Sermon: Sunday, 9th February, 2025
Speaker: Alistair Donald
Scripture: Romans 8:18-30
A famous country music song starts with these words…
‘I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be a little rain sometimes…’
It’s a recognition that it’s unrealistic to expect a rose garden in all relationships, and then complain if there’s a little rain sometimes but sometimes we can have equally unrealistic expectations about the Christian life. We come to the Lord; submit our lives to Christ; get our lives smoothed out as the Lord changes us. We have more sense of purpose in our lives… a sense of joy and love and being accepted. But then when any sort of trouble comes our way, we can be quick to say, ‘Hang on! Surely it wasn’t meant to be this way? Why is God allowing this to happen to me?’
Well, I don’t suppose the Apostle Paul knew any country music songs, but he knew the sentiment of the song very well. He knew that for all the joys of being a believer in this life (and he’s very clear on those), there are also problems; sometimes really painful things to deal with, as many of us know only too well. So after all that Paul has said in the earlier part of this letter to the Romans – that we are all by nature alienated from God but when we put our faith in Christ we now have peace with God (chapter 5) and although we still struggle with sin (chapter 7), believers now have the Spirit inside us to help us overcome, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, as John laid out for us in recent weeks in the first part of chapter 8.
Yet Paul is very careful to say that, that while having the Holy Spirit in our lives is a wonderful privilege – by the Spirit we even get to call God Abba or ‘Dad’ – this does not mean that we get to live trouble-free lives ever afterwards. Paul’s ‘Big Point’ in our passage for today is this: when you compare the groanings of the present time, it’s nothing at all compared to the glory that will be revealed.
‘I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’ (Romans 8:18)
Check out those last 2 words especially: ‘… the glory that will be revealed in us!’ As the apostle John writes: When Jesus appears, we shall be like him! (See 1 John 3:2) I wonder if we are really gripped by what God has in store for us?
C.S. Lewis reckons we don’t rate the glorious future highly enough. He writes this in the book ‘The Weight of Glory’: We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with [earthly pleasures] and ambition when infinite joy is offered us. [We’re] like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
We need to lift our eyes to catch the wonderful vision of what God has in store for the Christian. But before moving though the passage from verses 18 to 30, I’d like first for us to look at verse 25, one of the most famous verses in the Bible: ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’ (Romans 8:28)
For years, as young Christian, I misunderstood this verse. An older translation (AV) renders it as, ‘All things work together for good.’ How does that work?
In my 30s in Wales, a visiting Free Church preacher explained: God is so great that he can turn round even bad things, even horrible things that happen to us for our long-term good. Now, that’s not to say that pain is any less painful at the time, but for the Christian who has God as their Father, it is (or certainly ought to be) different. Because, you see, it’s only for those who love God that this works. It’s only for those who’ve been called according to his purpose that this is in any way meaningful. For everyone else, it’s just stuff that happens. But for the Christian, God has a purpose in everything that happens to us.
‘What do you know about my pain, Mr Preacher?’ says someone. ‘Or what does Paul know about my suffering?’ Well, rather a lot actually. Paul lists some things in 2 Corinthians 6, not to boast, but to say that he gets it! Troubles, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, hard work, sleepless nights. That’s quite a list! Yes, Paul knows what he’s talking about when he writes this verse. But in that letter he also writes that ‘Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.’ (See 2 Corinthians 4:17)
So he knows that the groanings of this present age are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in us. Let’s look at all this in more detail as we move through the rest of the passage:
1. Groaning and glory in creation (verses 20-22)
First, we have creation as a character. That may seem strange, but the Scriptures do speak of the features of creation as if they were persons who speak. Psalm 114 talks poetically about mountains skipping like rams, hills like lambs, and the Sea which ‘ran away’ – as it did in the retreat of the Red Sea at the Exodus.
We read that, ‘The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.’ (Romans 8:19) The language used here is like someone craning their neck to get a better view, as if it was a child at a football match craning her neck to get a better view of the pitch! And, incredibly, that’s how the whole natural world is straining to get a view of what Christians will be in their glory in the world to come! Did you know that?
Paul goes on in verse 20: ‘For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it (that, is, God himself).’ To what purpose? ‘… in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.’
You see the cosmic panorama that is in view here? This is Big Picture stuff – to encourage us in our times of suffering! For this world, beautiful as it is, is not as it should be. We can see that with our own eyes. There are earthquakes. There are tsunamis. And much else that spoils life. Paul describes this in verse 22 as being like the pains of childbirth – painful now, but leading to something wonderful beyond description.
When sin entered the world by our first ancestors, not only were Adam and Eve’s own lives diminished, but the whole world of nature was as well. God’s curse on the world was wide-ranging. But that curse will be reversed in the new heavens and the new earth – in the glory that is to come.
There are still commentators who think the world will just get better if only humans follow certain ideologies: More capitalism? More socialism? More nationalism? More Net Zero? Perfect world? No! These things aren’t a magic bullet that will lead to a better world. Only the change in human nature brought about by the Christian Gospel can do that. This world is broken; it’s creaking.
But God has wonderful plans to turn this groaning world into a glorious world. We fist get glimpses of it in the Old Testament: ‘The heavens will wear out like a garment…’ (Psalm 102); Isaiah’s vision: new heavens and a new earth, where lion will lie down with the lamb. That’s what Paul is talking about here – the realisation of that vision. We don’t know much detail, but we know it will be wonderful, as the very creation itself is changed from groaning to glory.
But what about our own sufferings, as fragile humans living in the here and now? As we’ll now see, that, too, is a story of present groaning and future glory.
2. Groaning and glory in God’s children (verses 23-25)
The whole creation may be groaning as in the pains of childbirth. But not only that, we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Even we, who are reckoned to be no longer ‘in Adam’ but ‘in Christ’; we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit – even we continue to groan inside ourselves as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters.
But aren’t we already adopted into God’s family? Well yes, as soon as we believe in Christ, our sins are forgiven and we are adopted into God’s family. But there’s a future aspect as well. It’s a bit like how the Christian is described as ‘saved’. One aspect of that is Past Tense – such as here in verse 24: In this hope we were saved. But Paul has earlier said in chapter 5 that there’s a future aspect too: ‘Having been justified by Christ’s blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath at the Day of Judgment.’ (Romans 8:24)
And so it is, with our adoption into God’s family: The Christian has been adopted (when we first believed); we are adopted in the here and now; but we also will be fully adopted in the new creation. But is that really a practical help to you in our sufferings? We do sometimes go through real pain and distress, may physical, maybe emotional (which can wrench us up just as much as physical pain). Is what Paul says really a practical help to us in our sufferings?
Well, it should be, for God has given us that future hope to keep focussed on. We Christians ought to be able to show the world how to suffer and to be sad, by showing that we have a future hope.
Think of Psalm 13. That’s a model for us being sad when we’re in pain or distress:
How long will you forget me, Lord?
Will you forget always?
How long, Lord will you hide your face
And turn from me your gaze?
But the psalm doesn’t end there; the final 2 verses tell us what to do, if ever we feel like that:
But still I trust your constant love;
You save and set me free.
With joy I will extol the Lord
Who has been good to me.
Samuel Rutherford was a wonderful minister here in Scotland, hundreds of years ago. A book of his pastoral letters addressed to hurting people is still in print today. One lady was really struggling with pain and suffering and doubt, and he wrote this to her: ‘Your soul is like a castle that may besieged… but it cannot be taken [by the besieging armies].’ We really don’t face trials all alone. As Isaiah wrote, long before Jesus or Paul: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.’ (Isaiah 43:1)
The Apostle Peter in Acts chapter 3 tells the onlookers, agog at the healing of a lame beggar in the Temple grounds, that the risen Jesus will now remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore all things. That’s the future hope of the Christian. When everything will be made right. In this hope we were saved, writes Paul in verse 24. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
So we’re to wait eagerly for that hope (verse 23) – but also patiently (verse 25). That’s a hard combination for us! We’re not to be so eager that we lose sight of patience. And we’re not to be so patient that we forget to be eager for what it is we’re hoping for! Now, none of this is to say that this present life doesn’t matter. Of course it matters, since God placed us here for a time, and God is good. And much of our life here and now is very good. But whether we’re going through happy times or sad times, it does us good to remember: that this life is not by any means the whole story – and we do sometimes lose sight of that, especially in the hard times we sometimes experience. And whatever we go through, in this life – whatever we lose in this life – trust me, will seem as nothing… compared to the glory that will be revealed.
3. Groaning by the Spirit on our behalf (verses 26-30)
But as we see here it’s not just the creation that groans, waiting for glory. It’s not just we Christians who groan, waiting for glory. In a very mysterious way, the Holy Spirit himself groans. Do you sometimes feel your spiritual weakness? Do you ever feel a bit of a failure, not knowing even quite what to pray? If so, you’re in good company with the Apostle Paul. But help is at hand!
‘In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.’ (Romans 8:26)
Isn’t that wonderful? We read elsewhere that Jesus intercedes with the Father on our behalf. And here’s the Holy Spirit doing the same, with groans that cannot be put into words! Aren’t we blessed? The Spirit intercedes for us saints in accordance with God’s will. So next time you feel your spiritual weakness (and which of us doesn’t sometimes fell that?), remember that you’re not a hopeless case. Next time you don’t really know what to pray for – don’t just give up! Sit quietly, open a psalm or another passage of Scripture and let the Holy Spirit lead your thoughts and prayers.
In closing we go back to verse 28: ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’
God’s unchanging love for his people means that even the bad stuff that happens to us can be taken up by him and moulded for our good. Joseph found that in Egypt after he’d been kidnapped and sold into slavery by his brothers. That was a wicked act – no question. But after Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt, when he saved many lives by storing up food to withstand the famine, he was able many years later to say to his brothers: ‘Yes, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’ So yes, In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’
This isn’t for everyone, but rather it is a special privilege for those who love God, who have been called according to his purpose. When you come to know Christ as Saviour and Lord, then you will realise eventually (it may take time) that God’s knowledge of you and love for you stretches way back before the time you first believed before even you cried your first cry as a baby the day you were born and way back before the universe was even made.
Paul signs off this section of his letter to us by spelling this out very clearly in a beautiful silver chain, laid out in verses 29-30, which we’ll now read in closing: ‘For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.’ (Romans 8:29-30)
My former minister in Wales explained predestination this way. When we first believe in Jesus, we’re conscious of our own decision to follow him. But we don’t at first see the whole picture (he was an artist). When we stand back and view the whole canvas, yes there’s our decision in the foreground, the hour we first believed. But then we see the mighty backdrop – the wonderful, majestic mountains of God’s sovereignty in setting us apart from before the foundation of the world.
‘Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.’ (Romans 8:30)
And did you notice something? The glory from which we finally escape our groaning does lie on the future but Paul puts it in the past tense, along with the other things listed. How come? Because for those who have been called by God who’ve been put in a right relationship with him (‘justified’ by faith) – the glorious future he has prepared for us is as certain as if it had already taken place.