ROMANS 8 SERIES

Romans 8:18–28 CSB

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. 23 Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. 26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. 23 Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us, with inexpressible groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.   

🔥 Sermon Introduction: Romans 8:18–25 "Hope in the Groaning"

Church, today we step into a passage that doesn’t whisper comfort—it roars with it. Romans 8:18–25 is not for the faint of heart. It’s for the weary soul, the aching body, the discouraged spirit that wonders, “Is this suffering worth it?” And Paul doesn’t just answer—he declares: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.”

This is not poetic optimism. This is prophetic realism. Creation itself is groaning—like a woman in labor, not in death throes but in birth pangs. Something is coming. Something is being born. And if you’ve ever felt the tension between what is and what should be… if you’ve ever cried out, “How long, Lord?”… then this passage is your anthem.

We are not abandoned. We are not forgotten. We are not just surviving—we are waiting with eager expectation. And that waiting is not passive. It’s pregnant with purpose. The Spirit groans with us. Creation groans around us. And we groan within ourselves—not because we’re hopeless, but because we’re hope-full.

So today, we’re going to talk about the kind of hope that doesn’t disappoint. The kind of hope that anchors you in the storm, that lifts your eyes in the valley, that reminds you: glory is coming. Not just someday—but already stirring beneath the surface.

Let’s lean in. Let’s groan with purpose. Let’s hope with fire. Because the glory that’s coming… is worth every tear.

  If we focus exclusively on our suffering, we may be tempted to lose heart. Paul therefore reminds us that the sufferings of this present time are not even worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. For believers, the glory ahead is not only greater than our present suffering. It is so much greater that should we look back on our earthly existence from the joys of eternity, our only response will be, “Suffering? What suffering? Without a heavenly hope, Paul considered the Christian life foolish and tragic (1 Corinthians 15:19). Yet in light of eternity it is the wisest and best choice anyone can make. Revealed in us: This coming glory will not only be revealed to us, but it will actually be revealed in us.

God has put this glory into the believer right now. In heaven the glory will simply be revealed. “The glory will be revealed, not created. The implication is that it is already existent, but not obvious. I believe this is what the verse Christ in us the hope of glory. Our present suffering, though small in the context of eternity, actually gives us a window into what God is doing cosmically. Our suffering mirrors that of the rest of creation, which eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed (8:19). God has tied the glorified final eternal state of believers together with the perfection of the created order so that creation will only be set free from the bondage to decay when God’s children experience their own glorious freedom (8:21). Human sin corrupted creation and dragged it down into the messes we see today. It brought about things like earthquakes, volcanoes, and disease. But our righteousness, bought and perfected by Christ, will act as the agent of change in creation. When the sons of God are ruling, the earth will once again have order, perfection, and untarnished beauty .  Notice “Creation is not undergoing death pangs... but birth pangs. The earth is eagerly waiting to live again, its experienced the perfection God created it with and its excited to return to that former Glory.

Who have the firstfruits of the Spirit: This means we have a taste of the glory to come. Can we be faulted if we long for the fulfillment of what we have received in the firstfruits? There’s so many verses that talks about the firstfruits being the spirit or the down-payment of our inheritance. In the meantime, we share with creation in painful anticipation, groaning within ourselves, eagerly waiting for … the redemption of our bodies (8:23). But this anticipation is colored with hope, because the creation groans with labor pains (8:22), a fact proving that the present suffering is not meaningless. It may be difficult, but our groaning now is leading to life then.And just as a mother forgets the pain of childbirth once her baby is born, we too will forget our pains in the world to come. This context of suffering and anticipation requires hope. Hope is a joyful expectation about the future, a trust that our tomorrows will be greater than our yesterdays. But hope that is seen is not hope (8:24). Real hope combines a radical trust in God with the candid admission that we don’t know the details about our own futures. What we do know, however, outweighs what we do not. We know that what awaits us is salvation, which gives us the confidence to eagerly wait for it with patience (8:25).