Groan With Anticipation

Groan With Anticipation By Rev. Res Spears Because I married so late in life, and since by then Annette had already had all the children she was going to have, I have never experienced the wonder of childbirth. I like to say that I'm a grandpa (and now great-grandpa) who has never changed a diaper. I said that during a Zoom conference with some other seminary students recently, and one of them replied that he had spent several years as a pediatric nurse, so he had changed enough diapers for both of us. I appreciate that. My quota was filled by someone else. That feels like grace. But a little less than nine and a half years ago, as she prepared to deliver our fourth grandchild, Annette's daughter, Jessica, asked me if I wanted to be in the delivery room with them to watch the whole miracle of birth take place. Umm, no. It happens. It's a miracle. That's good enough for me. I don't have to watch sausage being made to know it's delicious. So my role during that blessed event was to sit in the waiting room for 12 hours. And what I can tell you from the experience is that childbirth is just as painful as everybody says. Those hospital waiting-room chairs are seriously uncomfortable! But the thing is that it wasn't supposed to be this way. You may recall that the pain of childbirth was one of the consequences God brought to Eve for her sin in the Garden of Eden. "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth," God told her, and "in pain you will bring forth children." Everything - including childbirth - is broken because of that original sin, because Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, because they sought to define good and evil for themselves rather than accept what God had deemed good. Everything is broken. Nothing is the way it is supposed to be. Relationships are broken. Our bodies are broken. Indeed, the whole planet is broken. None of this is the way it was supposed to be. None of this is the way God intended. You really don't have to look far to see the brokenness. It's in the headlines of today's newspapers. It's on the nightly news and in the movies we watch and the music we listen to. It's all over pop culture, and it is the rot at the center of our politics. None of these things are the way they should be. All of them are infected with the cancer of sin. Sin has disordered every human relationship, every human interaction, every human appetite, every human ambition, every human invention, and every human love. There is nothing in our lives that is not stained by the blot of sin. Because of sin - your sin, the sins of others, and sin in general - your marriage is less than it should be; because of sin, your friendships are a shadow of what they should be; because of sin, your work is harder and less fulfilling than it should be; because of sin, your children do not understand you, and you don't understand them. Because of sin, your physical body will die one day. But the consequences of sin don't end with us. Indeed, God cursed the very ground because of Adam's sin. Did He do that because the earth had sinned? Of course not. Man is disobedient to God, but the rest of creation obeys Him. Psalm 104 talks about the obedience of nature to its Creator. Listen to some of the lines from that psalm. Speaking of the Great Flood, the psalmist writes: Psalm 104:6-9 NASB95 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled, At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place which You established for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass over, So that they will not return to cover the earth. The natural world that God created hears Him and responds to His command. Listen to this: Psalm 104:19-20 NASB95 He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting. You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. But even nature is broken. Hurricanes and tornados and wildfires and floods and volcanoes and all manner of meteorological phenomena wreak havoc and destruction and death upon the world. This is not the way it was supposed to be. Viruses and cancers and diseases and bacteriological infections infect not just man but also all of the world's plants and animals, bringing decay and death where there was meant to be abundant life. This is not the way it was supposed to be. So how did it happen? "Cursed is the ground because of you," God said to Adam after the man whom God had created in His own image had sinned in the garden. But why would God curse all of His creation over the sin of man? Because mankind had been given dominion over the earth. God told Adam and Eve that they were to "rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Mankind was put in place as the vice-regents of God's kingdom here on earth, and when "the ruler, falls, the effects of his sinfulness spill over and harm the [subjects]." [R. C. Sproul, The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 140.] Here was one of our first lessons about the extent of the harm we do when we sin. It's always a bigger problem than we like to think it is. Because of sin - because of our sins - the curse of death has spread far and wide, and it continues to spread. But the God who created us is the God of all grace and mercy, and in all of His created realm, only mankind is unwilling to recognize that grace. Turn with me to Romans, chapter 8, and as we continue to look at the brilliance that shines in the center of this jewel of Scripture, we will see how God in His grace will one day take all those broken things that are not the way they were supposed to be and make them whole. And then we will see what our attitude should be as we wait for this great miracle. We're going to read verses 18-25 today. Romans 8:18 NASB95 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Now, Paul knew a thing or two about suffering. Shipwrecked. Beaten and left for dead. Bitten by a poisonous snake. Reviled by friend and foe. Imprisoned multiple times. Ultimately executed. And all in the cause of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the word that's used for suffering here doesn't refer only to suffering for Jesus' sake. This is all suffering that's in view here. This is the suffering that comes simply as a result of being fallen people living in a fallen world. And what Paul says here is that if you take all your suffering and add it all together, there is no comparison to the glory that is to come for those who have put their faith in Jesus for their salvation. We who have followed Jesus in faith will be fellow partakers of the glory that will be revealed in Him when He returns from Heaven to institute His millennial reign here on earth. We of the faith whose physical bodies have died by then will be raised from the dead into incorruptible bodies, just as He was raised from the dead into a body that was no longer subject to disease, decay or death. This is a glorious promise, indeed, and it is right that we should be excited about it. But this is not God's whole plan, as Paul makes clear in the next three verses: Romans 8:19-21 NASB95 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly 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 also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Because of Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden, God cursed the ground - He subjected the rest of His creation to futility because of Adam. And what Paul tells us here is that creation itself longs for the day when it will not just be released from the corruption to which we doomed it in our sin, but also when it will witness the unveiling of God's greatest masterpiece - His chosen people transformed, appearing and living as they were meant to be. I'm not sure which Bible translation you are using today - I'm using the New American Standard Bible - but I found a beautiful rendition of this passage from The New Testament in Modern English, translated by the late Anglican clergyman J.B. Phillips. Listen to this: "The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own." That's just wonderful. One commentator uses the metaphor of fireworks to help us understand just how wonderful the transformation will be when we receive the glory of Christ. Right now, we are like rockets and shells wrapped in brown paper. There's nothing that's really attractive or remarkable about them. But when those rockets are launched into the air and explode into all their beauty, everyone cranes their necks to see the sight that is revealed. That rocket - that ball of paper and gunpowder and glue - is transformed in the moment the fire from its fuse reaches the material inside. And so shall we be transformed. Transformed from corruptible to incorruptible flesh. Transformed from people who carry the blight of sin to people who carry the image of the sinless Son of God. We who have followed Jesus Christ in faith are connected with Him. We are one with Him. We will be glorified with Him at His coming. And not because of anything we have done, but all because of God's grace. We are called children of God simply because God chose to call us that. Every one of us has sinned. Every one of us has fallen short of the perfect standard of God. And every one of us deserves punishment for that. In the Bible, that punishment is described as death, but that's not the annihilation of our being. Rather it is eternal separation from the God who loves us and created us to be in communion with Him. And there is nothing any one of us can do about that. We cannot do enough good to overcome the damage that even one sin does to the relationship our perfect and holy God desires to have with us. But our God is a God of grace and mercy. And because of His grace, He sent His unique and eternal Son, Jesus Christ, to live a sinless life among us as a man so that He could give Himself as a sacrifice on our behalf. The innocent died for the guilty. This is God's grace in a nutshell. The good news is that God raised His Son from the dead. Doing so, He demonstrated His power over death and He showed that Jesus' sacrifice was acceptable to Him. The good news of Jesus Christ is that we have a savior. We can put our faith in Him and in the sufficiency of His sacrifice, and if we do so, then we are promised eternal life, life in the presence of God in a world that is as God always intended it to be. We can be the people we were made to be, living eternally in resurrected bodies that are free from the ravages of sin and from its power over us. If you have never done so, you can put your trust in Jesus today, and if you do, then you, too, will be called a child of God. And you can be confident in God's promise to raise you unto eternal life because of the Holy Spirit, whom He gives each believer as a seal and a promise. You can be marked as His, and with the guarantee of the Spirit within you, you can have complete confidence that God will accomplish His plan for you. The promise is not that everything will be OK here on earth if you place your faith in Jesus, but that even the worst things you might suffer here will be of no consequence to you when you find yourself suddenly standing beside the victorious Jesus. But until then, there will be suffering. Until then, things are still not the way they were supposed to be. Let's pick up again at verse 22. Romans 8:22-23 NASB95 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. When we consider the pains of childbirth, we can see that they are both a result of something that happened in the past and a mark of the wonderful miracle that is about to take place. That's what Paul has in mind in verse 22. Creation itself is in pain because of what happened in the past but also in anticipation of the glory to be revealed in Christ Jesus. And we, too, experience this pain. We groan within ourselves as we look at how broken our world is. We grieve over the effects of our sins. But if we are followers of Jesus Christ, then these groans should also be groans of anticipation for the day when Jesus returns, for the day when we will become what we were meant to be. We should be eagerly awaiting the day when our adoption process is complete, the day when our bodies are redeemed from the sinful nature that remains within them, even as believers. Verse 24: Romans 8:24-25 NASB95 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. "We are not saved "by hope" (as [some translations put] it), but our salvation is characterized by hope." [Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 186.] Now, we often have a different understanding of hope than the one that is intended in Scripture. I might say that I hope we have bacon tomorrow. Or I hope that I finish my school assignments on time. Or I hope that our election is peaceful. Each one of those things can be wished for, but we cannot be confident of any of them. Any number of things could intervene to cause our hopes to be in vain. But biblical hope is a confident assurance that God will keep His promises. Biblical hope is founded in the character of God. Biblical hope is rooted in faith. That's what Paul means here when he says that hope that is seen is not hope. Biblical hope requires faith in a faithful God. The writer of the Book of Hebrews said something about God's promises that's significant about hope. Hebrews 10:23 NASB95 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; God is faithful. God always keeps His promises. And so, if God always keeps His promises, we can hope - we can have confident assurance in Him - for the day when all the promises of this passage are fulfilled. As Paul puts it here, we should wait eagerly for that day, and we should do it with perseverance. We should wait with patience. There is more in store for us than we already have. Even our worst suffering will be nothing as compared to what will be revealed for us when Jesus returns. Now, there is an application here that I think will be particularly meaningful in this troubled time in which we live. As we look at what's going on in the world around us today, it's easy to become discouraged. It is easy to think that all hope is lost. Things just seem to get worse and worse, and, indeed, that's to be expected as Satan and his demons work through mankind to do as much damage to God's creation as possible. You see, the devil knows the end of the story. When Jesus, hanging on the cross, cried out "It is finished!" the devil knew that he had been beaten. Christ had conquered sin, and He had brought redemption to those who would place their faith in Him. All that was left for Satan - and all that's left for him now - is to wreck as much as he can before he is finally chained and thrown into Hell. So it's not surprising that things go from bad to worse. It's not surprising that hatred is the tool he uses to destroy mankind. But we Christ-followers are not without hope. And the key to embracing that hope is understanding where to put your focus. "If we allow the difficulties of life to absorb our attention, they will effectively blot out the glory that awaits us." [Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 184.] The more time we spend being distracted by the troubles of this world, the less time we have to contemplate the wonders of the next. To the church at Colossae, Paul wrote: Colossians 3:2 NASB95 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. To the church at Corinth, he wrote: 2 Corinthians 4:18 NASB95 [W]e look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Set your minds on things of eternal significance, things above, not things below. Engage yourselves in matters that will matter in heaven - glorifying God, telling of His marvelous grace. I'm not suggesting you go around as if you're ignorant of all that's happening around you. It would be hard to love your neighbor that way. What I'm saying is that if you would take seriously the commands of Jesus Christ - to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself - then you would find yourself caught up in the hope we have in Christ, rather than beaten down by the hopelessness of this world. Be patient. Fix your eyes on Jesus. In the suffering that inevitably comes with being human, groan with creation, but groan with anticipation of the day when everything will be as it was supposed to be. Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 1:41 AM October 4, 2020.