Futility & Hope
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
There is a movie called the Matrix, which I’m sure that most of you have seen
I am not endorsing this film
but the primary concept of the movie is that the world is not what it seems
Something is off about the world around us
Maybe you’ve known it your whole life, but you can’t quite put your finger on it
But the world is not as it is supposed to be
And while I don’t think that we are all somehow plugged up to a computer generated version of our world, I know with absolute certainty that things are not how they are supposed to be
On Our Journey down the Romans Road...
We have seen that God made all of creation to point us to Him
We have seen that though He created us in love and fashioned us for His purposes, we have rebelled against Him
We know that we have all sinned, and that no one measures up to the glory of God
And left on our own, we are unable to do anything about this
our spirit may long to do good, but we have sold ourselves into slavery
Adam brought sin into the world, and through it death also entered in
And because we continue to sin, and continue to choose death over life, death continues for us.
What we need is a new Spirit, and it comes to us through the person of Jesus Christ
Jesus gives us a new Spirit that fills us with life and not death
His blood frees us from the chains of sin and death
His Spirit is able to overcome the sin in our lives
It can control our flesh so that sin begins to disappear from our actions
It draws us in obedience towards the Kingdom purposes that God has for us
We begin to see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, confirming our salvation
A tree is known by its fruit
If you are an adopted child of the God, you are living in His household, His Kingdom, and so your life begins to look completely different
Transition:
And as we become more and more like Jesus, we become more and more aware that something is wrong with the world around us. What is it that is so out of place?
As we return to Romans 8 this morning, we are going to be reading from verse 19
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.
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.
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.
Pray, invite the church to sit
*LISTENING GUIDES*
Something is broken in the world, it isn’t just you
Yes, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation, but until Christ comes to get you, you remain a work in progress.
Yes your sense that things aren’t quite right is accurate…but what is it?
In our passage today, Scripture tells us. Look at verses 19-21
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.
If you’ve got your listening guide, the first thing we need to remember today is that
All of creation has been broken by our sin
All of creation has been broken by our sin
Creation is broken. And verse 19 tells us that creation is sitting, and waiting
Like a kid at Christmas time, creation simply cannot wait for mankind to be made right with God
Why? Because sin is never a victimless crime: it has consequences beyond the person that sins
EX: Normally, when we say this, we are talking about other people
In our context this morning, we are talking about creation
Creation is broken, it’s our fault, and it won’t get better until we are made right with God
Verse 20 tells us that when we sinned, that when Adam was punished by God, that creation was subjected to futility:
Futility means pointlessness or uselessness
And if you’re not catching it, what this verse says is that our sin made creation useless!
Creation can no longer fulfill the purpose God gave it
The trees don’t grow right, the grass is the wrong color
Mosquitos, gnats, and love bugs became pointless tyrants
Instead of wheat thorns grow!
Animals fear us, and lions eat meat.
Plants and animals are subjected to death
And as we follow through verse 21, what we find is that creation is longing and hoping for that day, because when mankind is right with God, then all of creation will also be given redeemed purpose.
Creation wasn’t supposed to be this way, and it knows it
And it eagerly waiting for the day when it won’t be this way any longer
Let’s continue, verse 22:
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.
The second thing that you and I need to remember this morning is this, that:
Creation and Christ Followers suffer in wait for redemption
Creation and Christ Followers suffer in wait for redemption
EX: I love looking at art, but I’m no good at it. Art is supposed to be fun, but it stresses me out
In my head, I see what I want to make
I try, patiently and carefully to make it, but I mess up
The more I try, the worse it seems to get
(Hannah & the manger scene)
This is where creation lives: it knows it was created for so much more , but until we become right with God, it has no hope of getting there. It knows that death shouldn’t be part of its reality, but it is trapped by what we brought into the world...
…and still, it hopes for it. It longs for it. Why?
Because it can feel redemption coming
Like a child in the womb, feeling the squeezing discomfort, it knows God has more glorious things for it ahead
Creation hopes for the same reason that you and I hope: Jesus rose from the grave.
the redemption of mankind has begun
One Day, it will be completed
EX: I have done many home renovation projects
When you start, you are excited about the work
As you make progress, you are both excited and anxious
you can’t yet use the space, for its purpose
you can see what it is becoming, but it partly remains as it was
So it is with us. Verse 23 says that as we begin to see the good fruit of the Spirit in us, our eyes are also opened to the wretched death that we live in.
Like orphan children, we long for our adoption into something better than we have ever known.
But the more of the fruit we see in our lives, the more hope we have
Look at verse 24:
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.
The last thing that you and I need to remember from these verses today is this:
Our hope of salvation is beyond the death we see
Our hope of salvation is beyond the death we see
EX: Imagine that the day after thanksgiving your family put out all of your Christmas presents, unwrapped, under the tree
In some ways, it might be better, because the anticipation would be gone and you would focus on Jesus
But that wouldn’t be any fun!
A huge part of the fun of Christmas presents is the hope and anticipation of what might be under that paper.
Because nobody hopes in what they already see
You don’t look at the scoreboard of a game that is already over and say, “I hope we win”
Yes, if you have confessed that Jesus is Lord, if you believe God raised Him from the dead, living in faithful obedience, you are saved
And your hope in the life to come is an act of faith, because you can’t see it
Your salvation is not yet complete-there are still parts of your sinful self being put to death
But you hope in the future, when Christ will come, and creation is hoping with you.
You believe it is coming, but you haven’t see its completion
And true salvation must produce in us and enduring hope
It takes endurance. It takes perseverance to life the life Christ Calls us to
It takes faith to live in sacrificial giving of time, talent, and money
It takes faith to give up the temporary pleasures of this life
All of this on the hope of what we can’t see, that is beyond this life
BUT, the longer we walk with Christ, the more fruit we see in our lives.
As His fruit grows in us, we have confirmation of the hope we cling to
And the more that we are sure of the future that awaits us, the more painful and obvious it becomes to us that things here are not the way that they should be.
And in that confirmation, the longing in us grows greater and greater from something greater than our world could ever be.
That deeper longing needs to spur us on to continue pressing forward, out of the death of this world and into the life of the NEW SPIRIT God has given us
INVITATION:
Don’t be shortsighted, my friends
Don’t settle for the futility in front of you, when God’s glory is beyond it
This morning, each one of us is in one of two places
You are pursuing this current futility,
seeking our pleasure and comfort in the here and now (where the self comes first)
living on the path to death that we’ve chosen,
OR
You are in Christ
Living in a sacrificial walk with Christ, enduring the suffering of this current darkness with perseverance in hope, knowing that the pain that we endure cannot compare to the hope of what awaits us
always seeking the growing fruit of God in our lives in the here and now, while longing for the renewal of the coming Kingdom of God
Where are you this morning? Don’t allow your days to be futile. Come and find the only hope that endures
PRAY