Past, Present and Future
Romans 8:18 – 30
We are continuing our study of the ultimate chapter in the Biblical Book of Books this week. So far in Chapter 8 of Romans, Paul has taught us that despite our disobedience and sinful nature, if we have Christ in our lives and Live in the Spirit of God that there is no remaining condemnation, no penalty against our souls for our disobedience. Paul told us last week that not only has the eternal price been removed from our souls but that though God’s great graciousness, we have been adopted into His righteous family, we have become Children of God.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the Fruit of the tree of Knowledge, not only did they fall from favor with God, but their transgression was so great that not only did they lose relationship with God but so did all of humanity. But in our lesson today Paul reminds us that there is another victim of Adam’s sin that shares our pain and shares in our hope for relief from “frustration and decay”. That entity is Creation.
When we are born, we bear the judgement burden of Adam’s Original Sin including separation from God and the wasting away of what were originally meant to be immortal bodies. We know that I have told you that many times. As Christians, as Seekers of the Truth we are compelled find salvation and redemption throughout our lives to reestablish that eternal relationship with our Father, but there is work to be done and suffering to endure.
As I have told you before, there three tenses Salvation, Past, Present and Future. You were saved in the moment that you received Christ as your Lord and Savior because you were saved from the penalty of sin. Today you are being saved through the process of Sanctification, you are becoming more like the image of Christ and being saved from the power of sin in your life. Finally at death you will be saved from sin, and through glorification you will become like Jesus with a perfected body.
We ended our scripture lesson last week with this truth “Now if we are adopted children of God, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory”. Our lesson today begins by complete that thought with these words, “but I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Our Past subjects us to a penalty for actions that are not ours, our Present finds us striving for redemption and reuniting with our Father, and our Future holds the ultimate goal of our quest, glorification of our muddled souls as we are reunited with God for an Eternity. In in our Past, Present and Future we are promised that the Holy Spirit will assist us as we seek to find our final glorification.
Today, Paul tells us that we are like all of creation around us, that we struggle and suffer in the present because of evil in the world. We groan because of the pain we feel now but we joyfully and excitedly anticipate our future life as the chosen of God. Viewed through the lens of God’s sovereignty, every believer can face suffering with purpose and hope. Considering our Past, Present and Future, our ultimate hope is the completion of our salvation when we will be with God, face-to-face.
In verse 22 Paul tells us that whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” We’ve already seen that the creation was subjected to frustration at the fall. Now Paul compares that frustration to groaning. But it’s not just any old groaning. He has a very specific type of groaning in mind – “groaning as in the pains of childbirth.”
Childbirth is painful, but it has two things going for it compared to other types of suffering. It is temporary, and it has purpose. The pain is real enough, but it is soon forgotten when the baby is born. It is temporal and it serves a greater purpose, the birth of another soul.
Paul is saying that just like the pains of childbirth, our sufferings as Christians are temporary, and they have purpose. God is doing something new, and God is bringing something good out of your sufferings. All the suffering and sorrow you experience in this life will eventually result in the new creation and the resurrection of our bodies.
Paul writes in verse 23: “ we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” But aren’t we already adopted into God’s family when we first trusted Christ? Absolutely. But even though we are already adopted, the fullness of all that adoption means is still in the future. We have been adopted into God’s family, but we are still awaiting the resurrection of our bodies. When you become a Christian, you become new on the inside, but your body doesn’t change. Your body is still mortal. Just like the creation is currently subject to frustration, your body is still subject to sickness, sin and death.
But just as the creation will be restored in glory, so will your body. And so, just as the creation waits eagerly for God’s glory to be revealed in us, we wait eagerly as well. We wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies. If creation waits with eager expectation for God’s glory to be revealed in this way, how much more should we!
Paul has spoken about our hope for a new creation. He has spoken about our hope for the resurrection of the body. But those things are all in the future. So now, finally, Paul speaks about our hope for God’s help in the present. And he tells us two things here. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. And the Spirit helps us to pray.
The word translated “helps” here is a word that means the Spirit “bears your burdens along with you.” We all carry many burdens in this life. And many times, those burdens are more than we can bear on our own. How comforting to know that no matter how weak you may feel, God is there to help you with your weakness.
The Spirit not only helps us in our weakness, but the Spirit helps us pray. Verse 26 says that “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us.” The problem is that in our weakness, many times we don’t even know what we should pray.
The good news is that the Holy Spirit helps us here also. You don’t know what to pray, but the Spirit comes and bears that burden of prayer along with you. The Spirit himself intercedes for us. The Spirit intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” We groan as we await the resurrection of the body and the Holy Spirit groans with us as he intercedes for us.
You know those times when you cannot even put your prayers into words? You’re not sure what to pray or how even to say it? Don’t worry about it. The Spirit hears your sighs and groans, and he comes and groans along with you.
Paul tells us that the Spirit also intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will. Look at verse 27: “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” Even as the Spirit groans along with you, God knows the mind of the Spirit, and the Spirit knows the will of God perfectly, and he intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will. And that means that God will answer every time.
Even when we do not know exactly what we should pray, the Spirit helps us pray. The Spirit prays what we would have prayed if we knew God’s will for our situation. The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express and in perfect accordance with God’s will.
Hear the Good News my Friends
While we live in a fallen world that is under a curse because of sin and that curse brings much pain and suffering, the good news of Romans 8 is that we can persevere through the pain because we have hope. We have hope for a new creation, all of creation will be renewed through Christ and restored to its former glory.
We have hope for the resurrection of the body. These aging bodies are still subject to sickness, sin and death. We can’t trust them. They get old, they get hurt, they break down. But your new body will be perfect in every way. Just think of it! You will have a perfect body, and you will be living in a perfect world.
And even though most of these hopes are for the future, you also have the hope for God’s help in the present. The Spirit helps you in your weakness, and even when you don’t know what to pray, the Spirit does, and he intercedes for you in accordance with God’s will.
Hope means you don’t have what you want yet. It is still in the future. And that means waiting. Waiting is hard. But God’s Spirit is with you while you wait. Yes, we all go through much pain and sorrow in this fallen world. But we can persevere in the present because we have hope for the future. So, even in the face of suffering, put your hope in God and his promise of future glory.
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he sanctified, he also glorified. Past, Present and Future God works in our lives. Amen.