The Glory to Come
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Today, let us go straight to the passage from Romans 8:18-39
For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us. For the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of the One who subjected it—in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans together and suffers birth pains until now— and not only creation, but even ourselves. We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Ruach, groan inwardly as we eagerly wait for adoption—the redemption of our body. For in hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. In the same way, the Ruach helps in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Ruach Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. And He who searches the hearts knows the mind of the Ruach, because He intercedes for the kedoshim according to the will of God. Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say in view of these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? It is Messiah, who died, and moreover was raised, and is now at the right hand of God and who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.” But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.
Glorious Future
Glorious Future
Paul looks towards the time when not only will our bodies be renewed, but also all of creation will experience a rejuvenation. Back in Gen. 3:17-19 we see that Adonai curses the earth because of the sin of man.
Then to the man He said, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate of the tree which I commanded you, saying, ‘You must not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground because of you— with pain will you eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles will sprout for you. You will eat the plants of the field, By the sweat of your brow will you eat food, until you return to the ground, since from it were you taken. For you are dust, and to dust will you return.”
Think about this, Adonai is declaring that the earth and all that grows in it will no longer function as it was originally intended. Trees were never intended to suffer from pests, or mildew. Crops were never supposed to have diseases. The entire planet was simply designed to produce fruit and grow, and that growth was without thorns or weeds. The plants did not need to protect themselves, nor did they grow out of place, or without purpose. But because of Adam’s sin, now the ground is cursed.
This last year, I planted an entire garden bed with corn, I watered it every day, and yet I got less than 1 head of corn per plant, and even those were only about 5 cm long. Gardening is really quite simple. There is the soil, the water the sun and the seed. In my case, I had too much sun, but not enough warmth, plenty of water, but the soil must have lacked nutrients. As for the seed, it had plenty of sprouts, but not enough fruit. I could blame God, for the quantity of sun, or the lack of soil nutrients, but the reality is, the Ground has been cursed because of Adam’s sin. Many people seem to want to blame man-made climate change, the Bible, however, blames mankind’s sin.
When we look at what Paul is talking about in Rom. 8:18-23 we see that the creation is longing for the day when the curse will be lifted. Paul says that this will occur at “the revelation of the sons of God.” Remember from last week that part of the New Covenant is that we are all adopted as children of God? And obviously Paul recognizes this. However, Paul is pointing to a time in the future, when our own bodies will be redeemed.
How many people have felt their bodies groan this week? I remember as a child when my Granny would say that she could feel the change of weather in her bones. At the time I did not understand. She was not talking figuratively! Whenever the weather changes, all my old injuries begin to ache, and it is at times like this that I can say as Paul did, Rom. 8:23b
We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Ruach, groan inwardly as we eagerly wait for adoption—the redemption of our body.
Saved in Hope
Saved in Hope
Paul now continues to explain the process of what the Ruach HaKodesh is doing in our lives. This process is sometimes called Spiritual Formation as Richard Averbeck puts it:
The focus [of Spiritual Formation] is on building depth, commitment, and active pursuit of God into the lives of individual [believers] and their communities of faith. It requires a commitment to in-depth biblical spirituality in the lives of those who have put their trust solely in the pure gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone in [Messiah Yeshua] alone.
The reality of our lives, is that we have begun to live the life Yeshua promised, but we are not there yet. The promise has begun, but it will not see it’s full completion until the return of Yeshua, or as Paul puts it here the “revelation of the sons of God.” If you did not pick up on that earlier, the book of Revelation, is all about revealing to the world the Son of God. And when THE Son of God is revealed, then those of us who have put our trust IN Messiah Yeshua, will also be revealed to the world.
Help of the Ruach
Help of the Ruach
So then what does the Ruach do in our lives? Between verses 26 to 30 we have some of the clearest teaching on how the Ruach helps us today. Let’s list them:
Helps us in our weakness,
Helps us in our prayer,
Intercedes for us according to God’s will,
Works things together for good,
Conforms us to Messiah’s image,
Calls us, justifies us and glorifies us.
Let’s have a closer look at a couple areas. Firstly the idea of Adonai searching our hearts comes from Psalm 139:1-12
For the music director: a psalm of David. Adonai, You searched me and know me. Whenever I sit down or stand up, You know it. You discern my thinking from afar. You observe my journeying and my resting and You are familiar with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, Adonai, You know all about it. You hemmed me in behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from Your Ruach? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to heaven, You are there, and if I make my bed in Sheol, look, You are there too. If I take the wings of the dawn and settle on the other side of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say: “Surely darkness covers me, night keeps light at a distance from me,” even darkness is not dark for You, and night is as bright as day— darkness and light are alike.
I encourage you to read the rest of the Psalm, but to summarize, the Ruach of Elohim knows us intimately and completely, and is able to pray for us with groans that are too deep for words.
The Ruach HaKodesh also does the work inside of us of transforming us from the inside out and writing the words of Yeshua on our heart. Just after speaking of the Comforter whom He would send, Yeshua spoke of what the Ruach would do in our lives in John 14:26
But the Helper, the Ruach ha-Kodesh whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I said to you.
And again in John 15:26
“When the Helper comes—whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—He will testify about Me.
The process of creating the new heart in our lives, and of writing the Torah of Adonai on our hearts is all accomplished by the Ruach HaKodesh! He works in our lives, and when we submit to Him, listen to Him, He reminds us of the words of Yeshua, testifies about Yeshua, and writes the Torah of Adonai on our hearts.
And again, Yeshua said in John 16:8-15
“When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I still have much more to tell you, but you cannot handle it just now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; but whatever He hears, He will tell you. And He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is Mine. For this reason I said the Ruach will take from what is Mine and declare it to you.”
The Ruach convicts the world of sin, and when people ignore His conviction, and refuse to listen to that still small voice telling them the way of truth, eventually their conscience is seared, the mind is darkened, and proclaiming to be wise they become fools. Eventually the world speaks against/fights against the drawing of the Ruach HaKodesh, that they can no longer hear the call to repent. Once this happens, how will that person repent, if they are no longer blushing at sin? How then will they be saved?
For Us Being Saved
For Us Being Saved
But for us, who are in the process of being saved, what does all of this look like for us? This is the question that Paul asks in Rom. 8:31-35 Paul asks at least 7 questions, and based upon what he has already said between chapters 1 to 8, let’s see if you know the answers?
- If God is for us, who can be against us?
- He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?
- Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?
- It is God who justifies, who is the one who condemns?
- It is Messiah, who died, and moreover was raised, and is now at the right hand of God and who also intercedes for us, who shall separate us from the love of Messiah?
- Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
So what is your answer to all of these questions? Paul’s response is interesting. Firstly, he quotes from Psalm 44:23. What is interesting about this Psalm, is that it is written by a righteous remnant who are experiencing the judgement of Adonai, but not because of what they have personally done. How do I know this? Well the intro to the Psalm 44:1
For the music director, a psalm of the sons of Korah, a contemplative song.
Now Korah was one of those people who had rebelled against Adonai and against Moses, and in Numbers 16:28-33 we read how the earth opened up and swallowed “Korah’s people and all their possessions.” But by the time that Psalm 44 was written the descendants of the survivors of Korah are faithful worshipers of Adonai who are living among an unfaithful nation being judged for its sins. Psalm 44:9 shows the heart of the psalmist:
In God we make our boast all day and Your Name we praise forever. Selah
And the next verses show the judgement that these sons of Korah are experiencing, Ps. 44:10-17
Yet You have spurned and humiliated us, and no longer go out with our armies. You make us retreat before the enemy. Those who hate us have plundered us. You gave us to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations. You are selling Your people cheaply— not even getting a great price for them. You made us a taunt for our neighbors, a scorn and ridicule for those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations, head-wagging among the peoples. All day my disgrace is before me, and my face is covered with shame— because of the sound of taunting and reviling from the face of a vengeful enemy.
Now if you read this Psalm out of context, you might think that Adonai was unjust to bring the judgement and exile upon Israel. But as a congregation we recently studied through the book of Jeremiah, and we know that Adonai was completely just in bringing judgement upon Judah.
However, this Psalm shows the cry of one of the righteous people who lived through those times, and experienced judgement along with everyone else. It is in the middle of this part of the Psalm 44:23 that we read the passage the Paul quotes:
But for Your sake we are slain all day. We are counted as sheep for slaughter.
Paul quotes this passage just after acknowledging that sometimes we go through: Romans 8:35b “tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword”.
It reminds me of a poem that I wrote as a child:
Sometimes we go through things we don’t like, But we must remember what God has in sight, For he wants to fulfill our dreams through and through, But that in His own way, which may not be ours too.
Paul is certainly a realist and understands the difficulties associated with following Yeshua, and of simply living life on this world. And in no way is Paul teaching us that we can escape from any of these difficulties.
Love Inspired Courage
Love Inspired Courage
What is Paul’s conclusion of this chapter, and of the first major section of his letter? I want to read it again, because it is so good (Rom. 8:37-39)!
But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.
Paul is calling us to live courageously! And what is courage?
Courage: The quality of being able to act bravely under difficulties or in the face of opposition; being prepared to do dangerous or risky things in obedience to God, in the belief that he will strengthen, guard and protect his people.
Courageous: Possessing or demonstrating bravery in the face of fear or adversity.
This idea of living courageously is all throughout Scripture. From Joshua Josh 1:6-9, to David 1 Sam. 17:45-47, Ps. 27:1-3 to Peter and John Acts 4:13-20, we are all called to live with the strength that God gives in spite of the circumstances. It does not mean that we are never afraid, if that was the case then why does God have to tell so many people to “Fear Not!”? Rather it means that we continue to act bravely in obedience to God regardless of how we feel and regardless of the circumstances.
But the reason that we can do that, is not bravado, or personality, the reason we can be courageous in all circumstances is because we know that we are loved. The beloved talmid of Yeshua, John would later write in 1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and the one who fears has not been made perfect in love.
Application
Application
This passage in Romans 8 is extremely encouraging. Not only are we told that the Ruach is with us, but also that He is the one working inside us to bring us to that place of union with Yeshua. We are not immediately taken to be with Adonai when we accept Yeshua, but we are called to walk with Yeshua, to fellowship with Him and to allow the Ruach to change our character to be more like Adonai.
Glorious Future
Saved in Hope
Helped by the Ruach
Inspired by Love
And because of all of these things we are able to overcome any fearful circumstance that comes against us. Now sometimes we use other words instead of “Fear” because we know that we are not supposed to fear.
Sometimes I need to remind myself that anxiety, agitation and even despair, are just another word for “fear”. And if I am feeling afraid, then more likely than not, I am focusing on the problems, instead of setting my gaze on the one who loves me regardless of what happens.
Let us all choose to put our attention on the one who loves us, and be courageously inspired by the love that Yeshua HaMashiach has already demonstrated for us.
Inspired by Love
