WWUTT 1277 We Groan Inwardly as we Wait Eagerly (Romans 8:22-25)

The Hope of Glory and the Revealing of the Sons of God

Though our outer selves are wasting away, we groan inwardly, our spirits yearning for that day when Christ returns and we receive the redemption of our bodies, when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing and if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Thank you Becky. We come back to our study in Romans 8 and we'll be picking up where we left off yesterday. I'm going to start reading in verse 18 and we'll go through verse 25. The Apostle Paul wrote,.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. One of the connections I didn't make yesterday between verses 18 and 19, let me look at those again real quick.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us. That was verse 18. Verse 19, for the creation itself waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

So you have revealed mentioned in both verses. Glory is to be revealed to us, and creation is waiting with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. And that revealing of the sons of God is connected with the glory that is to be revealed.

We do not see this glorious kingdom yet. This glorified people that will be together with God in heaven forever, singing and proclaiming his praises around the throne, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and who is and who is to come.

And all the various songs and hymns that we see even in the book of Revelation. There's other places, the Old Testament, those songs are are being heard by the prophets as well. But we see it there in Revelation, the saints that are together from every tribe, tongue and nation proclaiming the praises of Christ forever in glory.

That is the glory that is to be revealed to us. And creation is also waiting with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. We're talking about a final revealing there. So just as we're waiting for glory to be revealed to us, so accompanies with that the revealing of the sons of God, that revealing of glory will also be a revealing of the sons of God.

We will know finally when we step into that place with Christ forever in glory. We will see who the elect are. We don't know who the elect are now. We we know who our brothers and sisters in Christ are based on the fruit that they produce.

OK, Jesus saying in Matthew chapter seven, you will know them by their fruit. We have the fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians chapter five. We know that we may see by a person's works whether they are children of God.

There's a heart of the matter that we cannot know. But I don't think we should be scrutinizing one another to a degree of going, you know, I don't know whether you're a brother or not. But I'm just going to give you the benefit of the doubt and accept that you are.

We're not going to say things like that. If we see a person walking in faith, we should accept that they are a brother or a sister in the faith. If we see a person going astray, then we should confront that brother or sister that is turning to the left or to the right to set them back on the path.

If they resist that correction and they continue into sin or worldly philosophy or any of these other things, if that's the direction they choose to go, then they're going to reveal themselves to have never been on the path in the first place.

They kind of jumped on it when it was convenient for them to be on that way. But they're really a part of the broad path. And why does the way that leads to destruction? And many are going to find that because that's the easy way.

Also, according to Jesus in Matthew chapter seven. So we should not treat one another with this this constant suspicion. In fact, Paul says in first Timothy chapter six, that if you leave the sound words of Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, when we believe the gospel and we follow the gospel, it produces in us godliness.

But when we leave the sound words of our Lord Christ, then we become those who are divisive with one another and are constantly suspicious of each other. That's what Paul says that leads to. And we can't let ourselves be that way.

So when we see our brothers and sisters in the Lord, in the Lord, confessional followers of Christ, producing fruit, loving one another as Christ loves us. When we see that, we should not be judging matters of the heart.

We should see that this person is demonstrating they are part of the family of God. The Lord is the one who knows the heart. And there are going to be many Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter seven, who will stand there on that day and say, Lord, Lord, did we not do many mighty things in your name?

And Jesus will say to them, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness, I never knew you. So that's coming at the judgment. But only God knows that we do not know that we will have revealed to us in that place in glory, exactly who the elect are, who did God choose from before the foundation of the world to hear the gospel, believe it be transformed, adopted his sons and daughters of God, singing around the throne of heaven forever in glory, holy, holy, holy to the one who was and who is and who is to come.

Our stepping into that glory is also the revealing of the sons of God for the creation was subjected to futility. We read this yesterday, verse 20 as well, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it.

God subjecting all of creation, everything from the core of the earth out to the far reaches of the universe, everything, all matter has been subject to corruption, is cursed by God because of the sin of the one who was made in the image of God.

Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden. And again, as I mentioned yesterday, because of Adam sin, it was said as a part of his curse that even the ground is cursed because of you. Everything all matter is subject to corruption because of the sin of mankind.

That's how serious sin is. Sin is so bad that it has resulted in the mass chaos that we see all around us right now. Even like here in the context of the United States of America, when we see the the riots and the looting and the disruption and even these awful philosophies that some of our own evangelical brethren are delving into, like social justice, critical race theory and intersectionality, black lives matter.

Some of these things. How do people get duped into this stuff? And why are these worldly philosophies so convincing? Why is it that there's so much chaos? Why are we being threatened by this virus? Why are there so many natural disasters?

Why does a perfectly healthy individual suddenly turn up dead the next day? Why are there these unforeseen accidents that can take perfectly good people away from us? Even healthy individuals can suddenly lose their lives without warning.

You have innocent children that suffer from disease or that even grow up in abusive homes with evil people who are abusing and molesting these children. And then they grow up to do the same thing. They become abusers and molesters.

There are people that will be led astray by politics or they will be led astray by philosophy. And maybe they have good upbringings, but they fall into something evil because something in the world was enticing to them.

We have the the draw of material possessions and the love of money that becomes the root of all kinds of evil. There's the power struggles. There's those who are dying in sickness and poverty and never seem to be able to get out of that pit.

There are those who are disabled and can't ever do anything for themselves and they will live in this this matter of helplessness for the rest of their lives. The world is just a broken place. There's devastation, heartbreak, trials, tribulation all around us.

Why does all of this exist this way? Because of our sin. Sin is that serious that it is led to this chaos. Some of us can live in some pretty good and comfortable places, and that is by the blessing and grace of God.

Be thankful for where you live, especially if you are in one of those places or one of those environments. You just don't have to see or experience this kind of chaos every day. You don't have to experience this kind of hopelessness.

You're not constantly plagued with depression or certain physiological things in your body that you are subject to. You're a fairly healthy individual and you live a fairly comfortable life. That's by the grace of God.

That is his providence that has allowed you to live in that circumstance. Don't take that for granted. Don't think it's because you did anything great either. And the person who's suffering and struggling is in that position because they apparently have sinned more greatly than you have.

Do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. Instead, you should take the privileges that God has given to you. I'm using the term privilege here. Don't think I'm delving into critical race theory or white guilt or any of those things.

You do have some wonderful benefits, some blessings that you have been given by God. And you should take those things and desire to help people and build them up, to bless others with the things that God has blessed you with.

I'm not talking about socialism. I'm not advocating for the government should come take those things from you and then redistribute it accordingly. We know that when the government comes and takes your money, they fund things like Planned Parenthood.

So in no way would I ever advocate for the government taking your money and then helping other people with it. We as the church, we as Christians, this is our responsibility. We should find ways that we can help one another, especially in the household of faith.

That's the way that Paul put it with the Galatians. As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone. Let us show charity to everyone, especially those of the household of faith. Just like you're going to you're going to care for your own family members in your own home first before you go out and care for other people.

So it's the same with us in the church. We look after the needs of those people that are within our body, and then we look for opportunities that we may care for others. Be sure to take the gospel with you.

Share the gospel with those people whom you help in the world because you could you could help them with their physical needs, but their soul is still lost and you've really not done any good for them at all except to make their circumstance a little more comfortable.

You have this opportunity to do something kind for somebody and explain to them, I'm doing this for you out of the love of Christ and share the gospel. You have sinned. You have fallen short of the glory of God.

What's going to happen to you is death and judgment because of your sin. Do not let a person think that just because they're poor or impoverished that they are automatically in the favor of God. They're probably in some wretched sin that they need to be shown according to the word of God, according to what the law says, why this is sin, and then show to them, resolve the guilt that they may feel after seeing their sin with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The good news is Jesus has died on the cross for your sins. He has risen from the grave and whoever believes in him will not perish with all of this world that has been subjected to futility, but will have everlasting life.

You can have hope even in the dire and poor circumstances that you're in, that you will be rescued out of this and delivered into this beautiful glory that is to be revealed to us, the glory of the kingdom of heaven and the revealing of the sons of God.

So anyway, coming all around to that in the context of the creation that has been subjected to futility because of him who subjected it, because of our sin, the sin of mankind is why this world is so broken, is why it's so devastated, is why it's so steeped in evil, and the only solution to this is not to go out and improve everybody's condition.

The solution to this is the gospel of Christ. Martin Lloyd-Jones said that it is a tragic thing to believe that in order to change the man, all you have to do is change his environment. That's a tragic thing to believe that because it was in paradise that man fell.

So you can't make everybody's conditions better and then expect, see, now I've solved, I've fixed the problem. They're still rotten on the inside and only the gospel is the cure. To cure them of the disease of sin and the sickness, this moral sickness that we all have, every single person has, we all need the gospel.

Even those who are poor and in desperate physical need, their greatest need is spiritual. They need the gospel of Jesus Christ to see their sin and then the righteousness of God through the face of Jesus Christ.

So creation has been subjected to futility and creation itself is going to be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God as we are going to be forever with God in glory.

Creation itself will be redeemed in the new heavens and the new earth. So just as all things were subjected to futility because of the sin of mankind, everything will be reconciled to God through the glorification of mankind.

When God glorifies us and makes us to be like him, we will see him as he is because we will be made to be like him. As John says, that's 1 John 3, 2. And we're going on to read about the glory that we will receive in verse 30 where we have that ordo salutis, those whom he predestined, he also called.

Those whom he called, he also justified those whom he justified, he also glorified. So again, we are all of creation has been subjected to futility because of our sin and all of creation will be restored because of our glory.

And all of this is the working of God by his wonderful mercy and grace. Verse 22, for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And that's really that's everything I just described.

OK, all of the the sin and death and destruction and chaos and and confusion and depression and anxiety, everything that exists in the world as we see it in disarray. All of this is the groaning of creation in the pains of childbirth.

So this is, again, still personifying creation, as Paul did back in verse 20. The creation. Well, verse 19, the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. And still in that characterization of personification, Paul says that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now awaiting deliverance.

The Believer's Groaning and the Redemption of the Body

Verse 23, not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies. Notice very carefully there what Paul says about this anticipation that we have.

He only he says that it is only of believers. He doesn't include unbelievers in this where he says not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the spirit grown inwardly. As we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies, we who are longing for that eternal kingdom that we are promised in Christ, we are groaning together in the pains of childbirth, not not unbelievers.

They're not. They don't have any anticipation of any deliverance in the kingdom that is to come. They believe that this world is all there is. And so they're clamoring for relief in this world, which they will never find.

As Jonathan Edwards has said, this world is the only heaven unbelievers will ever know. But for those of us who believe, those of us who are followers of Christ, this world is the only hell we will ever know.

Praise God. And we look forward to that eternal kingdom that has been promised us. In the meantime, we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons.

Paul says it in this way because though we have the spirit, we're still not delivered from this world. We live in this world. We're still here. So we are groaning for that glory that is to be revealed as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Now, this is a different kind of adoption or this is a totality of that adoption that Paul had mentioned earlier in Chapter eight. He says that you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba Father.

We have that adoption now in our spirits. We have been adopted. We are the adopted sons and daughters of God by faith in Jesus Christ. But what has not yet happened is our bodies have not yet received that adoption.

The physical body is still physical and it will it is still subject to corruption and will perish as all the rest of this world is subject to corruption and is coming to perish. But our soul will not perish.

Our soul will live forever with God. And then at the revealing of the sons of God, when Jesus comes in the glory of the father and in the holy angels, when Jesus returns, he will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.

As Paul says in Philippians chapter three. So we've received that spiritual adoption. We have yet to receive the adoption of the redemption of our bodies. I want to go ahead and include verses 24 and 25 here and we'll pick up tomorrow in verse 26 verse 24 for in this hope we were saved.

Now, hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes for what he sees. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Coming back again to understanding that we are waiting for the revealing, the glory that is to be revealed to us, the revealing of the sons of God.

And it's our hope to receive these things because we have not yet seen these things. If we have seen them, we wouldn't be hoping for them because who hopes for what he sees. It's already reality. It's right here.

There's not a hope or an anticipation for it, but we have not seen it. So therefore we hope for what we do not see and we wait for it with patience. We wait for it with patience implies we know it's true, but we're waiting.

We're being patient. Patient implies I know I'm going to get it, but I have to wait for right now and I'm continuing to trust in Jesus and be changed and transformed and renewed by him day by day as I walk in his ways.

Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this good, good word. May it encourage and lift us up today. Set us on a right path, looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. Perfect us today in this faith.

May we go to bed tonight more confident in God than we woke up this morning and may this be our sanctification daily. And when the world bears down on us too much, we cling to Christ all the more. We cry out, Abba Father.

We yearn for the revealing of that glory that is promised us in Christ Jesus. Hold us steadfast to the end, dear Father, and thank you for your goodness every day. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word when we understand the text.