The Restoration of All Things
Notes
Transcript
The Restoration of All Things
The Restoration of All Things
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 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. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 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. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
There is a future Glory
My hope is that the through the reading and preaching of scripture we would be captivated by the goodness of God. That we would be utterly transfixed with the beauty and splendor of a God who is not bound by time, who binds the wounds of a creation that is crushed by sin.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Paul is speaking to a people, a church, that is within a century of the life of Christ in the shoes of these new Christians.
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of these new believers.
Jesus didn’t defeat Rome in a show of Jewish dominance and then set up a temple made out of stone for Jews and Gentiles alike to worship in.
Believers in the 1st century were left with an ever increasingly more oppressive Roman authority, struggles between Gentile and Jewish believers on how to be together in one body, and painful sinful bodies for everyone to boot.
Paul comes in and tells his dearly beloved church that the sufferings they are experiencing, they don’t even COMPARE with the joyful glory that is being revealed.
What’s the first thing this tells us?
2020 didn’t usher in suffering.
Suffering has been here since Adam sinned for all.
Suffering was given purpose when Christ died for all.
But for thousands of years all of creation has been waiting for what God has planned.
The revealing of the sons of God.
Everything Groans
But that fulness has not been realized in completion.
All of time is marked by 2 events.
Adam, and Christ.
The first event was Adam sinning for all. Adam’s sin not only bound all future men and women in bondage to death but it also subjected the whole of creation to death and futility.
How true is this?
Is our AZ weather a example of this?
Fires that destroy, diseases that fester and spread, thorns in the ground, toxins in the air.
The very basic laws of physics show that everything, from the smallest possible quark, to the mechanics of the galaxies dancing around each other, ALL of it moves from order to disorder.
All of work, all of life, is in a way straining against this decay, putting energy back in systems by feeding our bodies, tilling the ground,
And this creation is somehow linked in bondage to the bondage of man’s body.
21 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.
The earth and all creation is waiting for US to be set free from our own corrupted bodies so that it also may be set free.
Even though the soul’s of God’s chosen are redeemed and renewed, their bodies are not yet.
And the earth is not renewed either.
FF Bruce:
Romans: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Glory to Come (8:18–30)
Even now man, who by selfish exploitation can turn the good earth into a dust bowl, can by responsible stewardship make the desert blossom like the rose; what then will be the effect of a completely redeemed humanity on the creation entrusted to its care?
Oh my goodness isn’t that exciting?
Creation is bonded to corruption. And Paul says that creation itself will receive the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
What does that mean?
There are different eschatological views on what happens to this earth and this universe at the end of this age.
Some views say that all things will be destroyed by fire in the final judgment and God will recreate the earth.
Some views say that Christians have a role to play in progressively restoring the earth from it’s past corrupted state both now and in the age to come.
Does it matter? NO!
Why?
Because we get the immense privilege and opportunity of having the Spirit of God NOW.
We engage in restorative grace towards the whole creation NOW.
23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves while we await eagerly our adoption, the redemption of our body.
Who here has citrus trees in your yard?
What do you do with firstfruits?
You eat them!!!!!!!
You’ve been waiting and waiting and oh my they’re here!
I’d better coat them with wax so they don't rot and I’ll just set it on the dining table to look at.
No! You pluck that bad boy off the tree wipe it on your shirt and tuck in!
We already have the first fruits of God’s plan!
What is God’s plan?
Redeeming lost creation both man and matter alike! It’s all being renewed!
And we have been given the firstfruits of this!
Firstfruits that don’t run out! If you are not using the spiritual gifts God has given you then you are the person who leaves the firstfruit on the table until it rots!
Don’t be that person. Share it!
What an excellent example Paul uses in comparing the hope in suffering to labor pains.
Labor pains, while I have not experienced them, look quite painful.
But women in labor have the strongest will power and tolerance for pain imaginable during these times.
Why?
Because they have hope.
Hope that they will soon hold and see the fruition of 9 months of suffering.
Hope for new life.
The Bible says that ALL creation was subjected to futility and suffering, but the groaning of childbirth gives HOPE.
John Lennox and other great minds of the 20th century have rightly and wisely pointed out that the existence of evil PROVES the existence of good because without a moral standard we would have no way of discerning light from dark.
We know what is unjust because we have a concept of justice built into us.
The very fact that creation groans and we groan with it proves that we are groaning TOWARDS something.
Everyone does this. We all SAY we want what’s good.
The difference between the sons and daughters of God and the sons and daughters of the evil one are that the sons and daughters of God groan in anticipation of Him, while the sons and daughters of the evil one groan in anticipation of self.
Self is the final possible end. The highest and best use of your life.
Nietzsche contrast
Freidrich Nietzsche died in the year 1900 after having completely lost his mind.
His philosophy was one that claimed that there was no such thing as absolute truth and therefore no absolute morals. His life was an utter rejection of truth.
You know who else’s life is an utter rejection of truth? Ryan Collins.
Ryan has rejected the truth that he is a Rockies fan.
Reap the whirlwind, my friend.
We all groan. We all KNOW that the current state of affairs is messed up.
The world’s groaning leads men to make philosophical statements such as “mortality is a sickness only to be cured by death.”
While this philosophy is wrong, it is SO close to the truth.
The truth is that sin is sickness that can only be cured by death.
Sin always leads to death.
All sin kills.
There is no sin that has been committed that will not be paid for with death.
But who’s death will pay for my sin!?
But who’s death will pay for your sin?
If the God-man who defeated death is not the one paying for your sin, then death remains your lot.
And death IS the lot of so much around us. But our worldview is different.
We see the world through the lens of the gospel.
The Spirit of God Intercedes
The Christian worldview is marked by a supernatural element. Christians have been given the Spirit of God. And through the Spirit they are given hope. This hope connects the sons and daughters of God with a powerful king who reigns in eternity past, reigns today, and will never stop reigning.
Christians KNOW that perfect justice stops and ends with God.
But we exist in a time where we are forced to view injustice. We are forced to experience pain. We are indeed still groaning with all creation in a cry of sorrow.
See this is what is called the paradox of sanctity.
Our bodies and this earth are not yet redeemed.
But the souls of those found in Christ have been astonishingly and powerfully redeemed in fulness.
Like clap your hand over your mouth “how and why did God do that” fulness.
Sometimes the pain we experience leaves us speechless.
What do we say when we don’t know what to say?
We don’t.
The Spirit does.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
This is mind blowing.
Every single element and act of the Christian life is initiated, made possible by, and carried to completion by the Spirit of God.
When we were dead in sin the Spirit acted on behalf of the foreknowledge of the Father to breath life in to dry bones and create a new man.
When we were in infancy of faith the Spirit enabled us to act according to the will of the Father.
When we are groaning in anticipation of the future glory and are tempted to despair, the Spirit intercedes for us and speaks to God on our behalf.
29 because those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined, these he also called, and those whom he called, these he also justified, and those whom he justified, these he also glorified.
This is the most humbling thing to realize. That not only do I bring nothing to the table for my salvation, but I bring nothing to the table for my spiritual growth!
It is only through conformity to the image of Christ that I grow!
And what is the image of Christ?
The last verse of our NT reading from this morning is the verse preceding our text.
17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer together with him so that we may also be glorified together with him.
Christ suffered and THEN was glorified!
Why do Christians think that Christlikeness is a one way ticket to comfort!
If we are to follow in the pattern of our Lord then we will follow him unto death.
Not spiritual death, but the mortification of our sin.
Sin killing is a messy business that needs a sharp sword.
But we charge through the mess with the end in sight!
The renewal of our bodies AND the renewal of all creation.
THIS is what all creation is waiting for.
The Truth of our Future
There is a coming kingdom, that will be ruled by a King, and populated with His heirs. These heirs having descended from the Creator of all things, have the birthright of creation. These heirs bear the responsibility and joy of sharing in the ministry of restoring all things.
What does this tell us now?
Be the firstfruits of the Spirit to the Earth and to others.
Baptizing and making disciples of all the nations.
We have been chosen for this.
We get the joy of engaging in this work until these bodies give out.
Death by living.
Let’s turn to the beginning of the story.
Revelation.
All of history has itself been the most epic prologue in the history of stories.
The new age is imminent.
The forever age has been revealed.
Behold! I am making all things NEW!
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
And then to the last words in scripture...
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.