DAY #6: Romans 8:18-25

In verse 17, Paul stated that believers will share in Christ’s sufferings. He completes that thought with this verse, concluding that the sufferings we now face are nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. The present suffering is temporary, while the future glory is eternal.

Paul had written to the Corinthians, “For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Suffering is part of the process of sharing in Christ’s death; it will culminate in sharing his glory.

Human beings and the rest of creation presently face suffering, and both will be glorified in the future. When Adam sinned, God sentenced all of creation (Genesis 3:17). Since then, the world has suffered decay and pollution, largely because people have forgotten or ignored their responsibilities as stewards of the earth. The created order functions in spite of its flaws. But diseases, deformities, and suffering constantly remind us that all is not right with us or with the world. All creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. This will occur at the second coming of Christ when he returns for his people. The entire universe is looking forward to the conclusion of God’s plan.

When Adam sinned, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse; that is, to futility, change, and decay. Creation is cursed because it is unable to attain the purposes for which it was made. The perfect order in the world was marred by sin; therefore, fallen people had to live in a fallen world. Yet all creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. Revelation 22 describes the future removal of the curse from the earth.

Adam and Eve were the first polluters of the environment when they sinned. Their act of rebellion affected the entire world. It has taken many centuries to realize the interrelatedness of this global village, but the Bible begins with that assumption. Having the same Creator links us with the rest of the created order. But as much as we do personally and corporately to clean up and care for the environment, we must realize that creation will require the same kind of transformation that we require in order to be set straight again.

Paul pictures the fallen creation as groaning as in the pains of childbirth. Consider earthquakes, floods, fire, drought, famine—these are surely not what creation was meant to be, but sin and evil now rule. Just as the pains of childbirth end at the birth of the child, so the groaning and pain of the creation will end at the birth of the new earth.

Creation groans and longs for its release and transformation into the new heaven and new earth. We Christians also groan to be released from pain and suffering, longing for our own release from the cycle of sin and decay (8:23). We long for redemption when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. In this process we are not alone, for the Holy Spirit groans with us, expressing our unutterable longing to God and giving us a foretaste of future glory. But until the time of our release and redemption, we must groan, wait, and hope.

When we put our faith in Christ as Savior, we are saved and we can eagerly look forward to the freedom we will have at Christ’s return. We already have the presence of the Holy Spirit, who is unseen, but we must eagerly wait for our new bodies, which are also unseen. Our full redemption has not yet happened; it will happen when Christ returns. That is why it is still a hope for believers.

Our salvation is both present and future. It is present because the moment we believe in Jesus Christ as Savior we are saved; our new life (eternal life) begins. But at the same time, we have not fully received all the benefits and blessings of salvation that will be ours when Christ’s new Kingdom is completely established. While we can be confident of our salvation, we still look forward with hope and trust toward that complete change of body and personality that lies beyond this life.

Waiting for things patiently is a quality that must be developed in us (Romans 5:3-4; James 1:3-4; 5:11; Revelation 13:10; 14:12). Patience is one of the Spirit’s fruit borne in our lives. It includes fortitude, endurance, and the ability to bear up under pressure in order to attain a desired goal.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read and studied today?)

This passage talks about suffering. Suffering is a fact of life. It's common and everybody eventually has it. The Bible, interestingly enough, does not attempt to explain suffering. It doesn't attempt to explain all of the reasons. It does give reasons but it doesn't explain away "Why is this happening to me?" in every particular instance. There aren't any pat formulas in the Bible, simple answers that solves the whole problem. But the Bible and in particular, this passage, does give us comfort, gives us a hope that we can have how to deal with problems and suffering and hurting even when you don't know why it's happening.

Understanding suffering is foundational to your life.

Romans 8:18 says, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Notice the word "consider". That one little word is the key to understanding how to make it when you're going through a problem. The word consider in the Greek, literally means, calculate. It's the word from which we get our word "computer".

He's says I calculate/consider/compute/analyze/check out/seriously look at and compare what suffering is all about. The key to suffering is all in the way you look at it. The key to coping with your problems is having the right perspective. It makes all the difference in the world. If you take two people, put them in the same situation (like a concentration camp) one, it makes them and the other, it breaks them. It's in the way you look at it. Having the right perspective is the key.

Five ways we ought to look at our suffering and the problems we have. The way you look at them make the difference. Your problem is not your problem. Your problem is the way you look at your problem. That's your problem. The fact is, when I'm in pain I'm usually pretty short sighted. I'm hurting. I'm not in the mood for long range planning. When you're in pain, what do you tend to look at? Your pain. That's all you see. That's all you feel. All you see is yourself. The biggest temptation when we're going through a problem is we focus on ourselves and get this myopic viewpoint that says "I don't see anybody else. All I see is me." Paul says, That's your problem. You've got a short vision. He's going to teach us that we ought to look beyond our pain and see give other things that will help you make it through your problem, that will give you hope and hope is what you need to make it.

A famous American cardiologist said in his autobiography "Hope is the medicine I use more than any other. Hope can cure nearly everything." Another doctor commented, "If you lead a person to believe there's no hope you drive another nail in his coffin." Another: "Psychiatrists have long suspected that hope fosters health both physically and emotionally. An increasing body of medical evidence documents the delirious affect that depression and hopelessness has on physical health." Another did a study on 6,000 prisoners of war captured by the North Koreans. Of those 6,000 about one-third of them died and doctors on the scene observed that the cause of death was a vague sort of "give-up-i tis" -- they lost hope. Depressed, a prisoner would become lethargic, refuse to eat or drink, stare into space and finally just die for lack of hope.

What is it that makes you tough to handle problems and difficulties? Paul says HOPE. Hope comes from having the right perspective.

2 Corinthians 4:16 says, "Therefore we do not loose heart [hopelessness] though outwardly we are wasting away inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary what is unseen is eternal."

The things that are really going to last are things you really can't see anyway. The problem in our problem is we look at the temporary. That's not what is going to last in the first place. What we need to look at is the invisible things that will last forever. Those are the spiritual matters like the Lord talks about.

"Our light and momentary troubles." 2 Cor. 11:24 is Paul's testimony on suffering, "Five times I received from the Jews 40 lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten by rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I've been in constant danger on the move. I've been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits..." He calls this light? Then my problems are nothing! Why did he call this light and momentary affliction. It all depends on your perspective. It's all in the way you look at it. He says, I consider this light.

James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy [Consider -- same word] when you face trials of many kinds because you know..." What is it that's going to help you make it through problems? It's what you know that helps you make it.

Romans 5:2-5 says, "Through whom we have gained access by faith into the grace which we now stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only this but we also rejoice in our suffering because we know."

How can I be positive in spite of my problems? Because I know something that maybe the rest of the world doesn't know about problems. The key to coping with suffering, the key to finding hope, to hang on in any situation, is to get the right perspective, to find out what God is thinking about the situation.

What does God say? That's what Romans 8 is all about. Five things we put our hope in that Paul mentions in this passage.

1. The first thing Paul says about suffering, that we can have hope over, It's only temporary. Like the fellow's favorite verse, "It came to pass." When problems come you know they don't come to stay; they come to pass. v. 18 "I consider that our present suffering" the suffering I'm going through right now. Even if I have this problem for the rest of my life like a physical ailment and maybe I carry that for the rest of my life here on this earth, even that is temporary compared to eternity. When you look at how long you're going to live in eternity without it, the problem that you're carrying right now is nothing. So what if I carry it 50, 60, 70 years. How does that compare to eons of time on the other side? We have a hope that we can look for.

1 Peter 1:6 says there are seasons in suffering. There are seasons in the Christian life. Sometimes we go through summer, sometimes we go through winter. "All sunshine and no rain makes a desert." -- Arab proverb. If your life were always good and there were never any problems in your life, you'd take it for granted and you would not enjoy it. The fact is you enjoy the mountain tops because there are valleys and you enjoy the valleys because there are mountain tops. It takes all kinds of situations.

We have a hope that we know, no matter what we're going through it's temporary. Even if I carry it my entire life that's nothing compared to the millions of years I'll be spending with the Lord.

2. The second reason he says we ought to have hope is Jesus is coming back. When He comes back He's going to settle the score, set everything all right. v. 20-21 "For the creation was subjected to frustration not by its own choice but by the will of the one that subjected it in hope." In what hope? In the hope that Jesus is coming back. [Titus 2:13 calls Jesus' return "the blessed hope".] Creation itself will be liberated from bondage to decay and brought into glorious freedom the children of God." When Jesus Christ comes back everything is going to be set right.

John 14, Jesus said, "Don't let your hearts be troubled, Believe in God, Believe also in Me, In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am there ye may be also." Jesus says, I'm going away; but if I go, I'm coming back. He went. Acts 1. He ascended on high, returning back into the heavens. It says just the way He left, He'll come back. When you've got a problem, remember: it's not only temporary but Jesus is coming back -- and He could come back at any time. And that's something we can put our hope in.

3. A third thing he says we can be hopeful about is Heaven. Heaven is going to be awesome. v. 22 "We know that the whole of creation has been groaning in the pains of childbirth right up to the present and we've been groaning. But we wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies and in this hope we were saved." Jesus Christ is coming back but if He doesn't come back in our lifetime we're going to go on to be with the Lord anyway. Colossians 1:5 says our hope is in heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 says, "So it will be with the resurrection of the dead, the body that is sown perishable is raised imperishable. It's sown in dishonor but it's raised in glory. It's sown in weakness, it's raised in power. It's sown a natural body; it's raised a spiritual body." When I get to heaven I'm trading this old body in on a new, improved model. All the aches, pains, and things that don't work right. That's something I can put my hope in. Whenever I have a problem I just remember it's temporary. One day we'll be with the Lord and we'll have a perfect body.

Revelation 21:1 says, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, `Now the dwelling of God is with men.' Then He will wipe away every tear from your eyes and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away." That's shouting material! No more suffering, heartache, hurt feelings. That's what it's going to be like when we get to be with the Lord. That's something you ought to look forward to when you're in pain right now.


4. v. 26 "In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness and we don't know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

The forth thing, he says, is The Holy Spirit prays for us when we're going through deep problems. If you've ever been in a situation where there is so much heartache and you didn't know how to pray, that's OK. God understands the aches of your heart when you can't even verbalize it. God understands the very pain in your heart. He looks past your words, into your heart, sees into your heart.

As a pastor I've been at a lot of bedsides of dying people. When somebody is dying there isn't a whole lot you can say. Sometimes all you can do is be there and grieve with them and hurt with them. That's when you're glad that the Holy Spirit prays for you. When you're going through tough times, remember you're not alone but He's praying for you.

Hebrews 4:15-16 says Jesus Christ can identify with our pain because while He was here on earth He knew what it was like to experience pain. When we pray and talk to Him it's not like He has no idea what we're talking about. He understands exactly because He's been here. We should come in total confidence when we're uptight, nervous, upset "God, you know exactly how I feel." Jesus says, "I sure do. I've been there." He can understand it.

5. One last thing that ought to give us hope. God has a purpose behind our problems. (Our memory verse at COV this week) v. 28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who've been called according to His purpose." He doesn't say all things are good. There is a lot of bad in the world. God's will is not always done. That's why we are to pray for it. Yet, the Scripture says God takes even the mistakes, even the errors, the problems, even those we bring on ourselves, and uses them together for good. He puts them together like a jig saw puzzle and brings a positive purpose out of it.

The bottom line of this passage is that God has a purpose behind it. When you have a problem realize that it's the way you're looking at the problem that's really the problem. What you need to do is look beyond the problem and see five things:

You can be groaning or you can be glorious.
You can be hoping or moping. What will you choose?

Hebrews 11:24-26 says this, “It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of the king of Egypt's daughter. He chose to suffer with God's people instead of enjoying sin for a short time. He thought it was better to suffer for the Christ than to have all the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking for God's reward”

Do you know what the key phrase is in that verse? HE CHOSE. Choose today to live a life that counts. Choose today to be a blessing. Choose to serve. Choose to love. Choose to forgive. Choose to share your faith. Choose to hope.

How will you apply this foundational truth to your life?