Eternal Glory
Romans 8:17b-25
Turn to Romans 8.
“[I]f indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 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.”
Romans 8:17b-18 (LSB)
I believe that one of the disturbing things for us today as Christians is not so much the opposition against Christianity, as there has always been opposition against Christianity. I mean, we have always been concerned about the different messages of other religions and the messages from the secular culture. And even within our closer circles, some may call themselves Christians who do not accept the Bible as inerrant, or as complete truth as we do. But it is getting worse than that, for we live in a day and age that is different than what many of us would have experienced in the past, and certainly, different from what our parents and grandparents experienced, where Christianity today has lost its voice. Maybe it could be described as weight. Christianity or the argument of Christianity has lost its weight in our culture.
And one of the best examples of this is the Bible itself, as even those in the past who may not have accepted all the Scriptures would have placed some amount of authority or weight upon it. But today’s culture would only view it as an old book, probably no different from how it might view the Koran or place it on the same level as native beliefs and legends. In fact, it may not even get that much respect anymore. Now what may be appreciated today is the unity or the love that the Christian message brings; in other words, possibly some of the results of Christianity are still respected today. An example of this would be faithfulness in marriage, love for the down-and-out, generosity, humility, and servanthood are all Christian virtues. And some might even appreciate the care for the unborn, but without accepting the complete truths and entire message of Christianity.
Yet other teachings of Christianity would never be accepted today. The sinfulness of mankind, as society would view men and women as generally good. The existence of a literal hell. That Jesus is the only way to be saved. And other truths that are now rejected, such as creation, marriage only between a man and a woman, the responsibility of a husband to lead and to provide. And many of these truths are not only rejected by society, they are slowly being rejected within the church, which would also include the rejection of our topic today, that of suffering. Yet for us, we believe the complete Bible, that it was written by men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God, and therefore, we accept it as God’s Word and therefore God’s truth. And not only were the words inspired by God for the benefit of their immediate context, such as what we are studying in this book of Romans, a letter written by Paul to the church in Rome, but they are timeless, in that they are also written for our benefit.
And when Paul writes (vs 18) of the sufferings of this present time, there is really no need to try to figure out what they were, for the problems that we deal with are basically the same, though maybe in different forms, but are basically the same problems that all people have faced. As there has always been sin, always been dishonesty, greed, immoral conduct, hatred, legalism, and prejudice. Now, we may live in a culture where some of those things are more accepted or at least more visible, but they have always existed. And it is also true that the Bible is the only source of hope, as the Bible contains the only true answers to man’s deepest problems. I mean, we know we cannot look to the government or the schools to solve our problems. And I am not being completely cynical here, for I am sure there are those within government who sincerely try to do the best they can, but man’s problems are far too deep to be able to be solved by men and women. It is odd that when elections come and go, people will vote for their favourites, and it is often only a year or two later that they will then criticize their favourites and then place their hope in someone else who has not yet been really tested.
And again, I want to be gracious here, for I would not want to have to tackle all the problems within society. But there was a day when man faced great problems, whether it might be war, depression, or a natural disaster, and the response would be for many within society to cry out to God for help. And it is not that some in leadership do not lead lives better than others, because they do. For some are more gifted, some are fairer, some are more honest, but I believe we realize that we do not place our faith in men and women when we know the sovereign providence of God. The Word of God says, do not trust in kings, do not trust in man, in whom there is no salvation, and cursed is the one who trusts in mankind and makes man his strength.
So, we know that man does not provide answers for all the world’s problems. Man cannot, for man cannot resolve the issue of the human heart. So could we say that Christianity has all the answers? Sort of like the old chorus, Jesus is the answer for the world today, above Him there’s no other, Jesus is the way. There’s a line in that old chorus that says, “Oh, I know you’ve got mountains that you think you cannot climb, I know that your skies are dark, you think the sun won’t shine.” And the song seems to insinuate that with Jesus we will be able to climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream. Admittedly, I have gone off on another old song here, and I hope I have not offended you with this slight slam against the theme from The Sound of Music. But I guess the question is this: with Christ, can we climb every mountain and find every dream? In other words, does Christianity solve every problem in life?
And the question is not really that difficult from our passage this morning, Verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come. Well, that is a statement of hope, isn’t it? But it is not a statement of complete resolution. Now it is the complete opposite of what our world offers today, as the hope of our world is to change the present sufferings, whereas the hope of the Bible is to change the final outcome. Because what Paul is doing is comparing the present sufferings with future glory. But notice, he is not fixing the present sufferings. In other words, he is not promising these Roman Christians who are likely under persecution that Jesus is the answer to their present sufferings. As there may be some mountains that they might not be able to climb in life, and there may be some rainbows that will not reveal their dreams.
Do you notice the difference between the promises of Christianity and the supposed promises of society? The promises of society are controlling issues like global warming, gaining some ground financially, or providing a new amusement or activity that seems to be helpful for society or even fun. Think of some of the ads today that promise the world: quick wealth and financial freedom; instant health and body transformations; the promise of rapid weight loss or muscle building with almost no effort; complete life happiness with this luxury car or perfume or these shoes; or buy this item, and you will have instant confidence, status, or more friends. Or that Russia and Ukraine will soon get along, or the Middle East conflict will be resolved, or the civil war in Sudan will end. And leaders are responsible for doing what they can to resolve these problems, and resolving other problems caused by natural disasters, and trying to sort out all the problems that men do bring into this world. And, by the way, we do not want to be too critical of their efforts, as their task is a massive one.
But in our passage this morning, Paul too is going to speak of this present world. And he is going to present to us the comfort that we have concerning all of life’s problems. But his resolution will not be what the world is really looking for. So, let’s read through it and look for God’s resolution or comfort to these issues.
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.
19 For the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
24 For in hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we eagerly wait for it.
Romans 8:18-25 (LSB)
The first comfort that we could talk about is not directly from the text, but is assumed here and brought up by Paul (Rom 1), and it is this:
- God Owns the World
This is a truth that was likely believed in our society many years ago, but it is a truth that has been lost. And the ramifications of this truth—the world belonging to God—teach that life must have importance and meaning. Because if God created the world, the world is no accident. It did not start by a Big Bang, and man did not evolve from some lower lifeform. No, God created the heavens and the earth. And when God completed His creation, He said, “It is good.” So, it is important for us to understand that God owns everything, that God created everything, and that God said everything about His creation was good. So why all the problems that need to be sorted out today? In other words, what happened to God’s “good” creation? Well, the answer is clear from the Bible, and it can be found in the first three chapters of Genesis, where man chose to follow the words of Satan rather than the truth of God. So, we could say that the reason for all the problems in our world today could be summarized in the phrase: The fall of man and his rebellion against God resulted in God bringing a curse upon the world.
And many, even in our culture, realized this not that long ago. This is why there were many intense times of prayer even by leaders during WWII. For men and women knew they had nowhere else to go, except to God. This is why, even as recent as 9/11, many men and women renewed their commitment to God, realizing that the problem was bigger than any man could resolve. Not that these were completely sincere spiritual movements, but it does show the great difference in our world today, where only a few would ever suggest anymore that we need to come before God as a nation or as a world, though this would be a very natural response for a people who believed that God owns the world and that God created everything. And we really see the problem beginning in the Garden when man sinned against God, as God came down to them and Adam and Eve ran and hid from God. And God sent them out of the Garden and sent them into the world, and therefore, they had to face all the problems that their own sin caused. And because God owns everything, God has the right to do with His creation what he wants, and therefore, secondly:
- God Has Placed the World Under a Curse
When God came before Adam and Eve, God said, “I am going to curse the ground.” And therefore, life will become very difficult for you. And (vs 20) says that creation was subject to futility or vanity, not willingly. In other words, creation itself had not rebelled against God, but it was the man and woman that God created who had rebelled. And yet, all of creation, too, is now suffering. So, when we see the problems not only with man, but also the problems within nature, climate, weeds and thorns. This is all due to the sin of mankind. Have you noticed that when things were so dry, how well the weeds grow? And being a rose grower, I go out for a few minutes each day and pick Japanese Beetles off my roses. And all the troubles we face today are all due to the sin and rebellion of mankind. And man will continually battle against those problems, but never acknowledge the real cause of those problems, which is us.
So, Paul speaks about (vs 18) the sufferings of this present time. And therefore, it is good for us to understand the core reason for those sufferings. One, that there is no acknowledgment of God and two, the sinfulness of mankind. And if we know the source of our problems, we will then realize that government will not solve the problems, as the rebellion of mankind has not only caused problems for us, but has also caused problems for the entire creation. Do you understand that the core reasons for all our problems: relationally, socially, politically, and within families. But even the problems we face with nature are all sourced in man’s sin, and therefore God’s plan to curse the world.
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope.”
Romans 8:20 (LSB)
The meaninglessness of the whole creation—though not willingly by creation itself—was due to the sinfulness of mankind. And it was God who placed it in that position by cursing the world. In other words, if it is God who has done this because of sin and rebellion, then there is no resolution to this problem outside of God. And the problems continue from the story in the Garden, to the days of Noah, to the time of Christ, to the history since Christ, and to the present day because it is God who has subjected the world to this condition. And there is no promise in the Bible that things will ever change. I suppose there are times when things are not as bad as they were, and times when things are worse than they were. But the world has always and will always face difficulties, with no promise of anything better.
And yet there is a mention (vs 20) of hope. What is that? Well, that is what we have been talking about since we began this whole study of Romans. That God sent His Son into the world, so that the world, through Christ, might be saved. For this is God’s world and God will not give it up. But He has made plans to redeem His world by sending His Son into His world. So that God could redeem for Himself a nation, His children, as Christ reconciles a people to the Father. And restores the entire creation, not just men and women. And that is the only hope for mankind, as it can be found in no one else. And the hope, though it is something that is looking ahead to the glory that will someday be revealed, is a hope that is also present today. For God is opposed to this world. It is God who has subjected it to futility and meaninglessness, and His wrath will continue to be against those who reject Him. But the present-day hope is that through Christ you can be reconciled to God today. That though we are still in this world, God is not against us, but He is for us. That though the world is at war with God and at friction with each other, the child of God can have peace with Him now and forever.
- God Has Given His Children a Hope
In verse 18, Paul says, “I consider the sufferings of this present time.” The world only knows one time, and that is the present. Man’s desire may be to live longer, but he lives in the present and is only promised the present. But the Christian has the hope of the eternal. In fact, the hope of the eternal is so strong that in Paul’s mind it outweighs even the events of the present day. In other words, there is nothing in the present day that can even compare with the glory of the future day. Think of the difference between the one whose hope is in this world only versus the one who has a sure hope in God; in other words, the uncertainty of the world versus the certainty of the Christian. Mary Elizabeth Frye wrote:
Do not stand at my grave and weep … I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow … I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain … I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush … I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight … I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry … I am not there. I did not die.
That’s a bunch of malarky, because the Bible said, yes, you will die, and you did die. Why? Because of your sin and rebellion against God. In other words, there is no truth to her words. Yet Job, a child of God, wrote, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will rise up over the dust of this world. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall behold God.” Robert Burns wrote these words that are often read at funerals:
An honest man here lies at rest … The friend of man, the friend of truth,
The friend of age, and guide of youth … Few hearts like his, with virtue warm’d,
Few heads with knowledge so inform’d … If there’s another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none, he made the best of this.
There is absolutely no truth or no certainty in these words. Yet the Apostle Paul wrote, “For I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” See, only the Christian, the child of God, knows his eternal state. That someday he will be with his Heavenly Father. As this is not sentiment or this is not a warm fuzzy feeling. No, it is truth, it is the reality of being a child of God.
- God Has a Future Plan for His Entire Creation
What does Paul mean (vs 18) when he says that the present time cannot be compared with the future glory? Well, the world did not end when Adam and Eve were sent from the Garden. The world did not end when God sent a worldwide flood. The world did not end when Christ came and was rejected and crucified. No, God has a plan and has always had a plan for the future of this world. In fact, He has a plan for all of creation.
You know, as I get older, my earthly perspective changes. I really enjoy planting trees. I often think about the Oak Tree I planted in the backyard back in Chatham, or the Oak Tree I planted up in Blind River. I planted a couple of Locust Trees in Wyoming, and those trees are now really big and beautiful. I hated to leave the Kentucky Coffee Tree I planted in Wyoming in the side yard. And I have planted some White Pines here in Arkona, actually out in my garden of shame, as it is not all shameful that were like 1-2 feet tall when I planted them, and some are now 6-7 feet tall. And I just planted an American Beech out there. But you start to realize that anything you plant as you get older, especially if it is slow-growing like an oak or like a beech tree, you realize that it may not get huge before you are gone. I was at Rock Glen the other day, and they have these really neat tree signs at the base of some of the big trees. That is right up my alley; I love those signs! And there is a White Elm, which said on the sign that they are wanting people to plant White Elms because of all the ones that died of the Dutch Elm Disease a number of years ago. So, I told Anne it is my duty to get the White Elms going again
But with age, as a Christian, you do tend to think about the reality of an eternity with God, not the certainty of it, as that has always been a certainty, but I suppose the nearness of the certainty, as there is less of the present-time ahead. And what a blessing to know that God has a plan for all of creation that far exceeds anything we have ever experienced before. Verse 23, “but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” Yes, as Christians, we are already God’s adopted children, but yes, we also await the fullness of the benefits of that adoption, our new bodies. Philippians 3:21, God will transform our bodies into conformity with Christ’s glorious body. But not only will God change us, but He will also change the entire creation that will no longer be under a curse. The prophet Isaiah describes it.
6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a young boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 And the nursing baby will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
9 They will do no evil nor act corruptly in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh
As the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11:6-9 (LSB)
And I want you to notice this amazing truth.
“[T]hat the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
Romans 8:21 (LSB)
Notice that the transformation of creation will occur after the transformation of the saints. Presently, those who are called are adopted by God, and therefore, they become children of God. And we saw last week (1 John 3:1), and we are. In other words, we have experienced that already. But the full aspect of that will occur when we are resurrected in our new glorified bodies, and then the earth will be transformed to accommodate that. For notice:
“For the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”
Romans 8:19 (LSB)
And what we need to see here is that God created the world, a perfect paradise for mankind, yet man sinned against God, and therefore the world was cursed. But when we receive our new redeemed glorified bodies, the Lord again will transform the world for us to live in a perfect world. And this is not a deep lesson in eschatology this morning, but I wish for you to know that God has a plan to change the current condition on the world. Listen to what the Apostle John writes in Revelation 22.
“And there will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him; and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night, and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, ‘These words are faithful and true.’”
Revelation 22:3-6a (LSB)
This is the kind of language we want to hear. This is the kind of thing we want taught at our funerals, words that are faithful and true, not fairy tales and wishes. Songwriter Walt Harrah wrote these great words:
The timeless theme, Earth and Heaven will pass away
It’s not a dream, God will make all things new that day
Gone is the curse from which I stumbled and fell
Evil is banished to eternal hell
No more night, no more pain
No more tears, never crying again
And praises to the great, “I am”
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.
Imagine seeing Jesus for the first time. I often picture eternity as awaiting Christ, and the anthems go on and on as He approaches, as the anticipation rises. Brothers and sisters, this is the reality of the hope we live with today. This is the certainty of our faith, that God expects us, as Paul writes (vs 25), to eagerly wait for it. Let’s pray. Lord, truth is what we long for and what we hope for. Keep us focused on that which is truth, Your plans and Your purposes that You will bring about. While the world may desire a long life, we would have to ask, then what? That I would like this and that, but then what? To be able to retire comfortably, but then what? Yet Your Word this morning teaches us to fix our eyes on Christ and His glory, and then what? Hope, true hope. To anticipate and eagerly await. For what? Eternal glory with Jesus. So, Lord, grant us the wisdom to keep our focus on You, and what is true and what is best. And all God’s people said, amen.