only thank

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God for those things that are good. He went into the trial, still thanked God, still realizing

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God was in control. And at the end of his trial, not only did he know how much he loved God, but so did everybody else.

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That's right. There are so many examples in the Scripture.

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It's just full of them. All right, 22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

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And that's current, that's right now. Go to Jeremiah, the 12th chapter and the 4th verse, please.

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We'll get confirmation of this. Diane, do you have that?

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Yes. Would you read it to us? How long shall the Lamb mourn in the earth that ever still withers, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein?

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The beasts are consumed, and the birds, because they said, ye shall not feed our last dinner.

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So, yes, how long is all of this going to go on? Meaning that it is going on.

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23, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the

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Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of the body, of our body.

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Now, in the first part of that verse, David, are you awake yet?

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Okay. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the

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Spirit. What's that? Well, the firstfruits of the

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Spirit is the Holy Spirit. Who is called the firstfruits?

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Jesus. I don't know about this man.

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And he's going to preach to us later. That's why I don't start until 11. I guess he wakes up at 11.

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What did you say, Russell? Jesus is the firstfruits of the Spirit. That's right. Now, how is it that we have him?

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The Holy Spirit. Okay. Are we in him? Is he in us?

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That pretty well constitutes the fact that we have him. And not only they, the creation, but ourselves, we that are his, we have the firstfruits of the

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Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

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Now, Greg, what would it mean we groan within ourselves? Well, let me ask you this.

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Are we aware of the groaning? Well, then you ought to be able to tell me what it is.

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All right. We find ourselves continually doing things we don't want to do. And that makes us unhappy.

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And that's part of the groaning. I think it's possible for us that we do groan without being consciously aware of it.

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First, teaching us that we know we're going to be the firstfruits, and this is a reference to us as believers, being raptured and given new bodies, and the creation being renewed later after other things take place.

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Yes. For we are saved by hope.

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What's that mean? By hope. You'll have to talk up.

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My battery's dead this morning. All right. We're saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope.

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Now, Roger, hope that is seen is not hope. So what is hope?

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What do we call it? Faith. Faith. We're saved by faith, but faith does not save us.

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Dennis, you understand that? Explain it to me. We have faith in Christ, and Christ is going to save us.

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Right. Is the faith of us? No. So it's his faith.

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He imputes his faith to us, right? And we're saved by what action,

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Debbie? We were saved by what? What actually saved us?

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His death on the cross. But hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth.

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Why does he yet hope for it? Which just makes sense. But if we hope for that that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

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Remember this. If two things are so interrelated that the presence of one assures the presence of the other, then if you have either one of them, you know you have the other.

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Example. We'll go back to the light again. Bill, can you see electricity?

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No. The thing we call electricity. How do I know electricity is there?

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Because you can see the light. Right. So the presence of the light is here. Therefore, it's so interrelated with electricity that if we have the light, we know we have electricity.

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Now, if the faith of Christ is in you and you know it, then what other thing do you know you have?

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Eternal life. Right. Salvation. Eternal life. If you know you're saved, how is it you know you have faith?

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They go together. Because they go together, like both sides of a sheet of paper.

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Russell, can you give me just one side of a piece of paper? It's impossible. Faith and salvation are coupled in such a way that if one's present, you know the other is.

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So don't doubt your salvation anymore. Since God's faith is the procuring cause of condition of sonship with God, then the existence of faith is the evidence that one is a son of God.

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Faith is the substance of things hoped for. So since we have faith, we have the product.

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But as yet, it is still in the form of substance. Did you hear me?

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Faith is the substance of things hoped for. So since we have faith, we know we have the product.

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But the product is still in the form of substance. Not the finished product.

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When will faith be finished? When we don't need it anymore.

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When we're in His presence. Likewise, the

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Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought.

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But the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

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So don't try to write them down because you can't. Likewise, the Spirit, the

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Spirit here refers to who? The Holy Spirit helpeth.

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Now, there's no automatic deliverance from miseries. Don't count on that.

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I've known one, perhaps two Christians that later on in their life, they were very disappointed because they were laboring under misapprehension that when they become saved, everything will be right.

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There'll be no more problems of any kind and everything will be perfect. And it wasn't turning out like that and they couldn't understand it.

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So the Spirit helps our infirmities. Joy of what is infirmities, alright?

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Weakness of the body. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought to pray.

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Well, Greg, I thought I knew how to pray. I thought

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I knew for what to pray. But it just made the fact statement that I don't. How can that statement be in the

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Scripture? Well, what does it mean we don't know for what to pray?

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Why don't we know? Alright?

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And he tells us to rejoice, but we can't do it.

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So the Holy Spirit has to do it for us. Turn to Philippians 1 .29.

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You all are learning. What's that say,

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Russell? You know, we like to read that first part.

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The belief has been given to us. And we try to ignore the other. But his suffering has been given to us too.

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Two things are so interrelated. Alright.

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We do not know for what we should pray. For one simple reason.

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You do not know the immediate future. How many of you know what's going to happen 60 seconds from now?

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Nobody? I hope David wakes up.

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We have a hope, but we don't know, do we? As someone over here said, we don't have the big picture.

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He's the one that painted it. Oh, my mind's going so many ways this morning.

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Did you realize there was no past or future tense with God? You did?

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Why have I always thought there was? Because you live in a man -made time.

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Alright. There is with us, but not with God. Everything from God's viewpoint is present.

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Right now. Everything. We're forced to walk through it in what we call time.

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And he made it that way. Alright. So we do not know for what to pray because we don't know what the next second's going to bring.

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We don't know the outcome even of our own plans. So how can we pray? So, David, for what should we pray?

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Or how should we pray? We should pray in the Holy Spirit. And God directs us.

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As you do that, you should pray for what God places in your heart. Pray for it.

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Okay. Okay. Follow your good intuition. As a Christian. Even though it may seem silly, you go ahead and think that way.

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God does nothing in secret and he does nothing for what he involves his saints in it. And he tells us ahead of time.

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Who was it that prayed for rain? Elijah? I get Elijah and Elisha confused.

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But Elijah prayed for rain when he knew it was going to rain. But he prayed anyhow. Jesus knew that the cross lie ahead of him and he knew what all he was going to be, have to undergo.

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But he prayed anyhow. We're to do the same thing. We do not know how to pray.

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It's not to, we do not pray to God because he's ignorant. Now with the groanings which cannot be uttered.

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Greg, what would that mean to you? It can't be expressed in words.

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That's right. Have you ever in your prayer life been to a point that you just absolutely quit talking?

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Even mentally? Because you had run out of expressions and words and how to describe your feelings?

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Is there any being that knows then what your feelings are? The Holy Spirit does.

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He's the interpreter. Prayer is impossible without the presence of the

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Holy Spirit. It's just a exercise and experience.

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There's no prayer to it. This means that the lost cannot pray to the

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Heavenly Father. Do you realize that? If a lost person prays to the

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Heavenly Father and that prayer is honored by the Heavenly Father, what's that mean about the lost person?

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Do you want me to say it over? Say that over. If a lost person prays to the

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Heavenly Father and that prayer is honored by the Heavenly Father, what's that mean about the lost person? He's not lost.

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He might have been lost immediately before, But the lost cannot pray to the

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Heavenly Father, only those that are redeemed. Let me read the 26th verse from the

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Amplified Bible. So, too, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray, what prayer to offer, or how to offer it, worthy as we ought.

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But the Spirit himself goes to meet our supplications and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

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We need to stop here. We'll start with verse 27. Is there anything from anybody this morning?

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Nothing? I have a thought. Is it proper, do you think, to, when you're praying, to ask the

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Holy Spirit to pray for you? Well, sure. Isn't there a time? That's acknowledging that he does.

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That he needs to ask the Holy Spirit to pray for us. Well, he won't do it just because you ask him to.

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But that's his function in our prayer life. And to acknowledge that, that's part of prayer.

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Anything else? Don't you think you would already be doing it or you wouldn't be praying at that time anyway?

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Sure, sure. If it's a prayer, remember this also, a genuine prayer does not originate with you.

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It originates with God. Man can originate nothing, whether he's saved or lost.

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Alright? Many times we see in the sports world where a fighter or sports person will give credit to God, but that's not the same as prayer.

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That doesn't prove that that person is God. That's there. Now, is that a statement or a question?

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That's a question. Does it, I'll say, does that, I sense it does not prove anything, just giving

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God credit for it, but that doesn't mean that's a prayer, does it? Is this still a statement or a question?

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Well, I guess it's a question because I don't know the answer. How do you know when somebody else is praying, really praying?

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Well, I just don't know how they can pray if they put their foot on that thing. Well, you can pray.

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We see so much of that today, and I thought we were aware of it. That's true, but it's not up to me to say whether it's genuine or not.

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But you're absolutely right. We have used the name God so much that it becomes the elderly gentleman living next door.