074 - Life in the Spirit: The Groanings of Glory
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Introduction
Introduction
If you have ever participated in sports, whether as a young child, High School Student, or maybe even on the collegiate level, you have heard the phrase over and over again,
No Pain, No Gain!
It is part of your athletic training.
Whether you are in track, volleyball, softball, baseball, football, basketball or whatever, part of your training is to understand
No Pain, No Gain!
And all too often the emphasis is put on the pain because that is what we are experiencing in the moment.
It is what we keep telling ourselves after a long hard day of practice and the sufferings and the groaning of the pain begin to sit in and the leg cramps wake us up in the night screaming.
No Pain, No Gain - emphasizing the Pain that is tormenting us at the moment.
It is all we can focus on.
But in reality, the gain is more important.
The gain, or the end result, has to have enough value to justify the pain, the suffering, the groaning of the moment.
Paul illustrates this principle in Romans 8:18
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
It is Paul’s perspective that any form of suffering, or pain, or groaning that a child of God goes through on this earth is nothing compared to the glory that awaits the child of God.
As a matter of fact, in his writings to the church at Corinth, Paul refers to the sufferings which a believer endures in this world are only light afflictions which are only for a moment.
And let me remind you that the church in Corinth was going through some pretty rough pains at the time Paul wrote to them.
They were refused entrance into many of the shops and prevented from purchasing the daily necessities.
They were fired from their place of employment as soon as they were discovered as being believers.
Paul even said of himself that he had suffered:
suffered the dangers of drowning in water
suffered the dangers of being robbed
suffered the dangers of being persecuted by his own countrymen
suffered the dangers of being persecuted by foreigners
he had suffered hunger
suffered thirst
suffered the cold and nakedness
But to Paul, all these and many others, were just simply LIGHT AFFLICTIONS THAT ARE ONLY FOR A MOMENT.
Paul realized that his earthly life was but a moment in time in comparison with eternity.
For Paul, the gain, or the end result by far justified the pain, the suffering, the groaning of the moment!
Paul does not consider the trials of the day worth comparing with the glory that was about to burst upon him.
Paul’s perspective was that his earthly life was but a moment in time in comparison with eternity and he would not allow the difficulties of life to absorb his attention.
And this is the problem that many of us, as children of God have today.
Instead of focusing of the gain, we focus on the pain and seek instant relief.
We allow the troubles of today to absorb all of our attention which effectively blots out the gain, the glory that awaits us.
When we should be focusing of gain, the glory that awaits us as children of God.
Instead of looking at the sufferings and pains of this world, we should be seeing them as the pains that magnify the gain.
The groanings of today make the future glory all that more brilliant!
And there is no better illustration to this fact than the one Paul gives in Romans 8:20-30 as he shows how the groanings of today are justified by the future glory reserved for the Children of God.
Notice first, the Groanings of Creation
The Groaning of Creation
The Groaning of Creation
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Aren’t you glad God gives you a fever when you have an infection?
If you didn’t have a fever, you wouldn’t know you had an infection.
The fever is a symptom of a deeper problem.
The groaning of creation is like this.
Look around the world today. God did not make the world this way; God made the world perfect.
If you were to take your Bibles and begin reading Genesis Chapter 1 you would find that
God created light - And it was good
God created the sky - And it was good
God created the earth and all the vegetation upon it - And it was good
God created the sun, moon, and the stars - and it was good
God created all the creatures of the sea and birds of the air - and it was good
God created all the cattle and beast of the earth - and it was good
Finally God created man and woman in His image - Then God looked at all of His creation and it was VERY GOOD!
But just two short chapters latter, in Chapter 3 we see that because of man’s sin, God cursed all of His creation.
God made the world perfect.
But what we see is a world that is marred and scarred, and all of creation is groaning.
Things die and decay;
And this groaning is the symptom of the deeper problem of sin in our world.
But notice what verse 19 says,
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
When we have an infection or sickness in our body, we moan and groan because we do not feel like we should.
The sickness is keeping us from being who we should be and we groan, desiring the day that we feel like ourselves once again.
And all God’s creation, which is groaning under the fever of sin, expects, looks forward for the day that it will be delivered from the curse it is held under so that it can once again become the glory for what God created to be.
verse 21 says:
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
And not only is there the groanings of all of Creation,
There is also the groanings of the church
The Groaning of the Church
The Groaning of the Church
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
Those who have the firstfruits of the Spirit are all those who are a part of the Body of Christ, the Church.
What it means is that The Holy Spirit is the firstfruits of God’s work of salvation and re-creation in believers.
The Holy Spirit is our guaranteeing of our inheritance.
Most ever summer I plant a garden, and in that garden I plant tomatoes, lots of tomatoes.
And as those tomato plants begin to grow and put on blooms followed by green tomatoes, Kim and Cherish always want to pick some of those green tomatoes and fix up a batch of fried green tomatoes, which we all love.
But I will not let them, not until I get that first red ripe tomato.
You see, that first red tomato is the firstfruits, that initial harvest of my first ripened tomatoes. And that firstfruit, that first red ripe tomato is a foretaste and promise that more are to come.
Similarly God the Holy Spirit, indwelling believers, is a foretaste that we will enjoy many more blessings, including living in God’s presence forever.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says,
the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
But Paul continues and says:
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Just like all of creation, the church is groaning within ourselves.
As children of God we go around in this fallen world with a feverish groan, having a desire to be what we have been created for but not yet able to do.
And we are not yet able to be what we have been created for because of the underlying sickness, which is the sin that holds us along with all of God’s creation under chains.
This isn’t what man was created for.
Man, and when I say man here I am talking about man and woman, Man was God’s Magnum opus His greatest and final act of creation.
Man was to be God’s glory.
We were created to glorify our God through our worship of Him and of our fellowship that we spend with Him.
And right now we cannot do that to the fullest as we were created, therefore we groan.
We groan for this hope for which we were saved.
Paul says:
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
When I was about 12 years old all of my friends were beginning to get dirt bikes. Not bicycles, Motorcycles.
And boy I wanted one more than anything.
So I started pushing my mom and dad for one for Christmas because I knew that would be the only hope for me to get one.
I did not have the money to go out and buy one.
I didn’t even have a job to save up for one.
And pretty much the only time that me and my brother got anything significant was Christmas.
So I was pretty much like Ralphie on “The Christmas Story.”
Every chance I had, I would put in little hints for a dirt bike for Christmas.
That dirt bike was my hope. I could see it in my mind, I was believing that mom and dad was going to get it for me. But I could not yet see it. I could not crank it up and here it roar through the exhaust pipe. I could not feel the freedom of flying through the air on it as I jumped off ramps in the dirt.
But I hoped for it.
And I eagerly awaited for Christmas morning.
And there is was. All bright and shiny.
My hope had become a reality.
That is what we groan for church, the day when the church is raptured up into the sky, the day that our hope becomes a reality and we are forever in the presence of the Lord.
Paul says
not only does all of creation groan
not only does the church groan
but the spirit itself groans
The Groaning of the Spirit
The Groaning of the Spirit
But, you know, sometimes, in our weakness, we lose hope.
Turn in your Bibles to the gospel of Luke chapter 24.
And as you are finding your way there I want to set the stage for what we are going to be reading.
Jesus had been crucified and had died on that Roman cross.
All of his disciples had run and left him for fear that they too would be crucified.
The one whom they had placed all of their hope in, the one that they hoped was to be the one to deliver them from Roman occupation.
The one whom they had trusted to be the Messiah that was to come was now dead and buried in a tomb.
And now here in Luke chapter 24 beginning in verse 13 we see two of Jesus’s disciples making the 7 mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus talking about all that had gone down in the last couple of days when all of a sudden, out of no where Jesus shows up beside them but somehow Jesus blinds them so they cannot see that it is He.
And, this cracks me up, Jesus just says, what are y’all talking about?
And the one says, “Did you just fall out of the sky? Do you not watch the news?” Really do you not know about all these things that have been going on lately?
Jesus, who must have been thinking, boy do I know.
He just looks at the man as says “what things?”
And so they told him of all the things that had happened to Jesus, how he was crucified and put to death and was buried.
And look in your Bibles what it says in verse 21, Luke chapter 24 verse 21
21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.
They had lost all hope.
Listen to me church.
If it were not for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we too would have lost all hope.
How long has it been, yet Christ still has not returned.
And even now there are many that mock God saying
“Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Paul has spend the whole first half of chapter 8 here in Romans teaching us how it is the Spirit who has set us free from the law of sin and death and how by the Spirit we who once could not conform to the law because of the flesh and no longer in bondage to the law but to a life in Christ who came and fulfilled the law.
It is the Holy Spirit who dwells in us who gives us live and comfort in knowing that we are children of God.
And here in Romans 8:26-27 Paul says it is the Holy Spirit who dwell in us that preserves that hope that we have in Christ.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
It is the Holy Spirit who interprets our prayers into what the ought to be.
It is the Holy Spirit who groans making intercession for us.
Listen, do you see this.
All creation groans for the day of redemption
The Church groans for the day of redemption
The Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, God Himself
Groans for the day of redemption, the day when He can have full fellowship once again with the crown jewel of all of his created works.
The day when He can walk with you and talk with you in the Garden during the cool of the day.
But Paul doesn’t just leave us hanging here in hope.
He ends this section with some reassuring words that God has not deserted us but is at work in every circumstance of life.
It is the Glorious Workings of God
The Glorious Workings of God
The Glorious Workings of God
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
One of the most well known verses in the book of Romans.
How often have we come to this verse in times of trouble in our lives seeking reassurance that God has not deserted us but is at work in every circumstance of life.
Do you know that as a child of God you have been delivered from the power of the enemy.
You have been delivered from the clutches of sin and its controlling power.
You are now under the authority of the Creator of all things in whom all power rest. There is no power above Him.
Now when we realize the truth of this verse church, we stop complaining about things that are going on in our lives.
We stop fearing for the things that we have no control over.
Because we know that whatever is happening is happening for the good to all of us who love God and are called according to His purpose.
If we do complain, if we do fear, we are denying that God is working in our lives.
We are denying that we are under His authority.
We are actually removing ourselves from His authority and placing ourselves back under the authority of the law of sin and death.
Instead we should be placing all of our faith and trust in God. Knowing that He is in control of all things, we are his beloved children and just as I would not allow any harm to come to any of my children or grandchildren, God is not going to allow anything to harm you, to steal away your hope in eternal life.
Church, way before creation, before God ever created man, He knew that man would sin and rebel against him. So it did not come to any surprise to Him when man did sin.
God already had a plan in place.
And that plan included the church, the Body of Christ
And that church has been predestined to become the bride of Christ, the fulfillment of Christ. The church is predestined to become just like Christ Himself.
And we have now been called out of the world and through the preaching of his world and by carry forth into all the world the gospel message, we are being justified and the Bible says that if He is justifying us, we have been, (Past Tense) GLORIFIED!
Conclusion
Conclusion
The question that I have for you here this morning is
Are you predestined to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ?
You see, the Bible teaches that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
God loves the world in such a way that He sent His only begotten Son and that whoever would believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
All have sin and have come short of the glory of God.
If you have never made that choice to repent of your sins, turn from the way of this world which brings death and turn toward righteousness in Christ Jesus, you are not predestined to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ and you are dying in your sins.
But you can change that right now.
The Spirit is crying out to you and the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Won’t you put your trust in Jesus right now.
Every head bowed, if you are a child of God be praying right now for those who are not.
If you are not a child of God, and the Spirit is convicting you this morning
I want you to pray this prayer with me right now,
Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sin and that you raised Him to life. From this day forward, I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord. Guide my life and help me to do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
As we begin to sing our hymn of invitation, Hymn #554, “In the Cross of Christ I Glory” I invite you to come up front. I will be standing right down here. Come and allow me to pray with you, give you some information to help you with your walk with Christ, and help you get with one of our groups to help you grow in your walk with Christ.
