Grow 19: Romans 8:35-39

Romans 8:35-39 (NASB)

³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." ³⁷But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

More Questions

The questions just keep on coming.  Paul is not asking these questions so that we would doubt our salvation.  He is asking them rhetorically in order to get the point across.  In these final verses of chapter 8 Paul drives the point all the way in to the hilt.  The Holy Spirit wouldn’t have any believer doubting for one moment who gave us our salvation, and how it will be drawn to completion. 

Romans 8:35

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Who?

Based on the previous verses and the nature of this question the obvious answer is “nobody”.  Far from the many man-made religions that place one person over everyone else’s salvation.  There is no earthly source that can separate, not ability of any man to excommunicate a believer from salvation.  No earthly ruler or authority has any say at all in the issue of a believer’s position, identity and destiny in Christ Jesus.  This is GREAT news!  Because there is another “who” that is, of necessity a part of this statement: “ME!  MYSELF!”  If the word is true a person who has trusted Jesus cannot even separate themselves from His powerful and redeeming love and future.  This is something that is beyond our full comprehension, but should bring us endless joy!

The Love of Christ

The question of separation is from something very special:  The Love of Christ.  The Greek word here is agape – it is the Greek word that describes God’s love.  This kind of love is unconditional, selfless and perfect.  This love has well been defined: The unconditional love of God that always looks out for the greatest good of the loved one, regardless of the cost.  This statement is saying that there is no being, in heaven or on earth, that can separate the believer from this magnificent love that Christ displayed on the Cross (Romans 5:8).

What about these things?

In continuing this description of Christ’s amazing love from which we cannot be separated Paul adds a handful of difficult circumstances.  Let’s look at some of these words:

·         Tribulation – Crushing pressure, painful difficult circumstances.

·         Distress – Being in a tight spot, passing through a narrow path that squeezes in on us.

·         Persecution – Being Pursued by enemies – either literally or metaphorically

·         Famine – failure, or lack of, certain physical necessities.

·         Nakedness – Want of clothing or basic coverings

·         Peril – Danger, fearful or frightening situations

·         Sword – The specific sword of the Roman Legions.  It was a precise weapon of slaughter.  Metaphorically for a violent death.

Paul runs off a list of nearly every negative, terrible, horrible situation of which he can think.  From internal pressure to external, from emotional and political to physical want.  The idea that he is getting across is that our position is secure no matter what may happen in our circumstances.  This is the only genuine outlook of each believer that makes any sense whatsoever!  Things truly may come to the very worst in this sin-scarred life.  However, what waits for us is not threatened by any of these situations.  This is tremendous news!

Romans 8:36-37

³⁶Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." ³⁷But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

Expectations

Often we see people trying to “sell Christianity” with highly charged stories about how bad and difficult their life was until they became a Christian and now everything is better.  Paul seems to predict the opposite for the believer.  Quoting Psalm 44:22, Paul sets for the principle that the saints of the Lord can expect to experience difficulty, trial and challenge.  Many believers struggle to understand how God can allow calamity and difficulty to enter their life.  The reality of Scripture is that believers are NOT promised an easy ride.  We are NOT promised that we won’t starve to death, or that we will not lose loved ones.  We are promised that no matter what happens God will work things together for our ultimate good (conformity to the image of Jesus Christ).  We are given every spiritual blessing in every situation (Ephesians 1:3-14).   Many believers are disappointed in their expectations because they hold unbiblical expectations! 

Hebrew Poetry Patterns

Being a quote of the Psalms (Hebrew Poetry) this quote comes to us in the form of Hebrew Poetry.  Hebrew Poetry differs from western poetry.  Rather than rhyming phonetic patterns, Hebrew poetry rhymes meaning.  This can be done in a handful of different ways but here the effect is to repeat the sentiment in different terms.  The first clause has the duration of the martyrdom (all day long) and the second describes the value of their lives (as sheep).  Those who are faithful to God have undergone repeated persecution, and it is common for those who do not fear God to put a very low value on believer’s lives.  This should not surprise us.  As believers in this world we occupy enemy territory.  Both human and satanic powers have killed countless of the faithful.  Yet, that is not a shame to them, rather it is glory to their account!  The true believer in Christ can look at the very worst that the world can dish out and say, “You cannot touch what is really valuable.”

More than Conquerors

The “But” that opens this verse is a strong contrasting connective.  Paul encourages believers not to look at their trials and difficulties and despair.  Rather, in sharp contrast to the idea of despair, they are to see themselves as God sees them.  But how does God see them?  This is a fun Greek word.  It combines the word related to Nike (the winged God of victory) with the word that transliterates as SUPER!  Everyone in Christ is a “SUPER-WINNER”!  Not because of what we did or do, but because of what Christ has done!  John described this reality similarly:

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4-5

We are considered conquerors because of what Christ has done on our behalf.  No matter what the world, the flesh or the devil do the believer will be finally victorious.  Christ and His word on our behalf is the source of the victory.  If we ever think that we have won the victory ourselves we have already been drawn away from the truth.  The truth is that we must rest in Christ’s sufficiency at every moment and in every situation.  This is a great privilege, honor and blessing!

Through Him

It certainly bears repeating: This victory is available to us only in resting in Christ and what HE HAS DONE!  Any works based salvation, or sanctification is bound to fail.  Any other view of reality falls woefully short of the wonderful reality of what is ours in Christ.  This is not made available by the works of our hands, this is not some level of spiritual prowess that only the “high level” believer attain.  This is the reality for every single believer through Christ.  Here, again, we see Christ’s love being the motivating factor.  It is not because He “had to” or because someone “talked Him into it” His love is why He came, and His love will carry our salvation to completion.  Were it based in anything less we would have no hope at all!

Romans 8:38-39

³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Convinced

This word means “convinced, confident, persuaded fully”.  There is not the slightest doubt in Paul’s mind as he writes these words through the Holy Spirit.  Clearly understanding these simple verses is vital to our understanding of the relationship that we have in Christ.  Our security cannot be doubted in this chapter.  Every believer is saved, not by what we do, but by what God has done.  But looking at what Paul is convinced of is very exciting indeed!

·         Death – Nothing in physical death

·         Life – Nothing that we can do or will happen to us in our life

·         Angels – These are God’s messengers who brought messages and did miracles far beyond human abilities.

·         Principalities – This is has the idea of “authority” it can be used to include both spiritual or physical authorities.

·         Present – Nothing in the present moment.

·         Things to Come – Nothing in all of the future moments

·         Powers – That is no created thing’s natural capacity, might or ability (including our own)

·         Height – Looking all the way up, even further than the Hubble telescope can see.

·         Depth – No matter how deep down we were to dig there is nothing to challenge God there

·         Nor any other created thing – Think this over – there are two types of things – Uncreated (God alone– existing eternally in the three persons of the Trinity) and Created (EVERYTHING ELSE).  Nothing will separate us from the love of God.  Even our own weak and trembling wills. 

The Love of God

Remember verse 35?  There it was the love of Christ that was at issue; here it is the love of God.  This shows us a couple of important facts.  Firstly, that Christ is God and that there is no part of Him that exists in opposition or exclusion from the other two Members of the Trinity.  But also, again we see the entire Trinity at work in saving, sanctifying and glorifying the believer.  There is no part of the Godhead that loves humanity less.  Our Salvation was the design of the entire Trinity, which is the reason why it is fully reliable.

In Christ Jesus

Here again we see that this unbreakable love of God is expressed where we are positioned in Christ Jesus.  This is our permanent and eternal placement.  When God looks at a believer He sees the righteousness of His Son.  It is of vital importance to note that while the phrase “in Christ” is used constantly by Paul to describe the placement, mode and manner of the believer’s life, the phrase “out of Christ” or “moved out of Christ” never once occurs.  This is a permanent state of affairs.  Our relationship with God is not something that is coming and going, or something that goes up for renewal every 5 years.  It is always and eternal, just like His unchanging love.  And THAT is why and how a believer is to succeed. 

Grow 18: Romans 8:31-34

Romans 8:31-34 (NASB)

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³²He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? ³³Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; ³⁴who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Position of Power

Paul continues to taut this amazing salvation before his audience.  Having just spelled out, again, the completeness of our salvation, there is more wonderful news ahead.  We found that our salvation is rooted in eternity and that each and every believer was known by the eternal God even before He said, “Let there be light…” The last verses highlighted how believers are foreknown, given a destiny (to be conformed to the image of Christ), Called, Justified, and that our glorification with Christ is equally as certain a fact.  Notice, again that this is all what God is doing and not what we do.  But Paul drives this point home throughout this chapter and hasn’t finished letting us know what an amazing thing it is to be “in Christ.”

Romans 8:31

What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who is against us?

What to say?

These verses continue the argument by evaluating what our reaction should be.  As the argument here gets more and more passionate rhetorical questions are used.  The rhetorical question is Paul’s way of involving the reader in the discussion.  He is asking the reader to engage with what he is saying, trying to get each of us to actually accept and apply this important truth.  Having just told them how amazing their present and future in Christ are, Paul wants them to think it over.  Many of us will easily assent when we hear something said, or read anything, but Paul wants engagement because we can often nod our head and say “Yes, yes” and not realize that we held some other belief that conflicts with the new belief.

Paul knows that grace is scary to those who long to achieve something, or wish to show off in one way or another.  Paul has dealt with every objection to God’s grace.  He dealt with the “If we are under grace we can sin all we want” in chapter 6.  In chapter 7 he dealt with, “Can’t we just earn righteousness through the law?”  In chapter 8 he dealt with our constant, moment by moment need for Jesus Christ, for the Holy Spirit.

If God is for us…

“If” here may seem like Paul is not sure.  However, the context supplies the nature of this “if”.  The fact that “God is for us” has already been proven in the verses before this.  This was proven in the fact that God is the author of every phase of our salvation.  Our salvation is of God!  It is His doing, not ours!

Wait! God is FOR us?!

This is too big to miss.  So often we fall back into the pagan mindset that God is either against us, or at least impartial.  How often do we have a view of God as being seated on the Heavenly throne, looking down and waiting for us to mess up?  When we sin, stumble, goof up, or make mistakes we very commonly view God as changing in His attitude towards us and now trying to destroy us.  Get this…it is huge.  GOD IS FOR YOU.

God is on your side. He won this salvation for you, He has given you everything that you need for life and godliness.  You are not going to succeed in your walk with Christ because of what you do, but because of what HE has done and is doing and is yet to do.  You can go into each day with the confidence unmatched by anything because the God who has ultimate and final control over all situations and final outcomes is FOR YOU!  He is on your side.  Grab onto this promise with both hands.  You will need it, because the world is not for us.  It is against us.  We will likely see many difficulties and disappointments that lead us to believe that God has abandoned us, but this is never the case.  God is, and always will be, for you. 

Who can be against us?

The answer to Paul’s rhetorical question is clear.  However, it should be examined.  What other force might we think could draw this amazing promise and work of God into question?  We may sight our flesh, or trembling will, the world system, the Devil and those demons who fell with him.  All of these forces ARE working against us and against our sanctification and glorification. If they had only to defeat us in order to rob us of our salvation not one person could be saved.  These forces are far beyond our ability to stand against.  We cannot defeat the world on our own.  We certainly do not have the power in ourselves to defeat the devil (once among the most powerful of created beings).  However, we need not even go that far.  As Romans 6-7 show even our flesh defeats us and get the better of us when we attempt to deal with them on our own.  Fortunately, those forces are not working against us, they are working against God.  We feel loss and frustration when we try to do God’s part and fight those battles on our own.  While they may deceive us, they will NEVER defeat God.  This is a question of absolute and final power and authority, and no person (whether ourselves, or any angelic power) can compare, or compete, with the power of our God.

Romans 8:32

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

All too often misquoted

We often here politicians complaining “I was misquoted.”  However, no single source in the history of the world could have been so repeatedly misquoted as the Bible.  This verse is among the more common misquotes.  This verse is often said to mean, “God gave up His Son for us, so he will also provide for all of your physical needs.”  This perversion sometimes goes so far as to say “God is going to give you whatever you WANT.”  Neither of which is a true statement, biblically speaking.  As we look at this verse we have to remember the context: our salvation and spiritual growth. 

Not Spare

When it came to creating this salvation it is noticeable that God gave EVERYTHING He had, used His very best resource to create it for us.  He didn’t just speak it into existence.  He actually sent His own Son.  This is remarkable.  When we think of a child of a rich father we can imagine the child making tons of messes and the father using his wealth to clean up after him.  However, the child may actually be affected if his father were to personally interfere in the situation.  Jesus Christ personally came down and put on flesh and became as one of us.  There is no fuller expression of God’s love and character than the person of Jesus Christ. 

This may recall Abraham to our minds.  In Genesis 22 God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.  Isaac was a miracle baby, born to two people who were well past the age of fertility.  Yet the Lord had been faithful to His promise and given them this child.  Then God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.  As Abraham prepares to make this sacrifice he collects Isaac and tells him to come along.  When they approach the site Isaac asked, “Where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”  Abraham says, “God will provide the lamb.”  God interfered, and spared Abraham’s son, Isaac.  Then they found a ram whose horns were caught in a thicket.  God didn’t provide the Lamb for thousands of years, until Christ was crucified for our sins.

What has been done, and what will be done…

Paul explained how God delivered Christ up for our sake.  There is nothing of value equal to Christ.  When we think of the uncharitable value of Jesus Christ, the Son of God that is the price that God paid for our salvation.  Having paid all of this for salvation will God let that salvation fail?  Of course not!  He has provided for us fully in every phase of salvation.  This is not a promise of physical things, or even basic physical necessities. A believer may die of starvation, martyrdom or any other horrible death, however, we never lack a single spiritual resource.  As Paul put this in Ephesians 1:3 God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies with Christ.” 

God giving us everything we need for our salvation isn’t all that is said here:  the way that it was given is also explained.  God won’t give us everything we need for our growth in Christ begrudgingly, but rather “freely”!  God isn’t saying, “I gave my Son for you and now you figure the rest out.”  Paul describes God attitude as saying, “I am pouring EVERYTHING into this.  I gave you my son, and now I have given you the word, the Holy Spirit, I am working through your trials and all of your circumstances.  I am hearing your prayers and my hand is not off of you for a single moment.  I will succeed.  And I do it gladly, freely, because I love you and want to see you conformed to the image of my Son.  Failure is not a possibility.” 

Romans 8:33-34

³³Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; ³⁴who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

More Questions

Paul continues with His method of asking rhetorical questions.  This is meant to challenge the reader to answer the question and interact with what Paul is writing, and find that the statement is absolutely true!

Who will bring a charge?

Paul is not talking about an electrical charge. Paul is using legal language to describe a spiritual situation.  Who will bring the believer before the court on charges?  Who could do this?  Satan?  He is the “accuser of the brethren”.  Other people?  They may think that they have an argument or evidence against a believer.  The only logical person who could bring up a charge that would stick would be God Himself! Yet He is the One Who gave His Son to pay the penalty for sin!  Satan has no reasonable accusation of the believer because Christ always returns with the same response:  “Perhaps my child did sin, but I paid for that at the Cross.”  The one who paid the price constantly stands before the Father “interceding” for us.  This is our amazing salvation!  This is what we are given in the person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Identification

It is worth mentioning that anyone who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation has also been included with Jesus Christ by God in every one of these processes! Both in Romans 6:4-6 and Ephesians 2:4-6 clearly state that every believer has been identified with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension and seating.  Having been placed in Christ and imputed his righteousness we are united with Him in His glory.  This is a tremendous reality for us to understand!

⁴Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷for he who has died is freed from sin.

Romans 6:4-7 NASB

⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-7 NASB

Grow 17: Romans 8:28-30

Romans 8:28-30 (NASB)

 ²⁸And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; ³⁰and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Missing the Point

Sometimes when discussing the Bible people are prone to “miss the point.”  In looking at verses like these it is very easy to get sidetracked into an argument which is generally unprofitable.  Most often these arguments are fraught with false dichotomies and adding liberally to the clear statements of scripture by supplying new information from some extra-biblical “system” of theology (Examples of these are Calvinism-Reformed, Armenianism, Open Theism).  Each of these systems attempts to “fill in the gaps” on what we are not told in scripture to produce some harmonization where the Lord has clearly left a tension in what has been revealed.  So this study will not waste time arguing what “goes in the gaps” left by these positive statements.  We will NOT miss the point!

So, what IS the Point?

Remember what Paul is getting at here:  Paul wants these believers to know that they are in the eternal plan of God.  That they can trust in their salvation in Jesus Christ.  He is telling them about the amazing Salvation that the Lord Jesus Christ has won for them.  Each of these three phases are by God’s grace and in each of them man brings nothing to the table, they are God’s doing:

1)            Justification – This was the chief subject of the first 5 chapters.  The word “justification” translates a word meaning: “To be declared righteous.”  We are justified by faith in Christ alone.  As Paul wrote in Philippians: “…and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,” (Philippians 3:9 NASB)  Paul comes to the finale of this revelation in Romans 5:1: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2)            Sanctification – Chapters 6-7 go through the realities of our Sanctification (the process by which we are conformed, in our day to day lives, to the image of Jesus Christ.  In Romans 6:1-11 Paul laid out the means for our conformation to Christ. Romans 6:6-10 focus on the importance of the believer knowing how complete our identification with Christ in His death burial and resurrection.  The next step stated in Romans 6:11 is to count on that reality, in faith.  Trusting in the accomplished fact of what Christ did at the cross.  The balance of chapter 6 concerned the believer who decided to continue to live in sin anyway.  The result of this choice is loss of fellowship with the Lord, making the sinning believer the most miserable person on earth.  Chapter 7 illustrates what happened to Paul when he tried to go back and ‘earn righteousness’ by living according to the Law, rather than live by faith in what Christ had done.  The result was loss, death and despair.

3)            Glorification  - Chapter 8 concerns our glorification.  In previous studies we have seen that the Lord WILL complete this work in us.  In this final phase we will be given new bodies, we will be redeemed and continue on free from the pain and trials of our Sin Nature.  This is a wonderful thing indeed! 

So this is “the Point”!  Paul meant this book to be taken personally.  Not to be used as a killing floor to argue abstract theological points about who is and isn’t chosen.  So as we examine these powerful verses we want to be taking them intensely personally, realizing that these are the promises that we cling to, and look forward to as we go through every moment of every day.

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

We KNOW

The grammar behind this “knowing” is very strong and secure.  This is a very assured knowledge.  The Greek word here means “to know by perception.”  Having the sense that this is something that is seen and observed.  Where could this reality have been observed?  This is seen throughout the Scripture.  God repeatedly uses the very darkest and most difficult situations as a platform to show His own power, grace, love and wisdom.  This was seen when Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers.  His brothers meant to harm him because they were jealous, yet God used that terrible and difficult event to save the whole fledgling nation of Israel.  God worked through dark situations in the lives of Moses, Joshua, David and Elijah.  It seems that God majors in taking dark, difficult sinful situations that either man or Satan have ruined and turning it into a display of His wondrous love and provision.

Notice who has this knowledge: we.  Paul includes himself and his readers.  For Paul the Lord worked through his various trials and difficulties for the progress of the Gospel.  Many of us can look back on the challenges and difficulties of our life and see how God used them for our better good.  This is something that every believer has claim to.

God Causes all things

First of all: God is the one doing this.  It is important to recognize what is and isn’t said here.  The Spirit here does NOT say that God makes the bad things happen.  The most dark and difficult situations of human history, or our personal history, are not a result of God’s doing, they are a result of sin.  God is able, however, to work with every set of circumstances, ever set of human choices and work it together for our good and His glory.  Something else to note:

ALL MEANS ALL.  This is difficult for us as believers.  There are situations in our lives that seem good and easy to see how the Lord is working through them for our good and His glory.  Other situations seem far more difficult to understand how He could ever use them.  There is an element of trust involved in the Christian life.  Trust that even though we cannot understand things, we CAN trust Him.  He is able to work these things together for good, not just the good, not just the bad: everything!

For whom?

The reality that the Lord WILL work ALL things together for good is a comforting thought, however there is an important limitation to this.  This promise only applies to those who love Him.  If we don’t understand this we miss everything.  This promise is meaningless to an unbeliever.  For those of us who are in a relationship with Jesus Christ our difficulties and trials make sense.  The Lord is using them to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ.  The only thing the trials and difficulties of the unsaved produce is to (hopefully) incline their hearts towards placing their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Calling

Every believer here is said to be called.  This verse does not say that anyone is NOT called, but only that we have all been welcomed according to His purpose.  What His purpose is will be laid out in the following verses.

Romans 8:29

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Foreknowledge

The Lord is all knowing.  Before He created Adam and Eve he knew every person whom He created in them.  For the Lord, being outside of time, all of time is a single unit.  He is able to view it all as a completed picture, which is distinct from our view of things, being stuck in the “time tunnel”.  The Lord knew, before he created anything, who would accept Him and who would reject Him.  Paul’s purpose here is not to make everyone out to be robots, far from it!  Foreknowledge is NOT dictation.  Just because the Lord knew who would make what choice does not by any means imply that He made them make that choice.  That suggestion would, by implication, clearly mean that God MADE Adam and Eve sin, which is impossible(Jas. 1:13).  This is intensely personal. The Lord knew you, even before you existed.  He created you and can be trusted with your future, but your short term future as well as your eternal future!

A Great Destiny

These whom he knew would place their faith in Christ he gave a destiny.  The word translated “predestined” here combines the words for “before” and “set a boundary” the Lord planned out beforehand that any who would place their faith in Jesus Christ would be given this destiny.  This is something that He declared by His power, His might, His authority.  It is important, because as we examine this destiny that we have been given we must realize that just as our salvation is totally by HIS doing, so our ultimate glorification will be HIS doing as well.  This is all by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ!

Being  a Conformist

The destiny that you have been given is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  The Greek word here is the root of the English word “morph”.  The idea is that the Lord will ultimately have us completely translated into the complete and perfect image of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Once again, this destiny is not something that can be earned, and it is not something that can be lost.  This is something that is given entirely by His grace, and completed entirely by His power! 

Firstborn

This is a tremendous reality that we can only understand and receive through faith.  As we look at our daily lives and experiences this becomes more and more astounding!  We see our shortcomings, our challenges, our difficulties, and our struggles and think that it would be impossible for anyone to change us into more than what we are.  However, this brings into sharp relief the importance of our continued faith in Jesus Christ.  Every moment that we say, “I can never do it!” We come to a greater realization of the truth: We could never conform ourselves to His image, we always had to trust in His power, His ability, and His grace to complete this.  When we look forward to our glorification we see that it is just as much to His glory as the first phase of our salvation! 

Romans 8:30

and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Called

Here those for whom God has set out this destiny in Christ were also called.  Note that Paul does NOT say who is NOT called.  That is not Paul’s purpose here, the only thing that is being clearly stated here is that everyone who places their faith in Christ has responded to the call and received this destiny in Christ (which is conformity to His image).  However, the ones whom he foreknew (that is every believer) DID respond!  And in this response of faith every believer was justified.

Justified

Here Paul goes back to the concept he explained in chapters 1-5.  The word “Justify” means: “To be declared righteous.”  However, we know that this declaration of righteousness was no work of our own.  The righteousness that is being spoken of is Christ’s righteousness.  We were justified by our identification with Christ wherein our sin was imputed on Christ at the cross and His righteousness was imputed upon us.  God did this because He is infinitely just, and everything in His equation must be balanced out.  The infinite sacrifice of the perfect Son of God was enough to pay for every sin every person on earth has ever committed (1 John 2:2).  However, it is only applied to those who accept it in faith.  Anyone who chooses to reject Christ’s payment for their sin chooses to pay for their sin on their own, for all of eternity.

Glorified

This is an amazing statement!  Not only justified (declared righteous) but GLORIFIED!  Glory is the radiant essence of Who God IS!  This is the most noteworthy portion of His character.  It was God’s glory that would have destroyed Moses if He had seen it directly.  It was God’s glory that rendered Paul blind.  And He has chosen to glorify US with that same glory!  This is beyond understanding!  But let’s attempt to look at a distant shadow:

Imagine a poor girl who is growing up in a poor country town.  She grows up each year of her life exchanging one tattered old hand-me-down dress for the next.  Her whole life she has never worn a pair of shoes.  Then a wealthy woman comes and invites the girl to join her for a few days.  When they get to the city, the woman picks out dress upon beautiful dress for the girl who had never worn anything but tattered rags.  The girl looks in the mirror and can hardly recognize herself with her shining shoes, done-up hair and beautiful dress and beams a priceless smile at the woman who shared her wealth (glory) with the child. 

This is a wholly imperfect illustration, but it gives us a glimpse of what is going to be revealed in us.  Here is the cool part.  Here this glorification that was set to be a future event in verse 18 are here said to be a past tense event.  The glorification of the believer is such a sure thing, such a complete certainty that it can be described as an accomplished fact.  Christ (in whom you are positioned) is gloried, and when our position and condition are united we cannot but be glorified as well.  This is a tremendous promise for every believer to take hold of and trust in every single day.

Taking it Personally

Again, these verses have been twisted, perverted and poisoned to back any and every theological error imaginable.  The worst thing that happens when this is done is the Lord is ACTUALLY saying often gets “lost in the mix” of some “high-minded” theological debate.  Here is what the Holy Spirit wants EVERY believer to know:

·         Before God created anything He knew YOU, personally and specifically.

·         Knowing that you would trust Him, He gave you a destiny.  That destiny is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  HE will be the one to conform you to the image of Christ.

·         In the context of time He called you, and you responded.

·         Though you were sinful, helpless and broken He placed you in His Son and declared your sins paid for, and declared you righteous as a permanent state of affairs.

·         As certain as anything else in the world (or beyond) the Lord will also glorify you, totally by His grace, though the work of Jesus Christ and your identification with Him.

This is WHO and WHAT you are in Christ.  All that is left for the believer to do is to trust in what God has done, and is going to do in his life.  This is tremendous news that every believer needs to know and appropriate (take personally).  Not to win an argument, but so that we can face tomorrow as the Lord intends us to.

Grow 16: Romans 8:23-27

Romans 8:23-27 (NASB)

²³And 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. ²⁴For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. ²⁶In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Hope and Help

The previous verses described the world subjected to futility.  It was noted that while the futility of the world systems was not part of God’s original creation, it was something that God did in order to save fallen man.  These verses make sense of suffering in the world.  All of the horrific events of reality are found to be the result of Sin, and will ultimately be removed from the physical creation.  The believer has special assurance in spite of all of these difficulties.  The one who is in a relationship with Christ looks forward to the glory of the Lord being revealed both in and though him.  The believer in Christ can also look forward, in faith, to the time when the physical creation will be restored and made right. This is an exciting thing for the believer, as we will behold with our very eyes what the world was meant to look like during the millennial reign of Christ.  This is an exciting thing indeed.  The following verses talk about that hope that we have been given in Christ and our help in the Holy Spirit, with Whom we are indwelt.

Romans 8:23

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

Continuing the thought…

It is important to remember that, while it is quite profitable to look at Scripture one verse at a time it was written as a letter.  It is a constant tension that we must keep both looking carefully, but understanding that each of the verses flow together into larger themes and purpose.  Paul’s purpose in chapter 8 of Romans is still to display the life of the Christ in the believer for whom there is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).  This verse starts with a logical connection that says that Paul is adding to the train of thought that he was already working with.  In previous verses Paul had the believer looking forward to his or her glorious future in Christ.

We, not just “you”

Paul takes these believers shoulder to shoulder with him here.  He tells them that this is something that every believer shares.  So many man-made religions are riddled with a sense of hierarchy in which people have differing positions before God based on how much money they have, or what they have done or given up “for God.”  There is none of this in the Biblical faith.  Every believer comes to God through Faith alone, by Grace alone, in Christ alone.  Paul is very clear that every believer shares this same destiny, and he is pleased to include himself in this same fact and expectation.

First fruits of the Spirit

Paul has already written about some of the ministries of the Holy Spirit in this chapter.  He has established firmly that the sealing of the Holy Spirit is not an “up and down – Now you see Him now you don’t” ministry. 

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:9-11

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. Romans 8:16-17

The indwelling Holy Spirit is the chief resource for living the Christian life. A few that He would be constantly abandoning us or “coming and going” is a destructive idea that will keep us from our full potential of joy, peace and love in Christ.

But there is more to this exciting story.  This indwelling Holy Spirit that is the provision for our day by day moment by moment existence is here called the “first fruits”.  The Jewish system of harvest was in three broad stages.  The “first fruits” were was the first element of the harvest, after the first fruits came the bulk of the harvesting season, finally the gleanings were gathered as the final phase in the harvest season.  Notice, that the indwelling Spirit, while a greater blessing than we can comprehend, is only the beginning of what the Lord is doing in our lives.  In Ephesians 1:13-14 describe it this way:

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14

Here the Holy Spirit is called a “pledge” or a down-payment.  The Holy Spirit is the beginning (and WHAT a beginning!) of what the Lord is doing in us.  There is yet more ahead for the believer and our final conformation to the image and character of Jesus Christ.  Believers have much to look forward to in every situation, along with the constant assurance that the Lord is not done with us yet.  Praise the Lord for His great and wonderful gift!

Groaning

Paul is not talking about whining here.  What Paul is writing about here is the experience of most believers who understand the Lord’s great love for them and all that is ahead for them.  In the last verse the world was “groaning” but here the believers are groaning as well.  A deep groan is sometimes the only way to express what we are feeling, often at the times that words won’t do.  It is important to understand what we are groaning for, as believers.  Note, that Paul includes himself in this groaning as well.  It is common, you may even say normal, for a believer who understands the Lord’s love to feel “out of place” here on earth.  We look around and wish for the time when we are no longer plagued by our sin nature, when the world system is ruled by the one legitimate ruler:  Jesus Christ. 

More than anything else this sensation is akin to homesickness.  We may have experienced the desire to be back with family, or friends when we’ve moved, or when we first left home to go to school, or on a long trip of some sort.  The desire for familiar things burdens us and we are emotionally effected.  The strange thing about this homesickness is that it is a desire for a place that we have never yet been.  However, it is looking forward to unbroken fellowship with Jesus Christ that makes it perfect, that increases our longing.  He is the one whom we will always be with thereafter, never to depart from Him. It is important to realize that those feelings (and desires) are entirely godly and acceptable.  Everyone who is walking with the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith longs to know Him better.  The longing actually draws us closer to Him!

Longing for what?

The thing looked forward to here is translated “adoption as sons”.  In our context we talk about adoption chiefly in terms of a child, or a baby, who is brought into a new family.  While this is a beautiful picture, this was not what Paul is saying that the believer is waiting for.  This Greek word combines the word for “son” with the word for “to place, or position”.  So this is really a “son positioning”.  This was not a process that was done to a child or to a baby.  Up until a child was “son-positioned” his father could kill him, or disown him at any moment.  However, when a person was “son-positioned” a few radical things occurred:

1)             Once “placed” a person could never be eliminated or abrogated.  If the “placed” person was not of the biological family of the on doing the “placing” even a biological son couldn’t take his place.

2)            All former identifications were severed permanently – no longer considered a part of their previous family, and all debts against the person were wiped out completely

3)            The “placed son” was given access to all of the family accounts, riches and resources.

This idea of being “son-placed” by God was something that is shocking, and amazing.  Truly we have in this simple word a promise of our security, a deeper understanding of our position in Christ, and a fuller appreciation for all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ. 

Interestingly, there are other scriptures that say that we have already received this “son-placing” (Ephesians 1:3-14), yet it appears that there is an experience of this that is yet future.  We will have fully come into our inheritance at the return of Jesus Christ for His Church (the Rapture).  And we are longing for that time with our deepest desire.

Romans 8:24-25

²⁴For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Hope worth Hoping for

Here true biblical hope is again explained.  It is important to notice that “hope” in the Bible is never an “I hope so” type of hope.  Hope, in the biblical sense, is something that you know is ahead.  In considering what the believer looks forward to there is not any doubt whatsoever about what the believer is looking forward to.  That is why biblical hope is such an enduring encouragement.  It is the absolute assurance about what is ahead for us.  When the Holy Spirit, writing through Paul, says “in hope we have been saved” it is telling us that it was daring to believe in the promise that God has given that saved us. 

Have been

The word translated “has been saved” is in the passive voice.  Paul places into the very grammar the fact that we did not save ourselves, nor do we maintain this salvation ourselves.  God had to act upon us, on our behalf, in order for us to be saved.  Yet while we are in these bodies we look forward to “the redemption of the body” which was mentioned at the end of the last verse.  The thing that we are looking forward to “our Hope” is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ for us. 

Encouragement

Paul then talks about the nature of hope.  Our relationship with Christ is beyond anything that we could ever imagine.  Our day by day moment by moment communion with the Lord Jesus Christ through His indwelling Spirit is beyond understanding.  Our access to Him through His word (the Bible) and the illumination that we receive through the Spirit is also beyond compare, and an endless source of encouragement for us.  Not only this, believers are gifted to be a part of the Body of Christ.  We have our brothers and sisters in Christ as relationships that constantly point us towards Him.  Of all of these blessings and the Lord’s constant provision for us what we look ahead to is greater still.  These beautiful blessings are only a shadow of what is to come.  We aren’t hoping for something that is qualitatively much like this “only a little bit better.”  We aren’t looking forward to “Life 2.0” we are looking to an existence in the future, the greatness of which is only alluded to by the best moments and aspects of our current existence. 

Perseverance

So, what is ahead for us remains yet to be seen.  Because our eyes are fixed upon these amazing promises of God we wait with perseverance.  This word for “perseverance” has been called “the manliest of the Christian virtues.”  It is a patience that is stands firm under the most adverse circumstances.  It has a sense of courage to it, it is the same kind of courageous perseverance that stirs our hearts when watching movies like Braveheart, Rocky, or Rudy.  This perseverance, however, is not rooted in the essential and inherent strength of the person, but in the greatness of the promises that have been given to us in Christ.  In order for the believer to withstand the world with this kind of courage his eyes must be fixed on the Lord and His promises.  Most centrally the greatest promise that we will be with Christ in all things.  That is the defining feature of our future: with Christ always.  That is worth waiting for eagerly!

Romans 8:26-27

²⁶In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

More Groans…

In verse 22 the whole creation is described as groaning, in verse 23 the saints are groaning and now in verse 26 the Holy Spirit is groaning.  The idea is clear that it is quite plain that things are not yet as they should be, though they will be someday, yet until then everything that longs for the everything to glorify God as it was designed to groans in anticipation of that day.  These verses give yet more vital information about the Holy Spirit, who is the life source and essential resource for the believer to rely upon in living life with Christ.

Helps our Weakness

The word “weakness” is translating a word that means “feebleness or infirmity.”  The idea is that we are spiritually incapable.  We notice this “feebleness” when we attempt to run our own lives.  As limited, finite, humans we simply don’t know what must be done in most situations.  Because we are unable to control all the factors our ideas and our plan’s are frequently completely the wrong way around. 

Our limitations also disable us from praying with all wisdom.  We may pray for the Lord to take a trial away from ourselves, or a loved one, when His desire is for us to go through that trial and grow in the way that He intends us to.  We may pray that the Lord spare us from one situation, when His plan is actually for us to go through it so that we might avoid another difficulty later down the road.  The reality of the matter is that we are fully incapable of saying what will happen, what should happen or what would have happened if something had gone differently.  However, that does not mean that we are not to pray!  Prayer is not centrally concerned with what the Lord will or won’t do.  It is not twisting God’s arm to give us blessing.  These worldly views of prayer also suggest that God doesn’t already long to give us what is absolutely the best for our lives and relationships – which He does.  Prayer is concerning relationship.  It is us, talking to the Papa who loves us, and who cares for us. 

Prayer Partner

We may occasionally have a relationship that is dedicated to prayer (a “prayer partner”). This verse is about the ultimate Prayer Partner – the Holy Spirit.  Here Paul makes clear the fact that the Holy Spirit is actually interceding for us in prayer.  Think of the advantages of this!  Does the Holy Spirit know exactly what we need?  Of course!  He sees every believer all the way to the core.  The Holy Spirit knows right down to the very bottom of a person’s spirit what they are in need of, what their greatest struggle is and what their greatest need.  So the perfect Holy Spirit is then guaranteed to be praying for the believer perfectly.  But that is not all!  The Holy Spirit, as the third person of the Trinity, will never be denied His request of intercession by the Father.  It is amazing to think that every believer has within them the Holy Spirit, Who knows everything about that believer, and knows exactly what he or she needs most in the world and then requests the Father for those things on the believer’s behalf.  Can a believer resist the “prescription” of the Holy Spirit?  Of course.  However, for the believer who is in fellowship with the Holy Spirit there is a 100% chance of growth each and every day and each and every situation.  This if phenomenal news!  But there is more!

Groaning

Not only does the personality of the Holy Spirit do His work in the believer perfectly, He is also a personality.  He even groans, mourns, longs to see the burden of sin wiped away.  He intercedes with us with a groaning of his own.  One that is “too deep for words” (Literally – “unutterable, unspeakable”).  So while we may groan on a physical “surface level” the Holy Spirit groans in a deeper way still, both seeing and understanding the full effect of Sin and embodying the full glory of God which sin offends.  No one understands the suffering that Sin brought about more than God. 

As a special note, many have wrongfully equated this verse with weird ecstatic experiences such as “prayer languages” and “prayer groaning.”  There are two major problems with this interpretation.  Firstly, it is the Holy Spirit who is groaning here, not the believer.  This is not something that we are doing (as the believer was groaning in verse 23).  Secondly, the text specifically said that this groaning is “unutterable” thus it could not be communicated with the Human lips tongue and vocal chords.  The third problem (which is less a textual problem as an exegetical problem) is that this interpretation seeks to take a human experience (carnal psychological phenomenon) and read it into the text of scripture anywhere it looks possible.  This, however, is very much not the thrust of the passage. 

The Father…

Yet, the Father is involved with our Spiritual growth, maturity and experience of suffering as well.  The Father is the one who searches the hearts and minds of men.  It may be terrifying for the unbeliever to think of a God who knows every unspoken thought, every hateful intention.  However, for the saint this is nothing to fear at all.  Not because we have no sinful thoughts, but because we know that God is now able to view our thoughts with a desire to forgive and renew us.  Now the fact that our thoughts are known is a relief because in Christ alone is the only forgiveness and restoration that we could ever hope for. 

Working together

Verse 27 tells us that there is no sense in which the Holy Spirit is pleading for us before an unwilling Father.  Far from it!  The reality is that the Father, Son and Spirit are all in total agreement about their goals for the believer, and they will not fail!  We see the Father being pleased to grant the requests of the Spirit regarding the believer because He knows just as well as the Spirit what is needed in every moment in the believer’s life.  The words “will of” in the last phrase were added by the translators.  The true sense is that the requests of the Spirit are fully in accord with the character, nature and desire of God the Father.  This is a “cannot fail” situation.  When we understand what an amazing amount of power is being exercised on our behalf we realize that we are able to rest in what God is doing in our lives.  We can rest in the life and character of Jesus Christ. Then we will be equipped to see what He will do!

Grow 15: Romans 8:18-22

Romans 8:18-22 (NASB)

¹⁸For 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. ¹⁹For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

Ah! Suffering!

Paul is dealing with one of the major issues that believers have to deal with.  What is our relationship to suffering?  Why do we suffer?  How should we view suffering?  It is easy to get caught thinking about suffering in overly simplistic terms.  Many of us hide many wrong thoughts about suffering such as:

·         Legalistic - “All suffering happens because I did something wrong.”

·         Athiestic/Agnostic – “Suffering is proof that God doesn’t care, exist, or isn’t able.”

·         Victim – “It is always someone else’s fault.”

More unbiblical attitudes about suffering could surely be added to this but Paul doesn’t waste time with that.  Rather, the Holy Spirit gives us a clear understanding of where suffering comes from, what purpose they are serving and how the believer is to respond to them.

Romans 8:18

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.

Reason it out…

In  the previous verse Paul noted an important point about suffering.  We are positioned in Christ, thus He identifies with US in our suffering.  This is difficult for us to imagine, however, it is the biblical truth.  And just as He shares in our suffering we are both sharing now in His glory as we are transformed (2 Corinthians 3:18) and will ultimately be conformed to that glory when we behold Him face to face (either at the time of our death or at the rapture when Christ will return for His Church).  Paul then continues with the idea of logical argument.

“For I consider” here was the same word translated “consider” in Romans 6:11: “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  This word means to put something down as true.  It was used in accounting for placing the correct figures in the book and including them in all of the sums to follow.  This word also has the sense of a “fully reasoned out conclusion.”  So the idea is that Paul considers this a good and reasonable fact.  It only makes sense to rely on a fact and incorporate it in your understanding and reaction to all relevant circumstances.

Suffering in the Now

The present world offers no shortage of suffering.  Relationships that don’t work out the way we had hoped, work troubles, food shortages, disasters and catastrophes all make us say, “I shouldn’t be this way!  This stinks!”  Yet, the word is all inclusive here, all of the sufferings are in view here.  Paul had experienced a great amount of personal pain and suffering.  When he placed his faith in Christ he left a great deal behind him.  Undoubtedly he had a number of friends, likely he even had admirers and those who would talk about how great he was around the dinner tahle.  All of these relationships fell away when he became a Christian.  Those very people who applauded him before were now persecuting him with equal vigor.  Not only that, we know that Paul struggled with health problems, physical persecutions and imprisonments.  We have sufferings of our own and now Paul gives us some superb advice as to how to consider those difficulties.

Holding it up to the Light

When you need to get a good look at something you hold it up to the light and make sure that you are getting a clear view.  The believer is to hold all of their struggles up to the light of God’s revelation to us in the Bible.  When we look at what has been promised to everyone who enters into a relationship with Christ through faith we get to see things in perspective.  And that makes all of the difference. 

Very often we look at our situations and get bent out of shape about a detail, or an offhanded comment, or some minor incident.  Looking at it a day later we find that the thing that had our feathers so very ruffled was really nothing of any great importance when considered in perspective.  This is what happens to EVERY struggle when we truly understand the magnitude of the glory that the Lord has shared, and will share, with us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Placing Prepositions

Glory has been well described as the “Radiant essence of who God is.”  It was this glory that Moses could not look upon and live.  It is this glory that caused Isaiah to say “I am undone!”  The glory of God is a reality that we cannot fully comprehend.  Yet, this is our present as we rest in Jesus Christ and our position in Him.  Our future is tied up in the glory of God.  This is something that needs some time to soak in.  Essentially the future that lies before us will be characterized by a perfection and a wonder that we know very little of from our day to day experience.  This is fantastic news.

Some translations have this phrase brought across that the glory will be revealed “to” us, and others have the glory being revealed “in” us.  The Greek word properly has  the idea of “into”.  But here is the reality:  God’s glory will be revealed both in and through us.  We will behold His glory and we will reflect His glory.  At that time we will be perfect instruments of His glory.  This is our future.  This is what our earthly struggles cannot even compare to. 

The Point: It is perfectly logical, and spiritually appropriate when dealing with struggles, to turn your mind to the glory that will be yours when you are face to face with Christ.

Romans 8:19

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

You are not the only one!

Often times suffering brings a sense of loneliness and isolation.  A person can easily be tempted to feel as if they are the only one suffering or struggling in the way that they are at any given moment.  Yet in these verses we see that it is not just the believer who is suffering…the very earth itself is not as it was intended to be!  Paul starts a poetic personification of the physical world (ascribing to the universe, earth, animal and plant kingdoms human emotions and personality).  But here is the point:  Suffering was never God’s idea.  God did not invent death, neither did He invent suffering.  These verses look at the objective reality of the hard parts of life in light of our loving, perfect, savior God.

Leaning In

You know when someone is really paying attention to you.  When you are telling an interesting story, or giving someone information they need, they lean in, they make and maintain eye contact.  They make noises that confirm that they are listening (“Yes…Uh-huh…right”).  This is the word picture attached to word translated here “anxious longing.”  Paul is saying that the world is paying rapt attention awaiting the moment.  Much like a cat stalking a mouse hole this is the focal point of the creation.

Well, what are you waiting for?

The whole creation is waiting for the “revealing of the sons of God.”  Believers in the Church are repeatedly told to look forward to the coming of Christ for His Church (commonly called “the Rapture”).  This is, in fact, the next future event in unfulfilled prophecy.  This is what Paul was looking forward to and expected that it may well be in his lifetime.  While this wonderful promised is mentioned constantly in the New Testament the most specific teaching about it is found in 1 Corinthians 15:35-50; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2:19-20, 5:1-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17.  This is where believers are removed from the earth before the period in which the Lord will pour out judgment and wrath upon those who remain.

Romans 8:20-21

²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Subjection

Here some very important points about the state of the world are made clear.  The entire creation was affected by the results of Adam and Eve’s sin.  However, we see that the “subjection” of the creation was passive in nature.  This is something that was done to the earth.  Whenever we see an earthquake, a flood, a tornado, a hurricane, a tsunami or a volcano eruption we often hear people asking: “Why would God allow this?”  It is important that we understand that these things come about not because God wanted pain and death and destruction but because it was necessary for the process of redemption.  So when we look at the principles of death and decay, horrible events in the world and the difficulties of life on this planet and think that it shouldn’t have to be this way, we are correct.  God never intended the world to be a place of difficulty and cruelty that it is.  It was sin that brought about these conditions and the earth itself is longing for the end of the futility that it now experiences as the victim.

Agency

Notice, however, what caused this state of futility in the physical creation.  It wasn’t directly Adam, and it wasn’t Satan.  Neither are mentioned here.  This verse says that it is God that subjected the creation to futility.  This is referring to the curse recorded in Genesis 3 and the results of that time.  Notice, however, the situation about which Paul is talking.  God created this beautiful universe and planet that existed without death or decay.  It was gorgeous and glorious and God regularly pronounces the judgment “It is good” upon His beloved creation.  Then He creates mankind in His own image.  He makes man to be, like Him, relational and spiritual while also having a physical body.  Then mankind sins, and is no longer fit for the perfect creation and garden which He had made. 

Logically, the answer would be simple: Destroy/remove the broken piece (mankind) from the equation of perfection, joy and beauty.  God, however, chose to do the opposite.  God chose to allow the sin of Adam to effect everything else.  Subjecting everything to the principles of death, decay and catastrophe all because He loves you and I.  God has allowed the death and dishonor to His name to continue while rebellious man has continued to defy and reject Him for six thousand years because He knew every person whom He had set up to be created in Adam and Eve (that includes us!) and He loves us.  He would rather destroy His beautiful creation, and sacrifice His own Son than be separated from humanity and be glorified by us for His wonderful grace, mercy and love. 

In Hope

However, the destruction and futility of the earth is by no means the end of the story.  Just as God sent Jesus Christ to earth to provide the opportunity to all who receive Him to be redeemed, so He will also redeem and restore His creation.  This is a legitimate hope for us as well!  Hope, in the Biblical sense, does not convey the idea of contingency (as in, “This may happen…and I hope that it does!) it has the idea of certainty.  We can go through and face all of the difficulties knowing that we will get to see the earth in its restored form, and that is very exciting!

Freedom!

We can see and perceive that the world is not as it’s meant to be.  Dramatic language is used:  It was made futile, subjected, enslaved.  We see in earth still much of the beauty and glory of its Creator.  However, we also see the reality that it is a harsh, cruel and dangerous world in which countless beings perish in a seemingly cold and uncaring atmosphere.  Yet, one day (as soon as seven years from today) the earth will be set free from its bondage and corruption.  We will see the earth as it was meant to be. The freedom that it was designed for and that it “longs for” is the freedom of serving and meeting the needs of those who long to love and glorify God.  God created the original Garden of Eden to be a place of comfort, pleasure and productivity for humanity and anyone who has placed faith in Christ will see the earth restored to its original function.

Romans 8:22

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

What do we know now?

Knowledge is very important.  What we know, and apply, affects the way we live our lives at every turn.  Paul is appealing both to their theological understanding (in the case of the Jews and God-fearers there) as well as to their senses.  This word for “knowledge” focuses on “knowledge by perception”.  They know this because they have seen it.  They have seen the explanation of it in the Bible, they see the effects of it every day.  Whenever a natural disaster occurs, or a pestilence sweeps across the land we are shown the reality of Paul’s statements.

Having a Baby

Pregnancy is an amazing process.  Because of the fall, it is a process that involves a great deal of discomfort and pain.  The mother finds herself often sick and unable to keep food down, then she finds her body changing in very uncomfortable ways to accommodate this little life within her.  As the baby gets bigger she gets bigger, and less and less comfortable.  As the time for the birth approaches she very often begins to feel different pains and contractions leading up to the “active labor period.”  The birth process itself is very dramatic and incredibly uncomfortable.  But at the end of that process (if all goes well) she holds her beautiful child and will often say, “It was worth every moment of pain and discomfort.”

This is the picture to which Paul is appealing.  The one “in labor” is the whole physical creation.  Pain, turbulence, decay and difficulty are all common on earth.  After the Lord comes for His Church (John 14) then the seven year “active-labor” process will begin.  This is the final seven week period predicted by Daniel in Daniel 9:20-27.  That same seven year period is described in great detail in Revelation 4-19.  This period (The Tribulation, The Great Tribulation, The Day of the Lord, The Day of Jacob’s Trouble) will be darkest hour of the cosmos, and all of creation will be affected.  However, just as in the illustration of a human birth, this time of greatest pain will “give birth” to a new and glorious day: The Millennial Reign of Christ. 

The details of the Millennial reign of Christ are given throughout the Prophetic word.   While the details of life in the Kingdom of God are truly exciting to study and well worthy of the believers time as they are exactly the encouragement the Lord means for the believer to have in difficulty we will focus of the centerpiece of the Millennial Kingdom: The King.  In this Kingdom Jesus Christ will rule from Zion in perfect wisdom, justice, understanding and love.  The creation itself will cease to be subjected to the principles of decay and will be redeemed and life on earth will be more like it was supposed to be than it has been since Adam fell.  After this thousand years Satan will be allowed to lead one final rebellion which will be quelled, the Great White Throne Judgment of unbelievers will take place and the New Heavens and the New Earth will begin.